Picton Reading Room and Hornby Library

The Picton Reading Room and Hornby Library is a Grade II* listed building on William Brown Street in Liverpool, England, which now forms part of the Liverpool Central Library.

LocationWilliam Brown Street, Liverpool, England

Coordinates53°24′35.50″N 02°58′49″W

Construction started1875

Completed1906

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Picton Reading Room and Hornby Library
Picton Reading Room, William Brown Street
Interactive map of the Picton Reading Room and Hornby Library area
General information
Location	William Brown Street, Liverpool, England
Coordinates	53°24′35.50″N 02°58′49″W
Construction started	1875
Completed	1906
Design and construction
Architects	Cornelius Sherlock (Picton Reading Room) Thomas Shelmerdine (Hornby Library)
Designations
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official name	Hornby Library Picton Reading Room
Designated	28 June 1952
Reference no.	1359620

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The chairman of the William Brown Library and Museum, Sir James Picton, laid the foundation stone of the Picton Reading Room in 1875. It was designed by Cornelius Sherlock, and modelled after the British Museum Reading Room, and was the first electrically lit library in the UK. It was completed in 1879 formally opened by the Mayor of Liverpool, Sir Thomas Bland Royden. The front is semicircular with Corinthian columns, and the shape was chosen by the architect to cover the change in the axis of the row of buildings at this point. The Hornby Reading Room (named after Hugh Frederick Hornby) by Thomas Shelmerdine was added in 1906. It stands behind the older building and the interior is decorated in the Edwardian Imperial style.^[1]

Picton Reading Room and Hornby Library is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building.^[2]