Please note that advanced booking is required and the website of the library explains it well. Our experience here was far from impressive though. We wanted to visit the library at 1pm on Tue, 16 May, but did not realise that advanced booking was required. So we went to the gate of the library and there was someone (say P for person) at the lodge next to the Cathedral garden. We: Hello, we’d like to visit the library please. P: You need to book it online. We: Oh, okay, thank you. Then we opened a mobile phone to find out the information. However, he came out of the lodge and said the following in an upset tone. P: I said(!) you needed to book it online! Also, you are not allowed to take pictures with children in it! He then banged the door of the lodge and we were rather puzzled - (i) we did not and still do not know why he suddenly got so upset (ii) we understood what he said in the first place and so were trying to browse the web to find the online booking form. Having lived in the UK for the last 20+ years, I have never seen a person that upset/rude. It is understandable that he may have thought that we were trying to take pictures and he wanted to stop it, but it was not necessary to yell at us especially when he did not know what we were trying to do. After all, our experience here was not pleasant at all and, despite the excitement to see this classic-looking library, we decided to just leave. Reflecting back, I could not erase an impression of racism where I expected to experience it the least - schoolyard. p.s. The pictures attached were taken outside the opening hours and I hope it does not break the rules - if so, please let me know and I would be more than happy to unload them.

A fascinating tour of Chethams Library just yards away from Manchester Victoria train station. 350 years of history built in 1421 to accommodate priests living at Manchester's Collegiate Church. Worth having a tour as you hear fascinating stories about Dr Dee and can view the chained books and sit where Carl Marx and Fredrich Engles sat, debated and studied together. You can also see medieval cat flaps which were put in when they introduced cat's to hopefully kill the rat's.

This is a must whilst in Manchester. Tours or appointments required. We did the tour and it was well worth the £6. This is the oldest public library in the English-speaking world. Built in 1451. Many cool things like the printing press where the saying " mind your P's & Q's" entered our lingo because they were easily reversed. The typeset characters were stored in a case with capital letters in the "upper case" and small letters in the "lower case.". How cool is that? See the table where Marx and Engels wrote the Communist Manifesto and Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language (1st edition). See the photos for all of this and more. Did not get bombed during the war so you are in original structure. BTW, the door with a small at the bottom is a 15th century cat door so the cats could guard against vermin. So much more here. Check it out!

Very beautiful 😍 the guide lady was super friendly and helpful.. The library is stunning, such a gem! Definitely worth the visit.. We've booked the tickets through their website. I've been recommending this place to everyone. Thank you, all the best!

The jewel of Manchester. A must visit especially if you're interested in this city's rich legacy.

Loved the guided tour around this beautiful historical library. The guide gave us an amazing insight into the history of the area, the Cathedral and of course the Library within the Music College. An absolute must for tourists but equally also for Manchester residents just to be aware and proud of this heritage.

What a beautiful gem in Manchester! Today we visited this wonderful place and were given a great tour by Brian and Marjorie. They were very knowledgeable and patiently answered all our questions. The tour and admission is free of charge however a donation of £3 is recommended. As you enter the building, you enter a different world, and you go back in time to the 1600s. The books are incredibly well-preserved and it was fascinating to find out that Chetham's is also a place where talented pupils who aspire to be musicians take classes here and live here as well. It's just like a boarding school/university. Moreover, people can access the library and borrow books free of charge. I cannot recommend highly enough! Will certainly return for another visit!

Nice library. Nice and friendly tour guide. Interesting story and history about the building. Poor arrangement of gathering visitors. Visitors have to wait in the rain. *Bring your own umbrella* *Prior reservation required for a tour*

This is not a public library. You have to pay and book a tour. Cant go inside at all unless you book a tour. Chetham’s- That may be true, but that is not what we were told by employee personal at the security hut at the main entrance. We arrived at 230 pm our last evening in the UK and were told that it wasnt possible to visit the library today because the last tour had already started and that we would have to book a tour to be allowed entrance.

Interesting historical place. One of the oldest in Manchester and with a really interesting history. The guided tour which is the way to get in nowadays costs you 6.5 (5.5 for children) and money goes to the preservation of the building and the books. A one hour tour with some interesting stories and environments.

