The Dean Savage Reference Library is housed in the Old Song School, a detached building on the North side of the Cathedral Close standing between Nos. 14 and 15. The library was set up by a Deed of Foundation in 1924 by the then Dean of Lichfield, the Very Reverend Henry Erwin Savage DD. The Deed laid down that the Library would be "for the use of the clergy of the Diocese of Lichfield and such other class or classes of persons as the Dean during his life or the Managers may prescribe". The Trustees of the Library are the Dean and Chapter.

The transfer from 14 The Close to the Old Song School took place in 1991, and the Song School makes a much better reading room and book store, as well as providing room for expansion. The Library stock is now catalogued and classified (according to the Dewey system) and its stock has been increased through donations, notably the books of Prebendary Eric Hill, and by judicious buying of modern religious books, to the point where it is now available to be used by anyone who expresses an interest. The collection (amounting to some 6000 books) has been provided with a Subject Index, to lead a borrower to the appropriate Dewey number for the topic of interest. Books are catalogued primarily by author's (or editor's) name, but books that are the work of several authors or a corporate authority have been catalogued by title also. Although the Library consists almost exclusively of books on religion, there is a sizeable collection of biographical books. There are also many books on philosophy and psychology.

Though the Library is called the Dean Savage Reference Library many of the books may be borrowed. Two collections - the Dean Savage Collection and the Thorpe-Inge Collection - may only be used in the Library.

The Library is a part of the Book Services administered by the Managers on behalf of the Dean & Chapter. These include the Cathedral Library and two trusts, the Bishop Anson Scholarship and the Meynell Ingram Trusts, whose purposes are to provide books for ordinands.

Please contact the Cathedral Librarian for information on how to use the library (10am to 1pm on weekdays).