Leith Library

Leith Library on Ferry Road

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 datestone

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

  1. ^ a b "Leith Library". City of Edinburgh Council. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
  2. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "28 AND 30 FERRY ROAD, LEITH LIBRARY... (Category B Listed Building) (LB27009)". Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  3. ^ "OpenStreetMap". OpenStreetMap.
  4. ^ McNeil, Brian (19 April 2012). "English: Leith library, Ferry Road" – via Wikimedia Commons.
  5. ^ "Leith Theatre". Arthur Lloyd. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  6. ^ Lum Hats in Paradise: Edinburgh City Libraries 1890–1990. Edinburgh City Libraries. 1990. ISBN 0-9000353-11-2. OCLC 916978894.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ignored ISBN errors (link)
  7. ^ "Ben Macpherson". Scottish Parliament. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  8. ^ "History". Leith Theatre Trust. Archived from the original on 28 November 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  9. ^ Bowman, J. H. (November 2005). "Classification in British Public Libraries: A Historical perspective". Library History. 21 (3): 161. doi:10.1179/002423005x62196. S2CID 146711663.

55°58′32″N 3°10′48″W / 55.9755°N 3.1801°W / 55.9755; -3.1801