Daniel Defoe, George Washington, Marks n Engels, Charles Dickens. They all referred and wrote their masterpieces at the Chetham’s Library Manchester. It’s a treasure house! Aristotle, Euclid, Galileo, Copernicus and Kepler were all acquired at the outset, as were outstanding works of natural history and medicine, notably early editions of Galen and Hippocrates. Isaac Newton’s Principia Mathematica. the first printing of Homer (1488) and Plutarch’s Lives! You’ll also see first editions of key works such as Dr. Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary of the English Language (1755) and Milton’s Paradise Lost (1667). Seventeenth-century prose and verse miscellany containing letters by Ralegh and Bacon, and poems by Donne and Ben Jonson’s Plato. Erasmus’s New Testament in the original Greek. So so much !! Can keep going on! Its a must visit place. You’ll be transported to another time, another world !

We turned up thinking we could just have a walk through the library, but at the entrance we were told that it was only open for guided tours. Then as my cousin was holding his phone up, the staff at the gate walked out and told us that we were not allowed to take photographs. Although we didn’t take a photo at the actual gate, the staff member made us open up the photos on our phone and we had taken one earlier from further away out on the street and he made us delete it and then also go into the recently deleted folder and delete it from there as well. This was due to students being onsite, which we understood, but there were no signs on the outside of the building stating no photographs were allowed.

Very equipped one.

Hidden treasure of Manchester. Located in the original building built in the medieval period, it was turned into a public library in 1653. It is now the oldest surviving public library in the English speaking world.

Went to the guided tour of Chethams Library. I don't remember the name of our tour guide but she was very knowledgeable and we really enjoyed seeing the oldest public library. The architecture, books, and furniture are simply beautiful to behold. Definitely worth going. We arrived 10 mins early and waited outside the gate, the security guide was really polite when I asked if I was in the right place. The only thing I would recommend is updating the tickets to say wait outside the main gate rather than the gatehouse and that the tour guide will pick you up from there since a few other people seemed to be confused.

What an amazing place! A must see when in Manchester!

Chetham's Library in Manchester, England, is the oldest free public reference library in the English-speaking world. Chetham's Hospital, which contains both the library and Chetham's School of Music, was established in 1653 under the will of Humphrey Chetham (1580–1653), for the education of "the sons of honest, industrious and painful parents",[1] and a library for the use of scholars. The library has been in continuous use since 1653. It operates as an independent charity, open to readers free of charge, Monday-Friday 09.00-12.30 and 13.30-16.30 by prior appointment. Tours of the Library for visitors are bookable online from 2 September 2019 via the Library website. The library holds more than 100,000 volumes of printed books, of which 60,000 were published before 1851. They include collections of 16th- and 17th-century printed works, periodicals and journals, local history sources, broadsides and ephemera. In addition to print materials, the library holds a collection of over 1,000 manuscripts, including 41 medieval texts. Chetham's Library is an Accredited Museum under the Arts Council England Accreditation scheme. The whole of its collections are Designated as a collection of national and international importance under the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council Designation scheme, now administered by Arts Council England. Paintings featured as a part of the library's fine arts collection include portraits of William Whitaker, the Reverend John Radcliffe, Robert Thyer, the Reverend Francis Robert Raines, and Elizabeth Leigh. The collection includes An Allegory with Putti and Satyrs, oil on canvas, attributed to sixteenth century artist and Netherlander Vincent Sellaer. One of the most substantial collections pertains to Belle Vue Zoo and Gardens, Manchester's most renowned entertainment attraction and zoological center, in operation from the 1830s to the 1980s. The collection contains thousands of posters, programmes and photographs, as well as the financial and business papers of the owner, John Jennison; large numbers of items in this collection are available in digitised form online. A 2014 grant of £45,000 obtained by Chetham's Library allowed curators to make the collection available to online users, via digitization projects. The manor house of the Lord of the Manor, in the centre of the medieval town of Manchester, stood on a sandstone bluff, at the confluence of the River Irwell and the River Irk. In 1421 the rector of the parish church, Thomas de la Warre (Lord of the manor of Manchester), obtained a licence from Henry V to refound the church as a collegiate foundation. He donated his manor house for use as the college of priests' buildings for the collegiate church (later to be the cathedral). There was accommodation for the warden, eight fellows, four clerks, and six choristers. The Manchester Free Grammar School for Lancashire Boys was built between the church and the college buildings between 1515 and 1518. The college was dissolved in 1547 by the Chantries Act and sold to the Earl of Derby. It was re-founded as a catholic foundation by Queen Mary and again disbanded by Protestant Queen Elizabeth I. In 1578 the collegiate church was re-founded by charter as Christ's College and re-occupied by the warden and fellows. In the Civil War it was used as a prison and arsenal.

Great tour guide. Amazing history. Would like to go more in depth. Definitely hitting the high notes across several centuries.

Wonderful place to visit while in the city centre. Knowledgable and engaging tours throughout the day.

