Manchester Central Library was opened amid great pomp and ceremony by George V on 17 July 1934.

Costing almost £600,000, the library accommodated one million volumes and seated over 300 readers in the Great Hall, at the time making it only second in size only to the British Museum’s reading room. It was a grand gesture that aimed to engage with citizens and boost civic pride in the city.

This talk by Charlotte Wildman from the University of Manchester examines why Manchester Corporation invested in such an important civic monument as part of an ambitious programme of redevelopment. It suggests that the library was part of a wider strategy to use the city to engage with citizens at a time of potential social, political and economic turbulence.

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