May 26, Innerpeffray
Saturday, hamlet of Innerpeffray
On Saturday, we went out to visit the first lending library in Scotland. This was my favorite stop of the trip. I loved that it was out in the countryside, through twisty gravel roads meandering around plots of farmland. David Drummond founded the library in 1680, and the entirety of the collection at that time was his own personal library of 400 books. The books were housed in a chapel nearby, and were moved to the current building in 1762. A relative of David Drummond, Robert Hay Drummond, built the current building and also added over 1500 books to the collection. The books were available for rent to the public between 1747 and 1968.
In the library, all of the books, no matter how old, are available to be browsed by anyone who stops in to see the collection. The librarian explained that the books at this library are meant to be read, not just preserved. There is no hand washing and no white gloves required. As we learned at the National Library of Scotland, hands do a great job of self-cleaning, and fumbling, gloved fingers tend to do more harm than good to old paper.
I spent about twenty minutes flipping through the “Historie of foure footed beastes” by Edward Topsell, published in 1607.
Go to all pictures from Innerpeffray.