Gainsborough Library
1905 – Lincolnshire, England. Lat/Long 53.4 -0.7777778
The modest looking Library sits directly opposite the magnificent medieval manor of Gainsborough Old Hall. It features plaster epigrams reading: “learn as if – you were to live – for ever – live as if you – were to die – tomorrow”. Perhaps quoting St Edmund of Abingdon c.1175–1240 English scholar, churchman and Archbishop of Canterbury from 1233 “Study as if you were to live for ever; live as if you were to die tomorrow.” – John Crozier St Edmund of Abingdon (1982) in Oxford Dictionary of Quotations – but also a phrase commonly attributed to Mahatma Ghandi.
Architect: H.G. Gamble of Lincoln.
Heritage designation: LG II, 2015. Purpose built library; Carnegie grant: £4,000 06/07/1903. Open library, agency managed for council.