About
Shrewsbury Library is a busy lending library situated in a Grade I listed building in Castle Gates.
The library offers a fantastic range of fiction and non-fiction books, as well as computers and internet access.
Members have free use of the library computers for up to 2 hours per day. Printing, photocopying and scanning are available too.
The library hosts a variety of activities and events for children and adults.
A Shrewsbury Original
Shrewsbury Library is housed in a Grade I listed building situated on Castle Gates, overlooking Shrewsbury Castle. The site was the home of Shrewsbury School from 1550 until 1882. The buildings were handed over to the town in 1882 and a free library and museum were opened by the Corporation of Shrewsbury utilizing the building in 1885. The library was moved temporarily to Raven Meadows in 1976 while the site on Castle Gates underwent extensive restorations. The library was re-opened in 1983 by Princess Margaret.
Above the main entrance are two statues bearing the inscriptions "Philomathes" and "Polumathes". These represent students, one coming to learn and the other a learned scholar on leaving. The inscription below is from Isocrates and reads "If you are a lover of learning, you will become learned".
