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}} The Carnegie Library is in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, England. The foundation stone of St. Anne's Library was laid in August 1904 and the building was officially opened on 10 January 1906. The land was given by the St. Anne's on the Sea Land and Building Company, and Andrew Carnegie paid for the building itself. This was the first library in the town. There is also a library at Lytham. The library was administered by the St Anne's on the Sea Urban District until 1922 when the Urban District Council amalgamated with Lytham U.D.C. to form the municipal borough of Lytham St. Annes. The Borough continued to operate the service until 1974 when the Library Service was taken over by Lancashire County Council and became the District Central Library of Fylde District. == The development and opening of the building == Councillor L S Stott, Chairman of St Anne's on the Sea Urban District Council had been in communication with the American Philanthropist and benefactor of public libraries, Andrew Carnegie and Council Minutes (General Purposes Committee) of 29 June 1903 report that he received "an intimation from Mr Carnegie's private secretary that he would give the sum of £3,500 for the erection of a library".〔Urban District of St Anne's on the Sea, Proceedings of the Urban District Council 1903-04, St Anne's on the Sea, pp. 91-92〕 The offer was gratefully accepted and a sub committee was appointed to consider a suitable site for the library. A number of options were considered including a site on St Annes Road East but the offer of a site on Clifton Drive South from the Land and Building Company was eventually settled on. In October 1903 architects were invited to submit designs for the library – the total cost was not to exceed £3,500. Mr John Dent Harker of St Anne's won the contract and was appointed as the architect and in March 1904 the tender for the building was awarded to Mr Samuel Wilson also of St Anne's. The building process wasn't without difficulty and the Council experienced some problems with the building contractor. The Council Minutes (Library and Baths Committee) of 30 October 1905 note that "...the Architect submitted correspondence which had taken place between himself and the Contractor with reference to the great delay there has been in completing the Library building; he also reported that he had given the Contractor seven days notice to complete the work, and that the Contractor had commenced on the last day of the notice to proceed to complete the work.",〔Urban District of St Anne's on the Sea, Proceedings of the Urban District Council 1905-06, St Anne's on the Sea, p.219〕 These problems were, however, overcome and St. Annes Library was opened on Wednesday 10 January 1906, the official ceremony being performed by Councillor George Walters Spring, J.P. The land was given by the Land and Building Company and Andrew Carnegie paid for the building itself. This description of the building comes from the ''St Anne's on the Sea Express'' of 10 January 1906 - "It is convenient and effective in arrangements and presents an imposing appearance. The style is an adaptation of Victorian Renaissance……The main entrance leads through to a vestibule to a large octagonal hall. Lighted by clerestory windows and surmounted by a domed roof. On the right side of the entrance hall is a niche containing a bust of Sir Walter Scott.",〔The St Annes on the Sea Express, 10 Jan 1906, p.5, col. c〕 Pevsner's ''Buildings of England - Lancashire:North'' describes the building as ".....every inch the early 20C Carnegie Library. Low, Baroque of red brick and buff terracotta with a corner entrance flanked by tiny oculi and an octagonal domed tower rising behind. Light and airy inside, with a range of low arches to one side and friendly bays on the other".〔Clare Hartwell and Nikolaus Pevsner (2009), ''The buildings of England - Lancashire: North'', Yale University Press, p.445〕 In the Library's first Annual Report submitted in July 1907, it states that prior to 1 April 1906, 1500 borrowers' tickets had been issued although "a large proportion were not generally in use". In the subsequent year, another 637 had been issued to bring the total to 2137. The number of books issued in the year ending Mar 1907 was 48,468 – the vast majority of those being fiction. A writer for the St Anne's on the Sea Express might have remarked on this. In the article on the opening of the Library on 10 January 1906, it was commented that "The reading of novels is not calculated to bring out the best that is in men and women" which was reason for also stocking the library with volumes that might benefit the more "serious side" of mankind, such as "Books treating of poetry, travel, social science, political economy, natural history, philosophy etc." 〔The St Anne's on the Sea Express, 10 Jan 1906, p.5, col. c〕 In the years after the opening of the building the service expanded and by 1929 an extension was thought to be urgently required. The Council were granted permission to borrow £2,000 to carry out the building in April 1930 and in March 1931 tenders for the work were accepted. The building work was carried out by John Heap and Sons of St Anne's and the constructional steelwork by John Booth and Sons of Hulton Steelworks, Bolton. The extension was opened on 25 September 1932 and a reorganised lending department opened on 9 October 1931. 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「St Annes-on-the-Sea Carnegie Library」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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