📣 Calling all Shetland writers!
We are seeking applications for our Scots Scriever residency - and this year, the focus is on Shetland. This is a unique opportunity for a writer to create original work in Shaetlan while championing the language across communities.
What’s on offer?
✍️ A 12‑month residency
💵 £1,250 per month
⌚ Dedicated time to write and develop new work
🫂 Opportunities to engage with audiences in Shetland and beyond
You can find out more about our work in person this week - the National Library team are currently visiting Shetland (12–15 May) delivering school sessions, community workshops, and events across the islands.
Head to our website or @shetlandlibrary 's page to find out more!
🔗 Apply by midday, Friday 12 June.
✨Now open | 28 March – 20 June
We’re proud to collaborate with the National Library of Scotland to present our latest exhibition ‘Outwith: Valda, MacDiarmid and Whalsay’.
Discover how the island of Whalsay shaped the lives and creativity of Hugh MacDiarmid and Valda Grieve during the nine years they spent there (1933–1942).
Despite poverty and ill health, this was one of his most productive periods - made possible through Valda’s resilience, independence and determination.
Explore original manuscripts, personal letters, photographs and artefacts, including the fourareen that carried MacDiarmid to Linga, inspiring ‘On a Raised Beach’.
🙏Thank you to everyone who joined us for last night’s preview – we look forward to welcoming visitors.
Featuring visual art by Alexander Moffat RSA and Ruth Nicol RSW.
📷 @lex_in_the_north_sea@natlibscot@royal_scottish_academy@shetlandheritage@shetlandmuseum@ruthnicol_rsw.art
Whalsay History Group
#nls100
#rsa200
#shetland
#shetlandmuseumandarchives
We commissioned students from Edinburgh College to design murals to mark 100 years of the National Library of Scotland 🎨
The students took inspiration from the Library’s art deco architecture and Hew Lorimer’s sculptures, which adorn the exterior of our building on George IV Bridge 🗽
Lorimer’s sculptures (1954–55) depict seven branches of knowledge, as mirrored on the mural’s book spines: medicine, science, history, poetry, law, theology, and music. The fanned design gives a nod to the Library as a repository of books 📚
The contemporary revision features reimagined figures as they might appear today. The figures are accompanied by symbols of the Library’s vast and varied collections – from films to webpages, maps to newspapers – providing insight into how the Library’s collections have developed over the past 100 years 💾
Together, the murals commemorate the Library’s origins whilst celebrating its evolution into the vibrant cultural organisation it is today. You can see the murals in person at George IV Bridge, Edinburgh 📌
For #StarWarsDay, let's take a look at (a slightly modified!) book, called 'The expert sword‑man's companion: or the true art of self‑defence...' (Glasgow, 1728) by Donald McBane ⚔️
McBane (1664–c.1732) was born in Inverness and ran away from his apprenticeship as a tobacco spinner to enlist in the Scots Army. He fought at the Battle of Killiecrankie (1689), later became a celebrated fencing master, and was known throughout Europe for his skill in duelling.
We've given the illustrations a #MayThe4thBeWithYou update - but can you spot the extra #StarWarsDay reference in there?
📖 You can view this item in our reading rooms at George IV Bridge. Find out more about viewing our collections on our website. Link in bio 🔗
What do you do, in 15th-century Scotland, when the household priest behaves badly? If you're Isobel, Countess of Argyll, you might just write a poem about it. A very frank poem 😳
Our latest long read is a work of fiction by writer Mairi Kidd, inspired by a real mystery in our collections. Tucked inside the 16th-century Book of the Dean of Lismore is a startling, explicit poem attributed to "Contissa Ergadien Issobell" (Isobel Countess of Argyll). It's a boast about a priest's… well, you can probably guess.
But who was Isobel? And why did she write it?
Mairi's story, 'Bearing and Begetting', imagines an answer. Set against the backdrop of a Christmas feast attended by King James IV, it explores Isobel's life, her Gaelic heritage, her marriage into the powerful Drummond family, and the risks and realities facing women in a world where "some beget, and some bear".
Swipe through for a glimpse inside the story, and click the link in our bio to read 'Bearing and Begetting' in full (available in both English and Gaelic) 📖✨
“The testimonies we have listened to of how the Care system has impacted on people’s lives are a vital and often overlooked part of what Scotland's story was, is now and what we can become."
