Langholm Library was founded in 1800 and purchased books with funds from members’ subscriptions and donations.
A substantial donor was Thomas Telford (1757-1834), the first president of the Institution of Civil Engineers, who grew up in the nearby Westerkirk parish and worked in Langholm early in his career. On his death, he left £1,000 each to Westerkirk Parish Library and Langholm Library.
From 1877, Langholm Library was housed in a large, purpose-built building adjoining the Town Hall. It was designed in Jacobean style by local architect James Burnet (1826-1898) and constructed with funds provided in part by woollen mill manufacturer Alexander Reid (1814-1874). When the new building opened, the post office and the businesses of Robert Scott (bookseller/stationer/printer) relocated there.
The library had a garden, which became the new location of a statue of Admiral Sir Pulteney Malcolm (1768-1838), moved from the front of the adjoining Town Hall in 1886.
Also relocated into the garden, in 1908, was the arched doorway of the old King’s Arms Hotel, which was the predecessor of the Eskdale Temperance Hotel. The arch is believed to have been the work of Thomas Telford.
Christopher Grieve (later known as the poet Hugh MacDiarmid) and his family lived in the building from 1899 until around 1914. His father was a postman and his mother was the library’s caretaker. He later attributed his access to the library’s books as a key literary influence.