a physical premises for The Nature Library
opening in spring with walls and all
The Nature Library has, since it began in 2019, been an unfixed thing popping up in public spaces across Scotland (and once in England). And since its beginning, when asked about the future of the project I’ve always said something along the lines of ‘It’d be nice to have a permanent space someday’.
Well! With great excitement and still a little disbelief, I can tell you that The Nature Library will be opening a physical premises in Irvine, Ayrshire, taking up residence in an old shipyard worker’s flat down at the harbour and in association with the Scottish Maritime Museum. It will open to the public in May.
There are more details to come, like opening hours and what to expect beyond books (and what to expect from explicitly books), plus connections with the wonderful folk at the Maritime Museum who have been so generous with their support in making this happen following one hopeful phone call in 2022, one unintentionally well timed email one year later, and one consequently serendipitous meeting one week after that.
By embracing the format of a roving library up until this point—a blend of choice and necessity—I’ve been introduced to people and places I would never have crossed paths with otherwise, and it’s no exaggeration to say that The Nature Library has changed my life in more ways than I can count or articulate. For this reason among others, the library will continue its pop ups (and there are some exciting locations to announce soon on that front). But this fixed space will offer, I hope, some stability for both the collection and its visitors. It means the introduction of a lending system! It means that whenever you visit, there’ll be a librarian there to help you. It means one more library in the neighbourhood and I really can’t wait to welcome you into it.
More details are coming, and in the meantime you can find some information on the location and building below. If you have questions about, or suggestions for, it please get in touch by leaving a comment or contacting thenaturelib@gmail.com, and follow on Instagram @thenaturelib to see an empty flat turned into a library.
Thank you, see you in May!
— Christina
“I take great pleasure in gathering plants, filling my basket with roots and leaves. Usually I go with a specific plant in mind, when it’s time for elderberries or the bergamot is heavy with oils. But it’s the wandering itself that has such appeal, the unexpected discoveries while looking for something else. I get the same feeling in the library. It’s so very much like picking berries—the peaceful field of books, the concentrated attention of the search, and the knowledge that hidden somewhere in the thicket is something worth finding.
Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass
A bit about the space
The street was originally called the Lang Calsay (calsay in Scots being a stretch of paved street, a causeway), laid in 1677 to link the town to its new harbour, which also led it to be named the Halfway, the "way to the sea" (Scots 'haaf' = the open sea). It was renamed in 1882 after James Montgomery, a poet, journalist and social reformer, twice imprisoned for crimes of sedition. While imprisoned he wrote a collection named Prison Amusements which includes the poem, inspired by the view from his small window, Soliloquy of a Water-Wagtail on the Walls of York Castle.
Today the road leads you from the town’s train station straight to the beach, passing a number of cafes, restaurants and arts hubs — the Harbour Arts Centre and Wasps Studios — on one side and opening out to the Bogside Flats SSSI on the other, as well as the Garnock estuary at Ardeer where environmental groups are calling on NatureScot for urgent legal protection from proposed developments. On a personal note, this is the town I grew up in and this particular area at the harbour is very close to my heart, from days at the beach park to chippies at gran’s house to a myriad of Magnum experiences (RIP).
The building was built in 1907 by William Breckenridge to provide accommodation primarily for workers in his sawmills, previous residents of this particular flat (122B) include a timekeeper, a butcher, a baker, a seaman, a miner, another butcher and an engineer. Situated on the ground floor, it’s comprised of three rooms off a central hallway with a restroom and tea room (by which I mean a cupboard containing a sink and kettle and eventually, biscuits).
“Books are lovely. I love books. And libraries are among my favourite places on Earth, especially the tiny hand-built take-one-leave-ones like book birdhouses popping up in the last five or ten years. That’s a delight. And the libraries in small towns that only open two and a half days a week, and odd hours at that, where the knotty pine boards creak and the book-stuffed shelves of the old house wobble as you pass through.”
Ross Gay, The Book of Delights
Sounds great!
How fantastic - I'm totally delighted for this new era of The Nature Library and cannot wait to see what gifts it brings to the lives of its host community (and many others!).