[3] In 1854, Francis Tebbs Havergal was appointed deputy librarian and he greatly improved the library and paid attention to details such as the room temperature and cleanliness.

[13] Following the setting up of a dedicated trust, a donation from Sir Paul Getty, and an endowment from the National Heritage Memorial Fund, the Mappa and chained library were transferred to the Mappa Mundi Charitable Trust and a new building designed by Sir William Whitfield was opened on 3 May 1996 by the Queen to house the historic collections and the historic chained library, which is open to the public.

The oldest volume in the library, the Hereford Gospels in Anglo-Saxon characters, dates to around the year 780 and was the only book to survive the 1055 fire.

[3] The library contains mainly old books in manuscript chained to their places, some of them fine specimens of ancient handwriting, containing beautiful illustrations in gold and colour.

Another treasure is an ancient reliquary of oak, bequeathed to the cathedral by Canon Russell, said to have been obtained it from a Roman Catholic family in whose possession it had long been.

[16] The library has also received many other small donations over the years, revealing an important insight into the history of the county and ecclesiastical practices within it.

The collection also contains music manuscripts used in Hereford Cathedral between the late 17th and 19th centuries and some 9,000 items printed after 1850, as well as a local history section.