== The new building ==
== The new building ==
The foundation stone for the new building was laid by the Lord Mayor, Peter John Arnold, on 17 December 2007.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2007/12/18/milestone-as-a-new-city-library-rises-61634-20262923/ |publisher=The Journal|date=18 December 2007 |title=Milestone as a new city library rises |accessdate=13 April 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120223051818/http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2007/12/18/milestone-as-a-new-city-library-rises-61634-20262923/|archive-date=23 February 2012}}</ref> It was designed by Ryder Architecture in the [[Modern architecture|modern style]] and featured a long ‘glass box’ which formed the eastern side of the steel frame structure. It was built by a joint venture of Tolent Construction and [[Kajima Construction]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kajima.co.uk/newcastle_libraries.html|title=Newcastle City Library|publisher= Kajima Projects|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090429145121/http://www.kajima.co.uk/newcastle_libraries.html|archive-date= 29 April 2009}}</ref> at a cost of £24 million.<ref name=”e-architect.co.uk”>{{cite web|url=http://www.e-architect.co.uk/newcastle/newcastle-city-library |title=Newcastle City Library, Building |publisher=e-architect |date= 28 May 2009|accessdate=2017-07-08}}</ref> The [[Poet Laureate]] [[Andrew Motion]] was guest of honour at the handover of the new building from the contractors to the City Council on 3 March 2009.<ref name=”e-architect.co.uk”/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newcastle.gov.uk/press.nsf/newsbyid/C018DDF6593ABE698025756E0042CE40?opendocument |title=Poet Laureate celebrates completion of new City Library |date=3 March 2009 |publisher=Newcastle City Council |accessdate=13 April 2009 |archivedate=13 February 2012 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120213105127/http://www.newcastle.gov.uk/press.nsf/newsbyid/C018DDF6593ABE698025756E0042CE40?opendocument }}</ref> It was named the [[Charles Avison]] Building after the 18th-century Newcastle composer.<ref name=newlib>{{cite web|url=http://www.newcastle.gov.uk/core.nsf/a/librariesnewcitylibrary |title=New City Library |publisher=Newcastle City Council |accessdate=13 April 2009 |archivedate=6 April 2009 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090406070600/http://www.newcastle.gov.uk/core.nsf/a/librariesnewcitylibrary |url-status=dead }}</ref>
The foundation stone for the new building was laid by the Lord Mayor, Peter John Arnold, on 17 December 2007.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2007/12/18/milestone-as-a-new-city-library-rises-61634-20262923/ |publisher=The Journal|date=18 December 2007 |title=Milestone as a new city library rises |accessdate=13 April 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120223051818/http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2007/12/18/milestone-as-a-new-city-library-rises-61634-20262923/|archive-date=23 February 2012}}</ref> It was designed by Ryder Architecture in the [[Modern architecture|modern style]] and featured a long ‘glass box’ which formed the eastern side of the steel frame structure. It was built by a joint venture of Tolent Construction and [[Kajima Construction]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kajima.co.uk/newcastle_libraries.html|title=Newcastle City Library|publisher= Kajima Projects|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090429145121/http://www.kajima.co.uk/newcastle_libraries.html|archive-date= 29 April 2009}}</ref> at a cost of £24 million.<ref name=”e-architect.co.uk”>{{cite web|url=http://www.e-architect.co.uk/newcastle/newcastle-city-library |title=Newcastle City Library, Building |publisher=e-architect |date= 28 May 2009|accessdate=2017-07-08}}</ref> The [[Poet Laureate]] [[Andrew Motion]] was guest of honour at the handover of the new building from the contractors to the City Council on 3 March 2009.<ref name=”e-architect.co.uk”/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newcastle.gov.uk/press.nsf/newsbyid/C018DDF6593ABE698025756E0042CE40?opendocument |title=Poet Laureate celebrates completion of new City Library |date=3 March 2009 |publisher=Newcastle City Council |accessdate=13 April 2009 |archivedate=13 February 2012 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120213105127/http://www.newcastle.gov.uk/press.nsf/newsbyid/C018DDF6593ABE698025756E0042CE40?opendocument }}</ref> It was named the [[Charles Avison]] Building after the 18th-century Newcastle composer.<ref name=newlib>{{cite web|url=http://www.newcastle.gov.uk/core.nsf/a/librariesnewcitylibrary |title=New City Library |publisher=Newcastle City Council |accessdate=13 April 2009 |archivedate=6 April 2009 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090406070600/http://www.newcastle.gov.uk/core.nsf/a/librariesnewcitylibrary |url-status=dead }}</ref>
The public opening day, 7 June 2009,<ref name=”e-architect.co.uk”/> featured a programme of entertainment from musicians performing in the entrance hall and fictional characters including Captain Hook, Sherlock Holmes, Alice in Wonderland, The Queen of Hearts, The Gruffalo and Peter Rabbit. The six-storey building contains a marble-floored atrium, a viewing platform, a 185-seat performance space, a café and an exhibition space.<ref name=newlib/> It was officially opened by Queen [[Elizabeth II]] and [[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh]] on 6 November 2009.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2009/10/28/queen-to-open-the-great-north-museum-and-city-library-61634-25030958/ |title=Queen to open the Great North Museum and City Library |publisher=The Journal |date=2009-10-28 |accessdate=2009-11-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307113241/http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2009/10/28/queen-to-open-the-great-north-museum-and-city-library-61634-25030958/|archive-date=7 March 2012}}</ref>
