Library closed for Easter
The Library will be closed on Friday and Saturday (3rd and 4th April), and will reopen as usual on Tuesday 7th April. There will be no tour of the Library on Friday 4th.
More technology issues.
We’re sorry to say our phone lines are down again, and the internet is running very slowly today, while we try and find a way to fix things – please bear with us!
Become a Friend of The Morrab Library
The Library has recently launched The Friends of The Morrab Library scheme, as a focused fundraising initiative. This is a heartfelt appeal to our valued membership – more than 900 strong – to consider becoming a Friend by setting up a regular donation by direct debit. Find out more HERE.
Search our online book catalogue
Our Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) via KOHA is now live and running, and you can now search for more than 12,000 of the library’s book titles online. Click here to find out more and start searching.
About us
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A rich resource for research, or a place to borrow the latest novel.
The 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. The Morrab Library is a registered charity and depends on the support and generosity of our library community.
We are open Tuesday – Saturday 10am-4pm.
If you would like to support the work of The Morrab Library you can donate by clicking the button below.
Latest news
Reading Lists | Dr Serena Trowbridge
‘Stories of the Stones’ talk by Dr Serena Trowbridge - Reading List Every month at The Morrab Library we host talks in the Reading Room for library members and non-members alike. The programme is as eclectic as the Library’s collection – from the Holy Wells of...
A living library – Lucy Sparrow and Rebecca Harvey’s new work
Artist Rebecca Harvey and poet Lucy Sparrow are joint Artists in Residence at The Morrab Library. Throughout the year, the pair are creating pieces in porcelain and poetry inspired by the library’s rooms,...
Reading List | Katrina Naomi
Katrina Naomi is an award-winning poet, performer and mentor. She has returned to judge our poetry competition, the Patricia Eschen Prize for Poetry, in 2024. Katrina’s poetry collections have won an Authors’ Foundation Award and Saboteur Award, and she is a recipient...
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.
If you like books, if you like history, if you like beautiful houses, if you like hidden treasures, if you like people, if you like peace, you will LOVE Morrab. In fact, if you are alive, you will love it there.
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.