Liverpool Central Library

Liverpool‘s Grade II-listed Central Library is the largest of the 22 libraries in the city and sits alongside a string of other, similarly magnificent Neo-Classical venues on William Brown Street: World Museum Liverpool, St. George’s Hall and the Walker Art Gallery. With sections of the building dating back to 1850 (including the circular Picton Reading Room, whose acoustics make page-turning a thing of noisy, echoing wonder), the building was restored to historic glory in 2013 thanks to a £50m refurbishment.

The building also houses the Records Office and Archives, home to an extensive collection of documents and printed materials relating to the history of Liverpool dating from the 13th century to the present day.

The Picton Reading Room, Hornby Library and the Oak Room are a (genuinely) rare treat with the library housing 15,000 rare books. The beautiful reading space has floor to ceiling books with a mezzanine level accessible by narrow metal staircases and a walkway around the space.

The Hornby Library space is home to the private collection of Hugh Frederick Hornby, one of the finest ever assembled by a private collector, perhaps somewhat unusually focused on fine printing and the book as an art form.

In the Oak Room, look out for the display case with John James Audubon’s enormous Birds of America book, a true masterpiece in the field of natural history. The pages are turned weekly too which may not sound like much but this book really is bigger than you’d ever expect and each page is a joy to behold.

The library has 130 c0mputers so you can always find a spot to sit and work, do some research or just browse the web if you fancy doing it in a studious atmosphere. For families, there is a fully accessible family area with a child friendly spaces, lots of books and free computers to use for young people up to 14. You’ll also find the Business and IP centre on the first floor, providing support for starting or growing a business.