Editing Manchester Central Library (section)

==Collections==
[[File:Manchester Central Library 2014 re-opening Lending Library 7944c.JPG|thumb|right|The new Lending Library in 2014]]
It is the second largest public lending library in Britain, after the [[Library of Birmingham]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Manchester Central Library reopens after £50m revamp |last=Pidd |first=Helen |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/mar/21/manchester-central-library-reopens-50m-pound-revamp |newspaper=The Guardian |date=21 March 2014 |access-date=29 March 2014}}</ref>

Beneath the Great Hall were four floors of steel book stacks providing {{convert|35|miles}} of shelving which accommodated one million books:<ref name="stacks">{{Cite web |title=Take a trip through our stacks |url=http://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/500138/central_library/4593/manchester_central_library |access-date=10 November 2011 |website=Manchester City Council |at=Explore Central Library's hidden depths |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111128074845/http://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/500138/central_library/4593/manchester_central_library |archive-date=28 November 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> [http://vimeo.com/8715096 video]. Those floors were only accessible to employees and were environmentally controlled to protect the books, many of which are old and fragile.<ref name="stacks"/> The upper two stack floors occupied all the area under the dome. The fourth level, the archive unit, was in the basement of the building. The lower two stack floors were smaller because the basement theatre took some of that area. In 2011 when the library closed for the alterations, there were 3,600 stack columns supporting approximately 45,000 shelves; those columns were rooted in the sandstone rock underneath and supported the Great Hall's reinforced concrete floor. Placed end to end, those shelves would have covered over {{convert|35|mi|km|0}}. The total floor area was about {{convert|7000|sqyd|m2|-1}}.<ref name="mcc_website"/> After the 2010–2014 alterations, many of the former stack books (except rare or valuable or fragile books) are on public shelves.

The library collections include over 30 [[incunabula]] (books published before 1500) and many first and early editions of major works. The special collections include:<ref name="mcc_website"/>
* '''[https://web.archive.org/web/20140817023702/http://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/447/rare_books_and_collections/338/literature_and_letters/2 The Gaskell Collection]''' – works by [[Elizabeth Gaskell]], one of the most important writers to have lived and worked in the city
* '''The Theatre Collection''' – a record of the history of [[theatre]] in Manchester
*'''The Henry Watson Music library''' – one of the largest public library collections of [[sheet music]], named after the Mancunian musician and composer Dr [[Henry Watson (musician)|Henry Watson]] (1846–1911) who bequeathed his collection to the library. It was officially opened in 1947 by Sir [[John Barbirolli]].<ref name="watson-library">{{cite web |title=Henry Watson Music library |url=https://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/447/rare_books_and_collections/7386/henry_watson_music_library |website=manchester.gov.uk |publisher=Manchester City Council |access-date=2 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709004707/https://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/447/rare_books_and_collections/7386/henry_watson_music_library |archive-date=9 July 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Duck |first1=Leonard |title=The Henry Watson Music Library |journal=The Musical Times |date=1952 |volume=93 |issue=1310 |pages=155–159 |doi=10.2307/935449 |jstor=935449 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/935449 |access-date=2 March 2022 |issn=0027-4666|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
* '''The Newman Flower Collection of Handel Manuscripts''' – acquired from the estate of Sir [[Newman Flower]] by the Henry Watson Music library in 1965. This library of rare manuscripts had originally been collected by [[Charles Jennens]], a close friend of [[George Frederic Handel]], and was later held in the collection of the [[Heneage Finch, 3rd Earl of Aylesford|Earl of Aylesford]]. It contains works by Handel, as well as items of Italian music from the early 18th century, including concerto partbooks of ''[[The Four Seasons (Vivaldi)|the Four Seasons]]'' by [[Antonio Vivaldi]]. Notably, the collection also includes a number of previously unknown violin sonatas by Vivaldi, autographed by the composer, which are now known as ''The Manchester Sonatas''.<ref>Antonio Vivaldi, Manchester Violin Sonatas (1720, reprinted 1976) {{ISBN|0-89579-072-6}}</ref><ref name="watson-library" />