The Friends of Edinburgh University Library

Forthcoming Events for 2026/27

The Friends’ final event for the academic year book place on 27 May, but we already have plans in place for 2026/27!

Join us on 7 September 2026 for a joint soiree with the Friends of St Cecilia’s Hall at St Cecilia’s Hall for a lute concert This will celebrate the lute manuscript to which the Friends of Edinburgh University Library contributed £10,000. Eric Thomas will be our soloist and guide and there will be a chance to view the manuscript as we gather.

Our AGM will take place on 18 November 2026 in the Main Library. The formal meeting will start at 15:00 and be followed by a talk on Renaissance science by Dr Richard Oosterhoff. Some of the relevant holdings from the special collections will be on display and there will be refreshments and social chat following the talk.

27 May 2026: The David Laing Book Collecting Prize 2026: Highlights from the Finalists

The David Laing Book Collecting Prize (patron, and Friend, Dr Bill Zachs) aims to encourage collecting by recognising a collection formed by a matriculated Edinburgh student. The prize is offered in honour of David Laing (1793-1878), the distinguished antiquarian, collector and librarian who bequeathed his important collection of manuscripts and other materials to the University of Edinburgh in 1878. The student collections put forward must consist of not less than ten items with a cohesive theme. These may be printed or handwritten books, ephemera or any other written material. The winner is decided based on the interest, originality, thoughtfulness and creativity of the collection and the vision, enthusiasm and persistence of the collector. The prize is supported by the Friends of Edinburgh University Library.

The finalists for this year’s submissions included poetry collections, Monkey King versions, University classics teaching, Penguin Books, and mid-West writing – an eclectic variety! Some finalists have kindly agreed to share their passions with Friends. CRC staff who administer the selection and prize giving will introduce the presentation followed by three of the finalists, including this year’s winner, Dominic Laverick.

26 March 2026: Cinema and Theatre Collecting: A 70-Year Passion
Dr Alan Brown, Collector and Donor

Before the advent of television, one way children amused themselves was by going to ‘the pictures’. The young Dr Alan Brown and his elder brother regularly went to the cinema. They also collected and kept the weekly cinema magazines, Picturegoer and Picture Show, as well as the annuals. Hooked, Alan graduated to the theatre and went frequently. He collected not only the programmes from every performance he attended but also acquired many more.  In time this collection was augmented with autographs, film stills, memorabilia and books relating to cinema and theatre. When he wasn’t collecting, Dr Brown pursued a career in medicine. This collection of a passionate film- and theatre-goer came to the University Library in 2018 when Dr Brown generously donated the entire collection to the University Library. By that time, it was delivered in sixty boxes – comprising some sixty metres of shelving! It is indeed a treasure trove of cinema and theatre collecting. Dr Brown gave us insights into his passion and talk about treasures to be found in the collection.

4 February 2026: Indian Children Return the Colonial Visual Gaze: On University Archives, Scientific Tourism, and Early Travel Photography
Dr Sheelalipi Sahana, Library Fellow, IASH

Between the 1870s and 1930s, thousands of glass slide photographs were taken, collected and commissioned by members of staff at the University of Edinburgh for research and tourism purposes. Of these, the Roslin Glass Slide Collection, acquired and digitised by the Heritage Collections team, holds a large corpus of early travel photography to India, among other former British colonies. Dr Sheelalipi Sahana has been studying these photographs and theorising an alternate mode of detecting resistance to the colonial documentation process by native Indians, which will form the basis of her talk. Through a particular focus on children captured in still photos by Robert Wallace (former Professor of Rural Economy and Agriculture at the University), Sheelalipi presented on forms of technological disobedience employed by children within the frames that resist the ethnographical nature of colonial travel. This decolonial methodology of reading facial expressions, body language and non-verbal modes of communication allows for the possibility of reading the visual material.

Dr Sahana completed her PhD from the University of Edinburgh in 2025, examining the role of architectural spaces in the formation of cultural identity of Indian Muslim women in the 20th century. She has previously worked with Uncover.Ed in spotlighting the contributions made by alumni of colour to the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and the UK at large, and worked on an exhibition for Historic Environments Scotland. She has published in the Journal of Postcolonial Writing and South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies on work arising from her doctoral research into women’s public and private spaces.  She is planning an online exhibition in 2026 to present the larger research project she has been undertaking at the CRC.