About our Library
The Royal Faculty of Procurators has maintained a library since 1817 which has been housed at the Royal Faculty building at 12 Nelson Mandela Place in the centre of Glasgow since 1857.
The library is central to the function of the Royal Faculty of Procurators and provides access, for Members, to a first class collection of resources including legal texts, legislation, case reports, CD-ROMs and online services. Membership of the Royal Faculty therefore provides access to resources out with the budget of a small firm and can represent a significant saving to a larger firm's budget.
Members of the Royal Faculty of Procurators in Glasgow are entitled to use the largest law library in the West of Scotland for research, quiet study, for the loan of textbooks, law reports and journals and as a meeting place for legal practitioners.
The library is maintained by Members' subscriptions and as such is not open to the general public.
There is also a small branch library at the Glasgow Sheriff Court. This is primarily intended as a last minute reference resource for Members who are court practitioners. To this end there are two computers with broadband Internet access, Session Cases, Scots Law Times, SCCRs and SCLRs, Current Law Statutes and Current Law Year Books and a number of core textbooks and loose-leafs.
The Sheriff Court library is open all day when the courts are sitting and entry is by swipe card. Please inform Library staff if you require entry to the Information Suite to enable your swipe card to be activated.
Please contact us if you have any enquiries regarding the resources which the library offers or browse our online catalogue. Find out more about the services which the library offers including research and document delivery.
The Royal Faculty of Procurators was incorporated prior to 1668 as a body which supported and regulated the procurators of the Commissary Court of Glasgow. Find out more about the early history of the legal system in Glasgow and the RFPG's role in it.
The earliest surviving record of the existence of the Faculty of Procurators is the Minute Book from 1668. Look inside the Minute Book and find out what it can tell us about the early business of the Faculty and the courts in Glasgow.
In 1857, the Royal Faculty building officially opened, and it has housed the RFPG's collection of legal texts ever since. The Italianate style building was designed by the Glasgow architect Charles Wilson, who took inspiration from the Venecian Biblioteca Marciana. Take a tour of the library, and find out more about this hidden gem of Glasgow architecture.
![[2] portrait of george baillie.tif](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/77c242_aa98e0528dd24cd0b575f10b08a423eb~mv2.png/v1/crop/x_0,y_363,w_2526,h_2526/fill/w_160,h_160,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_3,enc_auto/%5B2%5D%20portrait%20of%20george%20baillie_tif.png)
Over the course of the nineteenth century, the library continued to grow and expand it membership. Learn about some of the interesting characters who made up the Faculty membership.
In the early twentieth century, William Henry Hill left to the library an extensive collection of materials including historical charters, royal letters, rare books, maps of Glasgow and satirical magazines. Take a closer look at some of the star pieces in the library's collection.
![[9] stained glass window above the main](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/77c242_6f56cd84c5064defbd7f3e7848b06d89~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_160,h_120,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_3,enc_auto/%5B9%5D%20stained%20glass%20window%20above%20the%20main%20.jpg)
As the legal profession moved into the twentieth century, it began to change, and the Faculty changed with it. The Faculty continues to support members today, providing access to library resources and a CPD education programme. Learn more about the Faculty in the 20th century and the services provided by the Royal Faculty.