The public opening day, 7 June 2009,<ref name=”e-architect.co.uk”/> featured a programme of entertainment from musicians performing in the entrance hall and fictional characters including Captain Hook, Sherlock Holmes, Alice in Wonderland, The Queen of Hearts, The Gruffalo and Peter Rabbit. The six-storey building contains a marble-floored atrium, a viewing platform, a 185-seat performance space, a café and an exhibition space.<ref name=newlib/> It was officially opened by Queen [[Elizabeth II]] and [[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh]] on 6 November 2009.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2009/10/28/queen-to-open-the-great-north-museum-and-city-library-61634-25030958/ |title=Queen to open the Great North Museum and City Library |publisher=The Journal |date=2009-10-28 |accessdate=2009-11-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307113241/http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2009/10/28/queen-to-open-the-great-north-museum-and-city-library-61634-25030958/|archive-date=7 March 2012}}</ref>
* [https://www.newcastle.gov.uk/services/libraries-culture/libraries-newcastle/city-library City Library (Libraries in Newcastle)] on Newcastle Council website
* [https://www.newcastle.gov.uk/services/libraries-culture/libraries-newcastle/city-library City Library (Libraries in Newcastle)] on Newcastle Council website
* [https://www.tiktok.com/@toonlibraries?lang=en Newcastle Libraries] on TikTok
* [https://www.tiktok.com/@toonlibraries?lang=en Newcastle Libraries] on TikTok
* {{cite web|url=http://www.steelconstruction.org/static/assets/source/NSC1603_feature-04.pdf |title=Steel writes a new chapter on Tyneside |publisher=www.steelconstruction.org |date=March 2008 |accessdate=13 April 2009 |archivedate=13 April 2009 |archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/5g0osMnLz?url=http://www.steelconstruction.org/static/assets/source/NSC1603_feature-04.pdf |url-status=dead }}
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{{Authority control}}
Steel and glass in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
Newcastle City Library (also known as the Charles Avison Building) is a library in the city centre of Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom. Completed on 3 March 2009, the building opened on 7 June 2009, and is the city’s main public library.
The Victorian building
[edit]
In the 1870s the city council decided to commission a public library. The site they selected, on New Bridge Street, had been occupied by the old Carliol Tower, which formed part of the old town wall.[1]
The building was designed by Alfred Mountain Fowler in the neoclassical style, built in ashlar stone and was completed in 1880. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of 15 bays facing onto New Bridge Street. The central section of three bays, which was also projected forward, featured a portico formed by Doric order columns supporting an entablature. On the first floor, a series of Corinthian order columns supported a cornice and, at roof level, the central bay was surmounted by four caryatids supporting a pediment.[2][3]
The original building was demolished in the mid-1960s to make way for a new structure on the corner of John Dobson Street and New Bridge Street West. The new building designed by Sir Basil Spence in the brutalist style, built in concrete and steel and was opened in 1968.[4] The neighbouring Laing Art Gallery had been built adjacent to the old Victorian library and was left somewhat out of context following the demolition of the older building, with a blind brick wall facing towards the city centre.[5]
The 1960s building rapidly became unfit for the purpose of a modern public library with its name changing in the late 1990s from Central Library to City Library. Additionally, the 1960s design of the library became regarded as exceedingly ugly, with local TV presenter and author John Grundy describing it as “a monstrous concrete blob”.[6]
The road to the rear of the library, John Dobson Street, used to have a concrete canopy which hung over the dual carriageway stretching from Durant Road up to the junction of New Bridge Street West. This canopy was at the official ground floor level of the library and provided the library with an entrance to the rear with access onto which was ultimately a rather unused large pedestrian area with seats and other street furniture. This arrangement formed part of the 1960s “City in the Sky” vision.[7] The 1960s library was closed on 1 September 2006 and subsequently demolished.[8]
The foundation stone for the new building was laid by the Lord Mayor, Peter John Arnold, on 17 December 2007.[9] It was designed by Ryder Architecture in the modern style and featured a long ‘glass box’ which formed the eastern side of the steel frame structure.[10] It was built by a joint venture of Tolent Construction and Kajima Construction[11] at a cost of £24 million.[12] The Poet Laureate Andrew Motion was guest of honour at the handover of the new building from the contractors to the City Council on 3 March 2009.[12][13] It was named the Charles Avison Building after the 18th-century Newcastle composer.[14]
The public opening day, 7 June 2009,[12] featured a programme of entertainment from musicians performing in the entrance hall and fictional characters including Captain Hook, Sherlock Holmes, Alice in Wonderland, The Queen of Hearts, The Gruffalo and Peter Rabbit. The six-storey building contains a marble-floored atrium, a viewing platform, a 185-seat performance space, a café and an exhibition space.[14] It was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh on 6 November 2009.[15]
When it first opened the new building used technologies specifically designed for use in libraries. It was an early adopter of RFID library tagging technology. Every book is fitted with a digital tag, meaning books can be checked out and returned via automated checkout points, and theft of stock becomes much harder. Staff members carry hands-free voice-activated WiFi radios to communicate with other members of staff, a first in the UK.[12]
In 2016, the library was included in scenes in the film I, Daniel Blake, directed by Ken Loach, where the eponymous character upon losing his life-long job as a builder goes to the library to get online to apply for welfare benefits.[16]
