Milnrow Carnegie Library, Newhey Road, Milnrow

The urban district council of Milnrow have appointed Messrs Butterworth and Duncan, of Rochdale, as architects for the new free library to be built next the police station. [Building News 22 February 1907 page 270

This little gem of a library was built in 1907 with a donation from the Scottish-American steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, whose name is synonymous with the funding of public libraries in Britain around the turn of the C20. The main elevation, set back within a little courtyard, is a nicely-balanced composition in the Edwardian ‘Free Style’, combining Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau detailing with a touch of Mannerism. The quality of the building’s craftsmanship is evident in the relief lettering and in the decorative armorial panel which bears the town’s adopted fleece emblem; leaded and stained Art Nouveau glass also survives.  Inside, the library retains its distinctive plan form with a central, top-lit borrowers’ hall, from which the librarian could supervise the large interconnecting reading room and open-fronted boys’ room; on the first floor is a more enclosed ladies’ room and a large lecture hall.  Many original fittings survive including fixed oak bookcases and colourful glazed dado tiles.

Reference           Building News 22 February 1907 page 270