Image of reading room at Dr Williams's Library

The main reading room at Dr Williams's Library seen from the balcony level.

The present library building was designed by Thomas Leverton Donaldson, and built in 1848-49 as University Hall to mark the passing of the Dissenters' Chapels Act in 1844. The premises were shared by Manchester New College from 1853, which acquired the lease in 1882. Upon the removal of the College (now Harris Manchester College) to Oxford in 1889, the building was acquired from its trustees by Dr. Williams's Trust