Dumbarton Buildings - Dumbarton Library

Fond memories of walking to the building with my mum (who was an avid reader) which always resulted in a bag of chips on the road home. Molloys Chippy too - any native of Dumbarton dropping in to read this will know what I mean.

Libraries are now a dying breed. The victim of many a council cut across the land. This is a shame, a real shame, but such things are easy targets for the bean counters.

Again it's another town structure that has a fine history. Built in 1909 and was funded in part by Andrew Carnegie. There are many Carnegie libraries but they can only be found in Scotland, where the building materials and sources of architectural inspiration are unique. 

It has mock-Renaissance features which were fashionable in the houses of the well-to-do in Edwardian Scotland.The architect was William Reid of Church Street, Dumbarton. It was constructed with a light sandstone from the nearby Dalreoch quarry which, over the years, has weathered into the dark grey which is so typical of the stonework of the West of Scotland.

Local jobs for local people, huh?