Leeds Library
Template:Short description Script error: No such module "about". Template:DMCA Template:DMCA
The Leeds Library is the oldest surviving subscription library of its type in the UK. It was founded in 1768,[1] following an advertisement placed in the Leeds Intelligencer earlier that year. The first secretary was Joseph Priestley.[2] In 1779, James Boswell wrote, "In Leeds, where one would not expect it, there is a very good public library, where strangers are treated with great civility."[3] Notable members include the abolitionist Wilson Armistead.[4]
The library moved twice before settling in the purpose built premises on Commercial Street, Leeds on 4 July 1808.[2] This building is a grade II* listed Greek Revival building by Thomas Johnson[5] with major 1880–81 extension to the rear by Thomas Ambler.
As of June 2020[update] the library has over 1,000 members who pay an annual subscription. The library is estimated to have a stock of over 140,000 titles with 1,500 new books being added annually.[6] It also contains more modern items such as audiobooks and DVDs. The library is a registered charity[7] and its extensive collection is frequently used by researchers who are not members.
The library holdings also incorporate the stock of the short lived Leeds Foreign Library. The Foreign Library was founded in 1778[8] and incorporated into the Leeds Library in 1814.
The library is the setting for much of Frances Brody's 2014 novel Death of an Avid Reader.[3]
See also
- Grade II* listed buildings in Leeds
- List of libraries in Leeds
- Listed buildings in Leeds (City and Hunslet Ward - northern area)
References
Page Template:Reflist/styles.css has no content.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Paul Kaufman (1967). "The Community Library: A Chapter in English Social History". Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. 57 (7): 1–67. doi:10.2307/1006043. JSTOR 1006043.
- ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Derek Fraser (1980). A History of Modern Leeds. Manchester University Press. pp. 221–. ISBN 978-0-7190-0781-1.
- ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Frances Brody (2 October 2014). Death of an Avid Reader: A Kate Shackleton Mystery. Little, Brown Book Group. ISBN 978-1-4055-2674-6.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Bennett, Bridget (2 July 2020). "Guerrilla inscription: Transatlantic abolition and the 1851 census". Atlantic Studies. 17 (3): 375–398. doi:10.1080/14788810.2020.1735234. ISSN 1478-8810.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.David Thornton (1 August 2013). The Story of Leeds. History Press. pp. 143–. ISBN 978-0-7509-5294-1.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Airey, Tom (28 December 2018). "'Hidden' library thrives in digital world". BBC News. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."THE LEEDS LIBRARY, registered charity no. 1114386". Charity Commission for England and Wales.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.The Yorkshire Archaeological Journal. Yorkshire Archaeological Society. 1981.
Further reading
- Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Anon. (1889). Catalogue of the Leeds Library. Leeds: Goodall and Suddick. (includes a history of the library)
- Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Forster, Geoffrey (2001). 'A Very Good Public Library': early years of the Leeds Library. Wylam: Allenholme Press. ISBN 1-873383-09-6.
- Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Beckwith, Frank (1968). The Leeds Library 1768–1968 (privately printed ed.). Leeds: Leeds Library.
- Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Beckwith, Frank (1994). The Leeds Library 1768–1968: with a new preface by Dennis Cox (2nd ed.). Leeds: Leeds Library. ISBN 9780950006604.
- Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Hall, Trevor H. (1965). "The Mystery of the Leeds Library". New Light on Old Ghosts. London: Gerald Duckworth. pp. 35–53.
- Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Banham, Martin (2017). "Materials relating to Africa at the Leeds Library". Leeds African Studies Bulletin. 78: 170–171.
External links
- Official website
- Association of Independent Libraries directory entry
- Script error: No such module "Template wrapper".
Template:Listed buildings in LeedsLua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Authority control/config' not found. Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found.