(Translated by Google) A full sense of those times! Wonderful. I want to sit down and read a book. (Original) Полное ощущение тех времен! Замечательно. Хочется сесть и почитать книгу.

This place is a treasure! They have tours starting at noon. The guide we had was pleasant and very informative. You’re allowed an hour during the tour but really you only need about 30 min tops.

Medieval library that has thousands of books, excellent collection in and amazing old building

Free guided tours filled with history and interesting facts! Wonderful way to see this beautiful library

Chetham's was an amazing place..The tour was very disappointing. It lasted about 1 hr. The guide, very knowledgeable, and kind hearted never stopped talking. And I mean never. We only spent about 20 minutes in with the books (it felt like an add on). His continual talking killed the tranquility and feeling of the of the library. Like another couple I wandered off to the other end of the library to soak in the atmosphere and take some pictures

Excellent tour guide, just the right amount of time and an amazing building and library. Highly recommend a visit.

(Translated by Google) Beautiful area. Very pleasant guided tour. To visit !! (Original) Très bel endroit. Visite guidée très agréable. A visiter !!

Really interesting tour of one of the oldest buildings in Manchester.

Updating review after actually visiting... despite comments below - booked tickets for 11:00 tour - started on time with a very knowledgable guide - incredible place - it’s so good we have kept and maintained places like this - full of history and of course books... if you get the chance well worth spending an hour discovering... see the nook where Marx & Engels read and planned their antics... Visit if you can. Silly experience - only guided tours (unclear from web site) - people who had no clue and “thought” first tour at 11:30 - when asked about the sign outside that apologised from their web site problems once again had no clue - get your act together... and what’s the point of opening at 9:00 if tours start at 11:30??

Had the pleasure of taking part in the "After Hour's Event", where you can explore the library on your own. The volunteers, who answer any question you have and tell you a bit about the rooms, are very friendly and attentive. Chetham's is a great place to spend the evening :)

Fascinating guided tour. So glad we made this & the Cathedral the centrepieces of our Medieval Manchester walk.

Approached the security gatehouse you get a raw stench of cigarette smell from the guard who makes gringgots goblins look more welcoming. Book online?? Your customers are looking for old fashioned so most deal cash or card up front. I though public library's where free. Hench PUBLIC library. So disappointed. I am sure it's an amazing place but badly badly run.

I visited Chethams Library on 9th November with 5 friends after booking on line and joined the 11 o'clock tour. Sue, the guide, was very welcoming. The tour lasted over an hour was most informative and clear. Excellent. Chethams Library is definitely worth visiting and I recommend it not only to visitors to Manchester but to residents of the city. A real gem! Go and see it.

Phenomenal tour by Sian-Louise, best I've been on - so much to learn about this wonder of Manchester! Ethos is to put the resources into the community, because knowledge is power and all should have access to that. So much respect for the team, whose profit goes towards upkeep and accessibility (some of those works are just too impractically formatted - would need a crane to get home) and adding to the collection of over 250,000 to keep the reading relevant and follow their ethos through. Serving the community! This is the oldest operating public library in the English-speaking world and you can smell it: beyond divine; my nose loved every second. Greatly, greatly recommend.

Went to a ticketed event - walked through the unattended entrance with other people - went to reception only to find out we shouldn’t have gone through - the turnstile had been left open and the security guard was absent. He was so rude to me and my daughters - obviously because he had messed up. Never been there before. Will probably new go there again. What a horrible man. Children too upset to attend the workshop.

Chetham Library is a beautiful building open to the public only at certain times during the week. Alot of the architecture looks medieval and the carvings are amazing to see. The books are all original books from the library. There are a few cool rooms with the building that you need to see but you’ll probably see the place in 30 minutes ish

Building is lovely

Wonderful place with a knowledgeable tour guild👍

Loved the history attached to this place, the tour was amazing

I visit as a reader. Fergus and everyone else at the library are excellent hosts and very helpful.

(Translated by Google) Beautiful. (Original) Lindíssima.

Looks nice but don’t know where to get in :/

(Translated by Google) Great beautiful historical library. You feel the history. Had a nice tour. Tour lasts an hour. (Original) Geweldig mooie historische bibliotheek. Je voel de historie. Leuke rondleiding gehad. Rondleiding duurt een uur.

(Translated by Google) Second visit to this beautiful historic library with a special collection of books. In the past you could visit the library freely, now only with a guide. The tour of the excellent guides, who work there as volunteers, is an added value. (Original) Tweede bezoek aan deze prachtige historische bibliotheek met een bijzondere verzameling boeken. Vroeger kon je de bibliotheek vrij bezoeken, nu enkel met gids. De rondleiding van de uitstekende gidsen, die daar als vrijwilligers werken, is een meerwaarde.

