GLASGOW is renowned for many things: parks, shipbuilding, architecture, art galleries, museums, theatres, cinemas and its night life.

But the city is often not given credit for its excellent library service and today's picture takes us back to 1933, when Glasgow opened its latest venue for book lovers.

That was in the Gorbals, the district where the city's first public lending library had opened in Main Street in November 11, 1901. But that rented accommodation had its limitations, and it was replaced by this new Gorbals Library in Norfolk Street in 1933.

It was a spacious building and when it opened on October 25 it had shelving for 30,000 books and an annexe for foreign languages. There were books in 40 languages.

There was also a lecture and exhibition room , which had a lantern projector to show films and seats for 240 people.

But, mostly, people were there for the books and to read newspapers. Popular books at the time were written by Agatha Christie and Leslie Charteris (The Saint), while old favourites, such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, were also much borrowed. Gorbals people are still keen on their library. Another has since opened in Norfolk Street and users can also borrow CDs, DVDs and use computers and the internet.

Times may change but the city is still offering great libraries.