Orkney Library and Archive is a Scottish public library service based in

Kirkwall Kirkwall ( sco, Kirkwaa, gd, Bàgh na h-Eaglaise, nrn, Kirkavå) is the largest town in Orkney, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland. The name Kirkwall comes from the Norse name (''Church Bay''), which later changed to ''Kirkv ...

Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

. Founded in 1683, Orkney Library is the oldest public library in Scotland. Its rules date from 1815. It has become known for its popular, humorous

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

account.

History

The Orkney Library and Archive was founded in 1683 with a bequest of 150 books from William Baikie. The collection was kept at the local manse before being transferred to

St Magnus Cathedral St Magnus Cathedral dominates the skyline of Kirkwall, the main town of Orkney, a group of islands off the north coast of mainland Scotland. It is the most northerly cathedral in the United Kingdom, a fine example of Romanesque architecture built ...

. In 1740 the collection was moved to the Old Tollboth. In 1815 a number of subscribers to the collection founded The Orkney Library. The library was a subscription-only service until 1890 when a donation from

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...

allowed the library to adopt the 1850

Public Libraries Act Public Libraries Act is a stock short title used in the United Kingdom for legislation ("Acts of Parliament") relating to public libraries. List * The Public Libraries Act 1850 (13 & 14 Vict c 65) * The Public Libraries (Ireland) Act 1855 (18 & ...

. A further donation was made by Carnegie in 1903 for a dedicated building. The new Carnegie Library opened on Laing Street in Kirkwall in 1909. The current library building on Junction Road, Kirkwall opened in August 2003.

Services

The Library offers access to over 145,000 items, including fiction and non-fiction titles, audiobooks, maps, eBooks, music CDs and DVDs.

Twitter presence

The Library enjoys a good-natured and well publicised

feud with

Shetland Library Shetland Library is the public library service of Shetland, with its main branch based in Lerwick. Membership is open to both residents of and visitors to the islands. The library has a range of digital, online and physical material and collecti ...

J.K. Rowling Joanne Rowling ( "rolling"; born 31 July 1965), also known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author and philanthropist. She wrote ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume children's fantasy series published from 1997 to 2007. The ser ...

paid a surprise trip to the library book group in 2016.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Public libraries in Scotland Archives in Scotland Carnegie libraries in Scotland Education in Orkney Kirkwall