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We're working From Home!We can't welcome you in person now, but we're still Working From Home! For #MuseumFromHome & to let you visit from your screen, there's a new From Home page - do take a look! You can still 'Contact Us' too. X

Chetham’s Library has been in continuous use as a public library for over 350 years. It is housed in a beautiful sandstone building dating from 1421 which was built to accommodate the priests of Manchester’s Collegiate Church.

The entire collection at Chetham’s Library has been designated as one of national and international importance. You can find out about our collections here and in our catalogues. Chetham’s Library is currently closed to readers visiting in person, following government advice that working from home is preferred where possible. Staff are still working, however, and if you’d like to see what aspects of the Library you can explore from your screen, please start with our From Home page. We can be contacted on the email addresses on our Contact Us page : do feel free to be in touch and we’ll do our best to help with the resources to hand.

The Library is also an accredited museum, attracting visitors from all over the world.

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Visiting the library

Chetham's Library currently closed to visitors

Chetham’s Library is currently closed to visitors and readers, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Library staff are still working from home; please use the email addresses under ‘Contact Us’. Please visit our blog, new From Home pages and social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram) for regular highlights from our collection; we will endeavour to keep posting things of interest!

Tours suspended

Need to get in touch? Please contact us here.

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Blog

  1. Caring for our Books

    Conservation practices at Chetham’s Library It is no secret that Chetham’s library has a significantly...

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  2. A Small World?

    In mid-March 2020 we were planning to exhibit some of Chetham’s Library’s early atlases, to...

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  3. Bodies In The Library: A display of anatomy books

    Humphrey Chetham’s vision for his library was that it would offer resources to the professional...

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Humphrey Chetham

Humphrey Chetham (1580–1653), the most successful gentleman merchant of seventeenth-century Lancashire, was born in Crumpsall Hall, near Manchester, and later lived at Clayton Hall near Droylsden. His fortune was...

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