Author: librarytouristblog

Liverpool Central Library

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Wow, just wow! I’m not going to bother with many words. The giant cardboard Shakespeare characters were in the library during the summer and were designed by students at Birmingham University.

The entrance:

The Picton Reading Room. Amazing – but voices and footsteps really echo.

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They held a shush silent disco here:

A vast self-contained children’s area with lots of nooks and crannies for reading (I seriously lost one of my children in here for a couple of minutes and started panicking!)

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Guildhall and City Business Libraries

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It strikes me as quite strange to have one entrance and then one library on the ground floor and a library with a different name on the floor above, but I realise there’s a history there.

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City Business Library. Image: Philafrenzy on Wikimedia
© Guildhall Libary
Guildhall Library

The Guildhall Library’s website explains it best:

In 2009-2010 the Library was transformed again with the former Printed Books section forming the nucleus of the Library you see today. The Prints and Maps and Manuscripts sections moved to London Metropolitan Archives but some major manuscript collections are still housed at Guildhall. Guildhall Library now shares a building with the City Business Library, so users can now move very readily between current and historical business resources as well as having access to the Internet and the Department’s extensive range of online resources. In fact the City Business Library, once called the Commercial Reference Room, has returned to its original home: first housed at Guildhall Library it moved to Basinghall Street in 1970 and later to Brewers’ Hall Garden.

The new Guildhall Library is a major public reference library, very connected with its past, holding a wide range of important works and sources including: a comprehensive collection of printed books on the City of London and its history, the Lloyds Marine Collection, a large collection of pamphlets from the 17th – 19th centuries covering political and social issues, a complete run of the London Gazette from 1665 to the present, extensive parliamentary resources including eighteenth-century poll books and a complete set of House of Commons papers from 1740, broadsides and an unrivalled collection of local and trade directories from 1677 to the present.

They’ve got a good blog at about their exhibitions and events with pictures: https://guildhalllibrarynewsletter.wordpress.com/

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Kensington Central Library

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Wood. My first impression was wood. Proper wooden bookcases, wood covered pillars, wood tables, wooden window seats – even the lift is hidden behind wooden doors. It does make the library look quite grand.

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The ground floor has the lending library and an area sectioned off for the children’s library. Upstairs is a large reference library, plenty of computers and a local studies area partitioned by a glass wall. There is a third floor which appears to be rented out to 2 companies.

The tub chairs have wheels on them which I’ve never seen before.

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I was so comfortable here that I actually joined and used a computer for an hour! The staff were very helpful and patient.

Solihull Central Library

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Image courtesy of Solihull.gov.uk

 

Solihull Central Library is housed within ‘The Core’, which is a cultural centre including a theatre, café, gallery and a council walk-in centre. It is also the local base for various voluntary and community organisations.

Solihull itself felt like the “posh” end of Birmingham. It was all well kept and we were able to park next door to the Core in a multi-storey. Outside was a homemade beach with children playing on it as it was the summer holidays and a lovely warm Monday in August.

The Core is a large building with the Library mainly at the back area. I hadn’t realised that it had only opened earlier in 2016. The colour scheme was quite purple and funky and I was delighted to see more book benches dotted around.

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Hammersmith Central Library

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Hammersmith Library was swathed in scaffolding. But despite the noise and disruption was still full of people. The children’s library looked inviting.

There were plenty of terminals and desks – although all in use. A reading room with local studies and reference material was housed upstairs plus a quiet reading room. I couldn’t go into the reading room as I had bags and did not want to disobey the sign telling me to put them in the locker! The upstairs landing had some special wooden bookcases full of William Morris books. There were some beautiful stained glass windows too.

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St Helens Central Library

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Image courtesy of Geograph.org.uk

 

St Helen’s Central Library was a short walk from the train station as many libraries from the Victorian period are. It is situated in a pedestrian civic square in the Gamble Building (opened in 1896) although quite modern inside.

