The Library
The Drama Association of Wales houses the largest specialist Drama Lending Theatre Script Library in the world.
Get the introduction and background to the kind of stock we have in the library, and where it came from.
Want to access our new searchable database of the DAW library collections?
You know what we've got, but you want the details on hire charges and loan periods?
You need our Library Lending Service page.
Interested in donating to the DAW library? See our Library Donations page.
Apart from loans, we can order books that your group wants to buy, and charge them to your account. Experience has shown we can be of particular help if you're trying to get hold of a set of books in a hurry. Contact Us for further details.
Our lending library is the largest, English language, specialist lending library in the world. We stock more than 300,000 volumes, comprising 
- Plays
- Biographies
- Critical works
- Technical theatre books
- The entire Playsets and Lending collections of the former British Theatre Association and the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA)
April 2010: The DAW library collections are now available online and are accessible through our new searchable database. Enquiries about stock and availability are answered promptly, either by phone or by email. See below for examples of the kind of material we have available.
We have an extensive collection of single copies of contemporary plays; we are in receipt of review copies from all major and smaller publishing houses. So if you are looking for a play which is out of print or have seen a production of an interesting new script and want to take a closer look, then we may be able to help.
For all enquiries, please email: teresa@dramawales.org.uk
Or call: 029 2045 2200 (UK) +44 (0)29 2045 2200 (overseas)
Once an order has been placed, it is despatched by return of post from Cardiff. For information on joining DAW, please see our Join Us page.
Examples of library stock
We stock a wide range of materials on theatre history; books about theatre, playwrights and practitioners; design, lighting and stage management, and much more besides.
To give you a taste of the plays on the DAW shelves, the scripts are listed in categories:
| Full Length Sets | Welsh Language Collection |
| One Act - Female Casts | One Act - Mixed Casts |
| General/Sources |
Full Length Sets
These include works by:
• Alan Ayckbourn • Agatha Christie • Anton Chekhov • Yazmena Reza
• John Godber • Marie Jones • Arthur Miller • Harold Pinter
• Pam Gems • George Bernard Shaw • Henrik Ibsen • Diane Samuels
• Ronald Harwood • William Shakespeare • Alan Bennett • Lucy Gannon
• J B Priestley • Noel Coward • Neil Simon
We also stock works as diverse as the murder mysteries of Peter Gordon and the entire Farndale Avenue series from McGillivray and Zerlin. And hundreds of other playwrights.
One Act - Female Casts
We have collections such as:
• the entire series of ‘Deckchairs’ by Jean McConnell
and works by
• Jimmie Chinn • Enid Coles • David Campton • Cherry Vooght
• L. Du Garde Peach • Doris M Day
We also hold the Sam Bate and Rae Shirley collections kindly donated by their families.
One Act - Mixed Casts
Our large collection includes works by playwrights such as:
• Tom Stoppard • Samuel Beckett • Caryl Churchill • Anthony Booth
• Margaret Wood • Christopher Fry • the entire ‘Coarse Acting’ series by Michael Green • the three Davids…Edgar, Tristram and Foxton
• James Saunders • Michael Fosbrook • collections of one act plays such as Confusions by Alan Ayckbourn
Welsh Language Collection
Although our Welsh language collection of plays is smaller by contrast, we are proud of the quality and quantity of scripts we have by well-known Welsh language playwrights such as:
• Gwenlyn Parry • Manon Wyn • Ian Rowlands • Sêra Moore Williams
• J. O. Francis • Meic Povey • Dic Edwards • Sion Eirian
• Manon Eames • Aled Jones Williams • Wil Sam • Gareth Miles
• Saunders Lewis • the adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays by J. T. Jones
The collection is also enhanced by purchasing work by new young Welsh language playwrights such as Gwyneth Glyn.
General /Sources
In recent years many private and county library collections have passed into DAW's hands making the DAW Theatre Library not only more comprehensive in its stock but also much bigger in size.
We have been fortunate in being able to house collections from the libraries of Kensington and Chelsea, Gloucester, Somerset, BBC Research library, London, the Inner London Education Authority library (ILEA) and the Greater Manchester Drama Federation, as well as many private libraries.
If you want any further information on anything related to the library, please email: teresa@dramawales.org.uk
