Portobello Library is a public library in Portobello, Edinburgh, Scotland.

The current building in Rosefield Place cost £37,500[1] and was opened on 11 October 1963 by Lord Provost Duncan M. Weatherstone with a stock of 26,000 books and eight staff.[2] The previous accommodation in the Old Town Hall, now Portobello Police Station, was considered unfit for purpose and was criticized for being dirty, dark and overcrowded.[3]

Opened in 1897, the year after Portobello was formally incorporated into the City of Edinburgh, the library service is the joint-second oldest in Edinburgh (after Central Library (1890) and joint with Western (Dundee Street) Library (1897).[3]

In 1997, Portobello Library celebrated its centenary through a programme of talks.[4]

In June 2017, the Edinburgh Tool Library opened a lending service out of Portobello Library.[5]

Portobello Library is one of the main venues for events at Portobello's annual book festival in October.[6]

References

  1. ^ "New Library Opening". Edinburgh Evening News. 12 October 1963.
  2. ^ "Portobello's new library opens". Edinburgh Evening Dispatch. 12 October 1963.
  3. ^ a b "Portobello Library: long service - and spacious days ahead". Edinburgh Evening News. 16 March 1963.
  4. ^ "Library marks centenary". Portobello Reporter. Autumn 1997.
  5. ^ "Edinburgh Tool Library Is Coming To Portobello - Public Notices". www.portobellocc.org. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  6. ^ "Portobello Book Festival". Portobello Book Festival. Retrieved 20 May 2018.

55°57′12″N 3°07′00″W / 55.9534°N 3.1167°W / 55.9534; -3.1167