Mansfield Libraries

Mansfield Market Place (in 1900) showing the Town Hall

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Mansfield's 'Carnegie' library on Leeming Street, prior to the 1930s extensions

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Mansfield's Leeming Street Library in 1970

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HM The Queen opens the new Mansfield Library in the Four Seasons Centre in 1977

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a Timeline History from 1825 to the present

1825 - A Subscription Library is established in the Town Hall reading Room

28th October 1891 - A Reading Room and library is opened in the Corn Exchange in the Market place.  It is opened by Mr. John Potter Briscoe, librarian of the Nottingham free Libraries and a noted local historian.

6th July 1904 - The foundation stone for the Mansfield free Public Library is laid.  The site, on Leeming Street, had been given by His grace the 6th Duke of Portland of Welbeck Abbey in Notts.

24th May 1905 - Official opening of the Mansfield Free Public Library on Leeming Street by the mayor, George Hudson Hibbert.  Over the next 70 years as the town’s library will be enlarged several times - most notably in 1931-32 when the second storey was added.

27th November 1968 - In order to create even more room in the main library, a separate Childern’s Library is opened nearby in Nos. 56-58 Leeming Street.  The new Children’s Library was opened by the Mayor, Charles Harrison.    

31st March 1977 - The need for a bigger library lead to the opening of a new £1m ‘showpiece’ library on the first floor of the new Four seasons Shopping Centre.  It is four times the size of the Leeming street premises and is the first library in Nottinghamshire to have a computerised book issuing system.

28th July 1977 - In her Silver Jubilee year, Queen Elizabeth II visits Mansfield with Prince Philip and officially opens the new library.

January 1994 - As modernisation continues throughout Nottinghamshire libraries, a computerised public ‘Booksearch’ facility is made available at Mansfield Library.

November 1997 - a public internet service is installed at Mansfield Library.  At first there is just one terminal.  Today (2013) there are 65 PCs available for public use in Mansfield Library.

3rd January 2012 - Opening of a fully refurbished library in the Four Seasons Centre benefitting from £3.5m worth of improvements.