Gibraltar Garrison Library

The Garrison Library was founded in 1793 by an officer who thought the garrison needed something to do besides drink, and it survives in its original building on Governor's Parade with the collection largely intact: eighteenth and nineteenth century books, newspapers, maps and the archive of Gibraltar's own press, which operated from here. The reading room is much as it was. The founder, Captain John Drinkwater, had written a history of the Great Siege and thought the officers needed something more than the mess to occupy them. The building was purpose-built for it and has served no other use since.

What you actually see

• The 1793 foundation - a library set up for the garrison's officers.
• The original collection - eighteenth and nineteenth century books and maps.
• The reading room - the interior largely unchanged.
• The press archive - the record of Gibraltar's own newspapers.

When to go

Year round; the library keeps set hours on weekdays. Access to the collection needs arranging. It closes at weekends.

Honest expectations

It is a working library and access to the collection is by arrangement rather than walk-in. Opening is weekdays only. The public part is small.

Nearby

Main Street is nearby, and the Botanic Gardens are south.