Central Library – a view from the top

As we look forward to the end of the building works programme at Central Library and the removal of the scaffolding, we thought we’d share some photos taken of the exterior works and the fantastic views from the scaffold.

Last month we got privileged access to take a hard hat tour of the scaffold from the Cowgate floor, climbing right to the top of the roof!

View of Edinburgh Castle looking west from the roof of Central Library, www.edinburghcollected.org

We saw some of the work that has been done to repair pieces of stonework –

Stonework, Central Library, www.edinburghcollected.org

witnessed the damage that nature can do –

Plant root removed from masonry, Central Library roof, www.edinburghcollected.org

and got some unusual perspectives on familiar places. Here’s a bird’s eye view of the Reference Library –

Looking into the Reference Library, from scaffold on Central Library, www.edinburghcollected.org

See the full set of images taking you from ground to sky, in our new scrapbook on Edinburgh Collected, Central Library – a view from the top.

Nature and Self: Free National Poetry Day Writing Workshop

On National Poetry Day 2022 join poet Roshni Gallagher for a free poetry writing workshop delving into nature and the self. No previous writing experience is needed. Roshni will lead the group through several gentle writing prompts. This is a session to explore the joys of nature and poetry! Please book your free place on Eventbrite.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/nature-and-self-poetry-writing-workshop-tickets-429221732757

The Central Library Children’s Art Club is back!

Are you aged 8-12 years old? Do you like to make things?
If so, then please be in touch! Send us an email at:
central.artanddesign.library@edinburgh.gov.uk
or give us a ring on 0131 242 8040.

We’re hoping to restart the sessions on a fortnightly basis, provisionally on a Saturday morning from 10.30am – 12pm at the Central Library.
Term-time sessions to begin on the 10 September 2022.

Our plans are for a free programme of creative play and learning – a time to explore art-making – build curiosity, kindness, and wellbeing – and hopefully foster an ever more creative relationship with the world around us.

We look forward to hearing from you!

We’re also running three summer workshops at the beginning of July:

5 July, 2 – 4pm – Printmaking with paper: the seashore!

6 July, 2 – 4pm – Constructing castles: modelmaking with recycled materials

7 July, 2 – 3.15pm – Funky plant pot découpage

Please book a free place online for these summer sessions via www.edinburghreads.eventbrite.co.uk.
If you have any queries, please contact the Art and Design Library by phone on 0131 242 8040 or email central.artanddesign.library@edinburgh.gov.uk

Investing in Central Library

Edinburgh Central Library building works programme

During 2022 Central Library is undergoing a major £1.8m building works programme to make sure that our 130-year-old building will continue to serve our citizens for another 130 years.

Since January, scaffolding has been put up around the building to allow our contractors to repair parts of our roof, windows, and replace any stonework which is in poor condition.

Investing in Central Library – building works programme, 2022

Work inside the building includes upgrades to our electrical system, lighting and fire safety equipment.

We aim to make this work as disruption free as we can. However, for safety reasons we will have to close the Central Library from 25 April. It will reopen on Wednesday 11 May. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Please check yourlibrary.edinburgh.gov.uk for information and details of alternative library locations and services.

Additionally, the Reference Library will be closed from 11 April to 17 June 2022 so that the lighting can be replaced. During this time

• Study spaces – available in the Edinburgh and Scottish Collection and on the mezzanine
• Resources – email us if you would like to consult any of our Reference Library resources.
• Public PCs – reduced number available in Central Library or at other libraries.

This works programme is an important investment in the library’s future to ensure it can be enjoyed by generations to come.

George Washington Browne’s architecture in Edinburgh

Architectural Drawing of Central Library by George Washington Browne, 1888

In anticipation of Central Library taking part in Doors Open Day on Saturday, we decided to take a closer look at the life and legacy of the architect who designed our beautiful building on George IV Bridge. The name might not be familiar, but Scottish architect George Washington Brown’s buildings in Edinburgh will be more so.

