Page:Library Construction, Architecture, Fittings, and Furniture.djvu/194

170 being helped in their decision by the fact that lectures given in a small lecture-hall on the first floor of Sir William Brown's building were found to be much appreciated, and of great educational value.

It seems a pity that the new building for museum extension and technical schools, which is to adjoin the west side of the "Brown" Library, is to be used for the purposes indicated. The lending library, as I have before stated, is in an unsuitable room in the basement, and the newspaper room is admittedly overcrowded, and much too small for the use made of it. The other departments of the library are well housed, and have room for expansion and growth, but the two departments which in other towns form the most popular side of the library work, are crippled by an unsuitable environment. The remedy is very simple, and has been pointed out by one of the competitors in the recent competitions for the extension plans. It is to find another site for the new schools of science and art, and use the new building entirely for museum and library purposes. On the ground floor suitable rooms for a new lending library and a second news-room could easily be made, and the whole upper floor, when combined with the old building, would form a noble suite of galleries for museum purposes.

The Manchester Public Library system consists of a central reference library, with branch lending libraries and reading-rooms scattered over the city, so as to bring the advantages of the library as near to the homes of the people as possible.