The Leeds Library is the oldest surviving subscription library of its type in the UK. It was founded in 1768, following an advertisement placed in the ''

Leeds Intelligencer The ''Leeds Intelligencer'', or ''Leedes Intelligencer'', was one of the first regional newspapers in Great Britain. It was founded in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, in 1754 and first published on 2 July 1754. It was a weekly paper unt ...

'' earlier that year. The first secretary was

Joseph Priestley Joseph Priestley (; 24 March 1733 – 6 February 1804) was an English chemist, natural philosopher, separatist theologian, grammarian, multi-subject educator, and liberal political theorist. He published over 150 works, and conducted exp ...

. In 1779,

James Boswell James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (; 29 October 1740 (New Style, N.S.) – 19 May 1795), was a Scottish biographer, diarist, and lawyer, born in Edinburgh. He is best known for his biography of his friend and older contemporary the Englis ...

wrote, "In Leeds, where one would not expect it, there is a very good public library, where strangers are treated with great civility." The library moved twice before settling in the purpose built premises on

Commercial Street, Leeds Commercial Street is a pedestrianised shopping street in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is long. History The street was first developed by William Hey II as Bond Street in 1823–1824, and was renamed to Commercial Street several years late ...

on 4 July 1808. This building is a grade II*

listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

building by Thomas Johnson with major 1880-81 extension to the rear by

Thomas Ambler Thomas Ambler (1838 – 1920) was an English architect, living and working in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Ambler was a friend of the Mayor of Leeds and Member of Parliament, John Barran, who became his patron. Among Ambler's surviving work ...

. the library has over 1000 members who pay an annual subscription. The library is estimated to have a stock of over 140 000 titles with 1,500 new books being added annually. It also contains more modern items such as

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sc ...

s and

DVDs The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

. The library's extensive collection is frequently used by researchers who are not members. The library holdings also incorporate the stock of the short lived

Leeds Foreign Library Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

. The Foreign Library was founded in 1778 and incorporated into the Leeds Library in 1814. The library is the setting for much of Frances Brody's 2014 novel ''

Death of an Avid Reader Frances McNeil, also writing as Frances Brody, is an English novelist and playwright, and has written extensively for radio. Early life McNeil was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, where she now lives. She studied at Ruskin College, Oxford and ha ...

''.

References

External links

Official websiteFacebook pageTwitter page

Association of Independent Libraries directory entry
*
The Leeds Library, Registered Charity no. 1114386
at the

Charity Commission , type = Non-ministerial government department , seal = , seal_caption = , logo = Charity Commission for England and Wales logo.svg , logo_caption = , formed = , preceding1 = , ...

{{coord, 53.7975, -1.5444, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Libraries in West Yorkshire Grade II* listed buildings in West Yorkshire Listed buildings in Leeds 1768 establishments in England Buildings and structures completed in 1808 Subscribing libraries in the United Kingdom Subscription libraries in England Leeds Blue Plaques

See also

References

Further reading

External links