Walkley Carnegie Library, Sheffield, UK
Posted by: 
JuliaMC
N 53° 23.698 W 001° 30.179
30U E 599543 N 5917252
Walkley library is on a steep slope overlooking the northern city of Sheffield
Waymark Code: WM6BKV
Location: United Kingdom
Date Posted: 05/09/2009
Views: 5
Carnegie provided £3,500 in two stages, provided the Sheffield Libraries committee undertook to spend not less than £230 a year on its maintenance.
The new library consisted of an entrance hall with drinking fountain, separate reading rooms for gentlemen and ladies, a lending library and rooms for the librarian and committee. Local architecxts submitted plans and the winner was HL Paterson - a safe pair of hands who was responsible for many corporation buildings. The first stone was laid on August 8th 1904 and it took 16 months to complete the building. The first librarian was Mr A E Ibbotson.
In July 1913, Walkley library re-opened after the annual holiday with the lending library rearranged to allow open access to the shelves. Although the library committee was suspicious of this modern idea, they admitted in March 1914 that the experiment had been a success - attracting over 7,000 new borrowers in 6 months.
There were further reorganisations, with the last major change being in 1954. From the road, the lbirary looks much the same as it did in 1905, except for the removal of the wooden cupolaover the entrance hall, which had become unsafe by 1956.
The library is still in active use today - popular with many local groups.
Text from: Memories of Walkley and its Library - the Walkley Library millennium publication, published by Sheffield City Council
Address of Library Building:
South Road,
Walkley
Sheffield, United Kingdom
S6 3TD
Current Use of Building: Library
Year Built (optional): 1905
Website about building: [Web Link]
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