Cathays Library 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 ...

library building in

Cathays Cathays ( ; Welsh: officially ''Cathays'' but also , 'the constant meadow') is a district and community in the centre of Cardiff, capital of Wales. It is an old suburb of Cardiff established in 1875. It is very densely populated and contain ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. It is one of the 2,500 Carnegie libraries, financed by the American businessman

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...

Location

The library is situated on the northern edge of Cathays at the junction of Crwys Road, Whitchurch Road and Fairoak Road, opposite Gladstone Primary School. It backs onto Cathays Cemetery.

History

Preceding the current library was a Cathays Branch Reading Room, which opened in May 1890. It initially contained 300 books and had an assistant librarian. The current library was constructed between 1906 and 1907, though the panel above the main door is inscribed 1906. The building is in an Arts & Crafts

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

style, designed by Cardiff architects Speir & Bevan. It has a generous single storey in a 'butterfly' plan, with two main wings parallel to Whitchurch Road and Fairoak Road. The front gable ends have large windows each divided into four lights. The building's central entrance section has a narrow octagonal tower above it, with a leaded spire. It was designated in 1975 as a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

, as "an especially accomplished and well-preserved Arts and Crafts design" with a "pioneering butterfly plan". At various points in the 21st century, Cathays Library has been threatened with closure, either due to reviews of the library services by

Cardiff Council Cardiff Council, formally the County Council of the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Cyngor Sir Dinas a Sir Caerdydd) is the governing body for Cardiff, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. The principal area and its council were established ...

or claims of excessive repair costs. In 2003, 1000 people signed a petition to keep the library open. In autumn 2009, the library closed for repairs and refurbishment. £1 million was spent (including £300,000 for the

Welsh Government , image = , caption = , date_established = , country = Wales , address = , leader_title = First Minister () , appointed = First Minister approved by the Senedd, ceremonially appointed ...

) to remove

dry rot Dry rot is wood decay caused by one of several species of fungi that digest parts of the wood which give the wood strength and stiffness. It was previously used to describe any decay of cured wood in ships and buildings by a fungus which resul ...

and damp rot, clean the exterior and bring the interior up to modern standards. It reopened in June 2010.

Facilities

Following the library's reopening in 2010, the original reception desk was kept but with new modern furniture including moveable 'designer' shelving. The west wing of the building was reopened, having previously been closed following an arson attack. The library had 15 public computers and a small meeting room for up to 10 people. The building also has public toilets which had been restored. The library holds Cardiff's heritage and local studies collection. It also hosts history activities and community events. It is closed on Fridays and Sundays.

References

External links

Cathays Library page on cardiff.gov.uk
{{Authority control Arts and Crafts architecture in Wales Carnegie libraries in Wales Grade II* listed buildings in Cardiff Grade II* listed library buildings Library buildings completed in 1907 Public libraries in Cardiff

Library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

Location

History

Facilities

See also

References

External links