I was very sorry to miss what looks like a fabulous event last week in Manchester to celebrate 175 years of the Public Libraries Act. We in research libraries recognise the importance of supporting our fabulous, but under-resourced, public libraires #Libraries175

Yesterday at our #Libraries175 event, Libraries Minister Baroness Twycross pledged her support for public libraries, describing them as the "purest expression of democracy in action" www.librariesconnected.org.uk/news/ministe...

Isobel Hunter invites us to pause at the end of #Libraries175 to listen to the hubbub of the modern library service at work.

What turns libraries as buildings of books into living spaces is the people that work in and use them, Isobel reminds us.

Here's to 175 more years of public #Libraries!

#DigitalInclusion is fundamental to the purpose of the modern public #Library service. At #Libraries175 we heard from a Manchester Central Digital Drop-In customer, Frances.

'I started computing from a very low base', Frances said. But the tutors at Central Library empowered her with knowledge.

One of public #Libraries' key roles is providing business support to entrepreneurs.

At #Libraries175 we heard from Ricky Leung who benefits from Manchester Libraries' 'Build a Business' project. 'Manchester Central provides the best business support in the world', he says!

buildabusinessgm.org

'Libraries provide a gateway to knowledge', @richove.bsky.social notes. Alongside this eternal duty they also respond with agility to a changing world.

The #Library community is creating a Library Alliance to meet our challenges and needs, bringing together skills and knowledge.

#Libraries175

@richove.bsky.social of @bodleian.ox.ac.uk reminds us at #Libraries175 that following the Free Libraries Act of 1850, the people of Manchester wanted the 'diffusion of knowledge across all classes'.

For all that our societies have changed in the 175 years since, this desire remains undimmed.

Baroness Twycross of @dcmsgovuk.bsky.social notes the importance of the mission of the new Libraries Alliance. She says libraries of all types share a common vision to provide information and support. #Libraries175

'I was fortunate to have books at home', #Libraries Minister Baroness Twycross from @dcmsgovuk.bsky.social tells us at #Libraries175. But not everyone is as fortunate.

She adds, 'Our libraries are engineers of social mobility, a unique public service open to everyone.'

@edjewell.bsky.social says he hopes our successors in another 175 years see that we as #Librarians and policymakers rose to the challenges of our century, having built spaces that match the size of the issues we face.

#Libraries175

@dcmsgovuk.bsky.social

From newcomers to the country to budding entrepreneurs and those simply seeking a quiet space to read, libraries are spaces for the profoundness of the everyday, @edjewell.bsky.social says at #Libraries175.

@dcmsgovuk.bsky.social

Councillor John Hacking from Manchester City Council notes at #Libraries175 that public #Libraries are the 'beating heart of communities'. Libraries, he says, can and do combat the polarisation in our cities.

We’re celebrating 175 years of the Public Libraries Act today at the iconic Manchester Central Library! We'll hear from Baroness Twycross, Minister for Libraries, and others whose lives have been transformed by libraries #Libraries175 #PublicLibraries

"The first public library was opened in Manchester on 6 September 1852 at Campfield."

Have you connected to your local library recently?
( @librariesconnected.bsky.social )

#Libraries175