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Leeds Central Library is a public library in Leeds, located on the Headrow in the city centre. It houses the city library service's single largest general lending and reference collection, as well as hosting an art gallery in the adjoining building. Services available from the building include: * Art Library * Central Children's Library * Central Lending Library * Information Centre (Business and Research Library) * Local Studies Library * Music and DVD Library ==History of the Central Library building== The Central Library is a Grade II * listed building and was constructed between 1878 and 1884. The building was opened on 17 April 1884 by the Mayor, Alderman Edwin Woodhouse as the Leeds Municipal Offices. It was intended that various scattered borough departments would be accommodated in the building so that the administration of Leeds would be concentrated in the Municipal Offices and the Town Hall. A design competition was held to choose a design for the building. There were 26 entries and the winning architect was a Leeds man of Scottish origin - George Corson. He said ''I determined that the new buildings adjacent to the Town Hall would be similar in style to the Town Hall but not identical in treatment.'' Corson's plans included dividing the buildings into a 'business' side, which fronted on Calverley Street, and the 'popular' side which led onto Centenary Street (now the Headrow). The 'popular' side was occupied by the Free Public Library and took up less than a third of the whole building. This consisted of a Reading Room (currently the Tiled Hall cafe) on the ground floor, a lending library on the 1st floor and Reference Library on the 2nd floor. The 'business' side was represented on the ground floor by the large pay office (currently the Central Lending Library) where local people came to settle their gas, water and rates bills. The borough engineer and the sanitary departments were on the first and second floors respectively. The total cost of the building was estimated in the region of £120,000 (approximately £6m today). On 3 October 1888 the Mayor, Alderman Scarr opened the new Art Gallery extension, designed by W.H. Thorp. The Tiled Hall, formerly the Reading Room, was then converted to a sculpture gallery and the Reading Room was transferred to the Art Gallery and renamed the News Room. The Commercial and Technical Library was established in the News Room in 1918, but in cramped conditions. In 1955 it moved into the Tiled Hall. The Commercial and Technical Library was then able to expand and have both a lending and a reference collection. A gallery for staff use was also created in the Tiled Hall where further book stock was shelved and work space was created for the typists from the cataloguing department. The ceiling and walls of the Tiled Hall were then hidden for nearly fifty years behind a false ceiling, bookcases and panelling. The Music Library was moved into the Tiled Hall space in 1998 but was only there until 1999, when the Central Library building closed for refurbishment and rewiring. The 1950s panelling and bookcases were removed, along with the false ceiling, to once more reveal the Tiled Hall and the inevitable damage caused by work done in the 1950s. The present restoration work has now fully restored the Tiled Hall to its original magnificence, after a £1.5m refurbishment of the gallery and the adjacent Art Gallery. The renovation was completed in June 2007, including opening up the magnificent Victorian tiled hall (used as a café and bookshop) which links the gallery and the library. At first floor level there is direct access from the gallery to the Art Library. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Leeds Central Library」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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