Visiting Chetham’s Library – The UK’s Oldest Public Library

Ever since I came across this article, listing all the incredible libraries in the UK, I sort of bookmarked this idea in my head and decided to go visit these places when I have the chance. I went for a short visit to Manchester earlier this year and I was so excited that there were a couple of libraries from this list that I get to visit around the area. So the short vacation became a library-hopping trip. I was planning to combine everything in one post (I got to visit 3 to 4 in my trip!) but I gathered a lot of photos and stories that maybe cramming them in one entry would be too much. So I’ll have to take it one at a time. This post will be dedicated to Chetham’s Library.

The Oldest Public Library in the English-Speaking World

Chetham’s Library, located in Manchester, England, is considered to be the oldest public library in the English-speaking world. Founded in 1653, it is housed with Chetham’s School of Music – both of which are still fully-functioning at this time. The library is still open to readers for free via appointment and their catalogue can also be browsed online, which includes books and printed materials, archives, manuscripts. It is said to hold “more than 100,000 volumes of printed books, of which 60,000 is published before 1851.” Aside from the study appointments, the only way for the public to access the libraries is via a tour which you can book in their website, which lasts around 60 to 75 minutes.

The tour was led by expert staff and volunteers and I can truly say that it was a very informative one. Before going to the actual library, we were treated with stories and historical facts about the building and the origins of it. The Library and the School of Music was established under the will of the English merchant Humphrey Chetham (to which they are named after). The buildings were mainly requested to be a free library and a blue coat charity school (aptly named because of the distinctive blue uniform that is worn by its pupils). Chetham believed that education and knowledge should be free to all so he gifted the school and the library to the city with only one condition: that it would remain free to visit and that anyone, whatever their background is, could access the books in it.

To protect the books from the damp, they were housed in the first floor (above the ground floor, for my Asian friends, as it could be confusing). The tomes are all shelved on dark oak bookshelves and the gated bookshelves were labeled and arranged alphabetically. Back in the day, the practice of chaining books to the bookcases are popular to prevent theft. When this practice was abandoned around the mid-18th century, they started to erect gates for the same purpose. That’s when the distinct gated bookshelves of Chetham’s library came about.

Twenty-four carved oak stools, with ‘S’-shaped hand-holds (which is genius imo), were also provided to be used by readers to move around the shelves. These original stools are also still in use to this day! There was also a push to recognize and increase the books authored by women in the library’s collection. These hanging cards are markers of that.

I wouldn’t pretend to be a history buff but the Library really do have an interesting collection of ephemeras, not just printed books. For example, there is actual death mask nestled amongst its shelves. It was my first time to see an actual death mask and I must admit that looking at it gave me the creeps. From what I gathered, they also offer ‘night tours’ in the library to raise some funds and I would imagine it would give a person the fright if you see this randomly while walking these old cloistered halls.

Another fascinating thing was seeing these two white volumes in their collection (pictured above). It only came to me months after this trip while I was reading Simon Winchester’s The Professor and the Madman, which doubles as a written history of how the modern day dictionary came about. I was at that part where Samuel Johnson completed and published the ‘first English dictionary’ and I realized that it seems kinda familiar. And when I scrolled through my Manchester photos, it was actually there: I’ve actually seen this very book, a 1755 first edition, housed in Chetham’s Library, all two volumes of it! I didn’t really pay too much attention to it but the tour guide mentioned it is one of his favourites in the collection so it stuck – and then months down the line, it hit me at how important that book is. I was just shook at the realization of it. I was in awe: hundreds of years of history, housed in books and places.

Down the reading hall, I was really excited to see this full shelf with chained books in it. There’s not a lot of surviving chained libraries in England (the largest one in the world and in England being in Hereford, which is included the my list as well) so I was surprised and thrilled to see even if it’s just a shelf here. It gave me major Sorcery of Thorns vibes, which I absolutely love.

One of the famous features of the reading room is the alcove where Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels are said to have worked together. Chetham’s library was their meeting place when Marx visited Manchester in 1845. The books included in the reading lists of both as well as facsimiles of the economic books they studied together, based on Chetham’s records, were displayed in this alcove. It is said that the research they took and these library visits ultimately led to the creation of The Communist Manifesto.

All in all, I did enjoy checking out this Library/Museum (yes, it is an accredited museum as well). The tour is so worth it as it really gave me a new perspective on how to look at all the parts of this place. If you’re a literary nerd or a history buff, this is definitely a must-visit. A bookworm bucket list item indeed!

📍 Chetham’s Library
Long Millgate, Manchester M3 1SB | Website
April 15, 2023

12 Incredible Libraries in the UK: Duke Humfrey’s Library (Oxford) | Liverpool Central Library (Liverpool) | Maughan Library (London) | Wren Library (Cambridge) | Library of Birminghan (Birmingham) | British Library (London) | Chained Library (Hereford) | Gladstone’s Library (Wales) | Chetham’s Library (Manchester) | Sir Duncan Rice Library (Aberdeen) | John Rylands Library (Manchester) | Signet Library (Edinburgh)

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