The Philosophy Society maintains a small library, known as the Cross-Coursier Library, housed at 40 George Square in room 9.10. It is open on weekdays 9.00-17.00, however the room is keycard-protected; all students enrolled at the University of Edinburgh can access the room with a valid Student/Staff ID.
The library is intended for anyone and everyone, society members and non-members alike. This means that anyone can borrow books from the library, we do then ask that you write in our borrowing book what you have taken out. There is no set loan period, but please don’t steal from us.
The library is intended for recreational reading and general browsing. As such, our aim is for this library to contain more introductory works to the field of philosophy and its various sub-fields. We also aim for it to house books from local philosophers and those who have had an affiliation with Edinburgh. We do of course house most major works of philosophy as well as more specific works.
Additionally, the library has old copies of many well-known journals (Mind, for instance) stretching back to the early 1900s. We ask that you do not remove these from the building without permission from the librarian. They are rather old and rare.
The Library itself was named after Mim Cross and Charlotte Coursier, both former students who sadly died young. Mim was the first donor of books to the Library in its current guise, while Charlotte published work in the Society’s Philosophical Journal. It includes a large inheritance from the former Haldane (later PPLS) Library, and a generous donation from the personal collection of Ronald Hepburn (1927-2008), who worked predominantly at Edinburgh University and the University of Aberdeen.
If you want to find a specific book, you can search our online database here, or via the QR code below. If you have any other queries, do feel free to email or contact the librarian in some other way with any queries and we will see if we can help.
The library is not a designated silent zone. The room it is housed in is also intended as a social space for students, faculty, and lost raccoons alike. That being said, do please be mindful of others who are attempting to work. It’s the right thing to do. (For more information on the right thing to do please see the Ethics and Moral philosophy section.)
We are always open to donations from the library so if you wish to donate anything please contact the librarian. We are currently especially interested in obtaining books by Edinburgh-based philosophers and books dealing with the topics of Feminism, Gender, and Race.
Please do come and visit, we promise the books don’t usually bite.
Current Librarian: Isabelle Woodcock
Contact: library.euphilsoc@gmail.com
