Standing on Blackpool Old Road at the junction with Queensway, Poulton Library has served the community since 1965, when it became the town’s first purpose-built modern public library. Its construction reflected Poulton-le-Fylde’s rapid post-war growth and the increasing demand for improved public services as the town expanded beyond its historic market centre.
The library occupies the site of Dudley Hall, an old thatched cottage that had stood on Blackpool Old Road for many years. As Poulton entered a period of significant redevelopment during the 1960s, the cottage made way for a modern civic building designed to provide improved library facilities for a growing population. The opening of the library marked the beginning of the town centre’s westward expansion, a transformation that continued with the construction of Queensway and, later, the Teanlowe Shopping Centre in 1973, reshaping this part of Poulton for the modern era.
Although the present building dates from 1965, the town’s tradition of public libraries is considerably older. Following the closure of the Poulton Savings Bank in 1862, its former building on the corner of Vicarage Road and Chapel Street became Poulton’s Free Library, giving local residents access to books and learning for many decades. The new library therefore represented not the beginning of library services in Poulton, but the continuation of a long-established commitment to education and public knowledge in purpose-built surroundings.
Designed to meet the needs of a modern community, the new library provided spacious lending areas, reading facilities and accommodation for an expanding collection of books. Over the years its role has broadened to include children’s activities, local history resources, public computers, digital services, exhibitions, reading groups and community events, making it one of the town’s principal civic buildings as well as an important educational resource.
Today, Poulton Library continues to occupy its prominent position beside the Teanlowe Centre, serving residents of Poulton and the surrounding Fylde communities. More than sixty years after opening, it remains a welcoming centre for learning, research and community life, while also continuing a tradition of public library provision in the town that stretches back well over a century.
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