Dunfermline Carnegie Library & Galleries

Dunfermline Carnegie Library & Galleries Dunfermline's Library, Museum and Art Galleries. Twitter Instagram dclandg

Part of Fife Cultural Trust - Scottish Charity Number: SC043442
(526)

Set within the Heritage Quarter of Scotland's ancient capital, this award-winning visitor attraction includes the world's first Carnegie Library, museum and exhibition galleries . We also have an attractive garden, local history area, specialist collection spaces, attractive gift-shop and amazing venue hire opportunities!

And just like that, it's over! Our amazing exhibition, Joseph Noel Paton: an Artist's Life, has come to a close. We'd li...
10/02/2025

And just like that, it's over!

Our amazing exhibition, Joseph Noel Paton: an Artist's Life, has come to a close. We'd like to thank all the visitors who attended (and that was nearly 18,000 of you), the galleries and museums who allowed us to borrow paintings, the Paton family for letting us display so many unseen works from the family's own private collection and last, but by no means least, Curator Lesley Lettice who pulled it all together. We should also mention, Cat Berry, Noel Paton's great, great grand daughter whose enthusiasm for the whole project was contagious throughout.

And just like that, it's over!
Our amazing exhibition, Joseph Noel Paton: an Artist's Life, has come to a close. We'd like to thank all the visitors who attended (and that was nearly 18,000 of you), the galleries and museums who allowed us to borrow paintings, the Paton family for letting us display so many unseen works from the family's own private collection and last, but by no means least, Curator Lesley Lettice who pulled it all together. We should also mention, Cat Berry, Noel Paton's great, great grand daughter whose enthusiasm for the project was contagious throughout.

If you still need your Paton fix, you can make an appointment at our Collections Centre at Bankhead to view works by Paton held in Fife's art collection. There's also an array of publications illustrated by Paton available to view in the Reading Room here at DCLG.

What's on this week at DCLG : 10th - 16th FebruaryBookbug📆 Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday⏰ 10.30am-11am🎟️ free, boo...
09/02/2025

What's on this week at DCLG : 10th - 16th February
Bookbug
📆 Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday
⏰ 10.30am-11am
🎟️ free, book from 6 days in advance
📆 Tuesday
⏰ 4-4:45pm
🎟️ free, booking required
Social Sewing Group
📆 Thursday
⏰ 10:30am-12pm
🎟️ free, booking required
Sunday Crafts - (5+)
📆 Sunday
⏰ 2-3:30pm
🎟️ free, drop-in
Plus:
🖼️ The Cloud Community is open in the Community Gallery




Congratulations to  competition winners, James and Lesley who visited us this week. They enjoyed a private tour of our J...
07/02/2025

Congratulations to competition winners, James and Lesley who visited us this week. They enjoyed a private tour of our Joseph Noel Paton Exhibition, lunch in and a bag of Paton-themed goodies after scooping top prize in an ArtMag competition. They're pictured here with Lesley's favourite work, The Lullaby. Well done!

Joseph Noel Paton: an Artist's Life runs until Sunday 9 February. Entrance is free.

Although this image was taken c1928, we reckon quite a few of you will remember when the Reference Library in Dunfermlin...
06/02/2025

Although this image was taken c1928, we reckon quite a few of you will remember when the Reference Library in Dunfermline Carnegie Library looked a lot like this. We've still got that old card catalogue in our archives.

These days study space, local history materials and reference works can be found in the more modern setting of the Reading Room. And that brings us to some good news! From this weekend, the Reading Room will open every Sunday, 12-4, which means you can now study with us 7 days a week😊

This wee goblin from Joseph Noël Paton’s drawings from the Tempest by  William Shakespeare  is causing mischief in our  ...
06/02/2025

This wee goblin from Joseph Noël Paton’s drawings from the Tempest by William Shakespeare is causing mischief in our . Find it on tote bags, magnets, and coasters. ✨
Want to see more of Paton’s magical world? Visit our museum galleries before the exhibition closes on Sunday, 9th February. Entry is free—don’t miss out!

