# Lister drive / Andrew Carnegie library Liverpool April 2017



## Lavino (Apr 18, 2017)

visited one evening with @dangle_angle after receiving a phone call if I want to take a look. And not being to far away we met a hour later at the library.this once would have been such a grand place it still holds a lot a character but sadly this is all being stripped back to bare brick as you can see in the photos. So there looks to be work ongoing. Would have loved to have seen it in its heyday with all the fancy plaster ceilings.heres some history and photos.
History 

West Derby Library (known locally as Lister Drive Library) was established with funding from an Andrew Carnegie (Philanthropist and Industrialist) grant, and opened in 1905. The Library is a one-storey brick built structure with stone dressings, a slate roof and an octagonal turret and was designed by Thomas Shelmerdine. The Library originally contained a lending library and a number of reading rooms. Sadly, following health and safety concerns, the library closed in 2006 and has remained vacant since. This period of un-occupation has resulted in the library being subject to theft, vandalism and neglect. 

In the spirit of Hidden Liverpool I am pleased to share the following exciting news..........

The ‘Lister Steps Carnegie Community Hub’ project (funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund) is currently in its development stage, however once completed Lister Steps aim to relocate their existing childcare services into the building. The completed Library will also serve as a centre for community engagement, a ‘hub’ offering refreshments, activities and training opportunities for the local community and visitors.

The project will shortly begin a period of consultation with stakeholders and members of the community. The project aims to host a number of heritage activities in the near future such as tours of the Library and an oral history project.


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## Rubex (Apr 18, 2017)

Wow, this is very nice Lavino  great pics!


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## thorfrun (Apr 18, 2017)

What a beautiful old building, nice find


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## oldscrote (Apr 18, 2017)

Magnificent,thank you


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## smiler (Apr 19, 2017)

I liked that Lavino, be good if you can post a shot after it's had the TLC it deserves, Thanks


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## Gromr (Apr 20, 2017)

What gorgeous building, I love grand library's like this. There is something very cosy and re-assuring about the dark wooden shelves and grand balcony. Shame it's been emptied. It really does deserve some love and attention.


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## HughieD (Apr 21, 2017)

That's a big wow and thumbs up from me for that report.


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## flyboys90 (Apr 22, 2017)

Such a beautiful building and great images.


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## prettyvacant71 (Jun 30, 2017)

Ok is it just me having these tech issues again??? Yet another post I can't see any pics from on photobucket...I can just see a icon which says "please update your account to get 3rd party hosting"...its just me isnt it


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## krela (Jun 30, 2017)

No it's not just you, it looks like Photobucket have changed their ToS to render themselves useless again. Seems you'll have to pay for an account to use it as anything other than a backup now.


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