Getty Images/age fotostock RM

Library of Birmingham

Top choice in Birmingham

Resembling a glittering stack of gift-wrapped presents, the Francine Houben–designed Library of Birmingham is an architectural triumph. The 2013-opened building features a subterranean amphitheatre, spiralling interior, viewing decks and glass elevator to the 7th-floor 'secret garden' with panoramic views over the city. In addition to its archives, and photography and rare-book collections (including Britain’s most important Shakespeare collection), there are gallery spaces, 160-plus computers and a cafe. The British Film Institute Mediatheque provides free access to the National Film Archive.

The ground-floor reception can also provide tourist information.

Contact

Address

Centenary Sq

Get In Touch

0121-242 4242

https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/libraries

Suggest an edit to this attraction

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Warwick Castle
19.32 MILES
Founded in 1068 by William the Conqueror, stunningly preserved Warwick Castle is Warwick's main attraction.
Coventry Cathedral
17.64 MILES
The evocative ruins of St Michael's Cathedral, built around 1300 but destroyed by Nazi incendiary bombs in the Blitz, stand as a memorial to Coventry's…
Coventry Transport Museum
17.53 MILES
This stupendous museum has hundreds of vehicles, from horseless carriages to jet-powered, land-speed-record breakers. There's a brushed-stainless-steel…
Shakespeare's New Place
21.69 MILES
When Shakespeare retired, he swapped the bright lights of London for a comfortable town house at New Place, where he died of unknown causes in April 1616…
Shakespeare's Birthplace
21.5 MILES
Start your Shakespeare quest at the house where the renowned playwright was born in 1564 and spent his childhood days. John Shakespeare owned the house…
Barber Institute of Fine Arts
2.17 MILES
At the University of Birmingham, 3 miles south of the city centre, the Barber Institute of Fine Arts has an astonishing collection of Renaissance…
Lichfield Cathedral
14.6 MILES
Crowned by three dramatic towers, Lichfield Cathedral is a Gothic fantasy, constructed in stages from 1200 to 1350. The enormous vaulted nave is set…
National Brewery Centre
25.49 MILES
Burton-upon-Trent grew up around its 7th-century abbey, which was famed for its healing spring waters. Brewing began here around 1700 and in the early…

View more attractions

Nearby Birmingham attractions

1. Statue of Boulton, Watt & Murdoch

0.07 MILES

Birmingham's Industrial Revolution leading lights Matthew Boulton, James Watt and William Murdoch are depicted in this gleaming gilded statue. It's…

2. International Convention Centre

0.08 MILES

Birmingham's International Convention Centre is situated at the western end of Centenary Sq.

3. Town Hall

0.19 MILES

Constructed in 1834 and styled after the Temple of Castor and Pollux in Rome, Birmingham's neoclassical Town Hall is now used as a venue for classical…

4. Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery

0.2 MILES

Major Pre-Raphaelite works by Rossetti, Edward Burne-Jones and others are among the highlights of the delightful Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery's…

5. Statue of Queen Victoria

0.21 MILES

Victoria Sq's 1993 fountain The River, aka 'the floozie in the Jacuzzi', is overlooked by this disapproving statue of Queen Victoria.

6. National Sea Life Centre

0.23 MILES

Exotic marine creatures including otters, jellyfish, piranhas and razor-jawed hammerhead sharks swim in the Sir Norman Foster–designed National Sea Life…

7. Council House

0.23 MILES

Built in 1879 in classical style, the dome-topped Council House – the seat of local government – forms the northeastern face of the city centre.

8. The River

0.23 MILES

Public art in Victoria Sq includes modernist sphinxes and artist Dhruva Mistry's 1994-installed fountain, The River. Topped by a naked female figure, it's…

View more attractions

placement: superzone
path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],

targeting:

{
  "url": "england/the-midlands/birmingham/attractions/library-of-birmingham/a/poi-sig/1488142/359062",
  "destination": "Birmingham",
  "continent": "Europe",
  "country": "England",
  "city": "Birmingham",
  "position": "superzone"
}