George Washington Browne was born in Glasgow in 1853, and started his architectural career aged 16 as an apprentice to Salmon Son & Ritchie. Finishing his apprenticeship, he moved to London and worked for Stevenson & Robson and later church architect Arthur William Blomfield.

In 1877 he won a scholarship which allowed him to travel to France and Belgium which would later have a great influence in the style of his work. Central Library is said to imitate the French Renaissance style and to be based on a chateau seen during his travels.

On return to Scotland in 1879, Browne began working as an assistant to the renowned architect, Sir Robert Rowland Anderson, designer of the Scottish Portrait Gallery, McEwan Graduation Hall and the Medical School for Edinburgh University. After two years he was made a partner. A building recession lead to Browne leaving Anderson and setting out a career of his own opening his own office at 5. Queen Street.

Throughout his career, George Washington Browne worked on an array of public buildings including churches, schools, colleges, museums, community halls and hospitals as well as a large number of commercial and domestic buildings.

Royal Hospital for Sick Children, photograph by Alexander Adam Inglis, c1895

We’ve created a new story on Our Town Stories which will take you on a virtual tour of Browne’s iconic Edinburgh buildings including the former Royal Hospital for Sick Children at Sciennes, the Caledonian Hotel and of course, the Central Library.

A gift from Andrew Carnegie

This image depicts one of the first public libraries in the world. It shows the chained library at Wimborne Minster in Dorset. The Minster’s collection originates from a donation by the Reverend William Stone in 1686 which was used by members of the clergy. However, it was Roger Gillingham, when he added his donation in 1695 who stipulated that the books be put on chains and opened up for free to local people (as long as they were ‘shopkeepers or the better class of person’).

Wimborne Library

The photograph has special significance for us because it was given and signed by the library’s benefactor, Andrew Carnegie. The gift coincides with a visit he made to Central Library a couple of months after its opening in June 1890. Written beneath the photograph it says:

First Free Library ever opened, Founded by Rev. Wm Stone, Wimborne 1686. Presented to the Edinburg Free Library Sept. 17^th 1890 with best wishes
Andrew Carnegie

Photograph inscribed and signed by Andrew Carnegie

The Edinburgh Evening News reported on 16 September 1890 on the visit of Mr and Mrs Carnegie to Edinburgh Public Library. The visiting party were welcomed to the library by the Librarian, Hew Morison and the architect, George Washington Browne and enjoyed a two hour tour of the building taking in all the different departments, the engine room and the electric lighting machinery. Carnegie was delighted with the library, especially the Lending Library where there was a large number of people waiting to get books changed. He was gratified to hear that the majority of items being loaned were novels.

“He had never expected, he said, that his little gift would go so far”.

The Peterhead Sentinel and General Advertiser also reported a few days later on Carnegie’s pleasure on being able to see how the library brought the best literature of the day within easy reach of all classes of society – even in Edinburgh, ‘cultured and academical as it is supposed to be’.

The Dundee Courier reported that whilst in the capital, Carnegie also paid a visit to the sculptor Charles McBride to see the bust of himself which was to be placed in the library.

Bust of Andrew Carnegie, main staircase, Central Library

Get a different perspective on the past – discover the British Newspaper Archive for free at your local library.

Fine and Dandy – August exhibition in the Art and Design Library

Fine and Dandy sees a group of recently graduated and current Edinburgh College of Art students come together to exhibit selected works. Evie Edwards, Molly Kent, Jody Mulvey and Rebecca Tarrant shared a studio within ECA’s painting department, yet the work on display represents the breadth and versatility of painting as a medium.

