Cathays Library 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 the junction of Crwys Road, Whitchurch Road and Fairoak Road, opposite Gladstone Primary School. It backs onto Cathays Cemetery. Preceding the current library was a Cathays Branch Reading Room which was opened in May 1890. It initially containing 300 books and had an assistant librarian. The current library was constructed between 1906-7, though the panel above the main door
Cathays Park 1927 part of the East range, with the lecture theatre funded by William Reardon Smith, was complete. Further extensions came only in the 1960s and '90s; these remained faithful to the original design on the exterior (and included sculpture by Dhruva Mistry) but are of a neutral character on the inside. Due to presence of the then Welsh Office building, by the 1990s 'Cathays Park' became a metonym for that Government Department. In addition to the large lawn in front of the City Hall, Cathays Park includes three formal gardens. All of the spaces are within conservation areas and many