William Brown Library and Museum

The William Brown Library and Museum currently houses part of the World Museum Liverpool and Liverpool Central Library. The William Brown Library and Museum building was conceived as a replacement for the Derby Museum (containing the Earl of Derby’s natural history collection) which then shared two rooms on the city’s Duke Street with a library. The new building opened its doors in 1860.nHit by firebombs during the blitz in 1941, the building was ravaged by fire and much of the building had to be rebuilt. Key parts of the museum’s collection had been previously moved to less vulnerable locations and damage to those avoided.nPlans have now been brought forward to redevelop the library, replacing the post–World War II additions with state-of-the-art facilities.