Important news about visiting the library – we’re now 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
April Reopening
Morrab Library will be opening again on the 14th April, although still in a very limited capacity. The necessity to keep staff, volunteers and members as safe as possible remains our first priority, and we will need to continue to work within the context of health and...
Conrad Gesner – fantastic creatures and ancient books
Humans have been drawing what they see of the natural world for over 40,00 years. Initially capturing images on rocks and in caves, this evolved over many centuries into hand drawn depictions and written descriptions being recorded in manuscripts. The development of...
Women Writers and Georgian Cornwall – by Charlotte MacKenzie
Library member and writer, Charlotte MacKenzie, has written this short piece about her latest book - Mary Wollstonecraft’s youngest sister Everina was appointed in 1797 as governess to the family of the second Josiah Wedgwood. The events which followed...
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.