- Manchester Free Library
-
The Manchester Free Library opened on 2 September 1852 in Manchester, England.[1] It was the first to be set up up under the provisions of the Public Libraries Act 1850, which allowed local authorities to impose a local tax of one penny to pay for the service.[2] The terms of the Act required that a poll of ratepayers had to be held before the local authority was allowed to spend money on public libraries, and at least two-thirds had to vote in favour. In Manchester's case only 40 of the more than 4000 eligible voters opposed.[3]
The project was the initiative of John Potter, the Mayor of Manchester, who started a fund to raise money for the purchase of books and a suitable building to house them.[4] On its opening the library had a stock of 18,028 books, purchased at a cost of £4156.[5] So busy was it during its first week that a police officer was assigned to control the crowd around the borrowing desk.[6]
References
- Notes
- ^ Edwards 1869, p. 70
- ^ Edwards 1869, p. 61
- ^ Briggs 1965, p. 136
- ^ Edwards 1869, p. 65
- ^ Edwards 1869, p. 66
- ^ Aspin 1995, p. 167
- Bibliography
- Aspin, Chris (1995), The First industrial Society: Lancashire 1750–1850, Carnegie Publishing, ISBN 1-85936-016-5
- Briggs, Asa (1965), Victorian Cities, University of California Press, ISBN 978-0-52007-922-9
- Edwards, Edward (1869), Free town libraries, their formation, management, and history, Trübner & Co., http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=g6gFAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Categories:- Public libraries in Greater Manchester
- 1852 establishments in England
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