Community Curators Project

An old picture of Maybole High Street with horse and cart and people crossing the road.

Look Who’s Coming to the Fair

History on Your Doorstep: History and Family History Fair Saturday 15 June, 9am – 4pm There’s only a week to go until our History on Your Doorstep event at Ayr’s Carnegie Library. Not only do we have a fantastic line up of speakers, but we also have a variety of stalls that include Family History Societies […]

History on your Doorstep 2019

Save the Date. New Event! New Location! History on your Doorstep 2019 History & Family History Fair Come along to what promises to be an exciting new event. Our long-standing History Fair has moved to your Doorstep! Saturday 15th June 2019, Carnegie Library, Ayr We have a new location and new additions. During the day we […]

Roll up, roll up for South Ayrshire’s annual History and Family History Fair

Saturday 2 June, 9.30am – 4.30pm Looking for something different to do on the weekend? Join us at South Ayrshire’s History and Family History Fair at the Walker Halls in Troon. Whether you’re interested in exploring your family roots or wanting to take a more specialised look at a particular topic, the History Fair – and the […]

Delve deep at Carnegie Library and unearth Ayr’s hidden past

Tuesday 26 September – Tuesday 31 October 2017 A special exhibition in Ayr Carnegie Library’s non-fiction lending area showcasing the original source material which has informed the professional archaeologists, as they prepare to dig deeper, and investigate what lies at the heart of Auld Toun. The Riverside Block on Ayr’s High Street occupies part of the earliest […]

An ABBA night with a difference!

Staff at the Scottish and Local History Library, Carnegie Library, Ayr welcomed Ayrshire Bed & Breakfast Association members (and some of their guests!) on a special tour through their local and family history resources – maps, newspapers, printed books and photos, to mention a few. Designed to inform B&B owners on the sources we hold, […]

History Fair April Update

If you are on our mailing list you should shortly be receiving our booking leaflet, if you are not on the list you can either request to be added by emailing us at localhistory@south-ayrshire.gov.uk or downloading the form online to book your talk or stall. Stalls confirmed so far Scottish Monumental Inscriptions Carn Publishing Renfrewshire Family History Society Friends […]

Speakers announced for History Fair 2013

Arrangements for our 2013 South Ayrshire History & Family History Fair on Saturday 1st June are well underway with three of the four speakers already booked. They are: Professor Dauvit Brown of the University of Glasgow, whose talk will feature new information about William Wallace, and a previously unknown letter of Robert the Bruce which […]

The history of Carnegie Library, Ayr

The burgh of Ayr has had a library for many years. The Ayr Library Society was founded in 1762, but it took until 1870 before Ayr ‘s first Public Library was established, inheriting the book stock of other local libraries to its collection. Like its predecessors, the Public Library was privately organised, and financed by subscription: […]

Newspaper archives get a good dusting

The staff from the Carnegie Library’s Local History Department have been very busy cleaning and preserving the newspaper archive which is extensive to say the least. This is an ongoing project which will take quite a few months if not well into next year to complete. The papers have to be cleaned and then boxed up and labelled in […]