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Chetham's Library is currently closed to visitorsIn common with Libraries across the country, Chetham's Library is currently closed to visitors and readers. Library staff are still working from home; please use the email addresses under 'Contact Us'. Please visit our blog and social media from time to time; we will endeavour to keep posting things of interest! 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, and can be contacted on the email addresses given at our Contact Us page.

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

In common with Libraries across the country, Chetham’s Library is currently closed to visitors and readers. Library staff are still working from home; please use the email addresses under ‘Contact Us’. Please visit our blog and social media from time to time; we will endeavour to keep posting things of interest!

Tours suspended

Need to get in touch? Please contact us here.

What's On

  1. 24 Apr
    12:30pm

    Humphrey Chetham Club Lunch – CANCELLED

    Full details
  2. 12 Jun
    12:30pm

    Humphrey Chetham Club Lunch

    Full details
View all Events

Blog

  1. Lady Day indoors

    Wednesday, 25 March is and was the date traditionally know as ‘Lady Day’, the Feast...

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  2. Not In front of The Children: Fairy Tales in Chetham’s Library

    We’ve often heard Chetham’s Library described as a magic, fairy-tale place. Children, and many adults,...

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  3. Chetham’s Library, Book Historians and Book Lovers

    We were very pleased to receive this blog post from last year’s researcher-in-residence, Verônica Calsoni...

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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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