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The London Library is an independent lending library in London, established in 1841. Membership is open to all, on payment of an annual subscription, with life and corporate memberships also available. As of December 2023 the Library had around 7,500 members.
The Library was founded on the initiative of Thomas Carlyle, who was dissatisfied with some of the policies at the British Library. It is located at 14 St James's Square, in the St James's area of the City of Westminster, which has been its home since 1845." Libraries ." City of Westminster. Retrieved on 21 January 2009.
T. S. Eliot, a long-serving President of the Library, argued in July 1952 in an address to members that, "whatever social changes come about, the disappearance of the London Library would be a disaster to civilisation".T. S. Eliot, A Presidential Address to the Members of the London Library, July 1952: reproduced in McIntyre 2006, p. 33.
The Earl of Clarendon was the Library's first President, William Makepeace Thackeray its first auditor, and William Gladstone and Sir Edward Bunbury sat on the first committee. The Belgian freedom fighter and former Louvain librarian Sylvain Van de Weyer was a vice-president from 1848 to 1874. (Van de Weyer's father-in-law Joshua Bates was a founder of the Boston Public Library in 1852.)
A vigorous and long-serving presence in later Victorian times was Richard Monckton-Milnes, later Lord Houghton, a friend of Florence Nightingale. Charles Dickens was among the founder members. In more recent times, Kenneth Clark and T. S. Eliot have been among the Library's presidents, and Sir Harold Nicolson, Sir Rupert Hart-Davis and the Hon Michael Astor have been Chairmen.
(Sir) Charles Hagberg Wright, who served as Secretary and Librarian from 1893 to 1940, is remembered as "the real architect of the London Library as it is today". A brief history of the library . London Library. Retrieved 2010-04-22. He oversaw the rebuilding of its premises in the 1890s, the re-cataloguing and rearrangement of its collections under its own unique classification system, and the publication of its catalogue in 1903, with a second edition in 1913–14 and later supplements.
In 1957 the Library received an unanticipated demand from Westminster City Council for business rates (despite being registered as a tax-free charity), and the Inland Revenue also became involved. At that time, most publishers donated free copies of their books to the library. A final appeal was turned down by the Court of Appeal in 1959, and a letter in The Times of 5 November from the President and Chairman (T. S. Eliot and Rupert Hart-Davis) appealed for funds. A subsequent letter from Winston Churchill commented that "The closing of this most worthy institution would be a tragedy". Financial donations reached £17,000, and an auction of books, manuscripts and artworks on 22 June 1960 raised over £25,000 – enough to clear debts and legal expenses of £20,000. At the sale some T. E. Lawrence items donated by his brother fetched £3,800, Eliot's The Waste Land fetched £2,800, and Lytton Strachey's Queen Victoria £1,800, though 170 inscribed books and pamphlets from John Masefield fetched only £200, which Hart-Davis thought "shamefully little". Elizabeth II donated a book from Queen Victoria's library, and the Queen Mother a Sheffield plate wine cooler.Wells 1991, pp. 188–202.
In the 1990s, the Library was one of a number of academic and specialist libraries targeted by serial book thief William Jacques. The identification of several rare books put up for auction as having been stolen from the Library led the police to investigate Jacques and to his eventual prosecution and conviction. Security measures at the Library have since been improved.
The Library now holds more than one million items, and each year, it acquires approximately 8,000 new books and periodicals. 97% of the collection is available for loan, either on-site or through the post. It is the largest lending library in Europe. Members play a central role in the selection and development of the collections, bequeathing their personal libraries, donating copies of their own books, serving on the Books Selection Committee, making suggestions for acquisition and more.
The Library also subscribes to many ejournals and other online databases. All post-1950 acquisitions are searchable on the on-line catalogue, and pre-1950 volumes are progressively being added as part of the Retrospective Cataloguing Project.
95% of the collection is housed on open shelves (the remaining 5% includes rare books held in secure storage). This open access policy – which contrasts with that in many other large libraries, including the British Library – is greatly valued by members. Colin Wilson remembered his first visit to the library in the mid 1960s: "I have always had an obsession about books, and in this place I felt like a Hypersexuality in the middle of a harem".Grindea 1978, p. 91. Arthur Koestler recorded how in 1972, commissioned to report on the Spassky–Fischer chess championship in Reykjavík, he visited the Library to carry out some background research:
Peter Parker wrote in 2008:
And Roger Kneebone wrote in 2015:
In 1944, the Library lost some 16,000 volumes to bomb damage, and in 1970 its few incunable were sold. With those exceptions, it was formerly library policy to retain virtually all items acquired since its foundation, on the grounds that, as books are never entirely superseded, and therefore never redundant, the collections should not be weeded of material merely because it was old, idiosyncratic or unfashionable. In 2019, under pressure for space, the decision was taken to reverse this policy, and to introduce a new strategy of withdrawing from the collections some journal and government publication material now available online, some foreign language journals, duplicate copies of books, and other material considered obsolete; and also to move some low-use material to off-site storage.
The property in St James's Square first occupied by the Library was a house, Beauchamp House, built in 1676 and renovated at later dates. A proposal in the 1770s (when it was owned by Lord Newhaven) to rebuild it to a design by Robert Adam was abandoned, but it was refronted shortly afterwards. It was located in the north-west corner of the square, and had a much smaller frontage than its neighbours, being described by A. I. Dasent in 1895 as "admittedly the worst house in the Square". The Library rented the house from 1845, but in 1879 bought the freehold.Wells 1991, pp. 66–8. In the early years, to defray costs, some of the rooms were let to the Statistical Society of London, the Philological Society, and the Institute of Actuaries.Wells 1991, pp. 69–70.McIntyre 2006, pp. 9–10.Dasent 1895, p. 237.
