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Find out about visiting us in Edinburgh or Glasgow, from opening hours and accessibility to how to access our reading rooms:

George IV Bridge, Edinburgh 

Maps Reading Room, Edinburgh

Moving Image Library, Glasgow

Explore Scotland through stories from and beyond our collections.

✨ Highlights ✨

Unveiling LGBTQ+ treasures through the Glasgay! arts festival

Mary Shelley and the Scottish Gothic Tradition

Travelling the 'Red Dust Road': My connection with Jackie Kay

Library events and exhibitions in Edinburgh and Glasgow

Browse digitised material from our collections — books, maps, films and more.

Find books, manuscripts, maps, photographs, music, moving images, and more.

Our starting guide to family history research

We want to hear about the books that mean something special to you.

Online access to thousands of books, journals, newspapers and databases

Ideas and resources for exploring the collections

Updates from our curators and subject experts

Services and collections to help you start or run your business

With over 34 million items, we have something for everyone

Data collections from the National Library of Scotland

How you can help us achieve our goals