Sabhal Mòr Ostaig Library is a specialized library which focuses on Scottish Gaelic language, culture and heritage.
Lending Collection
The Lending Collection supports the curriculum, covering subjects taught on College courses including Gaelic language and literature, language policy and planning, Highland history, material culture, folklore and traditional music. Resources are available in a variety of formats including print, CDs, DVDs, audio and video casettes. Materials are stocked in Gaelic, English and other Celtic languages
Special Collections
The Library at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig houses two outstanding collections of antiquarian books: the Celtica Collection and the MacCormick Collection, which were acquired with awards from the Heritage Lottery Fund. They cover Gaelic, Celtic Studies and Highland social history and date from the 17th Century. They include rare and unique items, some of which are previously unrecorded. The historical significance of the material, its rarity and the quality of the books, make it an important part of the nation's documentary record. The Collections are a valuable resource for researchers nationally and internationally.
The Celtica Collection: amounting to over 1,500 items, represents the scholarly and discriminating long term acquisition of Celtic Studies material by a 19th Century gentleman scholar, Sir Robert Gordon of Letterfourie (1824-1908). On his death, the Collection was bequeathed to Fort Augustus Abbey, Inverness-shire and remained there until the Abbey Library was auctioned in 1999.
The MacCormick Collection: the life's work of the pre-eminent Gaelic bookseller and collector, Donald MacCormick (North Uist / Edinburgh), is one of the finest collections of early printed Gaelic materials in existence. The Collection totals in excess of 1 800 volumes. It contains material from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries and covers an impressive range of subject matter including, poetry, religion, travelers’ accounts, destitution, crofting, emigration, St Kilda, and many other topics relating to Highland social history.
Journals
The Library's journal holdings can be viewed here A - E, F - M, N - R, S, T - Z.
Links to content information on publishers’ websites or elsewhere, have been provided where possible.
Mac-Talla
Mac-Talla ("Echo") was the name of a Canadian Gaelic newspaper/magazine published weekly - latterly bi-weekly - in Sydney, Nova Scotia, between May 28, 1892, and June 24, 1904, around 540 issues in all. A digitised version is available here.
Record Collection
The Library holds a sizeable collection of historic 78-rpm recordings of Gaelic singers and musicians gifted from the archives of the BBC in Glasgow.
Archive
The library has a collection of archival material concerning the Gaelic language and the Scottish Gaidhealtachd which comprises manuscripts and papers donated by individuals and organisations.
