Interesting exhibits and lovely shop and café
5
5
Date of visit: June 2026
I am a disabled person. I have experience of challenges around: accessing toilets and moving around.
I use or have experience of: disabled toilet, wheelchair
Overall Rating
Excellent
As a big book and library fan, I had to visit the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh when I found myself in the area. It’s a huge building and it’s said to have over 24 million items in its collection in various formats. The archives themselves aren’t open to the public but there are regular exhibits on, a café, a gift shop and a reading room where you can sit and work. There are two platform lifts that were available to bring me from the entrance to the level above where all this was located. The staff helped with the lift and then also directed me to the exhibits and even showed me some of the items in the archives via pictures on an iPad. The exhibits I saw when I visited were called Treasures and Paperback Revolutions and I found them both really interesting. It was a really lovely space and I would visit again.
Disabled Access In and Around
Excellent
The main entrance is on George IV Bridge and has automatic sliding doors and straight ahead there is a large flight of stairs. On either side of this staircase there was a platform lift available. When I entered the building, there was a member of staff at the top of the stairs who spotted me and came and assisted me with the platform lift. Once I’d reached the level above, the same member of staff showed me around the space, highlighting the gift shop, café, and two exhibition spaces. They also showed me some images of items in the archives below us which was really interesting. The two exhibits were well spaced and in rooms with quite low-level lighting. There were video items in the Treasures exhibit but the sound for them was via headsets that also had hearing loops, the videos also had captions. It meant that both exhibits were also quite quiet with only a bit of noise from others around the space. There was seating available in both of the exhibits and also some directly outside their entrances. The items were all clearly labelled and placed at a good height. There was a video exhibit that was placed on an angled desk and had space beneath it for me to roll and have my knees beneath it so that I could interact with the screen better. The gift shop was fairly small and provided a range of options. All the shelving spaces were lit with bright lights so everything was very well-lit and easy to see. The café seating was just next to the gift shop. There were different types of seating available, some armchairs with lower tables, others with more upright seats and higher tables, and some bar height chairs and tables. All the seats were able to be moved. In between the gift shop and seating area there was an information desk which had a lowered counter. The café was just opposite the seating area and had a range of items available, most in glass cabinets. Some of it was a bit high. There were toilets just behind the café area, including an accessible toilet which was spacious and also had baby change facilities. There was also a cloakroom available just opposite the toilets.
Accessible facilities: Lift to all areas, Step-free entrance, Seating at regular intervals, Step-free access to most areas
Parking & Transport
Average
I travelled to this place by walk or wheel
The library doesn't have their own parking, the only parking in the area is on-street parking or public car parks. Right outside the building, on either side of the road are some bus stops. From these stops you can get the buses, 9, 23, and 27. Edinburgh Waverley train station is around 600 metres away from the library, depending on the route you take.
Accessible Toilets
Good
The accessible toilet was a long room which provided a lot of space inside it. The door was very light and opened inwards. It had a standard door handle with a twist lock on the inside. Also on the inside of the door was a coat hook that was low enough for me to use in my wheelchair, and another at a higher height. The toilet was at the back of the room and had a height-adjustable grab rail on one side and a fixed one against the wall on the other side below the toilet paper dispenser. The transfer area had bins in it which was obstructing it quite a lot. With the space clear, it would provide space for a left-side transfer. The flush was a lever with a rounded end and it was mounted on the cistern. It was placed on the same side as the transfer area so you did not have to reach across the toilet to use it. Behind the toilet was a large windowsill that could be used as a shelf and on the left of the toilet was also a colostomy shelf but it was very high up. In front of the toilet was a small sink with a single tap in the centre. The tap was manually operated and had a lever handle which seemed like it could be operated with a fist or elbow. The tap twisted to control the temperature of the water and lifted to control the flow. On either side of the sink there was a vertical grab rail and in between there was a manual soap dispenser. To the right of the sink was a baby change table, this had been mounted at a height that would mean it could be used by someone in a wheelchair which I don’t see very often. Opposite the baby change table was an automatic hand dryer. Opposite the sink was a long mirror mounted on the wall. A red emergency cord hung freely to the floor in between the toilet and sink and it already had a Euan’s Guide Red Cord Card on it.
Facilities: Accessible toilet
Staff
Excellent
The staff were incredibly helpful, immediately coming to assist me as soon as I entered the building. They checked if I required any assistance and when I said it was my first visit and I wanted to see what they had, they pointed out all the key areas to me. There was always a member of staff at or around the information desk.
