On November 2, 2023, Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) showcased its proposal to establish a new campus library.
Pending planning application approval, construction is set to commence in the summer of 2024, and the project is predicted to be fully completed by 2028.
This plan will see the replacement of the existing library at All Saints on Oxford Road with a “modern and dynamic” educational space “that places students and their learning at its core,” as stated on the MMU website.
The proposed new building will include digitally enhanced teaching and research facilities aimed at supporting students in developing their data science and analytical skills.
It will also provide “flexible break-out spaces” designed to encourage collaboration and the generation of ideas.
Professor Karen Moore, Chief Operating Officer at Manchester Metropolitan University, said:“The library plans demonstrate our continued commitment to invest in impactful research and outstanding education, adding to the exceptional facilities and extensive redevelopment that has taken place across our campus over recent years.
The new library will reimagine what a university library can offer and will build on Manchester Metropolitan University’s rich 200-year history of education and research.”
The new library would remain home to the Manchester Poetry Library, the North West’s first public poetry library.
Should Manchester Metropolitan University’s library plan secure approval, it will become the second project of its kind along Oxford Road, following the £24 million Alan Gilbert Learning Centre at the University of Manchester, which opened in 2012.
