Royal highlights community literacy during visit to Ratho Library near Edinburgh
Queen Camilla marked a fresh chapter in her royal duties as she officially opened the newly rebuilt Ratho Library in Scotland, just days after joining King Charles following the confirmed retirement of the Royal Train.
The Queen, a long-time advocate for reading, celebrated the reopening with the launch of the Paper Trails initiative—a five-year programme from the Edinburgh International Book Festival aimed at bringing books and storytelling into underserved communities.
Surrounded by local residents, volunteers, and mobile library teams, Camilla praised the community’s resilience during the library’s closure and highlighted the importance of continued access to literature. Until February 2024, the area had relied on weekly mobile services and temporary activities held at Ratho Community Centre.
The initiative’s goal is to deliver authors and artists to care homes, schools, and community hubs across Edinburgh—ensuring no reader is left behind. Camilla met with volunteers from the Royal Voluntary Service’s home library delivery program, which has provided books to housebound readers for over six decades.
The day’s celebrations concluded with a poetry reading by a local young writer and a cake-cutting ceremony to officially reopen the library. The event underscored Camilla’s ongoing commitment to literacy and community engagement, just as the royal family adapts to a new era of streamlined duties and sustainable change.
