How to join

You need to join the Library and obtain a library card for admission to our reading rooms in Edinburgh. You do not need a card to visit us at Kelvin Hall in Glasgow.

You can also join to obtain remote access to the Library's eResources if you have a residential address in Scotland.

To join, fill in the online form from your computer at home or work, or you can use one of ours in Readers' Registration in the George IV Bridge Building or at Kelvin Hall.

Go to the Join the National Library of Scotland start page.

Choose the registration category that applies to you and follow the prompts to fill in the form. Make sure to go right through to the third page of the form to submit it.

Once you've submitted the form, your online registration is complete.

To get a library card, take the appropriate evidence of identity to staff on duty at Readers' Registration. They will check it, take your photograph and issue the card.

You will get an automatically generated email after submitting the online form.

When you receive this email, click on the link to verify your email address. You will then be able to create a password and, once you have done this, you can log in on the Join the Library page. Use the 'Log in' option there.

To access the full range of Library eResources, your address must be in Scotland.

If the postcode you provided when you joined could not be verified as a Scottish postcode, you will receive a temporary login for access to the eResources. This temporary login expires 21 days after submitting the online form.

To continue to use the eResources, you must activate your membership using an activation code which we will send to you by post. If you visit the Library within the 21 days we can verify your address at Reader's Registration, and you will not receive anything in the post from us.

If you only want to save film lists on the Moving Image Archive catalogue or speed up the check-out for digital orders, you can use our quick online registration.

Please note: This will not give you access to the eResources, the preordering service or the reading rooms — for access to these, you must use the Join the National Library of Scotland form.

If you follow this guide but still have difficulty with the registration process, email us at enquiries@nls.uk and we will do our best to help you.