As the demolition of the 1960s Central Library in Newcastle nears completion, memories have been revived of its Victorian predecessor.
The Victorian library, built between 1880-84, was knocked down in 1968.
And a few feet from the site of the now flattened Central Library is a reminder of what the interior of the old library looked like.
It is almost certainly the setting for local artist Ralph Hedley's Seeking Situations painting of 1904, which is on display in the Work, Rest and Play exhibition at the Laing Art Gallery until July 15.
Part of the word "library" features in the glass windows in the picture.
Laing curator Julie Milne said: "Hedley was known for his interest in recording North-East life, and he has pictured all kinds of workers looking for jobs - known as situations - advertised in newspapers spread on sloping reading desks."
A century ago, the quest for jobs would have dominated life in Newcastle.
The population of Tyneside more than tripled in the 60 years from 1851-1911, from 87,784 to 266,671 because of growth in the shipyards and factories.
"People started to move from job to job more than in the past, and they needed to look in newspaper advertisements - they couldn't rely on hearing about jobs as you could in a small place," said Ms Milne.
"Some young lads in the picture are wearing the kind of caps worn by stevedores and fish quay workers. They may be as young as 12.
"The increasing numbers of people moving to the towns sometimes resulted in more people than jobs. The thin, shabby man at the front of the picture seems to have been out of work for some time.
"This man's bowler hat shows that he once had a position as a foreman or something similar."
If people did not find work, they could soon be reduced to poverty because unemployment benefits did not exist until 1911.
Another young man wears a frock coat and stylish hat - clothes typical of a bank clerk or similar job.
Just one woman is reading the jobs pages. She is rather shabbily but respectably dressed in her black frock and plaid shawl, and may be a shop worker. She represents a big change as women were increasingly able to take work in factories and shops, instead of being restricted to household servants and nannies.
