The Lit & Phil begins a £4.8 million chapter to open its doors wider

Climb the stairs at 23 Westgate Road and you step into one of Newcastle's great treasures. The Literary and Philosophical Society, known to everyone as the Lit & Phil, was founded in 1793 and has been at home in its handsome neoclassical building since 1825. It describes itself as the largest independent library outside London, and entry is free to all.

The Lit & Phil was a hub of learning long before the city had universities. George Stephenson demonstrated his miners' safety lamp to the Society in 1815, and in 1881 Joseph Swan lit a public room here with electric light for the first time. Oscar Wilde, E.M. Forster and Gertrude Bell have all passed through, and Pet Shop Boy Neil Tennant was a member as a schoolboy.

Today the shelves hold around 200,000 books and CDs, from volumes printed before 1701 to newly published crime fiction, along with the largest music collection in the North of England. A lively programme of talks, concerts, readings and book launches keeps the building busy, and its Young Writers' Awards have just completed a 13th year, working with 12 North East schools and receiving 72 entries.

Now a new chapter is beginning. With support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and The Barbour Foundation, the Society is planning Lit & Phil Open, a £4.8 million transformation that it calls the biggest change to the building in generations. The plans include a lift and better access throughout, a new event and lecture space, a dedicated exhibition space, improved storage for the collections and a bookbinding store.

Sustainability is part of the vision too, with air-source heat pumps, solar panels and battery storage proposed. There will be new activities with schools, universities and community groups, more talks and performances, and better ways to explore the music collection.

"We're not changing what makes The Lit & Phil special," the Society says. "We're making sure more people can experience it." More than 400 visitors and 270 members and volunteers have already shared their views through surveys to help shape the plans.

The building celebrated its bicentenary on Westgate Road in 2025, and the Lit & Phil Open project is designed to keep it thriving for the next 200 years.

Opening hours, events and membership details are on the Lit & Phil website.