The Portico Library — Attraction in Manchester

The library was the first Greek Revival building in the city. Its interior was inspired by John Soane. The library has a rectangular plan and is constructed in sandstone ashlar on a corner site at 57 Mosley Street. It has two storeys and a basement and roof space. Its facade on Mosley Street has a three-bay pedimented loggia with four Ionic columns set slightly forward and steps between the columns. Under the loggia are two entrance doors and three square windows at first floor level

The Charlotte Street facade has an entrance into the loggia with a square window above and another on the first floor. A five-bay colonnade of Ionic semi-columns has tall sashed windows on the ground floor in each bay and square window above at first floor level. The attic storey is behind a pilastered parapet. Originally the reading room was on the ground floor and the library occupied the remainder of the ground floor and a mezzanine gallery. A glass-domed ceiling was inserted at gallery level in about 1920 to separate the new tenants from what remained of the library.

The Portico Library, in conjunction with its cultural partners and funders, hosts a series of literary prizes throughout the year to celebrate writers and poets from Northern England and beyond. The Portico Prize for Literature was established in 1985 and awarded biennially to a work of fiction or poetry and a work of non-fiction set wholly or mainly in the north of England. The library launched the Sadie Massey Award to celebrate the North West's young writers in 2015.

The library's first chairman was John Ferriar and its secretary was Peter Mark Roget. Other notable members include John Dalton, Reverend William Gaskell, Sir Robert Peel and more recently...

Be aware this isn't a public library. I was in Manchester for the day and had some time to pass, so I checked their website before going in, and it reads: "The Portico Library is open to the public and free to enter. Come and enjoy this special place, take a rest from the bustle of the city, see the latest exhibition and enter a world of literature, history, and creativity." This sounded like what I looking for, i.e. a normal library experience. I walked in and asked at the front desk if it would be OK if I read my book at a table for awhile and she told me yes, but don't touch any of the books except a few on the table in the corner, because they are a members only library. I sat at a table and a man immediately came up to me and handed me a menu for the cafe. He said that I need to at least buy a coffee if I wanted to sit here, contradicting what the front desk said. I didn't want to argue, so I paid £3 for a small coffee that was almost undrinkable. I left pretty quickly.

So I'm not sure what their website means about this being a free space to enter. I guess it's free if you want to come stand at the edge and look at the few books they allow the public to touch, but if you want to "enjoy this special place, take a rest from the bustle of the city" like they suggest, you either need to apply to be a paying member, or buy from their cafe, although there is disagreement among...

A tranquil hidden gem in the centre of the hustle and bustle of the city centre. I am biased because I am a bibliophile anyway and I discovered The Portico during one lunchtime escaping from our office in Piccadilly Gardens. Over the next couple of years I would visit this small, but perfectly formed, library at every opportunity. At the most stressful time of my life when I was losing and then lost the business, that I had taken 17 years to build, it became a sanctuary where I could briefly distance myself from the fear and panic I was feeling, during a horrendous time in my life. I have sad but very fond memories reflecting on the continuity and creativity of the works and the fact that no matter how bad things become that life continues and bad times take a natural course and will eventually end - in one way or another. Fortunately it ended OK for me - but I no longer live and work in Manchester and haven’t visited for a while. At the time I frequented The Portico it was possible to have some food there and then it also became an exhibition space. To view the whole library one had to become a member - but at one point it was possible to appreciate the leather bindings and the ambiance for free. ...