New clean page!

Staff at Morningside Library are preparing for a long-awaited refurbishment of the building

This is also an ideal opportunity to enhance existing services and also provide a whole new range – such as community meeting space, public toilets and an IT learning centre.

“Staff and the public are excited about the prospect of a brand new library space, one which can offer new and vibrant services, allowing Morningside Library to carry on being one of the busiest in the city,” said Vanessa Chalmers, library development officer.

More space has been created from an empty flat upstairs.

The library opened in 1905 and it has since become one of the city’s busiest community libraries.

Minor alterations were carried out in 2001, with the creation of disabled access through the main front entrance, but now more extensive refurbishment is needed.

Extensive customer consultation has begun, with an initial questionnaire reaping more than 800 responses.

All views on the refurbishment are welcome and we are working with the local community to create a library relevant and engaging to them.

In preparation for the refurbishment, library staff celebrated National Spring Clean Month with a clean-up of the library to gett rid of clutter.

Meanwhile, a generous bequest of £30,000 has been left to the library by Dr Ethel Gray, a leading Scottish educationalist who spent much of her life making education accessible to all.

Dr Gray was an avid reader and a long-time member of Morningside Library and its housebound service – promoted by all Edinburgh libraries, delivering books and other library items to homes.

Staff at Morningside remember Dr Gray as “a prolific reader who used to give us long lists of books she had seen reviewed and wanted to look at”.

Dr Gray asked that her bequest be spent on stock. She also left money for the staff at Morningside to have a social event in recognition of the special relationship she had built with them over the years.

Library staff, along with volunteers who deliver books to housebound people, used the money to celebrate Dr Gray’s life with a memorable evening, including speeches, at a restaurant.

One potential use for the donation will be the purchase of eBooks. Sandra Wright from Morningside Library, said:

“Dr Gray was very forward thinking and would be delighted to know that her bequest would fund such a modern way of accessing books.”