There are 24 public libraries in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, England, including the famous Central Library in St Peter’s Square. The oldest community library still in use is

Levenshulme Levenshulme () is an area of Manchester, in Greater Manchester, England, bordering Fallowfield, Longsight, Gorton, Burnage, Heaton Chapel and Reddish, halfway between Stockport and Manchester city centre on the A6 road (England), A6. Levenshulm ...

Library in South Manchester, built in 1903. Levenshulme Library is also a Carnegie library, having been built with money donated by Scottish-American businessman and philanthropist

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie ( , ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the History of the iron and steel industry in the United States, American steel industry in the late ...

, who funded the building of over 2,500 libraries across the world. Two new multimillion-pound libraries have recently opened in North Manchester as part of a major regeneration scheme, including the eco-designed North City Library in

Harpurhey Harpurhey ( ) is an inner-city suburb of Manchester, England, 2.3 miles northeast of the Manchester city centre, city centre. Historically in Lancashire, the population at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census was 17,652. Areas of Harpurh ...

. and The Avenue Library and Learning Centre in

Higher Blackley Higher Blackley is an electoral district or ward in the north of the City of Manchester, England. The population of this ward at the 2011 census was 11,688. Heaton Park, one of Europe's largest parks, is in this ward. A new "education villag ...

History

There has been a public library service in Manchester since 1852, when the

Manchester Free Library The Manchester Free Library opened on 5 September 1852 in Manchester, England. It was the first public library in England to be set up under the provisions of the Public Libraries Act 1850, which allowed local authorities to impose a local tax of o ...

opened in the Hall of Science, Campfield, on the site of what is now the Museum of Science and Industry. Famous figures such as

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

and

William Thackeray William Makepeace Thackeray ( ; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was an English novelist and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1847–1848 novel '' Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and t ...

attended and spoke at its inauguration. Manchester had taken advantage of powers granted by the

Public Libraries Act 1850 The Public Libraries Act 1850 ( 13 & 14 Vict. c. 65), sometimes called the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1850, was an act of the United Kingdom Parliament which first gave local boroughs the power to establish free public libraries. The act wa ...

( 13 & 14 Vict. c. 65) to become the first local authority to establish a rate-supported public lending and reference library.

Andrea Crestadoro Dr. Andrea Crestadoro (1808–1879) was a bibliographer who became Chief Librarian of Manchester Free Library, 1864–1879. He is credited with being the first person to propose that books could be catalogued by using keywords that did not occur ...

, Chief Librarian of the city 1864–1879, is credited with being the first person to propose that books could be catalogued by using keywords that did not occur in the title of the book. In 1915 the libraries consisted of a reference library, 24 lending libraries, a foreign library, the Henry Watson Music Library and the Thomas Greenwood Library for Librarians. The number of volumes altogether exceeded half a million and the stock of the lending libraries was arranged according to the

Dewey Decimal Classification The Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) (pronounced ) colloquially known as the Dewey Decimal System, is a proprietary library classification system which allows new books to be added to a library in their appropriate location based on subject. ...

. The library was housed in temporary buildings in Piccadilly on the site of the former

Manchester Royal Infirmary Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI) is a large NHS teaching hospital in Chorlton-on-Medlock, Manchester, England. Founded by Charles White in 1752 as part of the voluntary hospital movement of the 18th century, it is now a major regional and nati ...

. The

Moss Side Moss Side is an Inner city, inner-city area of Manchester, England, south of the Manchester city centre, city centre. It had a population of 20,745 at the United Kingdom Census 2021, 2021 census. Moss Side is bounded by Hulme to the north, Cho ...

library contained special collections on

Thomas de Quincey Thomas Penson De Quincey (; Thomas Penson Quincey; 15 August 17858 December 1859) was an English writer, essayist, and literary critic, best known for his ''Confessions of an English Opium-Eater'' (1821).Eaton, Horace Ainsworth, ''Thomas De Q ...

, Mrs. Gaskell and the Brontës and the foreign library was temporarily housed at the

Cheetham Cheetham may refer to: People * Cheetham (surname) Places * Cheetham and Altona Important Bird Area, Melbourne, Australia * Cheetham Close, a megalith and scheduled ancient monument located in Lancashire, very close to the boundary with Greater ...

branch. The Henry Watson Music Library contained 30,000 volumes and hundreds of thousands of pieces of music; the Thomas Greenwood Library for Librarians contained about 15,000 volumes. After the vacation of the first town hall in King Street the building was reused for the public lending library.

Branch libraries

These include libraries in

Chorlton-cum-Hardy Chorlton-cum-Hardy is a suburban area of Manchester, England, southwest of the Manchester city centre, city centre. Chorlton (ward), Chorlton ward had a population of 14,138 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census, and Chorlton Park (w ...

Hulme Hulme () is an inner city area and electoral ward of Manchester, in Greater Manchester, England, immediately south of Manchester city centre. It has a significant industrial heritage. Historically in Lancashire, the name Hulme is derived from ...

Withington Withington is a suburb of Manchester, England. Historically part of Lancashire, it lies from Manchester city centre, south of Fallowfield, north-east of Didsbury and east of Chorlton-cum-Hardy. Withington had a population at the 2011 ce ...

and

Didsbury Didsbury is a suburb of Manchester, England, on the north bank of the River Mersey, south of Manchester city centre. The population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 26,788. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of ...

. The Withington Library (1927), on

Wilmslow Road Wilmslow Road is a major road in Manchester, England, running from Parrs Wood northwards to Rusholme where it becomes the Oxford Road. The name of the road changes again to Oxford Street when it crosses the River Medlock before reaching Manchest ...

, was designed by Henry Price. In 1971 there were 20 branch libraries and services were provided by four mobile libraries or by caravans to a further 19 areas.

Central Library building project, 2010–13

The Central Library is closed from 2010 to 2013 for major refurbishment and expansion. During the closure its books are stored in a disused part of the Winsford salt mine. Some of its services will be available at a temporary location nearby. A new community library for the city centre on

Deansgate Deansgate is a main road (part of the A56) through Manchester City Centre, England. It runs roughly north–south in a near straight route through the western part of the city centre and is the longest road in the city centre at over one mil ...

has been provided. The community library occupies Elliott House (between Lloyd Street and Jackson's Row).

Chief Librarians

* Edward Edwards, 1850–1858 *Robert Wilson Smiles, 1858–1864 *Andrea Crestadoro, 1864–1879 *Charles W. Sutton, 1879–1920 *L. Stanley Jast, 1920–1931 *Charles Nowell 1932–1954 *D. I. Colley, 1955–1974 Kenneth W King 1975 -

Director of Libraries

*David Owen, 1980-1998 *Paul Catcheside, 1998-2000 *Lis Phelan, 2000-2003 *Vicky Rosin MBE, 2003-2005

Head of Libraries

*Nicky Parker, 2005-2009 *Neil MacInnes OBE, 2010-2015

Head of Libraries, Galleries and Culture

*Neil MacInnes OBE, 2015-

Other librarians

*Ernest Axon *George Lovell *K. W. King

References

External links

Manchester Library & Information Service
on the Manchester City Council website {{DEFAULTSORT:Manchester Library and Information Service Culture in Manchester Education in Manchester Libraries in Manchester