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The Picton reading room

Picton room interior

This magnificent building and reading room was built in 1875 -79. Sir James Allanson Picton was the Chairman of the Libraries Committee, architect and author of the famous "Memorials of Liverpool". 

Based on the rotunda of the British Museum in London, the Picton reading room is 100' in diameter and 56' high, and was designed by Cornelius Sherlock, Corporation Surveyor, at a cost of £20,000 with seating for 200 readers. 

The circular structure was nicknamed "Picton's Gasometer" although ironically it was the first public building in Liverpool to be lit by electric lighting when opened in 1879.