Businessmen using Commercial Library, in the basement of the Royal Exchange building, around 1955. The Royal Exchange was purchased by Glasgow Corporation in 1949, with a view to accommodating Stirling’s Library on the ground floor, and Commercial Library in the basement. After a number of delays, the libraries opened in 1954.
The specialised service to businessmen was delivered through stock which met their needs – business directories which provided company information; telephone directories with worldwide coverage; a bookstock on economics, company law, insurance, taxation, etc; periodicals, mainly trade publications; patents and trade marks, for the UK and overseas; newspapers, and statistical publications.
Commercial Library had been founded in 1916 to serve the information needs of local industry and commerce and was the first municipal commercial library to be established outside London. Its original location was in Miller Street, in the building used by the Mitchell Library before its removal to North Street. Services were provided in the Royal Exchange building from 1954 until 1983, when Commercial Library closed. Since then, business information has been available in the Mitchell Library.
Reference: P1170
Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City Council, Libraries Information and Learning
Keywords:
business information, businessmen, commercial libraries, Commercial Library, Gallery of Modern Art, GOMA, reading rooms, Royal Exchange
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