Manchester: the libraries

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Manchester Central Library

Our visit to Manchester in November 2024 had four library visits in it! And we still missed one that I really wanted to see. (All headings below are linked to the relevant library website should you wish to know more).

Manchester Central Library

We visited the main public library in Manchester with Eunice, of Life in the Mouse House, on the day she came over to meet us. It’s a magnificent building. Entrance is via the Shakespeare Hall, called after the huge stained glass window above the front door. The window was designed by the Arts & Crafts artist, Robert Anning Bell RA (1863-1933) and includes a portrait of William Shakespeare and scenes from many of his plays. The ceiling is covered in heraldic decorations by George Kruger Gray (1880-1943).

Shakespeare window
Heraldic ceiling

On the ground floor we met one of several bee sculptures we came across over the week. They were part of the Bee in the City Trail in 2018, the worker bee being a symbol of Manchester. On the stairs was a beautiful sculpture of a girl reading by Giovanni Ciniselli (1832-1883).

Bee sculpture
The Reading Girl

Our first sight of the Reading Room took our breath away. What a beautiful space to work in!

Wolfson Reading Room

We walked round the circular shelves very silently admiring the exhibition of Hoyles Collection of Printed Cottons 1884, and the little bird with the message Reading sets me free. Wonderful!

Hoyles cottons 1884
Hoyles cottons 1884

While with Eunice we also tried to visit the John Rylands Library and the Portico Library, but both were closed that day. The Portico remains on our to-do list, but we managed to visit John Rylands a few days later.

John Rylands Research Institute and Library

John Rylands Library

Now part of the University of Manchester, the John Rylands Library was founded by Enriqueta Rylands in memory of her husband, entrepreneur and philanthropist John Rylands, who died in 1888. Eunice has written a comprehensive post about the library so I will restrict myself mainly to pictures here, especially as I still have two libraries to go! The building is one of the finest examples of neo-Gothic architecture in Europe.

Corridor
Gothic ceiling
Sculpture in historic entrance hall
Even the radiator grilles are pretty
Gothic arch detail

In the historic entrance hall two old printing presses were on display. The Columbian Press, also known as the Eagle Press, was invented by American engineer George Clymer in 1813 and, despite being over two hundred years old, is still used for demonstrations. The Albion Printing Press dates from the 1860s.

Columbian Press
Albion Press

The main reading room, with statues of Enriqueta and John Rylands at opposite ends, stunned us even more than the one at the Central Library.

John Rylands
Reading room
Enriquta Rylands

As you might expect, I just loved wandering round looking at the books and the old card catalogues. What librarian of a certain age has not dropped one of those drawers without its securing pin and had to refile all the cards? (Hint: I have definitely done this).

Bookshelves
Bookshelves
Bookshelves and card catalogue
Bookshelves and card catalogue

I also loved the doors and the glimpse of the Librarian’s Office with its green lampshade. I could certainly see myself working in there!

Door to Periodicals
Would love to know what this gate is hiding
Door to Librarian’s Office
Librarian’s Office

Chetham’s Library

Chetham’s Library, which was founded in 1653, is the oldest surviving public library in Britain. It was established under the will of Humphrey Chetham (1580-1653), a prosperous Manchester textile merchant, banker and landowner. The building is even older, dating from 1421 when it was built to accommodate the priests of Manchester’s Collegiate Church. It is now part of Chetham’s School of Music so, because the site is populated with children and young people, visits are by pre-booked guided tour only and for safeguarding reasons photographs of the library exterior are not allowed – however, the interior was more than interesting enough. As usual I have far too many pictures of book shelves – I just can’t help it! A few are shown below.

Entrance plaque
Central corridor
Books behind gates
Book shelved
Books locked up
Stool

Other than the magnificent decoration, this reading room held two particularly interesting items: a chained library and the table where Marx and Engels studied for six weeks in the summer of 1845. The books they read are still held by the library – those on the table are facsimiles.

Reading room
Marx and Engels table

The chained library was one of five for which Chetham left £200 in his will. They were to contain “Godly books … chained upon desks or to be fixed to the pillars … in the Parish Churches of Manchester and Bolton-in-the-Moors, and in the Chapels of Turton, Walmesley and Gorton”. Two survive – this one is Gorton’s.

Chained library
Chained library

Working Class Movement Library

My final library, although historic, is quite different from the others – and I am actually a member! I first heard of the Working Class Movement Library some years ago when a Tory MP objected to it receiving any public funds. (It’s a charity, but I suspect he thought it was part of the public library system. I don’t expect Tory MPs to be clued up.) This kind of complaint is often counter-productive and, like many others, I was inspired to send a donation. I’ve renewed my “Radical Readership” every year since, but this was my first opportunity to visit.

