Leith Library is one of Edinburgh's 28 freely-accessible libraries.[1] It is a category B listed building. located in Leith, in the northern part of the city, at the foot of Ferry Road shortly before it meets Great Junction Street and North Junction Street.[2]
The stone marking the first phase of construction was laid by the then Lord Provost, Alexander Stevenson in 1929.[3] It was designed by Bradshaw Gass & Hope and opened in 1932.[4] The building suffered bomb damage in 1941 but was subsequently restored and re-opened in 1955.[5]
The library is currently open six days a week and, in addition to the collection of books, offers visitors computer access, a for-hire community room, public exhibition space, a knitting group and a weekly children's crafts class/workshop.
Local-area MSP Ben Macpherson also hosts surgeries within the library,[6] and the local registrar's office adjoins the main library building. To the building's rear is the Leith Theatre.[7]
As with all the City's libraries, Leith public library uses the Library of Congress Classification system for its adult collection.[8] As of 1974, Edinburgh is the only area in the UK where public libraries utilise the US classification scheme. Children's books, and some non-English works, are indexed using the Dewey Decimal Classification scheme.