West Derby (Tuebrook) Library
1905 – Liverpool, England. Lat/Long 53.420278 -2.9255556
Designed by: Thomas Shelmerdine (Corporation Architect and Surveyor) of Liverpool.
Heritage designation: LG II, 1985. Purpose built library; An unsolicited gift for the full cost of the building: £15,750 15.6.1903. Service as a library ceased in 2006. Coming back, (community project – “Lister Steps”).
Almost unique as a city library to be funded in full by Carnegie who having opened Toxteth, which he viewed as ideal, volunteered to offer to fund a duplicate (and other branches) for the city [i] . Plans were actually already underway in 1899[ii], so the first action was simply to tender the project. Completely derelict and vandalised since closure, a community group operating a nursery next to the site has succeeded in raising funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund to reinstate the building as a community centre.
[i] Toxteth Liverpool Daily Post – Friday 23 June 1905
[ii] Liverpool Echo – Wednesday 31 December 1902, Edinburgh Evening News – Wednesday 28 June 1905, Dundee Evening Telegraph – Thursday 29 June 1905