Welcome to Chetham's Library

A shot from photographer Rachel Liggett's
recent shoot in the library.

Chetham's Library was founded in 1653 and is the oldest public library in the English-speaking world.
It is an independent charity and remains open to readers and visitors free of charge.
Please follow the links below to find out more.
If you would like to visit the Library or come to read, please contact us.

We have just added new handlists to some of Chetham's archival collections.

Here are links to the Royal Exchange Theatre Costume department photoshoot by Darby Sawchuk and his other photos of the Library.

Chetham's Library hosted a conference entitled Making Meaning from Material on 18 January 2008

We now have a second AHRC-funded postgraduate joining us at the library. Joel Swann of the University of Keele has now joined Matthew Yeo of the University of Manchester in working on the library's collections for his doctoral thesis.

You can still see the whole of the famous Axon collection of 19th-century ballads online here!
Wondering what happened to the last pictorial exhibit? You can still click here to see our collection of photographs of Manchester's old halls.

Help Chetham's Library: buy one of our facsimile reprints!

Chetham's Library appeal was generously supported by

Last update: 12 May 2008

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