Working Class Movement Library, Salford

The Library is across the river from Manchester in the neighbouring city of Salford. Jubilee House originally opened in 1899 as a home for district nurses, then in 1957 became a local authority home for adults with learning disabilities. In 1987 Edmund and Ruth Frow moved in with their Working Class Movement Library, which they had been amassing since the 1950s, and lived there until shortly before Eddie’s death in 1997.

Opening hours are fairly limited, and if you want to see beyond the exhibition space on the ground floor you’ll need to book a Friday afternoon tour. We did exactly that. I don’t have photos of rows of books this time as they are all crammed into what are essentially bedrooms and not very picturesque. The view below looking up from one of the landings gives a general idea of the layout. The NALGO Room housed an exhibition of posters – I liked the name because many, many years ago I was a NALGO Shop Steward (National and Local Government Officers’ Association).

Looking up from a landing
NALGO Room

Some exhibits remain very pertinent today.

1940s pamphlets about Palestine
Freedom for Palestinians in Israeli Jails. Burham Karkutli 1985.

Some reminded us of home.

Scottish Socialist Party
Glasgow Shipwrights Society instituted December 1845

We met the Suffragettes again (of course).

The Woman Voter
Cartoons for the Cause – cover by Walter Crane
The Suffragette by Sylvia Pankhurst
Pankhurst portrait

And finally, a few other items which caught my eye.

Miners’ Strike commemorative plate
Don’t buy the Sun!
The Tories’ Hymn of Hate
NHS pamphlet

It’s a good job John is happy to visit both women’s history sites and libraries! We didn’t neglect his primary interests though. My next Manchester post will concentrate on science and industry.

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62 Comments »

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  3. I didn’t know the last one but absolutely loved the first three that I visited several times when living in Manchester. I actually have a similar post in my blog.
    Looking forward to read your science post 😁.

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  5. Hi Anabel – what a fascinating post – wonderful to see here … I really need to inwardly digest and re-read … but I’d love to visit – perhaps one day. Absolutely entrancing … so pleased you and John were able to visit – cheers Hilary

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  6. As you know, Chetham’s is one of my favourite places to visit! I visited John Ryland’s library a couple of years ago… I nearly visited last weekend too, but the exhibition areas are closed due to work and there happened to be a queue to get in.

    I do have a blog post about The Portico Library coming up.

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  13. The Rylands looks like a cathedral! And I’ve never heard of a prohibition on photographing the exterior of a building (though it seems you snuck in the historic plaque—wasn’t it on the outside?)

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    • It is very church-like! The Victorians did like their Gothic. The photography prohibition is for safeguarding reasons because the library is in the middle of a school campus, it’s not to do with the actual building. I’ve updated the post to make that clear, because someone else also thought it was odd. The plaque was on a high wall surrounding the site before you went through the gates, so even if they wanted to they couldn’t stop passers-by photographing that bit!

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  14. I’d love to read a book in any of those libraries. I love the stained glass and know each pane means something. Love that 2nd library because I love Gothic. I could go to that library every day.

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  18. Ah, memories memories! I used to enjoy Manchester Central LIbrary almost as much as John Rylands. But I never saw Chetham’s Library, unsurprisingly, nor the Working Class Movement Library, which I never even knew existed until this minute. Thanks for a lovely nostalgic moment ior two. 

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  19. Visited the Rylands museum on a one day visit to Manchester and was absolutely blown away by the collections on display. Manchester certainly has done a wonderful job ensuring the libraries are thriving.

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  21. Very impressive buildings and a more interesting city than I thought from just seeing it on TV news reports over the years. Mind you, could say that of any city or town before you explore them properly. Bob. BSS.

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  25. I love this post for many reasons – thanks for the mention and the link by the way 😊 I’m so glad you managed to visit John Rylands and you got to see the reading room, it’s stunning isn’t it? You were lucky to get that outside shot with no traffic and few people too as it’s always very busy round there.

    Chetham’s Library is one which, so far, I’ve had no desire to visit, plus it seems strange that you can take photos inside but not outside – it’s usually the other way round with old buildings like that. In Turton Tower, not far from me, is the Priest’s Room with a display of several of Humphrey Chetham’s chained books.

    I’d never heard of the Working Class Movement Library so that’s gone on my list for another time. The Portico? such a shame it was closed when we went, that just means you’ll have to get back down here before too long!😀

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    • It was quite late in the afternoon before we got to John Rylands (just before 4) so maybe we just avoided lunch time at one end and rush hour at the other. The reason you can’t take photos outside Chetham’s is because of safeguarding – it’s part of the music school campus and they don’t want any of the pupils to get in the picture. WCML is well worth a visit if you book the Friday pm tour. And yes, we’ll definitely have to come back to see the Portico!

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