| AIL Directory |
News & Events |
Home | Publications | Links | Contact us |
| 1: Institution | The Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle upon Tyne |
| 2: Founded | 1793 |
| 3: Postal address | 23 Westgate Road, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE1 1SE |
| 4: Tel. Fax. Email Web |
Tel: 0191 232 0192 Fax: 0191 261 4494 www.litandphil.org.uk library@litandphil.org.uk |
| 5: AIL contact | Miss K. Easson, Librarian |
| 6: Hours | Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, 09.30-19.00, Tuesday 09.30-20.00, Friday 09.30-1700; Saturday, 09.30-13.00 |
| 7: Membership details | 1,600 members (subscription details on application). |
| 8: Activities, publications etc. | Programme of lectures, readings and other events, all open to the public; lunchtime concerts open to the public. |
| 9: Refreshments | Refreshments served 10.00-14.00 (including real coffee, tea, biscuits and cakes). |
| 10: Visitors / Researchers | Non-members should apply to the Librarian; meeting and lecture rooms available for use by other societies. |
| 11: Background information | The Literary & Philosophical Society, founded in 1793 as a learned society, took on the role of a university in the city. The need for a library was recognised within a year of foundation. |
| 12: Collections | The present collection contains some 150,000 books, many of them old and rare. Areas of excellence include 19th-century science and technology, exploration and travel, history, biography, literature, music and local history. Recent additions of fiction and children's books and of new works of non-fiction, both scholarly and popular, make it a living library. There are about 10,000 recordings, including compact discs, chiefly of classical music. |
| 13: Building | Grade II* listed building designed by John Green with Georgian facade, Grecian in detail and Palladian in proportion. |
| 14: Status | Registered charity no. 528069. 2004/03/15 |