Page:Library Construction, Architecture, Fittings, and Furniture.djvu/216

192 The library is 100 feet in length, 65 feet wide, and 50 feet in height. It is divided into nave and aisles by a series of pillars, and the walls are shelved for bookcases. Double bookcases are also placed at right angles from each pillar to the wall, and form twelve alcoves, a method of construction adopted to facilitate the use of the room as one of a suite of reception rooms when required for civic gatherings. The bookcases are 17 feet in height, and have a gallery round them at a height of 8 feet 6 inches. It is lit by stained glass windows in the clerestory, and two large windows occupying the centre of the north and south end walls of the room. The whole of the fittings, tables, screens, bookcases, and roof are of English oak, and are elaborately carved with the arms of the City Companies and Corporation.

Adjoining the library on the east side is the committee room, which has a richly moulded waggonheaded roof, and is decorated with elaborate carvings. The reading-room is at the south end of the library, and is 50 feet in length by 24 in width. It is lit by a window at the west end, and by skylights in the roof.

The library, a view of the interior of which is given in Fig. 87, is a fine example of the alcove type of library building. It now contains 70,000 volumes and 40,000 pamphlets, and its shelf room is practically exhausted. It seems impossible to obtain adjoining space for extension; but if it is to carry on the noble work it has done in the past, it must have room for growth. The most feasible