Bibliothèque nationale d'Écosse - Edinburgh

Rémi G.

Superbe édifice.

Elizabeth A. H.

Beautiful. I loved the exhibition areas. Give yourself time to look around and enjoy the space. There is no fee to enter but they do take donations. Support the library! If you have a book request you can make it at the reading room desk and the librarians will pull the materials from the stacks for you. Pro tip you do not need to be a Scottish resident to get a library card.

Rose T.

Don’t be put off wandering into here on the fact this is a reference library, even if you don’t enjoy reading this is worth the free wander in just to see the beautiful slightly art deco entrance & staircases flooded with light.

There is a simple snack cafe with numerous tables & nooks, clean toilets, a gift shop that focuses on Scottish authors (including well known & current modern ones), & a selection of items & gifts made in Scotland.
Free wifi
A small museum with a regularly changing theme.
The art work & exhibits can be browsed by the general public.

As this is a research facility with 7 million books, some hugely significant items & 2 million maps, there may indeed be something you want to browse. To do so you must register for free upstairs. This also allows access to the reading rooms.
As this was my first time the lady on the desk kindly explained what sorts of topics could be found & the strict rules of no photos, bags, food, drink, even lip balms are allowed inside (to protect the historical integrity of the books).

There is old wooden lockers beside the cafe to store personal belongings at £1.

Quite a full program of various related topics can be found.

And if you want a more traditional library, just hop directly across the road. And if you have a fear of books there is a museum, graveyard spooks, the Old Town & Royal Mile 5 min in every direction!

Harsh K. V. G.

It was a really nice experience to visit the library. They have wonderful collection of books (Scottish history and art).

Harry S.

We visited this place today (13/02/24) on a day when the city was particularly busy. The cafe wasn’t too crowded and we were easily able to find a table to enjoy our coffees.
We were seated opposite the toilets and couldn’t help but notice that foreign visitors were confused by the gender icon outside each toilet. There was a sign which included male, female and disabled pictograms and the word “inclusive”. As a keen student of the local lingo I knew what inclusive meant. Visitors to the city were less sure.
More confusion inside the toilets where the sign above the waste bin asks for period products only. Where, I wonder, is the waste bin for modern products ?

Christopher W.

This is such a cool library - and I wasn't even visiting to borrow any books! There's a nice little cafe, plenty of quiet reading places, and the library's own mini-museum, which, given its literary focus, offered something I haven't seen in that many other places. I spent quite a while looking around, learning from the displays - great fun!

Naviru S.

Justo en la entrada hay una pequeña exhibición histórica sobre libros. Cuenta también con una pequeña cafetería y unos servicios grandes y bien equipados. A la biblioteca solo pueden acceder los miembros y los turistas tienen prohibido el paso, por lo que la visita se queda en solo ver la pequeña exhibición de la entrada.

Moni S.

An einem Regentag eine gute Zuflucht!
Man betritt ein offenes Café (sehr guter Service und nette Kleinigkeiten zum Verzehr) und einen angegliederten Shop mit allerlei feinen Souvenirs und einer kleinen und feinen Buchauswahl.
Wer möchte, kann eine Zutrittskarte für die Bibliothek am Info-Schalter bekommen und in die Lesesäle eingelassen werden (man muss Jacken und Taschen im Cloakroom lassen und sich natürlich an die Schweigeregel halten!).
Zusätzlich gibt’s kleine Ausstellungen im Eingangsbereich.
Hat uns den verregneten Tag komplett gerettet!