 

It has a lovely colourful, hard-wearing children’s area.

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The library is very active within the community without having the benefit of an expensively refurbished or new building. St Helens Library Service is used as a case study by the government titled “The art of the possible: libraries as creative hubs” which includes an excellent picture of swimming in the library! In August 2016 the library was given a National Lottery Award for its cultural hubs team.

I love their Twitter logo.

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Wigan Library

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I couldn’t initially find Wigan’s library and was wandering around the block. When I actually came upon it from behind I was so surprised by the huge modern building that I swore under my breath when I realized it was the library.

It’s a vast community hub – Wigan Life Centre – on 4 floors incorporating many community resources including a credit union, council services and housing advice. Organisations such as Age UK, Carers UK and the Royal British Legion use it as their local base and a swimming pool and gym is housed in the complex too.

It was hard to see where the library began and ended but that may well be deliberate. Although I found the entrance a little bewildering and I could have done with a map or clearer signage.

There was a vast amount of book stock and plenty of seats, desks and study spaces in varieties of locations and computer terminals and charging points for laptops and devices.

The colour scheme was mainly grey and wood but with some vibrant chairs and art work, displays and collections. There was plenty of light and inspiring quotes on the walls.

The square outside has a sculpture called the Face of Wigan by Rick Kirby and it’s called Believe Square. Apparently this is to do with sport but I am going to hijack it and think of it as believing in the power of knowledge….

 

Warrington Central Library

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I arrived just after opening on a rainy Saturday morning – but already several people had got in before me. The entrance has statues either side which I found quite grand.

The library is in an old building which they have attempted to jazz up. The sails suspended from the ceiling attracted my attention. I don’t know if they are just there for aesthetic value or if they serve to dampen noise, shield the sun or partition areas – either way I like them. The library has a big main area and then some rooms off it such as local studies and some reference material.

This the first library crime scene rug I had seen but I think these are quite popular.

The children’s library was a corner of the main room dressed and ready for the summer reading scheme.

According to the Borough Council’s webiste, Warrington had the first public library in the country, opening in 1848, supporting the town’s museum.

Birkenhead Central Library

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I’m afraid I feared for my life on the short walk from the station to the library. There was a family screaming at each other in one of the houses, with neighbours standing outside ogling. I imagined drug deals and hit and runs around the corner. However, I am a Soft Southerner so that was probably the issue.

The central library is in a very impressive building but is now cut off from the town centre. The library closes for lunch (on a Saturday) so I only had 10 minutes to look around as I didn’t want to be one of the people that needed ushering out and delaying the staff’s break.

The foyer was grand with a statue in it and grand doors off the sides.

Although inviting the library felt a little in need of investment. It was mainly a large open area – there was a separate computer suite and an information centre upstairs. The large children’s library was sectioned off by bookcases.

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The back of the building seemed to be a curved wall which was impressive but must have been a nuisance for the carpenters!

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Off the middle of the wall were double doors to a lovely garden area. I’ve since researched this and found that it is a “pocket park” that opened in June 2016 set up with the aid of a grant:

 

Leamington Spa Library

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Leamington Spa library is not a central library.

Warwickshire organises their libraries into divisions and Leamington Spa is the division library for the Central Division. More importantly, I have family there so it was easy for me to go and visit!

The library is based in the Royal Pump Rooms which was refurbished between 1997 and 1999 to include a library, visitor centre, gallery, museum, café and function rooms. I am told that the library area used to be one of the swimming pools (not part of the original 1814 building) and that is why it is high and has a mezzanine floor.

I visited on a July Saturday. The library felt very clean and yet well-used, airy, welcoming and inviting. Plenty of readers were using the facilities and I could see several members of staff.

 

The Royal Pump Room Gardens are just outside  providing more calming ambiance than the busy road outside.

Bizarrely the Pump Rooms were featured in the Mick Jagger video for Sweet Thing before they were refurbished in the 1990s. I presume this is it:

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