Leith Library
Leith Library is one of Edinburgh's 28 freely-accessible libraries.[1] It is a category B listed building.[2] located in Leith, in the northern part of the city, at the foot of Ferry Road shortly before it meets Great Junction Street and North Junction Street.[3]
The stone marking the first phase of construction was laid by the then Lord Provost, Alexander Stevenson in 1929.[4] It was designed by Bradshaw Gass & Hope and opened in 1932.[5] The building suffered bomb damage in 1941 but was subsequently restored and re-opened in 1955.[6]
The library is currently open six days a week and, in addition to the collection of books, offers visitors computer access, a for-hire community room, public exhibition space, a knitting group and a weekly children's crafts class/workshop.[1]
Local-area MSP Ben Macpherson also hosts surgeries within the library,[7] and the local registrar's office adjoins the main library building. To the building's rear is the Leith Theatre.[8]
As with all the City's libraries, Leith public library uses the Library of Congress Classification system for its adult collection.[9] As of 1974, Edinburgh is the only area in the UK where public libraries utilise the US classification scheme. Children's books, and some non-English works, are indexed using the Dewey Decimal Classification scheme.
References
- "Leith Library". City of Edinburgh Council. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
- Historic Environment Scotland. "28 AND 30 FERRY ROAD, LEITH LIBRARY... (Category B Listed Building) (LB27009)". Retrieved 18 March 2019.
- "OpenStreetMap". OpenStreetMap.
- McNeil, Brian (19 April 2012). "English: Leith library, Ferry Road" – via Wikimedia Commons.
- "Leith Theatre". Arthur Lloyd. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
- Lum Hats in Paradise: Edinburgh City Libraries 1890–1990. Edinburgh City Libraries. 1990. ISBN 0-9000353-11-2. OCLC 916978894.
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: CS1 maint: ignored ISBN errors (link) - "Ben Macpherson". Scottish Parliament. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
- "History". Leith Theatre Trust. Archived from the original on 28 November 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
- Bowman, J. H. (November 2005). "Classification in British Public Libraries: A Historical perspective". Library History. 21 (3): 161. doi:10.1179/002423005x62196. S2CID 146711663.