Baroque in Glasgow - JR Rhind

The most striking of the libraries constructed with Carnegie's 1901 gift to Glasgow were designed by the Inverness architect, James Robert Rhind.

Francis Thornton Barrett (left) was Glasgow's City Librarian from 1877 to 1915, throughout the whole period of the introduction of the Carnegie libraries to the city. Barrett had been given the responsibility of forming a system of branch libraries for Glasgow and had supervised the architectural competition in which Rhind submitted his design proposals for the buildings.

Although James Rhind did not live or work in Glasgow, he was remarkably successful in the competition for the city's new libraries. His designs were selected for 7 of the original 12 libraries, with 5 of them being in the Baroque style which was not at all common in Scotland at the time.

Rhind’s extravagant use of columns, domes and statues brightened up many of the overcrowded dreary districts of the city where the new branches were located. The recessed windows and entrances of his libraries skilfully emphasise the shadows on the facades.
The libraries were mostly built in areas of high-density tenement housing where Rhind's distinctive monumental style successfully created local landmarks rather than mere depositories of books.

Rhind's previous notable buildings had all been in the north of Scotland, the Royal Golf Hotel, Dornoch, in 1897 and the Crown Church, Inverness, in 1901. For a short period in 1904/5, while he was involved with the construction of new libraries, Rhind occupied offices in Hope Street in Glasgow city centre. He remained a fellow of the Glasgow Institute of Architects until 1914.

Woodside Library, Glasgow.
Opened 10th March, 1905

Woodside library was the first of J.R.Rhind’s libraries to be completed. The Glasgow Herald of 11th March 1905 quoted the architect's remarks at the opening ceremony, regarding his competition winning design. In the stilted style of his time, Rhind "ventured to think that both as regards the front elevation and the general plan and internal arrangements they would be disposed to justify his selection".

The library façade has attractive arched windows with fluted Ionic columns either side. Similar paired columns flank the doorway. There is a huge glazed roof over the main library area, which, along with the tall windows, gives it abundant natural light.
Woodside was the largest of the Carnegie libraries of Glasgow, both in terms of floor area and the number of volumes held, reflecting perhaps the need for increasing budgetary control as the building programme progressed, as much as the size of population served in the district.
Its current use remains as a branch library.

The library had been officially opened by the local councillor, Daniel.M.Stevenson (right), who had made a considerable contribution to establishing libraries in the city, from as early as 1896.
Stevenson had toured the library systems of Edinburgh, Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham to prepare a report for the Corporation prior to planning Glasgow's libraries.
Many years later in 1913, while he was Glasgow's Lord Provost, Daniel.M.Stevenson spoke of the success of the nearly completed scheme of district libraries, boasting that they had enjoyed a total attendance of 7,250,000 the previous year.