Public Engagement and Outreach

The Old Library is open to the public on the first Thursday of the month from 11am to 1pm, and additional opening times are advertised for special exhibitions throughout the year. 

The Old Library’s collections are also explored in our programme of events for the Friends of the Pepys Library.

Visiting The Old Library

As well as enjoying the historic, book-lined rooms, Visitors will see displays of items from the College's special collections and archives, which are not normally seen in public.

The Autumn programme of special one-day exhibitions is as follows:

3 October 2019: TRACES OF ITALY through maps, travel writing and early printed books. This display will reveal some of the plans, accounts and products of Renaissance Italy, from the work of the English cartographer John Speed to volumes on architectural, horticultural and urban design.

7 November 2019: EATING AND DRINKING together as a community has played an important role in the life of Magdalene College through the centuries. This display of archival material and artefacts will examine the history of food and drink in the College.

5 December 2019: INCUNABULA. An exploration of the Old Library’s collection of Incunabula (books printed before 1501) from England and continental Europe, including an early edition of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.

Visiting the Old Library is free and all are welcome.

Volunteers
A book cleaning and condition checking project is currently taking place in the Old Library.  Heritage volunteers from The Arts Society Cambridge have been given specialist training to help complete this task.