Of course, back in 1934, Manchester Corporation chose not to open its “illustrated record and account of the official opening by His Majesty King George V” the new Central Library.
Instead, after a short historic description of past Manchester libraries all the way back to 1852 along with the search for a new one after the Great War, the booklet sets out the glories of the “jewel in the crown” of the Library empire”.
Starting with the Shakespeare Hall the different technical libraries and the Lecture Theatre, there are details of the stacks plans of the building and of course lots of pictures.
It is a wonderful snap shot of Central Ref as it was 86 years ago, and includes many period pieces, like “a photographic reproducing machine has been installed in the mezzanine room over the Commercial Library”.
Now I have my facebook friend Dave Scholes to thank for passing the booklet on to me which came with a number of other “finds” including a copy of proposed air raid shelter inside Victoria Arches, drawn up by the City of Manchester.
So that is it, but I think I will return to the book, if only to share some more of the photographs to showcase the place, when it was brand new.
Location; Manchester
Pictures; from Manchester Central Library
*Manchester Central Library July 17th, 1936, Manchester Libraries Committee
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