John Rylands Library UK, Manchester Resort
Rating: 8,4/10 (140 votes)  The John Rylands Library is the central library for the City of Manchester. It is housed in a beautiful neo-gothic building.
The library was opened and named after John Rylands by Enriketa Augusina Rylands in 1900 as a tribute to her late husband. John Rylands was a renowned entrepreneur, owner of the UK's largest textile concern, Manchester's first multimillionaire and philanthropist.
The library building was designed by the architect Basil Chempnis. It was assumed that the new library will specialize mainly in theological literature, so the building in many ways resembles a Gothic church. Manchester at that time was an industrial city, and therefore heavily polluted, suffering from smoke and smog. To protect books from pollution and harmful substances in the library building, a sophisticated ventilation system was created using water filters and electric fans, which was a very innovative solution for that time. The library used electric lamps, not gas, which was also associated with environmental protection, because they give more light and at the same time do not pollute the atmosphere.
The library is based on 40,000 volumes collected by George John Spencer and later purchased from him. Unique specimens are kept here, for example, a collection of papyri, the first printed Bible of Gutenberg, the apocryphal gospel of Mary, a fragment of the earliest extant New Testament, and others.
In 1972, the John Rylands Library was merged with the University of Manchester Library.
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