Mitchell Library, Charing Cross, Glasgow



Architect
 William B Whitie
Date Built
 1906 - 1911
Location
 North Street
Description
The Mitchell Library was founded in 1874 with a bequest from the tobacco merchant, Stephen Mitchell, and located in the Merchant City area of Glasgow.  A second bequest in 1902 by the bibliophile Robert Jeffrey made it possible for the library to consider commissioning a new building and led to the selection of this site beside North Street.  A competition was held for the building's design and the project was awarded to William Whitie.  The foundation stone was laid by Andrew Carnegie, who also donated money to the project.  Today, Whitie's building is a Catagory B Listed building described as Edwardian Baroque in style. 



The building opened on the 16th of October, 1911.








The library backed on to the St Andrew's Hall, a fact commemorated by a small plaque on the North Street facade.



St Andrew's Hall was destroyed by fire in 1962.  Until then it had been the principal home of the Scottish National Orchestra.  Only the facade of the hall survived the fire and in the shell of the hall an extension of the Mitchell Library was constructed.  That extension is clearly seen in the image below.  The ornate facade of the St Andrew's Hall comes as something of a surprise if you walk around the library and discover this Neo-Greek structure with giant columns and numerous sculptures by John and William Mossman. 



The new building, that sits in the space between the old library and the preserved facade, allowed the library to expand but there was also room for the  addition of the Mitchell Theatre.  The http://www.conferences-uk.org.uk website says that, "The Mitchell Theatre complex .... (includes) a spacious glass-enclosed foyer with cafĂ© and bar facilities, flanked by a theatre, a large, multi-purpose hall and a range of meeting rooms providing a comprehensive choice of flexible facilities within a single building."






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Below are images of the facade of the St Andrew's Hall.

















On the Berkley Street side of the Mitchell Library is this entrance with the name Anderston Library over the door.  The Glasgow Story website explains that, "...  Anderston Library opened on 21 December 1904, it was said to be the finest district library building in Glasgow. It was also the first purpose-built lending library, earlier libraries having been opened in shared premises. The lending library opened with some 10,000 volumes.  The building in MacIntyre Street was the first of Glasgow's Carnegie libraries to disappear when it was demolished along with most of Anderston to make way for the M8 motorway in 1969. A new Anderston branch library opened in 1984 in Berkeley Street, in the Mitchell Library building."

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