The Friday Photo

The Friday Photo by Tracey Thorne

Here is this week’s Friday Photo – Bloomsbury Library. Which is run by Birmingham City Council. It was closed the day I passed by and looked very forgotten given that it is such an amazing building. I love the way it stands on its own so prominently and the detail is stunning.

Not quite sure where  the gold “Bloomsbury” lettering which should be above where it says Free Library is?

Free libraries were part of the 1850 Public Libraries Act which paved the way for  universal provision of information and literature, something we take for granted today with the world wide web.

The 1849 Select Committee on Public Libraries provides interesting insight to thinking about free libraries  at the time : Shall we therefore abandon the people to the influence of a low, enfeebling, and often pestilential literature, instead of enabling them to breathe a more pure, elevated, and congenial atmosphere. And there the Library was born!