Intricately detailed paintings with subtle layers that re-invite lost intimacy, Rebecca Tarrant’s work implores notions of power through the subversion of the phallic symbol. Molly Kent brings focus to notions of doubt and the feelings connected with this by presenting the chaos these feelings emote through digital printing and physical collage methods. Jody Mulvey’s work aims to blur the boundaries between artistic specialisms by creating immersive environments which consume viewers in an array of vivid colours and ambiguous shapes. Evie Edwards draws from traditions of appropriation within art history as well as myths and fairy tales. By combining the past and present Evie reimagines objects and texts for our contemporary culture.

Fine and Dandy runs from Saturday 3 August until Thursday 29 August 2019 in the Art and Design Library.

Friday afternoon Digital drop-in is back!

 

The Friday afternoon digital drop-in at Central Library will resume from Friday, February 1st, 2 – 4pm.

This is a partnership between the Libraries and Edinburgh University who provide a small team of students to offer 1:1 assistance with any kind of digital issue on any kind of device. No need to book, just drop-in and get help with that headache you have had trying to do something on your laptop, tablet or even your phone.

Volunteers are available between 2 and 4 pm each Friday afternoon on the Mezzanine level of Central Library, George IV Bridge.

 

 

A stitch in time – WEA tapestry commemorates Central Library’s history

Today at Edinburgh Central Library, we are celebrating the completion and display of a tapestry marking our 125th anniversary. The Workers’ Educational Association Stitching Times group embroidered the tapestry. They began work in the autumn of 2015 – the 125th anniversary year of the opening of the library.

Central Library – 125 years in stitch

Founded in 1903, the Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) is a charity dedicated to bringing high quality, professional education into the heart of communities. WEA are the UK’s largest voluntary sector provider of adult education. Their goal is to widen participation in education and they are committed to education with a social purpose.

Archie Campbell, WEA Area Education Manager says:

“The WEA’s Scottish headquarters is in Edinburgh and we have been very fortunate to have built up a strong and mutually beneficial relationship with Edinburgh Central Library. This partnership goes back several decades and is one WEA feel privileged to be involved in and are keen to nurture and develop. Learners circumstances, learning requirements and the ways they learn (in particular the use of I.T.) change over the years but the WEA will always look to work closely with Central Library to ensure learners are able to access high quality adult education opportunities in a friendly and welcoming environment. The beautiful tapestry the WEA Stitching Times group have produced is fitting testament to this and we are absolutely delighted it is to take pride of place at the library and be viewed by so many library users and visitors.”

Rebecca Mackay, who leads the Stitching Times group added:

“The WEA Stitching Times group began about six years ago with a project for the Museum of Edinburgh, and we call ourselves Stitching Times because our community projects over the years have had an historic connection which we not only stitched into a visual expression but also researched. Our group has its work in the collections of the Museum of Edinburgh – notably in conjunction with their Maude Pentland archive – and on display at Riddles Court. Our commemoration tapestries for the Women of World War One have been exhibited across the country at numerous Library and WEA events. It was a great honour when the Central Library and the WEA approached us with a request to develop an embroidered tapestry celebrating 125 years of Edinburgh Central Library. We are delighted with its completion. It has been a labour of love by many hands.”

‘EPL’ detail taken the gates at main entrance

The tapestry is on display on the main staircase at Central Library. It shows some fantastic details from the library’s history including Daisy Carnegie, the library cat, and the only baby born in the library.

The people who helped shape Edinburgh Libraries: the tradesmen who built Central Library

When the doors of Edinburgh Central Library were formally opened on Monday 9 June 1890, it was the fulfilment of many years preparation.

Selected design for Edinburgh Public Library, elevation to George IV Bridge and plans for third and fourth floors, by George Washington Browne, 1887

In our collections, we have two volumes of handwritten ledgers kept by the then Clerk of Works, William Bruce, which record in detail the building works as they progressed.

Clerk of Works’ record books for Edinburgh Public Library

We know from the record books that preparation work had begun as early as 1879 when it was recorded that “Official tests of Pentland Cement” were being methodically undertaken. The pages are filled with neat notes with details such as the amount of cement used, how many days the cement had been set for, and the amount of shrinkage.