The Jonathan Schofield tour was great. Amazing to be so close to so much history.

(Translated by Google) Had a great guide, very interesting. (Original) Hatte eine tolle Führung, sehr interessant.

Amazing tour, knowledgeable staff and insta worthy photo opportunities.

(Translated by Google) a real gem. here you can really feel the spirit of science, books that are several hundred years old. the oldest functioning public library. admittedly the most valuable books are in the underground, not available for rent but here are the first editions of Newton or Galileo. and of course the place of creation of the communist manifesto of Marx and Engels. (Original) prawdziwa perełka. tu można na prawdę poczuć ducha nauki, książki które mają po kilkaset lat. najstarsza, działająca biblioteka publiczna. co prawda najcenniejsze książki są w podziemiach, niedostępne do wypożyczenia ale są tu pierwsze wydania Newtona czy Galileusza. no i oczywiście miejsce powstania komunistycznego manifestu Marxa i Engelsa.

(Translated by Google) To visit. Very nice guided tour for this little treasure of Manchester. (Original) Da visitare. Visita guidata molto bella per questo piccolo tesoro di Manchester.

Nice short tour at 11am with knowledgeable staff. Worth a visit. Weather very wet.

The Chetham's Library Archivist was so helpful. Many thanks Jane. For those in another country who cannot visit the library in person, it was very easy to find archives by email. Cheers Karen

(Translated by Google) Another Manchester staple; this library was a housing for priests and was built at the same time as the cathedral (1421) before becoming during the civil war a school for orphans and then the first English language library in all English-speaking countries! Everything has remained in its seventeenth century state and it has a crazy charm. Admire the reading nook where Karl Marx and Engels came to read economics books before writing theirs that changed the world. Free entry with guided tour (a donation of 3 pounds is appreciable or a purchase of something but it is not compulsory), the visit is made by charming volunteers at 10 a.m., 11 a.m., 2 p.m., 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. from Monday to Friday . (Original) Un autre incontournable de Manchester; cette bibliothèque fut un logement pour les prêtres et a été construite en même temps que la cathédrale (1421) avant de devenir durant la guerre civile une école pour orphelins et puis la première bibliothèque de langue anglaise dans tout les pays anglophones! Tout est resté dans son état du dix-septième siècle et ça a un charme fou. Admirez le coin lecture ou Karl Marx et Engels venaient lire des livres d’économie avant d’écrire les leurs qui ont changé le monde. Entrée gratuite avec visite guidée ( un don de 3 pounds est appréciable ou un achat de quelque chose mais ce n’est pas obligatoire), la visite est faite par des volontaires charmants à 10h, 11h, 14h, 15h et 16h de lundi à vendredi.

Amazing, it's a must see when visiting Manchester.

(Translated by Google) the oldest public library in the English speaking area, opened back in 1653, was studied here by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels; the most popular attraction is a room in which Elizabeth's eyelid scroll was invoked by the devil and in which there is still one that left the imprint of the devil's foot on ... entrance is free (Original) најстарија јавна библиотека на енглеском говорном подручју, отворена још 1653. године, овде су изучавали књиге и Карл Маркс и Фридрих Енгелс; најпопуларнија атракција је соба у којој су окулисти из елизабетиног доба призивали ђавола и у којој још стоји сто у коме се остао нагорео отисак ђавољевог стопала...улаз је бесплатан

A very beautiful historic library well preserved.

It was an intriguing experience.

A jewel of Manchester.

(Translated by Google) compact library in English style. Take a free tour of the library and learn more about this ancient library with a rich history. some of the books are unique and very old. therefore you can only wander here accompanied by a library worker (Original) компактная библиотека в английском стиле. по библиотеке можно взять бесплатную экскурсию и узнать больше об этой древней библиотеке с богатой историей. некоторые экземпляры книг уникальные и очень старинные. поэтому вы сможете здесь побродить только в сопровождении работника библиотеки

A very authoritative source of learning. Sir Humphrey Chetham is celebrated in Manchester Cathedral.

A book lover's dream. There are a limited number of tours every day so check their schedule.

Guide Lynn gave a brief tour, then left us to look at some of the books and shelves on our own. The building and books are great, but it might be more worthwhile to go on the £10 Jonathan Schofield tour on Saturdays.

(Translated by Google) A very nice place to study 📖 (Original) مكان جميل جدا للمذاكر 📖

(Translated by Google) very interesting. (Original) מעניין מאוד.