Accessibility at the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE (Race Archives and Community Engagement) Centre

When Manchester Central Library re-opened following the transformation in March 2014, accessibility was at the heart of the changes that were made. These included a new level access ground floor including a café, performance space and accessible digital interactives, a new set of lifts allowing easy navigation to all floors, accessible toilets throughout and hearing loops on counters and in meeting rooms.

How to find us

Manchester Central Library is located in St Peter's Square, in the heart of the city centre. 

Due to its location there is no parking at the Library - information on nearby car parks including accessible parking can be found here:

• Getting here

Visiting the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre and Archives + Search Room

The original building entrance from St Peter's Square is accessible by steps or a ramp. The doors open automatically upon approach.

The library can also be accessed from St Peter's Square or Mount Street via Library Walk. This route is level access and the doors open automatically upon approach.

The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre is on the lower ground floor which is accessible by lift and by staircases with handrails.

The Archive Search Room is on a raised area of the ground floor. Access is via steps with a hand rail or a ramp. A step lift is also available.

There are accessible toilets in Central Library on the ground floor and lower ground floor, and in the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre library area. A RADAR key is required to access these, which are available from any of the staffed library desks. There are also larger cubicle toilets with raised height toilets and additional hand rails in the men's and women's toilets.

A baby changing room and a feeding room can be found on lower ground floor in the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre library area.

Assistance dogs are welcome in the library.

Manchester Central Library also offers a number of services and facilities for visually impaired visitors. For more information on these services please see Manchester Central Library’s webpages:

• Services for visually impaired people provided at Manchester Central Library

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions on how we can improve accessibility to our library and resources, please call us on +44 (0) 161 275 2920 or email us. 

Learn how to access books, resources and archives.

Our library collection has approximately 16000 books, pamphlets, reports and journals.

Find out how to visit our open access library and use our incredible range of resources.

The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre is situated within Manchester Central Library.