Behind the Door Of... The Lit & Phil

Although many Newcastle residents may never have passed through its doors, The Literary & Philosophical Society of Newcastle upon Tyne – the Lit & Phil to everyone who knows it – is one of the most remarkable buildings in the whole city. Behind its impressive Regency façade is the largest independent library outside the capital, a treasure trove of antiquities, ideas, debate, culture and of course books.

It was founded in 1793 as a society, while its current building, just around the corner from Central Station and next door to the former North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers (now The Common Room) was built in the 1820s. Most of its original architectural features are intact, making for a visually stunning building, especially the remarkable main library with its second-floor galleries.

The Lit & Phil is still very much a working library for its members and is open to the public as a reference resource. It currently holds more than 200,000 books – from historical texts to modern fiction - and around 20,000 records and CDs. It also hosts all manner of events from readings and debates to occasional musical happenings, including now-regular visits from the Tusk Festival crew, when the books might be ruffled by cutting edge underground noise. And there are monthly tours if you really want to learn everything about the building and its contents.

The library has always been the hub of the city’s intellectual and cultural life and has played host to numerous significant moments, such as Stevenson’s demonstration of his game-changing miner’s lamp and Joseph Swan’s light bulbs (the Lit & Phil was the first public building in the world to be illuminated this way). A wombat and a duck-billed platypus first appeared in the UK as specimens gifted to the library.

Kay Easson has been the head librarian for 23 years and is clearly still enamoured of her role (“It feels like only yesterday I walked into the building for the first time”), which she describes both as an honour and ‘varied’. “It’s not just about books, although that is a hugely important part of what I do. It also involves programming events, working with the Board of Trustees, and really a host of other things.”

Asked how she would describe the Lit & Phil’s mission to someone who wasn’t familiar with it, she explains that it involves “the education of the people of Newcastle upon Tyne and the surrounding area by a number of means, including the provision of a library, educational classes and activities such as lectures, concerts, readings and tours.”

The library is in rude health, with its membership reaching its peak of 2,000 in 2012 and recent appeals – under the presidency of actor Alexander Armstrong – securing much-needed funding. “There’s much more going, our membership has increased and we are also welcoming many more visitors. We have just launched an appeal to raise funds in order for us to improve access to the building, refurbish our meeting rooms and redecorate the library.”

When asked about the library’s rarest books, Easson suggests “some very rare if not unique items such as Thomas’s Spence’s Property in Land: Everyone’s Right. Our early travel and exploration section is fantastic, as well as our natural history and local sections.” And while it’s never fair to ask someone in Easson’s position to name a favourite, we did anyway. And her answer?  “My favourite is The Dodo and its Kindred from 1848.”, by Victorian naturalist Hugh Edwin Strickland.

The Lit & Phil really is a treasure and everyone in Newcastle should visit, whether to appreciate its grand features, to enjoy a poetry reading or string recital, or just to lose themselves in a good book for a while as the city trundles on outside its doors.

The Lit & Phil is open six days a week excluding Bank Holidays, from 9.30am (closing times vary).