Designed by architect Vincent Harris and constructed between 1930 and 1934 the library was declared open by King George V on 17 July 1934
"In the splendid building which I am about to open, the largest library in this country provided by a local authority,
the Corporation have ensured for the inhabitants of the city magnificent opportunities for further education and for the pleasant use of leisure"
Manchester Central Library is a circular building south of the Town Hall Extension in Manchester
Fronted by a large two-storey portico which forms the main entrance on St Peter's Square, and is surrounded by five bays of Corinthian columns
The striking rotunda form of the library was inspired by the Pantheon in Rome
Around the second and third floors is a Tuscan colonnade, topped by a band of unrelieved Portland stone
The pitched leaded roof appears from street level to be a dome, but this is only a surrounding roof
The dome that can be seen from within the Great Hall lies within this roof, and cannot be seen from the ground
In 2011 when the library closed for the current alterations, there were four tiers of steel book stacks in the building
The first level was just underneath the Great Hall, the fourth level (the Archive unit) was in the basement of the building
There were 3600 stack columns supporting approximately 45,000 shelves, placed end to end, they would cover over 35 miles (56 km)
The Grade II listed building closed it's doors in 2011 as it undergoes a £48m 3 year construction project that will restore original features and open up more of it to the public
This is part of the transformation of the city’s civic core costing £155m, including the neighbouring Town Hall Extension and St Peter’s Square due for completion in 2014
