Birkenhead Central Library
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Birkenhead Central Library | |
|---|---|
 Front Entrance, Borough Road | |
 | |
| 53°23′10″N 3°01′55″W / 53.386°N 3.032°W | |
| Location | Birkenhead, England |
| Established | 1856 (original site)[1] 1934 (current site)[1] |
| Collection | |
| Size | over 600,000 books[1] |
| Access and use | |
| Population served | 311,200 |
| Other information | |
| Website | Birkenhead Central Library, Wirral Council |
Birkenhead Central Library[2] is one of twenty-four libraries (as of March 2011) forming the Wirral Library Service in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England.[3] The library is located on Borough Road, Birkenhead.[2]
The original Birkenhead Central Library was opened in 1856 in a different part of Birkenhead from the present-day site. At the time, it was the first public library in the country in an unincorporated borough. The current central library building on Borough Road was opened in 1934 by King George V and is designated by Wirral Council as a historic site.[1]
Services and activities
The library offers the traditional lending service for books including large print, foreign language titles, talking books and digital audio and video media, newspaper and magazine reading and local community information. There is also a dedicated children's library and a reference library on the upper floor containing extensive local archives. The library also offers exhibition/display facilities and room hire.[1]
Other activities include a monthly reading group, storytime for under fives, "baby bounce and rhyme" and Learn Direct computer courses, including ECDL and business courses.[2]
There is also a Friends of Birkenhead Central Library group which holds events on a regular basis.[2]
