Old Library, Wrexham

Old Library
General information
Type	Library (1907–1973) Council office (1973–2023) Creative arts hub (proposed)
Location	Queens Square, Wrexham, Wales
Coordinates	53°02′49″N2°59′37″W / 53.047014°N 2.993582°W / 53.047014; -2.993582
Construction started	1 January 1906
Completed	1907
Opened	15 February 1907
Renovated	1951
Renovation cost	£6,641 (1951)
Owner	Wrexham County Borough Council [1]
Technical details
Floor count	2
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Vernon Hodge
Listed Building – Grade II
Official name	Old Library
Designated	23 December 1975; Amended 31 January 1994
Reference no.	1852 [2]

The Old Library (sometimes Old Carnegie Library) is a building on Queens Square in Wrexham city centre, Wales. Built as a carnegie library in 1907, the building served as Wrexham's public library until 1973, when it later became council offices. The building is Grade II listed and owned by Wrexham County Borough Council. It is proposed to be converted into a hub for creative arts.

History

The building was constructed as a library and lecture hall in 1907. It was designed by Vernon Hodge. ^{[2] [3]} Over 100 architects had submitted designs for the new library. ^[3] The building is a Grade II listed building, and located in Wrexham city centre's Queens Square. ^{[2] [3]}

The construction received funding ^[2] from Scottish-American philanthropist Andrew Carnegie following an appeal over the lack of space for books in the town's existing library located in the Guildhall. A grant of £4,000 to build and £300 to furnish the library was provided from Carnegie for the building's construction. ^{[3] [4]}

Mayoress of Wrexham, Mrs Birkett Evans laid the building's foundation stone on 1 January 1906. The building was opened on 15 February 1907 by Foster Cunliffe of Acton Hall. ^{[3] [4]}

During World War II, the building housed 500 juvenile and 700 adult books from Liverpool Library following the evacuation of 9,600 children from Merseyside. The blackout during the war led to an increase in reading, with the number of library borrowers "dramatically" increasing during the war. The Food Office and an Information Bureau, were set up in part of the library during the war. ^{[3] [4]}

The building was enlarged in 1951, at the cost of £6,641, modernising facilities and the addition of a "Wrexham Room" for books, illustrations, manuscripts, records of local interest, and an "Exhibition Room" to display art, craft and lectures. ^[4]

The building was vacated of its library function in 1973, with the library being superseded by the current library located on Llwyn Isaf, with the current library opening in 1974. ^[4] Since 1973, the Old Library building had been used as council offices. ^[2] The building is owned by Wrexham County Borough Council, ^[3] and as of 2023, it was used to house the council's IT department. ^[5]

Sale

In December 2020, Wrexham council announced it was planning to sell the building. This follows previous revelations that the council were vacating the building by moving their IT systems from the building into the renovated Crown Buildings. ^[3] In January 2023, the council asked for any expressions of interest from any potential new occupiers, and described the building as "under used". ^{[6] [7] [8]}

In February 2023, a councillor called for the building to be made available for public use. The council refused to comment. ^[5]

In April 2024, it was announced the building is hoped to be converted into a "multi-purpose creative hub". The project is expected to cost £4 million, with £2.9 million already committed from the Welsh Government's Transforming Towns Fund. The remaining cost is hoped to be raised from other grants such as the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The hub is aimed to support entrepreneurship in the creative industry, as well as serve as a "focal point" for local people, groups and businesses. The project aims to create a flexible working and co-working entrepreneurial environment, office space, recording studios, television production facilities, exhibition space, and places to hold workshops, including hi-tech workshops. Renovation work is expected to start in late 2024, with it scheduled to open in mid 2025. ^{[9] [10]}

Structure

The building is two storeys, with a graded slate roof, an ashlar lower storey and dressings, and is covered in Flemish-bond brickwork on the upper floor's exterior. The building used Cefn stone and Ruabon terracotta during its construction, while the front roof was made of Westmorland slate, and the back roof with Bangor slate. The main part of the building is in the baroque style. The central bay contains a coat of arms. ^{[2] [3] [4] [11]}

While used as a library, the ground floor of the building contained a Ladies Room, seating 20 readers, a reference room of a similar size, a general reading room seating 50 readers and a librarian's office. The lending library had the capacity to hold 20,000 volumes. The first floor of the building contained a large lecture hall, seating 200 people. This lecture hall later became a local museum, then a reference room, meeting room, book-club room and a book store. ^[4]

References

1. "Old Library Building, Queens Square, Wrexham, Wrexham To Let / For Sale". Legat Owen. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
2. Cadw (31 January 1994). "Full Report for Listed Buildings - Old Library (Grade II) (1852)". National Historic Assets of Wales . Retrieved 6 April 2023.
3. "Historic Old Library building on Queen's Square to be sold off by Wrexham Council". Wrexham.com. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
4. "History of Wrexham Public Library". old.wrexham.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 17 September 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
5. "Calls for Wrexham Council to give public use of city centre building". The Leader. 6 February 2023. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
6. Stevens, Gill (9 January 2023). "Expressions of interest invited for The Old Library - news.wrexham.gov.uk" . Retrieved 6 April 2023.
7. "Wrexham Council looking for new occupier of Old Library building". The Leader. 18 January 2023. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
8. "New occupier being sought for The Old Library in Wrexham". Wrexham.com. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
9. "Multi-million pound investment to transform Old Library into "creative industries powerhouse"". Wrexham.com. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
10. "Council announces plans to breathe new life into Old Library in Wrexham city centre". The Leader. 19 April 2024. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
11. "Old Library, Queen Street, Wrexham; Free Library (23404)". Coflein. RCAHMW . Retrieved 7 April 2023.

Further reading

• Cadw – For a full architectural description