Chetham’s Library

This library is SO worth the visit! It is like going back in time. It’s free to get in, though you will feel compelled to donate. You check in with the guard and then are sent back to the library where you walk up to an ancient door and ring the bell for them to let you in. Once in you have free reign to explore the library. It has that amazing smell of old books, the lighting is perfect, the artifacts contained inside are exquisite. There is a room with a gigantic round table and chairs — perfect to bring your own book to sit and read, do some writing, etc. A very inspiring space in that way. Will definitely go back next time I’m in town.

As part of the Manchester Histories Festival, Chetham’s Library was open to the public for a day. I took the opportunity to sneak into this hidden gem and was overwhelmed at just how spectacular the library is. You feel like Harry Potter as you walk up the stairs into the half-​timbered library space. It is dark, creaky and full of beautiful old wooden shelves. It is one of those spaces that takes your breath away, particularly as it is so beautifully hidden in Manchester city centre.
It is worth organising to visit this wonderful space and to walk amongst the beautiful old books in the school’s collection. Manchester is lucky to have a library like this — go and appreciate its beauty.

I often think libraries get a bad rep, because people most think of them as boring, dusty and ruled by mean-​spirited spinsters who wish for absolute silence within their domain. I’ve yet to find any library like that, and more often than not find them places that are useful not only for research or casual reading, but also just for simply getting away from the hustle and bustle of life in the city.
Chetham’s library is a wonderfully historic building dating back to 1653, and is luckily open for free to the public. Many of the books date back to before 1851, so history literally fills the entire place. As Angela and Alfie have also pointed out, it was also the site of the meeting of Marx and Engels. It’s a fantastic place to visit, whether for reading or simply to see the architecture of the hall in which it is housed.

Chetham’s is one of the most beautiful libraries in the north, let alone in Manchester. Its primarily concerned with local history and writers, and is indeed where Marx and Engels once had a chat or two, though that usually gets played up the vicious rumour mill, which wildly claims that they wrote the communist manifesto there and probably some cheeky volumes of Das Capital while they were at it.
The beautiful reading room at the top of the library is now host to a number of excellent conferences, many free. Recently, the History of the Book conference, an annual event organized jointly with The University of Manchester’s literature department, has been a resounding success, and though you’ll have to wait a year, well worth going to.
The head librarian is a lovely and helpful man, will assist you in the search for interesting and ageing volumes, no matter how obscure your interests.
If you’re a scholar you should definitely investigate what the archives hold from your field, and if you’re just an interested visitor you should definitely pass by to see the building and its interior, and learn a bit of local history.

If you love a little bit of history and you also love to read, then Chetham’s Library might be a worthwhile trip. Established in 1653, it’s the UK’s oldest free public library (although to visit you must make an appointment).
Housed in the most incredible 15^th-​century Baronial Hall, the stunning dark-​wood aisles are packed to the rafters with all kinds of publications from ‘large folio books to manuscript diaries, letters and deeds, to prints, paintings and glass lantern-​slides’.
There’s also an incredible selection of archives, newspaper cuttings and old photographs. In fact, all together, there are over 100,000 publications here, the majority of which were printed before 1850. If anybody has ever read ‘Shadow in the Wind’, you might have some idea of how special a place this is and what a wonderful insight it can give you into our heritage (note that to see specific material you’ll have to enquire).
A nice little bit of trivia: this is a library where Marx and Engels would meet, you can see exactly where they sat and what book Marx was reading at the time. Ok, I’m a geek. What can I say?

See
for a full history of this marvelous medieval building in the heart of Manchester. Tucked away from easy public view near Victoria station it is worth a visit to see that there is more to Manchester than the modern or even Victorian city. but it has to be said — you’re not there for the books…

You may think reviewing a library is really quite sad. It is. But this library is a little bit different so i’m adding it.
For a start, as libraries go they are generally used for reading or working silently in. Forget that if you’re going here. This place is too ‘special’ for common folk to be contaminating.
It’s one of the oldest libraries in Britain (apparently) and pretty much everything inside it is antique and therefore locked away so don’t bloody touch anything! The only reason we went for a look around was because we were looking for locations to shoot a short film, and in some respects it was quite interesting to investigate. But don’t DO anything or you’ll get told off. (What were you thinking?!) We were stupid enough to stand in the middle of an empty room and some old woman with a gigantic arse came in and told us off. I can’t believe we even considered standing in an empty room to be honest. Oh, and they wouldn’t let us shoot any films surprisingly.
It was free to get in blah blah blah, but why anyone would want to, unless you were some sort of historian, is beyond me. If your grandma and grandad are in town they might appreciate it.