Orkney Library & Archive is on Junction Road right in the heart of Kirkwall.
Orkney Library & Archive is on Junction Road right in the heart of Kirkwall.
If you live, work or study in Orkney then you can become a full member of Orkney Library.
Visitors to Orkney are welcome to join on a temporary visitor membership.
Orkney Library & Archive is open to the public but we currently have restricted opening hours and there is a booking system in place to record Test & Protect information and to restrict the number of people in the building. The further opening up of our services will be a gradual process to ensure the safety of our staff and customers at all times. Check this page regularly to find out which services are available and which services remain closed.
Many of our services are operating differently due to Covid-19 - find our current opening hours and other important visiting information here on our website.
You can browse our full catalogue online. If there is an item you require that we do not have in our collection, it may be possible to acquire from another library on your behalf as an Inter-Library Loan. Find out more about this service by clicking here.
Upstairs we have a Reference Room which has an extensive collection of resources including reference books, maps and local government information. There are also study carrels with power sockets and desk lamps which are ideal for quiet study.
In the foyer there is comfortable seating, a hot drinks machine and a selection of local and national newspapers and magazines. There is also a selection of withdrawn books for sale.
We have FREE Wi-Fi within the building and a number of public access computers with internet access which are FREE for Library members but are also available to visitors for a small charge.