Caring Scotland: The Sound Collection and Ten Portraits is part of our three-year listening project, led and inspired by the practice of playwright and theatre-maker @nicolamccartney761 , documenting the lives of Care Experienced people in Scotland.
The Sound Collection has been archived in a new Caring Scotland oral history sound collection at the National Library of Scotland. The collection brings together stories gathered from the listening project which will be saved for hundreds of years to come, ensuring these experiences are not lost in time.
Ten Portraits is a touring photographic exhibition of care experienced individuals captured by Chris Scott, who was guided by the Caring Scotland listening project.
👉For full touring dates of the Ten Portraits exhibition, visit via the link in bio.
We can't wait to share these powerful stories, portraits, and testimonials throughout Scotland, and would like to thank all the individuals who have trusted us with their experiences.
👉 Find out more from those involved in the project via the link in bio
In partnership with @whocaresscotland and @natlibscot . We are grateful to the Heritage Fund & National Lottery players for making this project happen.
📸Kirsty Anderson
Yesterday we were proud to take part in the launch of the Libraries Alliance, alongside organisations representing all kinds of libraries.
Speakers including Baroness Twycross, Lord Blunkett and Jeanette Winterson highlighted why libraries matter at every generational milestone – from early learning and education to research, work and later life – and why a shared voice for the sector is more important than ever.
🎬 This new animation shows how libraries support people through every stage of life. Credit: @buttercrumblecreative
How much do you know about who made your clothes? 👕👖
Next Wednesday, Alis Le May – Glasgow-based bespoke tailor – presents 'Clò na Tìre', a unique collection of garments that reflect a deep connection between craft, land, and heritage.
Chaired by Jen Ballie, Head of Design Research at V&A Dundee, Alis will discuss how her sustainable design practices enhance traditional hand-crafted garment making.
The event is part of our Fashion Revolution Week programme.
📅 6-7:30pm, Wednesday 22 April
📌 Kelvin Hall, Glasgow
Book tickets on our website. Link in bio 🔗
Are you an artist, designer, or creative practitioner looking for your next inspiration? Our poster collection might be exactly where you need to start 🪧
Held at our Causewayside site, the collection spans over two centuries of visual communication – from political protests to product adverts, hand-drawn type to bold graphic design. It's a rich, varied, and often surprising resource, and with the support of library staff, visitors can explore it in person.
Recently, we welcomed illustrators and graphic designers from Edinburgh College of Art to work with the collection. Artists drew inspiration from pieces ranging from a "Punk Against the Poll Tax" gig poster to a mid-century catalogue of hairdryers.
Our new research guide introduces the poster collections and how to access them for yourself. Link in our bio 🔗
Our exhibition Dear Library closes on 25 April. If you haven't yet visited, this is your final chance to experience hundreds of love letters written by visitors to Scotland's libraries – and to leave your own 💌
To mark the closing week, writer Dave Coates has published a beautiful, urgent reflection on the joy, refuge and possibility found in our public libraries.
Inspired by the letters on display, Dave writes about his first Scottish winter, his part-time job at the Scottish Poetry Library, and the letter-writers who described their local library as "home".
Go to our website to:
📜 Read Dave's full article
🎟️ Plan your visit to Dear Library
👩🏼👧🏻👦🏽 Visiting with kids? Book to come to our Dear Library Story Sessions
This clip from 'Island of the Big Cloth' (1971) shows traditional dyeing in the Highlands 🎨
At the beginning of the clip, you can see someone scraping crottle, a type of lichen, directly from rocks.
Crottle produces beautiful shades of brown, yellow, and red. It was often gathered in late summer (mid-August), when pigment concentrations are at their peak. The lichen was packed into large cast iron cauldrons with wool or fabric, then boiled over a peat fire.
Other dyes from the Highlands included yellow from heather and bracken, blue/green from woad (or imported indigo), and red from madder 💛🩵❤️
From 21–25 April, we're marking Fashion Revolution Week at Kelvin Hall with free talks, screenings, and workshops inspired by Scotland's textile heritage.
Explore the full programme on our website. Link in bio 🔗
Dear Library Story Sessions are back! This time with a focus on stories for children aged 6 to 10 years old 📚🚀
Come along to the National Library to hear stories from fantastic, contemporary children's authors - meet a cast of unique characters, hear about some daring adventures, and be transported to surprising new settings.
Afterwards, you'll have the chance to chat to the authors and get creative with a range of crafts inspired by that day's stories.
Book your tickets at the link in the National Library of Scotland's bio 🔗