On the 18 November 1887, the following words appear at the top of the page:
“The contractors began operations on the 17 Nov…. excavating area of site and carting away stuff”.
So began the building of Central Library.

In the 2 years and 7 months it took from start to finish, many different trades and tradesmen worked on the building. Thanks to the detailed notes by Bruce, we know that at times there were up to 137 tradesmen working on site each day. Building sites in the late 1800s didn’t conform to the same standards of health and safety as they do today. From newspaper reports and an entry in one of the volumes we know that serious accidents occurred. An article in the Edinburgh Evening News of 10 August 1889, describes how:
“a plasterer engaged at work at a ceiling inside, fell off the scaffold on which he was working and sustained severe bruises to his back and arms”.

A volume entry dated 14 April 1888 records the tragic death of a workman on site:
“a labourer fell from a scaffold about 11ft high in staff staircase, and was killed”.

Note (front) found on Central Library roof in 1974

Note (reverse) found on Central Library roof in 1974

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Clerk of Works refers frequently to the architect, ‘Mr Browne’, in his record books, but few other tradesmen are named individually. However in 1974, while work was being carried out on the roof of the library, evidence was found naming 3 plumbers who worked on the building. A torn page from a diary dated September 1889 was found. On it, written in pencil, are the names of 3 plumbers, T. McLaren , Hugh Brown and G. Cairns. Clerk of Works, William Bruce noted that on 9 November 1889:
“The plumbers work is still delayed by the rubbish on the Reference Library floor”.
Perhaps while they waited to continue, the plumbers took the opportunity go and enjoy the view from the roof, leaving their signatures behind…

Edinburgh Castle and the Grassmarket from the roof of Central Library, 2008

Read all the articles in this series of ‘The people who helped shape Edinburgh Libraries’:

George Washington Browne: architect

Robert Butchart: City Librarian

Andrew Carnegie: steelmaker and philanthropist

Henry Dyer, engineer, educationist and Japanophile

William McEwan: brewer and philanthropist

David Mather Masson: scholar and biographer

Thomas Ross: architect and antiquarian

Charles Boog Watson: local historian and antiquarian

Digital drop-in

In addition to the regular Get Online groups run by the Libraries’, the Digital drop-in delivered in partnership with Edinburgh University has returned to the Central Library. It will run each week on Friday afternoons from 2 – 4pm with student volunteers on hand and offering you the chance to bring along your computing device (be that a laptop, tablet or smartphone) and get help to sort out any difficulties or issues you may be having. We will work with you 1:1 so it can be a very basic problem, like for example, how to send photos by email or text, or possibly something a bit more complicated like how you save and organise all those photos! If you do not have a computing device we can also offer general advice on what to look for or perhaps get you started on the library public access PCs. If you have attended a previous Get Online group or just have a digital issue you need help with, please just come along – you will find us on the Mezzanine level, Central Library.

Remember there are other digital ‘surgeries’ also offered at Central which are specifically about providing assistance with the Libraries’ e-book/audio and e-magazine/newspaper apps and services. These are again on the Mezzanine level, Central Library, every Tuesday 2 – 3.30pm and the first Thursday of the month 10.30am – 12.

Digital drop-in back at Central Library

In addition to the regular Get Online groups run by the Libraries’, the Digital drop-in delivered in partnership with Edinburgh University returns to the Central Library from this Friday, September 28th. It will run each week from 2 – 4pm with student volunteers on hand and offering you the chance to bring along your computing device (be that a laptop, tablet or smartphone) and get help to sort out any difficulties or issues you may be having. We will work with you 1:1 so it can be a very basic problem, like for example, how to send photos by email or text, or possibly something a bit more complicated like how you save and organise all those photos! If you do not have a computing device we can also offer general advice on what to look for or perhaps get you started on the library public access PCs. If you have attended a previous Get Online group or just have a digital issue you need help with, please just come along – you will find us on the Mezzanine level, Central Library.

