Page:Library Construction, Architecture, Fittings, and Furniture.djvu/211

Rh 7 feet from gallery to top; they are 13 feet in length, divided into four compartments. The bookcases in the lending library are 18 inches higher than those in the reference library.

A noticeable feature at Wigan is a special building for boys, which was opened in 1895: it is called after the donor, the "Powell" Branch Boys' Reading-room. The building is three storeys in height, viz.: basement; reading-room and caretaker's rooms on ground floor; and lecture-hall, committee room, and retiring room on first floor—the principal room on each floor being 56 feet by 36, all lofty and well lighted. The reading-room floor is of wood blocks laid in concrete, and the room is furnished with light tables for reading, with seats, chairs, long counter, and bookcases. A platform for entertainments is fixed in the lecture-hall. A system of open shelving has been adopted, by means of which the youthful book-lover may choose his own book without having recourse to the catalogue, and at the same time the volumes will be under proper supervision.

The Worcester Public Library forms a portion of the new Victoria Institute, designed by Messrs. Simpson & Allen, and was opened in 1895. The whole of the ground floor (Fig. 86) is used for library purposes, the other floors being occupied by a museum and art gallery and the technical and art school.

The principal entrance is in the centre of the building, and opens into a large vestibule, from winch access is gained to the committee room and