2025 marked 175 years since the Public Libraries Act - the landmark legislation that led to today's network of nearly 4,000 public libraries across the UK.

The first public library was opened in Manchester on 6 September 1852 at Campfield. The archive of that day remains, including a visitor book signed by Charles Dickens. We wanted to create the archive for the next 175 years, so we created a unique snapshot of library life in 2025. 

Between October 6 and 12 2025, we asked you to take a photo - or several photos, it's up to you - that showed what your library service looks like today. These could have been a busy children’s storytime, a quiet reading space, a digital skills session – anything that captured the everyday impact of libraries. 

We will bring all the images together in a special photo book and seal them in a time capsule, ready to be opened in another 175 years – in the year 2200!

For now you can see a small sample of the photos we received in the video below.