Remember there are other digital ‘surgeries’ also offered at Central which are specifically about providing assistance with the Libraries’ e-book/audio and e-magazine/newspaper apps and services. These are again on the Mezzanine level, Central Library, every Tuesday 2 – 3.30pm and the first Thursday of the month 10.30am – 12.

Libraries Get Online service: the final part of our conversation with a learner and volunteer

We introduced you over the last couple of weeks to two people who have been involved in the Libraries’ Get Online service. Joyce Young recently completed a series of sessions with volunteer Emily Johnson, learning how to use her iPad. We discover here the benefits to the volunteer too.

Have you enjoyed the sessions Emily, and do you feel they have a real benefit from the volunteers’ point of view too?

Emily: I think I’ve found one of the best things about volunteering is that it takes me away from studying all the time; I’ve found it all very relaxed because we’ve chatted a lot too about what Joyce wanted to learn or was interested in; that’s been a big part of it and it’s been really enjoyable. Apart from that though thinking ahead for me, even with a degree, there is so much competition for jobs out there you really have to have different things on your CV – so this kind of volunteering is an example of the sort of thing that just might make you stand out to an employer. So, it is certainly beneficial to me as well and, in fact, thinking about the sessions, I thought I knew the iPad really well but there were things I discovered and things I worked with Joyce on where we had to refer to Google or Youtube or whatever to find out how to do something. So, I was learning sometimes too and Joyce was learning how she’d be able to find things out on her own. I think that all helps to give the person confidence.

Overall then Joyce, you think it has been a worthwhile process?

Joyce: Definitely. You see, I think when you are older, you think things are going to be more difficult than they turn out, and that’s where the help I’ve had was so important. When Emily showed me how to send a photo, I took notes and did it for myself and I couldn’t believe how easy it was compared to how I thought it was going to be. I always thought it was going to be really complicated, that I’d just find it all too difficult to understand but really, after being with Emily, and being shown things properly, it’s a lot easier than I expected it to be. I’m thrilled with what I’ve learnt

Emily: Do you remember the time we were looking at your email and working through how to use it . . . . . . ?

Joyce: Oh yes (laughing) when I discovered that when I send an e-mail, I just put in the first letter of the person I want to send it to and the address goes in for you. For a long time I had a wee book with email addresses in it! There’s times when you could feel a bit foolish but working 1:1 with someone it really doesn’t matter; we often ended up just laughing about it!

Joyce: ” I always thought it was going to be really complicated, that I’d just find it all too difficult to understand but really, after being with Emily, and being shown things properly, it’s a lot easier than I expected it to be”.

As I said before it’s made a big difference to my life and I now also enjoy just ‘pottering about with it’ sometimes too, just looking at photos and places or finding things on the internet – the time I’ve spent with Emily means I can do that and I’ve lost the worry about doing something wrong and breaking it. It’s been great and I’m going to continue using my iPad and learning more.

If you are interested in finding out more about Get Online in the libraries or you would like to book a place click/tap here. We will be running groups over five weekly sessions at Portobello, Stockbridge, Leith and Central Library between now and June. Please note that these are for any device (laptop, iPad, tablet or smartphone!)

 

The Picturesque Antiquities of Scotland – an early travel guide

As you can imagine, we have thousands of books in our collections in Central Library. Most are on the shelves ready to be picked up and read or just looked at. However, there’s a large part of our collection which is kept behind the scenes to protect from too much handling.

The downside of this is that few people get to see them, and so now and again we like to show off some of these hidden gems from our collections.

Strathaven

One of these is a small half leather bound volume titled Picturesque Antiquities of Scotland which was published in 1788 by the British engraver and archaeologist Adam de Cardonnel. Inside the book which contains part one and two of a four part set, we find a preface by de Cardonnel himself where he states,

“the work was at first intended to have been on a much larger scale, and I had finished several of the plates; but at the particular desire of a learned author, I reduced the size, and altered my plan, as better adapted to the convenience of travellers, who wish to be acquainted with a few circumstances relating to the ruins they may chance to visit”.

