Mansfield Central Library

MCL

Welcome to Mansfield Central Library, situated at the heart of Mansfield town centre.

We have something for everybody here.  We offer much more than just books, although we do have a very wide collection of those, with over 54,000 books on our shelves!

Across our spacious library floor we have 20 public PCs, with printing, photocopying and scanning facilities also available. We have free WiFi for library members and plenty of study areas and spaces for you to spread out and feel at home!

For the aspiring historians we have an extensive Local History section, complete with access to old local newspapers, OS maps, and parish records. And we regularly host events based on the heritage of the local area and workshops on how to explore your family history using Ancestry, including volunteer-led family history support on a semi-regular basis. Please contact the library team for details via Ask Inspire.

Mansfield Central Library is home to one of only four BIPC local hubs in Nottinghamshire, with access to business databases, as well as the opportunity for a one-to-one chat with a BIPC advisor about starting your own business.

Are you new to the area, or maybe just looking to meet new people? We hold a weekly Places of Welcome session every Wednesday from 10:30am-12pm. Run by a volunteer, you’ll get a free cuppa and a biscuit as well as a lovely chat! We host four monthly Reading Groups, which are a great way to socialise and chat about books. And our Dementia Friendly Film Screenings are a great afternoon out. For just £1 per ticket you can join us in our relaxed auditorium space to watch a family friendly film, with a cuppa and a biscuit at the interval.

We also offer plenty of free activities to keep the little ones entertained, with three Rattle, Rhyme and Roll sessions every week: Tuesdays and Thursdays for under 5s, and Wednesdays for under 1s, those run 10am-10.30am and require no advance booking. For older children, we also run a free drop-in children’s craft event on the 2nd Saturday of the month 11am-1pm.

There is much more that we do including family theatre performances, gallery exhibitions and a variety of courses run by Inspire Learn. To keep up-to-date with what’s happening make sure you are following us on Facebook @InspireMansfieldLibrary.

We look forward to seeing you here!

Important notices

Mrs B's Café

The Café in Mansfield Central Library is now closed. Self-service machines will be installed in the new year as an interim measure. Read our news article for more information.

Library Catalogue Planned Maintenance - Wednesday 15 January

The library catalogue will be unavailable from 8pm on Wednesday 15 January until the morning of Thursday 16 January due to planned essential maintenance by the service provider. 

Thank you in advance for your patience.

Library Closures due to staff training - January 2025

The following libraries will be closed on the following dates, in order to enable staff to attend training.

Any books due back on these dates at the below libraries will be automatically renewed for an extra week.

Friday 24 January:

Carlton-in-Lindrick
Carlton Hill
Edgewood
Edwinstowe
Warsop
Woodthorpe (afternoon 2-5 only)

Friday 31 January:

Bilsthorpe
Dukeries
Carlton Hill
Ollerton

We apologise for any inconvenience caused by the closures.

Christmas Closure 2024-2025:

All Nottinghamshire libraries and archives will close for the Christmas period on Monday 23 December 2024, and reopen on Thursday 2 January 2025. With the exception of Dukeries Library, which will be closing on Friday 20th December 2024 at 1:30pm and re-open Monday 6th January 2025 8:30am.

Ask Inspire will close at 6pm on Monday 23 December and reopen at 9am on Thursday 2 January. 

Education Library Service will close at 5pm on Monday 23 December and reopen at 8:30am on Thursday 2 January.

We look forward to welcoming you back in the new year.  

Library service and catalogue updates

Our libraries have recently migrated to a new system for managing stock and customer data, including a new online catalogue. Find out more and check for updates as we settle into this new way of working.