The Russell Cawthorn Centre

The Russell Cawthorn Centre for the Study of the Great War and its Global Consequences.

We are a new Study Centre being established at Kelso Library the centrepiece of which is a collection of books called “The Russell Cawthorn Collection” with the strapline “The Great War and its Global Consequences”. The RCC spent the years 2010 to 2021 at St. Andrews University Library as a dedicated research collection but the Scottish Charity, No. SCO04789, called “The 1926 Foundation” which owns the books withdrew them from the university in 2021 as the university was no longer able to hold them on the original terms.

We presently have just short of 2,500 physical books, and 4,500 digital items. The intention is to start study sessions led by academics from universities in both Scotland and the North of England, these sessions will take place in Kelso Library. We may also consider other means of broadcasting such as podcasts.

The Collection is a dynamic one, that is it is constantly growing. St. Andrews University Library themselves conducted a survey in 2016, when we were considerably smaller, which proved that our presence had made St. Andrews the premier academic resource, save for the usual statutory repositories, in Scotland, and one of the five principal collections in the U.K.

Our mission is to make this resource available to anyone who is interested, especially people in the Borders, and particularly the schools in the area. But we will also use social media to broadcast our resource on a worldwide area.