So, this was a sort of early travel guide, small enough to be packed in the traveller’s bag and filled with information relating to the sites that were at the time of writing, mostly in ruins. De Cardonnel had served as curator of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland from 1782 to 1784, and being both an engraver and an archaeologist, he was well suited to produce such volumes.

Tantallon

Why not have a look for yourselves and explore the contents of this book online – you’ve probably even visited a few!

You can view all the engravings from this delightful 18th century book on Capital Collections.

Roslin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bobby visits Central Library

We celebrated the life and times of Greyfriars Bobby by inviting champion Skye Terrier Hanna and her pup Murren to the library to meet with a group of schoolchildren from Abbeyhill Primary School.

Moira and Katie with their Skye Terriers Hanna and Murren at Central Library

Hanna’s owner Moira shared her lifelong fascination with this legendary Edinburgh story and her dedication to the now rare Skye Terrier breed.  Moira’s granddaughter Katie took charge of the pup, but like many youngsters Murren was too fidgety for a photo shoot at the famous statue. But well done to Hanna for staying put, and we were glad that no one rubbed her nose!

Hanna and Bobby

The Butterfly Tree and the Lost Child

In 2011, the first mystery paper sculpture was discovered in the Scottish Poetry Library. It was an incredibly delicate gift; a tree growing out of a book, an eggshell of poems and a little card with read:

“@ByLeavesWeLive and became a tree….We know that a library is so much more than a building full of books… a book is so much more than pages full of words…This is for you in support of libraries, books, words, ideas..”

More sculptures were discovered that year at the National Library of Scotland, the National Museum of Scotland, the Filmhouse, the Scottish Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature Trust, the Edinburgh Writers’ Museum, the Edinburgh International Book Festival and here at Edinburgh Central Library.

The identity of the artist was withheld, and to this day we don’t know who the artist is.

We do know that this sculpture, the Butterfly Tree and the Lost Child, is her last and we are tremendously privileged to have it here at Central Library.

You can see the small sculptures donated to Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature Trust and the Edinburgh International Book Festival in Central Library’s foyer or online on our Capital Collections Website. You can go to Wikipedia for more information on all the sculptures.

 

City Garden event at Central Library

The City Garden Project is a proposed urban greenspace project to improve the quality and quantity of ‘little green spaces’ across Edinburgh. So much space in the city is under used, from grass-desert parks to concrete traffic islands, the forgotten shoreline to featureless street
corners; this project is about revealing their potential for creative and green space uses!

Come along to the Central Lending Library on 30 September any time between 12 noon and 3pm and meet the team from HERE + NOW, the landscape and design studio behind the City Garden project. You’ll be able to see examples of their previous projects and find out more about the City Garden idea. Most of all they’d love you to share your ideas for a City Garden Project and how you’d like to activate unused spaces. You will be able to mark places which could be a potential City Garden you know of on a map. This can be everything from a vacant or abandoned area to a neglected street corner.

Why not drop-in and help make Edinburgh an even greener city!

 

A stitch in time

Central Library and WEA Edinburgh (Workers Education Association) are coming together on a new project to create an embroidered banner commemorating Central Library’s 125th anniversary. While exploring different embroidery techniques to be applied to the banner, the class will also research many of the Library’s historic and contemporary facets. A number of these stories will be expressed in the banner’s design. The group first met back in March and had a general discussion about what would be feasible, even if in fact, the library could provide enough inspiration and creativity.

Stitching group at Central Library

Everyone very quickly agreed that 125 years of engaging people from all walks of life with the love of reading was well worth celebrating. In June, after an informative tour of the building, close encounters with some fabulous library treasures, discussions of which authors to include, and how to capture the past, present and future of the library, it was over to artist and group tutor, Rebecca Mackay to design the cartoons. By early September the cartoons were transcribed onto fabric and the stitchers were off!

