History of the Linen Hall Library, 1788-1989

The Linen Hall Library is the oldest public library in the city of Belfast, and has served the people of Belfast, and wider afield, for over two hundred years. Founded in 1788 as the Belfast Reading Society it was a local instance of a widespread British, European and North American movement for self improvement through the establishment of libraries and museums for personal study. The founders of the library and the people who helped maintain it through all its ups and downs were motivated by a desire to improve their minds and their material surroundings, and consequently the fabric of the society in which they worked. This thesis seeks to outline the history of an important educational institution, and to examine some of the people involved therein. The present situation of the library is examined at the point of its celebration of the bi-centennial of its foundation, in the light of exciting developments within library provision in Belfast and the North of Ireland as a whole.