About Library Archive

The reference library at the National Mining Museum Scotland houses books, journals, trade catalogues and periodicals covering the history of the coal mining industry and is the largest collection of such material relating to the coal industry in Scotland.

The Museum has a large and varied archive, which includes from the records of the Lothian Coal Company, minute books and papers of the National Union of Mineworkers, and a collection of over 30000 largely National Coal Board plans and engineering drawings.

We cater for many different kinds of researchers – school children, university students, academics, as well as family history researchers trying to discover a little more about a particular colliery where, for example, their father worked.

The Museum does not hold employment records for miners. Employment records for the National Coal Board (NCB) are currently held at:

"Iron Mountain"
Rumer Hill Industrial Estate,
Rumer Hill Road,
Cannock,
WS11 8EX

Phone: 01543 574 666

The library and archive is open to researchers, by appointment. Access to the archive collection is by arrangement with the curatorial staff.