About the library
The full library catalogue is available online for viewing by clicking the link at the bottom of this page.
The library is reference only, housed in our office in Leeds just ten minutes walk from Headingley station. It can be visited on certain days during the week, please arrange with the office before you come. TCV run a lovely organic (mostly) and wholefood cafe on site to refresh you as you read (open Tuesday - Friday).
The library holds over 700 books. These range from all the standard permaculture texts to rare and antique volumes, plus a number of key reference works on ecology, landscape, geology etc. that would be beyond the purse of most permies. We also have extensive holdings of magazines and some journals.
Launching the new library
The Permaculture Association already had an extensive library and in 2013 received a £3k donation to expand it holdings. However, the usefulness of the library was limited by two factors; space and staff time. A volunteer Librarian, Nicola Graham, completely reorganised the paper-based library, ordered hundreds of new books, tidied and filled all the shelving, and made the library accessible to members and others.
As a result of Nicola's amazing work we were able to launch the National Permaculture Library at the 2014 Convergence!
Donating to the library
If you have any permaculture-related books you no longer read we're very happy to accept them as a donation. Topics could include:
- climate
- systems
- economics
- wildlife
- house plants
- crafts
- agriculture
- recipe books etc.
Complete collections may also be of interest for the library.
In early 2015 we received a substantial donation of books from the personal collection of the late Mr E.W.Garnett including titles from the 1940s - 1970s on farming, agriculture, wild fowl, seed storing, plant growing, local history, town crafts, climate and land use in Britain. Other recent donors include Sarah Bettany (horticulture) and David Davies (complete set of Resurgence magazine since 1979!). We are very grateful for all these donations.
We offer the library as a free resource, but welcome donations to support this and future research projects.