What better way to compliment our current exhibition, Joseph Noel Paton, an Artist's Life, than with the beautiful and e...
05/02/2025

What better way to compliment our current exhibition, Joseph Noel Paton, an Artist's Life, than with the beautiful and enchanting sound of a harp. Join us tomorrow, Thursday 6th February, at 11am where harpists and storytellers, Hannah Yule and Beverley Bryant, will fill the galleries with tales of history, myth and enchantment. Entrance to the exhibition and the event is free. Don't miss out.

We're now down to the final week of our amazing Paton Exhibition. Aside from the paintings, visitors have been fascinate...
03/02/2025

We're now down to the final week of our amazing Paton Exhibition. Aside from the paintings, visitors have been fascinated to learn more about Paton's designs for some of the stained-glass windows in the Abbey Church of Dunfermline. One window depicts The Last Supper and the Resurrection and was commissioned in memory of local businessmen, William and John McLaren. We have nine of the twelve cartoons (drawings) in our collections and five of these have been conserved and framed and are on show for the first time.

Joseph Noel Paton:An Artist's Life runs until 9 February. Entrance is free

What's on this week at DCLG : 3rd - 9th FebruaryBookbug📆 Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday⏰ 10.30am-11am🎟️ free, book ...
02/02/2025

What's on this week at DCLG : 3rd - 9th February
Bookbug
📆 Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday
⏰ 10.30am-11am
🎟️ free, book from 6 days in advance
Gaelic Adult Conversation Group
📆 Monday - then fortnightly
⏰ 10am-11am
🎟️ free, drop-in
Gaelic Adult Learning Group
📆 Monday - then fortnightly
⏰ 1-2:30pm
🎟️ free, booking required
Gaelic & Scots Bookbug session
📆 Monday - then fortnightly
⏰3:30-4pm
🎟️ free, booking required
Bookdragons Reading Group (P4-P7)
Tuesday
Knit and Natter
10:30am-12pm
📆 Tuesday
⏰ 4-4:45pm
🎟️ free, booking required
Monthly Reading Group (Adult)
📆 Wednesday
⏰ 11:30am -1pm
🎟️ free, booking required
Social Sewing Group
📆 Thursday
⏰ 10:30am-12pm
🎟️ free, booking required
Write with Paton
📆 Thursday
⏰ 11am-12pm
🎟️ free, booking required
Creative Writing Workshop
📆 Saturday
⏰ 11am-12:30pm
🎟️ free, booking required
Sunday Crafts - (5+)
📆 Sunday
⏰ 2-3:30pm
🎟️ free, drop-in
Plus:
🖼️ Joseph Noel Paton: An Artist's Life is open in Galleries 1&2 - finishes on Sunday 9th February
🖼️ The Cloud Community is open in the Community Gallery




If you're looking for some relaxed plans with the family this weekend, we've got you covered. Enjoy a peaceful stroll th...
01/02/2025

If you're looking for some relaxed plans with the family this weekend, we've got you covered. Enjoy a peaceful stroll through our garden, let the little one(s) have fun in the maze, browse our library for a good read, visit our galleries for beautiful artwork from local artists.

Have you visited The Cloud Collection exhibition yet ? Local artist Jane McCurley Howie works in mixed media using gel p...
31/01/2025

Have you visited The Cloud Collection exhibition yet ? Local artist Jane McCurley Howie works in mixed media using gel pens to create a vibrant metallic look, creating abstract shapes and patterns. Jane's daughter, Tina, works with us; so we couldn't resist asking her to show us her favourite pieces. The exhibition is located in our Community Gallery and runs until the 25th of February - entrance is free.

Dunfermline High Street,  c. 1930. Woolworths opened at its original location here in 1922. Further down the street you ...
30/01/2025

Dunfermline High Street, c. 1930. Woolworths opened at its original location here in 1922. Further down the street you can also see Tyler's Shoe Shop on the same side and across the road is the awning for Lipton's Grocer.

Happy Lunar New Year! This pastel is Lady of the Moon by Edward Robert Hughes (1851 - 1914). It shows a dream-like visio...
29/01/2025

Happy Lunar New Year!

This pastel is Lady of the Moon by Edward Robert Hughes (1851 - 1914). It shows a dream-like vision of the moon personified as a sleeping - or, at least, very relaxed - woman. Hughes was an English painter who specialised in subjects inspired by mythology and literature, which frequently featured beautiful women personifying ideas - such as seasons - or inanimate objects.

