Birmingham Central Library facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Birmingham Central Library

General information
Status	Demolished
Type	Public library
Architectural style	Brutalist
Location	Chamberlain Square, Birmingham, England
Coordinates	52°28′49.07″N 1°54′17.17″W / 52.4802972°N 1.9047694°W / 52.4802972; -1.9047694
Construction started	April 1969
Completed	December 1973
Opening	12 January 1974
Closed	29 June 2013
Demolished	2016
Cost	4.7 million Pound sterling
Owner	Birmingham City Council
Height	22.6 metres (74 ft)
Technical details
Floor count	8
Floor area	224,918m²
Design and construction
Architect	John Madin
Architecture firm	John Madin Design Group
Structural engineer	Ove Arup & Partners
Services engineer	R.W. Gregory & Partners
Quantity surveyor	L.C. Wakeman & Partners
Main contractor	Sir Robert McAlpine

Birmingham Central Library was the main public library in Birmingham, England. It closed on 29 June 2013 and was replaced with the Library of Birmingham.

It was once the largest non-national library in Europe.

Images for kids

Central Library after the 1879 fire
J. H. Chamberlain's rebuilt Central Library of 1882, demolished in 1974.
The tall clerestoried reading room of the 1882 library.
The library under construction in 1973.
One of the reading rooms in the Reference Library
The library from Chamberlain Square in 1983
The central atrium showing one of the six pools; this area later became Paradise Forum
The curved facade of the Lending Library, circa 1975
Under demolition in March 2016
Demolished, July 2016