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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/may/16/in-praise-of-liverpool-central-library

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In praise of … Liverpool central library In praise of … Liverpool central library
(4 months later)
The literary thoroughfare, paving the way to the door with tales from The Wind In the Willows to Gone with the Wind. The glass cases in the oak room, the stacks of the Picton, and the shaft of light that cuts through bookish murk from the airy new atrium. The pictures speak more eloquently than any words could about what Liverpool has achieved by restoring its central library. As it reopens on Friday, the splendour is redoubled at a time when other municipal centres of learning are shutting up shop. The blend of old and new is thrilling. Not just the bright modern interiors behind the restored facade, but the mix of digital access with cloth-bound books, and city records reaching back to the 1207 letters patent from King John, enticing settlers to build up the port. The Echo's view that this is a secular cathedral – to rank with the huge Anglican one, St James Mount, and the Catholics' Metropolitan – may sound excited, but it isn't wrong.The literary thoroughfare, paving the way to the door with tales from The Wind In the Willows to Gone with the Wind. The glass cases in the oak room, the stacks of the Picton, and the shaft of light that cuts through bookish murk from the airy new atrium. The pictures speak more eloquently than any words could about what Liverpool has achieved by restoring its central library. As it reopens on Friday, the splendour is redoubled at a time when other municipal centres of learning are shutting up shop. The blend of old and new is thrilling. Not just the bright modern interiors behind the restored facade, but the mix of digital access with cloth-bound books, and city records reaching back to the 1207 letters patent from King John, enticing settlers to build up the port. The Echo's view that this is a secular cathedral – to rank with the huge Anglican one, St James Mount, and the Catholics' Metropolitan – may sound excited, but it isn't wrong.
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