Coatbridge Library is a public library

Public library

A public library is a library that is accessible by the public and is generally funded from public sources and operated by civil servants. There are five fundamental characteristics shared by public libraries...

 in Coatbridge

Coatbridge

Coatbridge is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, about east of Glasgow city centre, set in the central Lowlands. The town, with neighbouring Airdrie, is part of the Greater Glasgow urban area. The first settlement of the area stretches back to the Stone Age era...

, North Lanarkshire

North Lanarkshire

North Lanarkshire is one of 32 council areas in Scotland. It borders onto the northeast of the City of Glasgow and contains much of Glasgow's suburbs and commuter towns and villages. It also borders Stirling, Falkirk, East Dunbartonshire, West Lothian and South Lanarkshire...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. The building was designed by Alexander Cullen and built in 1905. It is a Carnegie library

Carnegie library

A Carnegie library is a library built with money donated by Scottish-American businessman and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. 2,509 Carnegie libraries were built between 1883 and 1929, including some belonging to public and university library systems...

; its construction was financed by money donated by the Scottish-American entrepreneur Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist, businessman, and entrepreneur who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century...

. Carnegie officially opened the library on 7 June 1906 in person; he received the ceremonial freedom of burgh

Freedom of the City

Freedom of the City is an honour bestowed by some municipalities in Australia, Canada, Ireland, France, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom, Gibraltar and Rhodesia to esteemed members of its community and to organisations to be honoured, often for service to the community;...

 of Coatbridge in return.

The building was category B listed by Historic Scotland

Historic Scotland

Historic Scotland is an executive agency of the Scottish Government, responsible for historic monuments in Scotland.-Role:As its website states:...

 in 1993. It is a large, two-storey building of pink Corsehill sandstone, in the Beaux-Arts style. The design was chosen by competition. Built on a steep hill on Academy Street, it has an imposing looming presence. The rear of the building can be seen on the Coatbridge skyline when approached from the west via the A89 road

A89 road

The A89 is a trunk road in Scotland, United Kingdom. It runs from Glasgow to Newbridge in Edinburgh. It was once the A8, which has now been replaced, mostly by the M8. The A89 runs from Edinburgh for about to Livingston and an extra to Bathgate. It runs through Armadale, Airdrie and Coatbridge...

.

On 21 July 2010, Coatbridge Library moved its services to the newly built £18 million Buchanan Centre on the Coatbridge Main Street. Its new opening times are Monday - Friday 9am - 7pm and Saturday 11am - 4pm.