Skip to content
Home
Favourites
0
Advanced search
Shopping cart
0
Register
Log in
Images of Edinburgh
Browse map
Area A - Z
Browse by date
Exhibitions
Current exhibition
All exhibitions
Collections
About the collections
Browse by theme
Subject A - Z
The image library for the collections of Edinburgh Libraries and Museums and Galleries
Images of Edinburgh
Browse map
Area A - Z
Browse by date
Exhibitions
Current exhibition
All exhibitions
Collections
About the collections
Browse by theme
Subject A - Z
Dundee Street Branch Library
Hill, Robin A., 1963, Photograph
Dundee Street Branch Library
Dundee Street Branch Library
Add to favourites
Share
Item record
About this image
Related
Location
Category
Library Item
Item no
36643
Title
Dundee Street Branch Library
Artist / maker
Hill, Robin A.
Date
1963
Size
15.3 x 9.8 cm
Type
Photograph
A library has stood on the current Fountainbridge Library site on Dundee Street since 1897, when it became the first community library, originally called the 'West Branch'. The building was funded from the estate of philanthropist Thomas Nelson who died in 1892 leaving £50,000 to build Nelson Halls in Edinburgh. As Edinburgh Libraries were looking to expand at this time the two aims were combined and the original library was constructed from this fund.
By the mid 1930s spiralling repair costs and shortage of space led to calls for the building of a new library. And so, readers were advised to return their books by Saturday 9th Oct 1937, before the building was demolished the following month. J A W Grant was appointed architect for the new library, with sculptor Charles d'Orville Pilkington Jackson commissioned to provide a carving for above the main doorway on the corner of Murdoch Terrace and Dundee Street. Jackson's original plans included ornate carvings of a fountain and bridge, so he was understandably dismayed when he learned of a planned change of name to 'Dundee Street' Library. However, the advanced stage of the drawings and the approval of the committee led to a decision to proceed with the name of 'Fountainbridge' Library.
The good progress of the initial works was slowed by the outbreak of WWII. However following complaints by Councillors an opening date was finally set. Fountainbridge Library was officially opened by Provost Henry Steel at 3pm on Monday 11th March 1940. The Provost promptly borrowed the first book from the library, choosing 'Haunting Edinburgh' by Flora Grierson. As well as being home to over 30,000 books the library also housed a reading room, a games room with 30 tables, a children's room and a reference room to sit 30. In a sobering opening speech Treasurer Darling alluded to war-time restrictions by reminding the assembled company that 'many of us would have found months of black-out intolerable had it not been for the consolation and comfort of books.'
By 1950 the library was issuing 260,000 books per year to the people of Fountainbridge and the surrounding area. The building has in the past been home to the Scottish Book Centre, Edinburgh International Book Festival and Publishing Scotland. It still houses the Citizens Advice Bureau, an organisation also celebrating its 75th anniversary. The games room, reference library and children's library are now gone. The addition of a meeting room after a refurbishment saw the creation of a dedicated community meeting space named the Bainfield Room, after the Bainfield Mansion which once stood to the south of the building. This space is now used to host a writers group, book groups, events and educational classes.
Exhibitions with this item
Other views of this item
Related images
Related subjects
Architecture
>
Architectural features
>
Stone carvings
Architecture
>
Architectural features
>
Windows
Places
>
Edinburgh areas
>
Fountainbridge
Places
>
Scotland
>
Edinburgh
Sport and leisure
>
Activities
>
Reading and books
Sport and leisure
>
Culture
>
Libraries
Transport
>
Infrastructure
>
Pavements
Transport
>
Infrastructure
>
Roads
Transport
>
Land
>
Cars
More like this
Rights and purchasing
Option
Price
Digital File
Electronic file 72 dpi JPEG
£7.32
(inc. VAT 20%)
Add
Digital File
Electronic File 300 dpi TIFF
£37.20
(inc. VAT 20%)
Add
You can view and use digital images for personal and educational use. For more information, read our
policy on image use
.
If you wish to use our images for commercial use, please
contact us
.
The image library for the collections of Edinburgh Libraries and Museums and Galleries The image library for the collections of Edinburgh Libraries and Museums and Galleries