The cartoon for the central panel, which includes some library essentials, including Daisy, the library cat sitting on Andrew Carnegie’s shoulder.

Keep up to date with developments at the Progress of a Needle blog which is charting the project from inception to completion.  Or even better, pop down to the Edinburgh and Scottish Collection one Tuesday morning and have a look for yourself!

The people who helped shape Edinburgh Libraries: William McEwan

William McEwan was born in Alloa on the 16^th July 1827.  His father was a local ship-owner with shares in four vessels.  Educated at Alloa Academy he left in 1843 to work for the Alloa Coal Company. He moved to Glasgow in 1845 working as a clerk for £30 p.a. in a firm of merchants.  Seeking to improve himself he attended lectures at the University, and used the Mechanics Library and the Commercial Reading Club.
In 1847 he moved to Honley near Huddersfield, where he continued his self-education. A founder member of the Honley Reading Society he also attended the Mechanics Institution.  He began to make charitable donations and surprisingly supported the Temperance Movement. 
In 1851 he joined the Heriot brewery which was owned by his uncle.  Five years later he established his own brewery at Fountainbridge where the world-famous ‘McEwan’s Export’ and ‘McEwan’s India Pale Ale’ were developed.  By 1889 his business was worth £100,000.
From 1886-1900 he was MP for Edinburgh Central.  The Freedom of the City of Edinburgh was conferred on him and he was made a burgess and guild brother.  In 1907, having refused a peerage, he was made a Privy Councillor.  Before his death he funded the McEwan Hall and donated a Frans Hals and a Rembrandt to the National Galleries of Scotland.
McEwan was also one of Edinburgh Libraries’ notable benefactors donating “The Frasers of Philorth” by Alexander Fraser, published in 1879 and the “Memorials of the Earls of Haddington” by William Fraser, published in 1889.
William McEwan died in London on the 12 May 1913, aged eighty-five.

Browse more brewing memorabilia in our Heineken exhibition. The breweries covered in this exhibition include William McEwan’s; Robert and WilliamYounger’s; T & J Bernard’s; William Murray’s; and J & J Morison. Once, these breweries were sited all over Edinburgh at Abbeyhill; Canongate; Craigmillar; Fountainbridge and Leith.

Read all the articles in this series of ‘The people who helped shape Edinburgh Libraries’:

George Washington Browne: architect

Robert Butchart: City Librarian

Andrew Carnegie: steelmaker and philanthropist

Henry Dyer, engineer, educationist and Japanophile

David Mather Masson: scholar and biographer

Thomas Ross: architect and antiquarian

Charles Boog Watson: local historian and antiquarian

The tradesmen who built Central Library

Library news round-up

LOADS happening in libraries recently – so let’s have a quick round-up.

First, thanks to all you big-hearted readers who helped us raise lots of money for Comic Relief and Marie Curie. Central Library hosted a Red Nose Day Readathon with staff taking turns to read from the funniest novel ever – as voted by our readers…

While dressing up of a different sort was the order of the day as Newington Library celebrated International Women’s Day with a fashion show featuring women’s national dress from around the world.

Next, news for Edinburgh and Scottish Collection fans. The good news is that this part of Central Library is getting a makeover, including paintwork and new carpets. We will however have to close for 10-12 weeks while the work gets done (from 2nd April). The rest of central library will remain open during this period.

At Corstorphine Library National Science and Engineering Week was all the reason  needed to examine how acids and alkali work with these Rainbow Jellyfish. We also calculated the speed of light – using chocolate and a microwave. To find out how visit Corstorphine Library’s Facebook page.

Last but by no means least,  Edinburgh Libraries have been shortlisted for The Bookseller Magazine’s Library of the Year award, a title currently held by… Edinburgh Libraries (you might have seen us mention this before). The winner is announced on 13th May – fingers crossed!