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
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...
“Bronte Territories” by Melissa Hardie – an Appreciation
In 2019, the Hypatia Trust's Melissa Hardie launched her book - Bronte Territories: Cornwall and the Unexplored Maternal Legacy, 1760-1870. Melissa's research reveals the often overlooked but important influence of the maternal family background on the Bronte sisters....
Visiting the Library
You may like to make a cuppa to get you through this long document! But please read on carefully as it does contain a lot of important information. Visiting the Library We are delighted to say that Morrab Library is open again, although in a very limited...
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.