As part of its imaginative extension in 2000, this famous Belfast cultural icon, the last subscription library in Ireland, has developed what it calls its Vertical Gallery, an exhibition space winding up the several floors of the new glass-fronted staircase. The exhibitions naturally focus on visual arts as they reflect on, and interweave with, local history, literature and the launch of significant publications. Indeed the book and journal launches, in the Library’s arcane café, surrounded by glass-fronted book cases and prints of old Belfast (which are sometimes for sale) are a legendary ingredient of the city’s cultural cocktail. Opposite City Hall, the library is recommended as much for its unique collection of books on Ireland’s politics as for its artistic, cinematic, dramatic and literary events. Its first Librarian, Thomas Russell, was hanged for treason.