Cathays Library The west wing of the building was reopened, having previously been closed following an arson attack. The library had 15 public computers and a small meeting room for up to 10 people. The building has public toilets which had been restored. The library also holds Cardiff's heritage and local studies collection. The library is closed on Fridays and Sundays. Cathays Library Cathays Library is a Grade II* listed library building in Cathays, Cardiff, Wales. It is one of the 2,500 Carnegie libraries, financed by the American businessman Andrew Carnegie. The library is situated on the northern edge of Cathays at
Splott medieval times, and a derivation of "plat", meaning a grassy area of land. The name of the original farm would seem to be Middle English "splott", from Old English (speck, blot, patch of land) and the word is to be found in other English place names in the Vale of Glamorgan, Gower, and Pembrokeshire, as well as in Somerset and Devon, in the West Country of England, from where it was presumably introduced by English settlers. It has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names. The population of Splott in the United Kingdom Census 2001 was 12,074, in