Page updated: 18 May.
Treasures of the sea: family storytelling and crafts
Join storyteller Claire McNicol for this family-friendly workshop.
Discover shoals of silver darlings and fascinating fossils, and hear the true tales of Mary Anning and the fisher lassies. Make a good luck fish to take home.
Numbers are limited to 16 places per workshop and booking is essential. Please book a place for everyone in your group (over the age of 6 years). If you need to cancel your booking, please let us know and we can offer your space to someone else.
Suitable for children aged 6 to 12 years.
Saturday 28 May
10.30-11.30
Free. Book 'Treasure of the sea' via Eventbrite.
When you book this event, your personal information will be held and used by the National Library of Scotland for the purposes of allowing you to attend the event. We use some of the information for audience research purposes. We expect attendees to behave respectfully towards presenters, guests and other audience members. For full information about how the Library will hold and use your personal information, see our privacy pages, in particular our event booking privacy notice.
Art of the book: A book-making workshop with artist Susie Wilson
A hands-on creative workshop led by printmaker and book artist Susie Wilson and inspired by our new Treasures exhibition. Make your own book of treasures using a variety of techniques, including rubber stamping.
Places are limited to 12 and booking is essential. Please let us know if you need to cancel your booking and we can offer the place to someone else.
Saturday 4 June
10.00-16.00
Free. Book 'Art of the book' via Eventbrite.
When you book this event, your personal information will be held and used by the National Library of Scotland for the purposes of allowing you to attend the event. We use some of the information for audience research purposes. We expect attendees to behave respectfully towards presenters, guests and other audience members. For full information about how the Library will hold and use your personal information, see our privacy pages, in particular our event booking privacy notice.
Treasures of the land: family storytelling and crafts
Join storyteller Claire McNicol for this family-friendly workshop.
Explore treasures underground and treasures close to home. Make your own story stick and take home the treasure of a story to share with others.
Numbers are limited to 16 places per workshop and booking is essential. Please book a place for everyone in your group (over the age of 6 years). If you need to cancel your booking, please let us know and we can offer your space to someone else.
Suitable for children aged 6 to 12 years.
Saturday 18 June
10.30-11.30
Free. Book 'Treasures of the land' via Eventbrite.
When you book this event, your personal information will be held and used by the National Library of Scotland for the purposes of allowing you to attend the event. We use some of the information for audience research purposes. We expect attendees to behave respectfully towards presenters, guests and other audience members. For full information about how the Library will hold and use your personal information, see our privacy pages, in particular our event booking privacy notice.
Library Social: Travels and Tales of the North
Join us as we learn about the life of Scottish traveller, writer, artist and botanist Isobel Wylie Hutchison (1889-1982).
Library Social is a free programme of events for people affected by dementia, their families, carers, and supporters.
Friday 8 July
10:30-12:00
Free. Book ‘Library Socials: Travels and Tales of the North’ via Eventbrite.
When you book this event, your personal information will be held and used by the National Library of Scotland for the purposes of allowing you to attend the event. We use some of the information for audience research purposes. We expect attendees to behave respectfully towards presenters, guests and other audience members. For full information about how the Library will hold and use your personal information, see our privacy pages, in particular our event booking privacy notice.
Library Social: Festival City
Explore the history of the Edinburgh Fringe through film and archives in the Library’s collection.
Library Social is a free programme of events for people affected by dementia, their families, carers, and supporters.
Friday 12 August
10:30-12:00
Free. Book ‘Library Socials: Festival City’ via Eventbrite.
When you book this event, your personal information will be held and used by the National Library of Scotland for the purposes of allowing you to attend the event. We use some of the information for audience research purposes. We expect attendees to behave respectfully towards presenters, guests and other audience members. For full information about how the Library will hold and use your personal information, see our privacy pages, in particular our event booking privacy notice.
Library Social: The Art of the Book
Meet book artist and printmaker Susie Wilson, learn about her work, and make a simple folded book to take home.
Library Social is a free programme of events for people affected by dementia, their families, carers, and supporters.
Friday 9 September
10:30-12:00
Free. Book ‘Library Socials: The Art of the Book’ via Eventbrite.
When you book this event, your personal information will be held and used by the National Library of Scotland for the purposes of allowing you to attend the event. We use some of the information for audience research purposes. We expect attendees to behave respectfully towards presenters, guests and other audience members. For full information about how the Library will hold and use your personal information, see our privacy pages, in particular our event booking privacy notice.
Library Social: Scotland's Stories
Come along to hear some traditional tales as part of the Scottish International Storytelling Festival and the Year of Scotland's Stories.
