Edinburgh’s Central Library is boldly embarking upon a brand new chapter this week as work begins to adapt the building to fit 21st century needs and expectations.
The “next generation” plans will see a variety of changes within the landmark George IV Bridge library, including improvements to the entrance hall, the introduction of self service facilities in the Lending library and the joining together of two of the Library’s most important collections, the Edinburgh and Scottish.

In the 1861 census region of Edinburgh there were 295 families living in single rooms without any windows.
In 2001 there were 79 people older than 100 living in Edinburgh.
The number of students in Edinburgh increased 114 per cent between 1991 and 2001.

Due to essential maintenance, public access PCs are not currently available in our libraries. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and would like to reassure library users that we are working to restore access as quickly as possible.

Just a quick reminder that libraries will close at 5pm on Hogmanay then reopen as normal on Wednesday 5th January.
Happy New Year to all our readers from everyone here at Edinburgh City Libraries!

Libraries Opening Times on Wednesday 8 December, Thursday 9 December and Friday 10 December will be 10am – 5pm.
Where staffing allows, this includes libraries that would normally open from 1pm.
As we’ve been saying -  things could change depending on the weather. Our advice remains to phone ahead if you are thinking of visiting a library to make sure it will be open when you get there.

Kirkliston and Ratho will not open today due to weather conditions.
Morningside is currently closed due to problems with heating.
The other public libraries in Edinburgh will close at 4pm today.
The situation may change – if we have to close some libraries even earlier we will update you here.

Blackhall Library was unable to open this morning (Monday 6 December) due to traffic / weather conditions.
Currie, Ratho, Corstorphine, Granton, Kirkliston, South Queensferry, Gilmerton, Moredun and Craigmillar libraries will not be open either.
Morningside has had to close because the heating system has broken down.
The other public libraries in Edinburgh will close at 4pm today and tomorrow.
The situation may change – if we have to close some libraries even earlier we will update you here.

A good one for St Andrew’s Day: the Scottish Library has a display about childhood memories including children’s games and rhymes, Oor Wullie, life in the Gorbals and much more. Come and relive the good old days (until the end of December).