Gladstone's Library founded by William Ewart Gladstone
History
The library was founded by William Gladstone in 1894. He was eager to share his personal library with others, especially those who faced financial constraint. He would allow bright children and young adults of the village of Hawarden to use his collection. His daughter Mary Gladstone said that his desire was to "bring together books who had no readers with readers who had no books".In 1895, at the age of 85, William Gladstone gave £40,000 to the library as well as much of his own book collection. With the help of his daughter and his valet, he wheeled 32,000 books three quarters of a mile (1.2km) between his home at Hawarden Castle and the library. He unpacked them and put them onto shelves using his own classification system.
In a diary entry dated 23 December 1895, he described the library's founding: 
"I have this day constituted my trust at St Deiniol's. The cost of the work has been I think £41 to £42000, including some charges of maintenance to Dec. 31. 95. May God of His mercy prosper it."Following his death in 1898, a public appeal was launched for funds to provide a permanent building to house the collection and replace the temporary structure. The £9,000 raised provided an imposing building, designed by John Douglas, which was officially opened by Earl Spencer on 14 October 1902 as the National Memorial to W.E. Gladstone. The Gladstone family fulfilled the founder's vision by funding the residential wing, which welcomed its first resident on 29 June 1906.