Mitchell Library

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See Mitchell Library (Australia) for that section of the State Library of New South Wales.

The main building of the Mitchell Library

The Mitchell Library is a large public library and centre of the public library system of Glasgow, Scotland. It was established with a bequest from Stephen Mitchell, a wealthy tobacco manufacturer, whose company, Stephen Mitchell and Son, would become one of the constituent members of the Imperial Tobacco Company. It contains the largest public reference library in Europe, with 1,213,000 volumes. While composed mainly of reference material it also has a substantial lending facility which began in 2005. The original North Street building with its distinctive copper dome surmounted by the figure of Minerva opened in 1911. The architectural competition for the library's design took place in 1906 and was won by William. B. Whitie.

The vast majority of the library's collection however, is housed in the Extension Building, which was completed in 1982. Located to the west of the original building, it also incorporates the Mitchell Theatre. It is currently undergoing a major internal refurbishment.

Containing five floors, access is free to both members and non-members. Non-members can, upon request, use PCs and the Internet as well as printed reference materials.

The Mitchell Library also holds the Glasgow City Archives and collections which are considered to be one of the world’s best resources for reseraching family history.^[1]