The Old Library | Self empowered by S T E A M for 150 years

Built 1874 by Mrs Gamble of Ashburn in memory of her husband, the Rev. Henry Gamble, the Old Library forms a detached part of the Gamble Halls complex and was built to ”..contain many of the elements of teaching and elevating power.."

The late acclaimed sci-fi author Iain Banks, who lived in Gourock for nine years in his youth. Whilst visiting Gourock to open the new library in 2010, he told packed audience that borrowing science fiction books from the town’s old King Street library had been a ‘huge influence’ on his career.

“I was inspired by lots of different types of books, and wanted to emulate those. I think particularly because I’ve always had an arguably over-active imagination, science fiction offered the widest field to operate inside, so I was always going to be attracted to it.” - Iain Banks, Structo Magazine Interview