Libraries Through the Lens

Squeezed in between more modern structures this little building caught my attention while in London at the weekend.  I wondered what it was, but not for long,  because the sign above the left door says "Public Library".  Looks very inviting doesn't it?  The architect was Sir Alfred Brumwell Thomas (1868-1948) who was, as can be seen, a fan of the baroque revival style. Built at the beginning of the 20th Century it is one of the libraries funded by the great philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. He rarely turned down requests for a grant to build a library , the only stipulation was that the local authority would fund its upkeep.  Large parts of the English speaking world have Carnegie Libraries, including my own town. If he was around today doing the same thing these buildings would be very functional but most that were built under his inspired idea to give access to books to all were places you could both learn and dream.   What other purpose could that cupola have but be one to dream under especially when it looks like this inside

This interior view is from The Greenwich Phantom's blog who marvels at the three domes in one building here and appropriately calls it a Greenwich Secret.  If I had known there was such an interior I would have made my way through that public library door to marvel.

Built on a rather grander scale is Liverpool's Central Library, the largest of the cities 22 libraries. It is located in the rows of classical buildings on William Brown Street and has recently been reopened after extensive interior refurbishment last year. I think the rotunda is the reading room but the entrance is the one with the umbrella tables on the left. How very civilized, you could sit and read your book there in the sunshine. The refurbishment also introduced a roof terrace where views of the city can be gained and a literary pavement into the building which can be seen on the BBC's 'In Pictures' views of the £50M restoration here. Always a joy to hear about restoration rather than closure of a library.

 Lastly we have Winchester Library which has been re-branded as the Winchester Discovery Centre, the photo taken at sunset when the exterior floodlights were coming on.  Located in a building that is a former Corn Exchange from 1838, like the other libraries I have shown it is a listed building, but unlike the others its one I have actually been inside.  It is both a lending and reference library but they also have a small art gallery on the top floor with a interesting exhibition programme,

Demco Interiors photograph

up those stairs. It also has a performance hall, shop and café;  lots of discovering time could be spent in here. 

An entry to ABC Wednesday, a journey through the alphabet, this week sojourning at L here.

 

          

ABC Wednesday - Zebra Crossings

I wonder if there will be as many zebra crossings as there were yurts last week ABC Wednesday. Well here goes, here are some of my local crossings.

They are actually all in one place, Ramsden Square, Barrow, a square with a roundabout. In the summer it is beautifully planted with flowers but on this day there is only snow. The statue in the middle is of James Ramsden, who arrived in Barrow as a young man aged 23 in 1846 to manage the engineering department of the Furness Railway and was destined to eventually become the director of the the whole enterprise. An engineer and industrialist he was a man with a vision to build a town for 100,000, which actually never happened, but he raised finance and backed by local capitalists financed dock extensions and iron and steel works, but his lasting legacy was his ambitious planned town with wide tree lined streets and ample space for development. There are few planned towns in England and fewer still in the 19th Century.

(image from statues on my barrow)

He became mayor, elected five times to that position and was knighted in 1878 the same year this bronze statue was erected.

But lets turn left now and
here is another zebra crossing. St Mary's Church in the background, and underneath the land to the left is a recently completed 30m (98 ft) deep storm water drain, part of a two year project to upgrade the victorian sewer network. Made a more interesting engineering problem because the ground water alters with tidal variations.

Continuing to walk clockwise
another zebra crossing leading to the main library (opened in 1922). This has just had a new roof fitted so it has lasted well. Continue past

and here is yet another zebra crossing complete with community police pounding, or perhaps ambling their beat.

So there it is a square roundabout with two zebra crossings at each four points. Loved by pedestrians but possibly not as much by car drivers in a hurry.

Zoom over to the ABC Wednesday meme for more interpretations of the letter Z.