Important news about visiting the library – Morrab Library is open, but by appointment only.
At this time, our service is very limited. Please read our guidelines before you visit.
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A rich resource for research, or a place to borrow the latest novel.
Morrab Library is an independent library established in 1818, situated in the beautiful Morrab Gardens in Penzance, Cornwall. We hold over 70,000 books on floor-to-ceiling shelves as well as archives and a rich photographic collection. The library contains a wide range of both fiction and non-fiction books in the rambling rooms of a delightful Victorian building.
We are open Tuesday – Saturday 10am-4pm.
Latest news
Introducing the new Arthur Quiller-Couch website
In normal times, Morrab Library would be hosting a large event (with lots of cake!) to celebrate the launch of this major new website exploring the life and works of Arthur Quiller-Couch. But instead, we're delighted to tell our members all about it through this blog....
Views from a Prison – archival treasures in Morrab Library
Library member Kensa Broadhurst is studying at Exeter University, and has been using Morrab Library's extensive archive collections for her research since we re-opened. She came across two fascinating documents, written by prisoners of war. The library holds...
Row Boys Row
Cornish male vocal group, the Bryher's Boys, recently collaborated with Morrab Library to create a video for one of their recordings. Using evocative images from the Library's extensive historic Photo Archive, they were able to capture the essence of their song in...
If there is an afterlife, I very much hope that those good enough in this one might be rewarded with an exact replica of the Morrab Library – to sit out eternity browsing its shelves, reading in its chairs, and looking out of its high windows.
Whether you’re an impassioned bibliophile or just someone who loves a good read, the Morrab is for you: a Cornish treasure house, a meeting place for like-minded souls, and a vibrant forum for contemporary writing.
Formally known, in those days, as the Penzance Library, the elegant house in its beautiful garden had a welcoming atmosphere and BOOKS – rooms full of them, in shelves floor to ceiling, on every topic I could possibly want to read about…it’s…a treasure house, an island of civilization and tranquility in an ever faster and more furious world.