This art work is part of OnFife's fine art collection, and is housed at our Collections Store at Bankhead, Glenrothes.

[Image description: This image shows a view of a blue and white moon in a blue night sky spotted with stars. A woman is shown reclining across the surface of the moon, seated in three quarter profile facing to the left. She has her eyes closed and her head tipped back, and wears a long white dress. Sandy coloured clouds drifts across the surface of the artwork, partially obscuring the scene.]

Journey to   with these picks from our Japanese literature. And it's not just fiction - there's a whole selection of tit...
28/01/2025

Journey to with these picks from our Japanese literature. And it's not just fiction - there's a whole selection of titles covering Japanese travel, hobbies, cookery and wellbeing.

Here's a question for our eagle-eyed visitors. Have any of you spotted an object very similar to one of our museum exhib...
27/01/2025

Here's a question for our eagle-eyed visitors. Have any of you spotted an object very similar to one of our museum exhibits featured in a painting in the Paton Exhibition?

Take a close look at the reproduction of John Ballantyne's 'Sir Joseph Noel Paton in his Studio' (1867) and you'll see a chair very like this Royal Chair from Dunfermline Palace. The oak chair, dated around 1700, is decorated with crowns, spirals and scrolls and was given to the people of Dunfermline by Noel's sister, Amelia Paton Hill. It came from the family's vast antiquarian collection and is on permanent display in our museum. You'll also notice a painting on the easel in Ballantyne's painting - it is Paton's masterpiece, The Fairy Raid, currently on loan to us from Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Musuem.

Copyright National Galleries of Scotland

painting

Remember, just two weeks to go until we close the doors on Joseph Noel Paton: An Artist's Life. Over the last week the e...
26/01/2025

Remember, just two weeks to go until we close the doors on Joseph Noel Paton: An Artist's Life. Over the last week the exhibition has been exceptionally busy, so remember to get that visit planned before it's too late.

One of the focal points of the exhibition is a work from Fife's own art collection, Satan Watching the Sleep of Christ. Noel used two of his sons as models in the painting. Diarmid - who was tall, thin and bearded - modelled for Christ, while Freddy - who had a sturdy, athletic physique, sat for the figure of Satan.

Noel recorded in his journal that his dealer, James Paton, was reluctant to close the exhibition of Satan at his gallery in Edinburgh because it was attracting so many visitors. We're beginning to feel the same.


What's on this week at DCLG : 27th January - 2nd FebruaryBookbug📆 Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday⏰ 10.30am-11am🎟️ fr...
26/01/2025

What's on this week at DCLG : 27th January - 2nd February
Bookbug
📆 Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday
⏰ 10.30am-11am
🎟️ free, book from 6 days in advance
Social Sewing Group
📆 Thursday
⏰ 10.30am-12:30pm
🎟️ free, booking required
Monthly Reading Group
📆 Thursday
⏰ 1:30-3pm
🎟️ free, booking required
Carnegie lecture : The Pinkerton detectives and the Homestead Steelworkers Dispute
📆 Thursday
⏰ 6:30-8pm
🎟️ £5, booking required - SOLD OUT
Sunday Crafts (5+) - peacocks
📆 Sunday
⏰ 2-3:30pm
🎟️ free, drop-in
Plus:
🖼️ Joseph Noel Paton: An Artist's Life is open in Galleries 1&2
🖼️ The Cloud Community is open in the Community Gallery





Today's Concert and crafts was a real success. Thank you Andrew Gordon for a fab songs and music session, the children h...
25/01/2025

Today's Concert and crafts was a real success. Thank you Andrew Gordon for a fab songs and music session, the children had so much fun. And thank you to the children who joined us right after for a craft session making their own tartan kilt and Nessie.

Just a reminder to all our communities - if you are in areas with ongoing powercuts, then our venues can offer a warm sp...
25/01/2025

Just a reminder to all our communities - if you are in areas with ongoing powercuts, then our venues can offer a warm space and a bit of refuge. Check out where we are open here: https://www.onfife.com/

Address

1-7 Abbot Street
Dunfermline
KY127NL

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 5pm
Tuesday 10am - 5pm
Wednesday 10am - 5pm
Thursday 10am - 6pm
Friday 10am - 5pm
Saturday 10am - 4pm
Sunday 12pm - 4pm

Telephone

+441383602365

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