Northfield Library Explained

Northfield Library is a Carnegie library in Northfield, Birmingham, England^[1] which in 1914 became the first open-access lending library in Birmingham.

History

Northfield Library was opened in 1906. The land was provided by the Cadbury family and the building constructed with funds of £750 donated by Andrew Carnegie. The foundation stone was laid by Alderman T. R. Bayliss.

On 12 February 1914 the library burnt to the ground. Suspicion fell on local suffragettes.^[2]

It was rebuilt in the same year by the Free Libraries Committee and became the first open-access lending library in Birmingham^[3] The façade remains the same; however, in 1984, the library building was doubled in size and a project was undertaken to remove asbestos at the same time.^[4]

References

52.4148°N -1.9673°W

Notes and References

1. The and Municipal and County Engineer, Volume 27, p.125
2. Notes on the history of the Birmingham public libraries: 1861-1961, Birmingham Public Libraries 1962
3. Books, Buildings and Social Engineering: Early Public Libraries in Britain from Past to Present. Alistair Black, Simon Pepper, Kaye Bagshaw, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 23 Jun 2009
4. The Library Association record. The Library Association., 1984