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.

01736 364474 | enquiries@morrablibrary.org.uk

If you would like to support the work of The Morrab Library you can donate by clicking the button below.

Watch a film created by the students of Penwith College in 2024 here.

Search our online book catalogue here.

Latest news

William Wordsworth

 249 years ago today William Wordsworth, the great poet of English Romanticism, was born. Our archives hold a precious letter from Wordsworth to Hugh Seymour Tremenheere. The pair were introduced by Harriet Martineau in the autumn of 1845. As well as...

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Ho ho ho and a bottle of rum……Writers and Piracy

What you can find in the Morrab Library If you go through the green baize door into the Reading Room at the Morrab Library, you will see in front of you a shelf with the title  “WHAT YOU CAN FIND IN THE MORRAB” The selection of books displayed will change...

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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.

Philip Marsden

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.

Dawn French

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.

John le Carré