Library Theatre
| Manchester Central Library | |
|---|---|
Manchester Central Library viewed from St Peter's Square
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| General information | |
| Architectural style | Neoclassical rotunda, Tuscan colonnade in Portland stone, low pitched leaded roof and a two-storey, five-bay Corinthian portico entrance. |
| Town or city | Manchester |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 53°28′41″N 2°14′41″W / 53.478056°N 2.244722°W |
| Construction started | 1930 |
| Completed | 17 July 1934 |
| Renovated | 2010–2014 |
| Client | Manchester Corporation |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | E. Vincent Harris |
Manchester Central Library is the headquarters of the city's library and information service in Manchester, England. Facing St Peter's Square, it was designed by E. Vincent Harris and constructed between 1930 and 1934. At its opening, one critic wrote, "This is the sort of thing which persuades one to believe in the perennial applicability of the Classical canon". The form of the building, a columned portico attached to a rotunda domed structure, is loosely derived from the Pantheon, Rome.
The library building is grade II* listed. A four-year project to renovate and refurbish the library commenced in 2010. Central Library re-opened on 22 March 2014.
Manchester was the first local authority to provide a public lending and reference library after the passing of the Public Libraries Act 1850. The Manchester Free Library opened at Campfield in September 1852 at a ceremony attended by Charles Dickens. When the Campfield premises were declared to be unsafe in 1877, the library was moved to the old Town Hall in King Street. The library moved again to what is now Piccadilly Gardens, to the former outpatients wing of Manchester Royal Infirmary and an old YMCA hut in 1912.
In 1926 the city council held a competition to design an extension to the town hall and a central library. E. Vincent Harris was selected to design both buildings. His circular design for the library, reminiscent of the Pantheon in Rome, was based on libraries in America. The library's foundation stone was laid on 6 May 1930 by the Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald. The library was officially opened by King George V on 17 July 1934 after he had laid the foundation stone for the Town Hall Extension.
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