Blackburn Central Library is part of a nice muti-storey community centre in the city centre. The building is on several floors and community groups hire the rooms upstairs. There was a dance group class or show upstairs (majorettes?) and as we looked like lost parents wandering around, several members of helpful staff asked if we were looking for the dance show.
There was also the Hornby lecture theatre and a large IT area with computers and plenty of study desks. There’s a section with local history material. The complex had two lifts and toilets so was very accessible even though it was on several floors.
There was a photography display in the corridor upstairs as the local amateur photography group meets there and a project put together by Ukrainian refugees with photos and letters. There was also a jigsaw out and I think I saw a piano. This was all evidence of a bustling community centre.
I like the way this display shows everything you can access with your library card:
Blackpool Central Library is a large Carnegie Library that opened in 1911. Inside it has a light well in the middle which helps make the place welcoming. There is an upstairs that houses the local history material but it was closed when I was there. Outside, I could see a Juvenile entrance from when the children’s library would have had a separate entrance, quite common in older libraries, but a strange idea to us now.
I had mixed feelings about the modern (?) stain glass windows. Although bright and colourful.
There is a lift and toilets. The Children’s library had a Teepee and a fake grass area with a few kids reading. However, when I was there, in the summer of 2024, the staff were dealing with an injured and crying baby.
I love this inspired “Endangered Books” display. Displaying books that are in danger of being withdrawn as no-one has taken them out of the library for a long time or ever!
Calderdale Library is a really nice library. It’s a nice mix of wood and stone and feels very modern with light nicely incorporated which leads you in and up the stairs. The library reopened in 2017 incorporating the 1857 Square Congregational Church with a spire, rose window and stone arch. The spire means you can locate the library from a distance. The noise of the traffic outside is a shame but that is the price for having a library based centrally and near the railway station (and was probably accentuated on the day I was there as the weather was warm and the window slats were open).
The entrance has an exhibition area, self-issue machines, book drop, quick choice and request sections and two members of staff on the ground level. The Children’s library was to the side, with the local studies and archives in the lower level. All together there are four floors and there are some separate meeting rooms, a teen area, and there is a lift.
I took the middle picture from a very comfy purple chair at the top of the stairs. I like the entrance to the children’s library with the model dust jackets and a Hungry Caterpillar. If you finish in the library there is an industrial museum and the Peice Hall next door.
Southwater Library is sited in a wonderful pedestrian area that I would have to describe as a leisure piazza with shops, hotels, restaurants, cinema, bowling and an ice rink. Next to the library is a water feature and pond and a lovely vast park with bike hire, tree climbing and a zoo. The library is housed in a building with the Council offices.
The ground floor is partly taken up with a Costa coffee shop and some library self-service facilities while the escalator takes customers up to the main library. The first floor has another entrance and terrace which leads to the pond and park.
The only drawback is that the floors had a bit of a doughnut feeling because of the escalators in the middle. The kids area was just a small section of the floor, not very intimate or imaginative, although comfy. But there were other nooks and crannies that had seating and bookcases and were intimate. On the second floor there are gates where you need a pass to access the upper floors – presumably where there are council offices – but somehow the gate barriers felt rather obtrusive and didn’t give off the right feel.
There was a variety of desks and seating but several were reserved for council business so we felt we couldn’t just sit down there and read, even though it was a Saturday and I suspect the council staff are not working or taking appointments on Saturdays.
But, generally it is an excellent facility with a welcoming modern feel and in the right environment. I can see it would be a great place to take young children as you could go to the park and feed the ducks and play in the water feature and pop into the library. I think teenagers and students would be encouraged to hang out there as it is a relaxed environment, although I am not sure there are enough serious quiet study spaces. I’m sure the adults and senior citizens in the community appreciate the investment into the area and that the library is part of that. I agree with community hubs that incorporate council first-contact points within libraries as I think it puts a positive face on council services. I also love libraries that have a cafe and I do love a Costa!
Sefton Council don’t designate a central library so I went to see Crosby Library so I could also see the Antony Gormley Another Place exhibit on the beach. The library is in a 1960s building with a rotunda. There’s two floors with a first floor mezzanine with study desks upstairs and bookable study pod.
I was there on a June Saturday just after lunchtime. The Lego club had just finished in the large function room.
I loved the old librarian’s desk on the first floor which says belonged to the Borough Librarian in 1911 a lady named Kate.
The library needs some funding and maintenance. There’s damp in the corners and the light wells need a clean (they must need frequent attention). Loved the wallpaper on the mezzanine floor (see close up shot).
Shrewsbury Library, or Castle Gates, is the representative library that I chose to visit for Shropshire. The library is housed within the building of an old school which is now Grade 1 listed. Darwin attended the school from 1818 so there is a large statue of him outside. The library was refurbished and re-opened in 1983/4. They have done their best to make it work in an old building, which gives it very studious character, particularly on the upper two levels, however makes the ground floor a little disjointed and squished.
There are beams and stone walls exposed throughout the building and great views of the castle through interesting windows. Even though it is in an old building there is a lift, loos and water bottle filling station. There is also a book bench and a small meeting booth.
I went to visit Leeds library in the summer of 2024. It is housed in an imposing old building but I remember getting a little confused trying to find the entrance for the library as an art gallery shares the building.
The library is on several floors accessed by a stone staircase and stained glass windows, fortunately there is also a lift. The library is separated into lots of rooms, some have a modern refurbished feel, but I can see that this layout would require quite a lot of staff to keep it open.
I was there at 5pm on a summer evening and yet the library was full of teenagers studying so the facility is well used. There is also a business hub and a music facility. There were too many people in the kids area and the main vaulted reading room for me to be discreetly take any photos but below are some shots of other areas.
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