... today. Come and join me as I make a visit to an absolute gem of a place for book lovers everywhere - The Leeds Library on Commercial Street, right in the city centre. Read on ...
If, like me, you have a 'thing' about books, then you will want to know about this hidden little gem that sits in the heart of Leeds city centre. It's an easy few steps from the train station along Boar Lane and then take a left to intersect with Commercial Street. The full address is 18 Commercial Street. You can so easily miss the place because, at street level, it is nothing but an archway entrance between the Co-op on one side and shops on the other. But there is a Blue Plaque to guide you and ensure you choose the right arch to enter through.
The old-fashioned wood and glass-panelled doors at the entrance are the first indicators of the treasure you will find inside, and not everyone can just walk in. I was there for a specific event a couple of weeks ago with some author colleagues.
The foyer on the other side of the doors has glass cases in which some of the most treasured books held by the library are on display. Naturally, rather than getting on with the actual tasks that I needed to do in support of the event, I dallied at the display cases. I read the pages on display and the notes accompanying the books. When I turned to look to my right, I was met with a wall of old books carefully placed on bookshelves that were behind protective glass. 'Darn it', I thought. Nevertheless, I just could not pass those books by.
The foyer leads to stairs - wide stone steps that circle around and reach up to other floors with a dome to let in light above. Eventually, we reached our destination, a large room with tables and chairs, green leather wing-backed chairs in corners and walls full of books. Not that the books in my immediate sphere of gaze were my special interest at that point. Above the floor where I stood was a gallery that ran along all four walls, and this was also a repository for books, old books, leather-bound and buckram-bound books, some with tooled spines, but all of them telling me I had to come and explore that space.
And I did. In the poetry section, I found Longfellow's Hiawatha beautifully bound in navy blue leather with gold tooling for the title on the spine and the decoration on the front. That took me back to a school adaption of the poem for stage, and for a moment, I was 9 years old again and dressed in my costume of beige trousers and tunic with a feather in my hair. As I lost myself in the character of Hiawatha, some of my lines came back to me, 'On the shores of Gitche Gumee, Of the shining Big-Sea-Water...'
I moved to another section of the shelves and discovered buckram-bound copies of Hardy's poetry and short stories. Stevenson's compendium of poetry, also leather-bound. There were copies of Cowper's poetry and White's and many, many others.
Regrettably, I had to leave that haven of book history and go back down the stairs to the main room and help prepare for the event - which went well. We all had the great privilege of meeting some members of the library, and I, for one, had some lovely conversations with some readers, too.
Sadly, I had to leave those fabulous surroundings eventually, and the management wouldn't let me move in! This is not surprising, really, when you consider that The Leeds Library was founded in 1768, and its extensive collection holds books from that date and throughout the succeeding decades. In addition, it is the oldest surviving subscription library in the UK. When you take that into account, it seems quite fitting to me that the library has been housed in a Grade II listing building that has been carefully preserved since 1808. Let's hope it remains here for the continuing future.
You can find out more about, or arrange to visit, The Leeds Library Here
The event I attended was Tea and Trenchcoat Trio, and you can find details of other events I'm involved with on my Website
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