Library

The SAAO’s research library dates back to the arrival of the first Royal Astronomer in the 1820s and is now the national library for astronomy and space science. The main collection is located in the historic Main Building at SAAO Cape Town, with a smaller collection at the Sutherland facility. The library boasts an extensive collection of pre-twentieth-century journals, with many of the core astronomical journals starting at volume 1. Library material can be checked out by SAAO researchers but library staff must have access to borrowed items at any time.