Library Social is a free programme of events for people affected by dementia, their families, carers, and supporters.
Friday 14 October
10:30-12:00
Free. Book ‘Library Socials: Scotland's Stories’ via Eventbrite.
When you book this event, your personal information will be held and used by the National Library of Scotland for the purposes of allowing you to attend the event. We use some of the information for audience research purposes. We expect attendees to behave respectfully towards presenters, guests and other audience members. For full information about how the Library will hold and use your personal information, see our privacy pages, in particular our event booking privacy notice.
Library Social: Hamish Henderson
Join celebrated traditional singer Scott Gardiner to celebrate the life and legacy of folklorist Hamish Henderson.
Library Social is a free programme of events for people affected by dementia, their families, carers, and supporters.
Friday 11 November
10:30-12:00
Free. Book ‘Library Socials: Hamish Henderson’ via Eventbrite.
When you book this event, your personal information will be held and used by the National Library of Scotland for the purposes of allowing you to attend the event. We use some of the information for audience research purposes. We expect attendees to behave respectfully towards presenters, guests and other audience members. For full information about how the Library will hold and use your personal information, see our privacy pages, in particular our event booking privacy notice.
Library Social: Festive Fun
Tunes, songs, poems, and traditions to celebrate the festive season.
Library Social is a free programme of events for people affected by dementia, their families, carers, and supporters.
Friday 9 December
10:30-12:00
Free. Book ‘Library Socials: Festive Fun’ via Eventbrite.
When you book this event, your personal information will be held and used by the National Library of Scotland for the purposes of allowing you to attend the event. We use some of the information for audience research purposes. We expect attendees to behave respectfully towards presenters, guests and other audience members. For full information about how the Library will hold and use your personal information, see our privacy pages, in particular our event booking privacy notice.
Online workshops
Our workshops run regularly throughout the year. You can find upcoming events advertised on this page a few weeks in advance.
See also: Events
Exploring the climate crisis at the National Library of Scotland
Are you interested in finding out more about the climate crisis, getting ideas on how to plan a campaign or wanting to discover climate fiction?
Join us for this virtual session where we will introduce you to the Library collections and explain how you can access them, both online and in person.
There will be an opportunity to ask questions at the end.
Wednesday 24 May
17.00-18.00
Free. Book 'Explore the climate crisis' via Eventbrite.
When you book, you will receive a link to join the session, delivered on the Zoom video conferencing service. Your personal information will be held and used by the National Library of Scotland and Zoom for the purposes of allowing you to join the event. We also use some of the information for audience research purposes. We expect attendees to behave respectfully towards presenters, guests and other audience members. For full information about how the Library will hold and use your personal information, see our privacy pages, in particular our event booking privacy notice.
Introduction to family history
Our family history workshop will introduce you to the wide range of genealogy resources, digital and physical, available from the National Library of Scotland and beyond.
If you have discovered the outline of your family history, but want to add more details to the story, this is the perfect place to start.
Wednesday 1 June
15.00-16.00
Free. Book 'Introduction to family history' via Eventbrite.
When you book, you will receive a link to join the session, delivered on the Zoom video conferencing service. Your personal information will be held and used by the National Library of Scotland and Zoom for the purposes of allowing you to join the event. We also use some of the information for audience research purposes. We expect attendees to behave respectfully towards presenters, guests and other audience members. For full information about how the Library will hold and use your personal information, see our privacy pages, in particular our event booking privacy notice.
Treasures: Online creative writing workshop with Nadine Aisha Jassat
This exciting, online creative writing workshop is inspired by our Treasures of the National Library of Scotland exhibition.
Open to those new to writing and those whose pens have been active for some time, this workshop is the ideal space for participants to explore crafting their own creative responses to the Library’s Treasures.
The workshop will be led by one of the artists commissioned to respond to the exhibition as part of Neu! Treasures!, Nadine Aisha Jassat.
Saturday 25 June
10.30-12.30
Free. Book 'Creative writing with Nadine Aisha Jassat' via Eventbrite.
When you book, you will receive a link to join the session, delivered on the Zoom video conferencing service. Your personal information will be held and used by the National Library of Scotland and Zoom for the purposes of allowing you to join the event. We also use some of the information for audience research purposes. We expect attendees to behave respectfully towards presenters, guests and other audience members. For full information about how the Library will hold and use your personal information, see our privacy pages, in particular our event booking privacy notice.
Additional
Watch recorded events
Online events and filmed talks are available on the Library Player