John Rylands Library I listed status in 1994, is maintained by the University of Manchester and open for library readers and visitors. Enriqueta Rylands purchased a site on Deansgate for her memorial library in 1889 and commissioned a design from architect Basil Champneys. Rylands commissioned the Manchester academic Alice Cooke to index the vast library of the 2nd Earl Spencer which she had purchased and another collection of autographs. Mrs Rylands intended the library to be principally theological, and the building, which is a fine example of Victorian Gothic, has the appearance of a church, although the concept was of an Oxford college
Patrick Rylands Patrick Rylands Patrick Rylands (Hull,1943) is an English designer. After graduating in ceramics from the Royal College of Art in London in 1966 began to work as a freelancer with a number of iconic toy companies (Creative Playthings, Naef, Ambi Toys). In 1970 he became the youngest designer to be awarded the prestigious Prince Philip Designers Prize for a group of ABS plastic toys designed for the British company Trendon Toys (former producer of Sasha dolls). From 1976 up until 2002 he worked as in-house designer for the historic Dutch toy company, Ambi Toys. In 1999 he was awarded the