Libraries welcome for General Assembly visitors

FOUNDED in 1843 as the Library of the Free Church College, and now serving the School of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh, New College Library is one of the largest theology libraries in the UK with approximately a quarter of a million items.

Inside New College Library at Edinburgh University

Along with students and staff of the University of Edinburgh, we welcome ministers and members of the public to use our theological collections for research and professional development.

Legacy arrangements have enabled ministers of the Church of Scotland and Free Church of Scotland to borrow books, providing access to the Church’s historic collections which are maintained at New College Library.

As of March 1 2017, we have streamlined our access arrangements and now provide free borrowing for five items to ministers, retired ministers and employees of the Church of Scotland, on production of photographic ID, proof of address and evidence of church status (eg work ID card, official headed letter). Registration enables access to all ten libraries within the University of Edinburgh Library, including New College and the Main University Library.

New College Library’s three open access floors of print collections are available for reference and borrowing. The Funk Reading Room provides access to the substantial rare book collections, which reflect New College’s heritage as a centre of learning for Presbyterian ministry. Bibles in Latin, Greek and Hebrew as well as English form a rich seam throughout the collections, and pamphlets are a particular strength, with many unique early Scottish imprints.

A large part of our collection is catalogued online on the University of Edinburgh’s DiscoverEd http://discovered.ed.ac.uk/, with further material listed on the older catalogues kept in New College Library.

New College Library also holds significant archive collections, such as the papers of the leader of the 1843 Disruption, Thomas Chalmers. Twentieth century collections include the papers of JS Oldham, Tom Allan and John McIntyre. All of our archives are catalogued on archival handlists kept in New College Library, and a proportion of these handlists are searchable via the University of Edinburgh’s Archives Online : http://www.archivesonline.ed.ac.uk.

The Library occupies the eastern side of New College quadrangle, behind the statue of John Knox. (Please note that access to the Library is via stairs – if you have limited mobility please contact the Library for advice before you come).

Church elders can register for free reference access as a member of the public. We will ask you for photographic ID and proof of address.

If you’re searching for forebears who may have studied at New College, start by checking the Historical Alumni website for the University of Edinburgh http://collections.ed.ac.uk/alumni/.

New College Library also maintains a New College Archive, but you may need to visit the library in order to research this.

Useful links

Contact details, further information on joining the library and opening hours: www.ed.ac.uk/is/new-college-library About New College Library Special Collections: www.ed.ac.uk/is/new-collegespecial-collections.

New College Librarian blog: http://libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk/newcollegelibrarian/

This article appears in the May 2017 Issue of Life and Work

Click here to view the article in the magazine.

To view other articles in this issue Click here.

If you would like to view other issues of Life and Work, you can see the full archive here.