Skip to content

Edinburgh Libraries - 125 years

Edinburgh Libraries - 125 years
Edinburgh Libraries - 125 years
"We trust that this Library is to grow in usefulness year after year, and prove one of the most potent agencies for the good of the people for all time to come"
Telegraph from Andrew Carnegie, 1890

In 1886 Andrew Carnegie offered £50,000 to establish a public library in Edinburgh and less than a year later, laid the foundation stone. The library opened on June 9th 1890 with 30 staff including a caretaker and fireman, but only one woman. The caretaker lived on the premises and in 1894 his son was born in the building.

By 1891 the library was already running out of space. The first alterations took place in 1897 and a book store was added in 1903. In 1891, publisher Thomas Nelson bequeathed £50,000 resulting in combined halls and libraries at Fountainbridge (1897), Stockbridge (1900) and McDonald Road (1904). Portobello Library opened in 1897 within the Town Hall.

In the early 1920s a new City Librarian took up his post. Ernest Savage found a library service which was seriously run down. Savage blamed the book stock: "When issues fall librarians weep about changes in reading taste... a lower birth-rate... the opposition of cinemas, radio, twopenny libraries, tiddlywinks, night clubs, fine and bad summers, mild and cold winters, flu, measles, the hump and what not... Never the true reason: too few books, stale stock".

By 1928 things had begun to improve but Central Library was running out of space again. Proposals were made for better use of the space and a public lift installed. The Edinburgh Historical and Topographical Library opened in 1932, one of the first specialist local studies libraries in the country.

Central Library expanded again when adjacent premises were bought in 1930. The space was used for a junior library, a fine art library, staff accommodation and storage. The Music Library was also formed in the 1930s.

In 1929, Leith got its own library and public hall. During World War Two it was hit by an air raid. The library closed and it was several years before a full service resumed.

Central Library continued to expand. In 1947 the premises at 9 George IV Bridge and 65-67 Cowgate were bought.

In 1947 a service to six city hospitals was introduced and in 1948 the Saughton prison library service started. A mobile library service began in 1949.

In 1961 the mezzanine level was opened to house a new fiction library, the Edinburgh Room and a lecture hall.

Leith Library re-opened in 1955. A new library in Portobello opened in 1963. In 1966 a new library with car park opened replacing the prefab at Blackhall. Sighthill and Muirhouse followed in 1968/69.

The 1970s brought the first signs of computerisation. Automated loans system was introduced in the fiction library in 1974, but wasn't extended to community libraries until 1990. 1970s also saw local government re-organisation which brought Balerno, Currie, and South Queensferry into the fold.

Oxgangs opened in 1990 and then Wester Hailes Library in 1997. The newest 21st century libraries at Drumbrae and Craigmillar are multi-purpose community hubs.

The library service has evolved with the changing times. It has contended with the introduction of cheap novels, the cinema, the wonders of television and now the internet. A public internet service was introduced in 1998 and today we offer music streaming and downloadable ebooks. We try a variety of marketing methods but none have quite matched the visit in 1976 of Idras the elephant to Leith Library as a way to remind people to return their books.