10 By Margaret Brecknell
Notable Library Buildings in the North-West
Interior of Chetham’s Library, Manchester Photo Credit: Kelly Whittlesey / Shutterstock.com
Many of the North-West’s public libraries have played a vital role in their local communities for well over a century now and indeed, one has been in existence for over 350 years.
I
n offering free access to books, these institutions have particularly, over the years, given less affluent members of society the chance of an education which may have otherwise been lost to them. The buildings, in which the region’s libraries are housed, have come in all shapes and sizes, but sadly, because of cuts, not all have survived to the present day. Here are ten of the most notable library buildings in the North-West.
106
LANCASHIRE & NORTH WEST MAGAZINE
CHETHAM’S LIBRARY, MANCHESTER Chetham’s Library has been in continuous use as a public library for over 350 years and thus can rightly claim to be the oldest free public reference library in the Englishspeaking world. It was established way back in 1653, under the terms of the will of Humphrey Chetham, a prosperous local textile merchant and philanthropist. Towards the end of his life Chetham devoted himself to charitable schemes with the aim of providing local underprivileged boys with an education, believing that this gave them the best chance of escaping poverty by finding a decent job. Free access to books was an important factor in enabling this to happen and so upon his death he made provision for a library to be founded, instructing the librarian “to require nothing of any man that cometh into the library”. www.lancmag.com
