Northfield Library

Northfield Library is a Carnegie library in Northfield, Birmingham, England^[1] which in 1914 became the first open-access lending library in Birmingham.

Northfield Library

History

Northfield Library was opened in 1906. The land was provided by the Cadbury family and the building constructed with funds of £750 (equivalent to £101,898 in 2023)^[2] donated by Andrew Carnegie. The foundation stone was laid by Alderman T. R. Bayliss.

On 12 February 1914 the library burnt to the ground. Suspicion fell on local suffragettes.^[3]

It was rebuilt in the same year by the Free Libraries Committee and became the first open-access lending library in Birmingham^[4] The façade remains the same; however, in 1984, the library building was doubled in size and a project was undertaken to remove asbestos at the same time.^[5]