In 1896–1898 the premises were completely rebuilt to the designs of James Osborne Smith, and this building survives as the front part of the present library complex. The facade, overlooking St James's Square, is constructed in Portland stone in a broadly Jacobethan style, described by the Survey of London as "curiously eclectic". The main reading room is on the first floor; and above this three tall windows light three floors of bookstack. Another four floors of bookstacks were built to the rear. In 1920–22, an additional seven-storey bookstack was built further back still, again designed by Osborne Smith. (This new stack was notable for its opaque glass floors: an unforeseen drawback of the combination of glass floors and structural metal shelving was that browsers in the stacks were liable to receive periodic jolts of static electricity, a problem which continues to catch new members unawares, and for which no solution has ever been found.Wells 1991, pp. 221–2.) In 1932–34 another extension was carried out to the north, incorporating a committee room (named the Prevost Room, after a major benefactor; now converted to use as a reading room), an Art Room, and five more floors of bookstacks: the architects on this occasion were the firm of Mewès & Davis.McIntyre 2006, pp. 11–19.Wells 1991, pp. 159–66.
In February 1944, during the Second World War, the northern bookstacks suffered considerable damage when the Library suffered a direct hit from a bomb: 16,000 volumes were destroyed, including most of the Biography section. Although the library reopened in July, repairs to the buildings were not completed until the early 1950s.Wells 1991, pp. 178–81.McIntyre 2006, pp. 19-20.
Following the war, the Library continued to experience a need for increased space, although the practical possibilities for expansion were limited. A mezzanine was inserted within the Art Room in the early 1970s; four floors of bookstack were constructed above the north bay of the reading room in 1992; and in 1995 the Anstruther Wing (named after its benefactor, Ian Anstruther) was erected at the extreme rear of the site, a nine-storey building on a small footprint designed principally to house rare books storage.McIntyre 2006, pp. 22-3.
In 2004, the Library acquired Duchess House, a four-storey 1970s office building adjoining the north side of the existing site, which increased overall capacity by 30%.McIntyre 2006, pp. 23, 39–40. The building was renamed T. S. Eliot House in 2008. The opportunity was taken for a major rationalisation and overhaul of the greater part of the library's premises. Staff activities were concentrated in T. S. Eliot House (freeing up space in the older buildings for book storage and members' facilities); a new reading room was inserted in a lightwell; the Art Room was completely restructured and redesigned; the main Issue Hall remodelled; new circulation routes created; and other alterations made elsewhere. The first phase of work, the modification and refurbishment of T. S. Eliot House, was completed in 2007; and the second phase in 2010. The architects for the redevelopment were Haworth Tompkins; while the toilets were designed in collaboration with Turner Prize-winning artist Martin Creed.
The building has been listed Grade II on the National Heritage List for England since February 1958.
Vice-presidents have included Lord Lyttelton, Sir Isaiah Berlin, Sir Rupert Hart-Davis, Baron Kenyon, Baron Rayne, Hon. Sir Steven Runciman, Dame Veronica Wedgwood, Dame Rebecca West, Paul Boateng, Lady Antonia Fraser, Caroline Michel, Jeremy Paxman, Alexandra Shulman and Josie Rourke. Trustees have included Philip Ziegler, Correlli Barnett, Bamber Gascoigne, Lewis Golden, John Gross, Duff Hart-Davis, Sir Charles Johnston, Sir Oliver Millar, Anthony Quinton, Christopher Sinclair-Stevenson, and Claire Tomalin.
Subscription
In 1903 the annual membership subscription was £3. During the 1930s it was £4 4s and fees remained at this level into the 1950s.Fees are given as £4 4s per annum, and entrance fee of £3 3s, in . In November 1981 the annual subscription was £60. Following the acquisition of T. S. Eliot House, from 2008 the subscription was significantly increased from £210 to £375. As of September 2024 the annual fee for standard membership is £615.
Awards and competitions
In 2011 the Library launched its Student Prize, a writing competition open to final-year undergraduates at higher education institutions in the UK. The theme was "The future of Britain lies with the right-hand side of the brain", and the winner was announced in March 2012 as Ben Mason, a student at Trinity College, Oxford. The prize was awarded for a second time in 2013 to Kathryn Nave, a student at King's College London, but has now been discontinued.
175th anniversary
In May 2016 the Library marked the 175th anniversary of its foundation with a three-day literary festival, " Words In The Square", held in St James's Square. It was organised by James Runcie and David Kynaston, and speakers included the novelists Sebastian Faulks, Victoria Hislop, Nick Hornby, Philippa Gregory and Elif Safak; historians Antony Beevor, Simon Schama and Jerry White; actors Simon Russell Beale, Eleanor Bron and Simon Callow; and former England cricket captains Michael Atherton and Mike Brearley.
Cultural references
The Library has featured in a number of works of literature and fiction.Further references are noted in Grindea 1978, pp. 64–5; and in
Literature
Film and television
Patrons
Shortly after the Library's foundation, Prince Albert agreed to serve as its patron.Grindea 1978, p. 14.Wells 1991, p. 51. Subsequent royal patrons have been King Edward VII; King George V; King George VI; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother; Queen Elizabeth II;McIntyre 2006, p. 43. and Queen Camilla.
Presidents
The office of President of the Library has been held by the following:
Librarians and Directors
The senior manager or chief executive of the Library was historically known as the Librarian and Secretary, and later simply as Librarian. With the appointment of Philip Marshall in 2017, the title was changed to Director. The post has been held by the following:
See also
Bibliography
Catalogues
External links
Categories: Official, 1841 Establishments In England, Charities Based In London, Grade Ii Listed Buildings In The City Of Westminster, Houses Completed In 1676, Libraries In The City Of Westminster, Organisations Based In The United Kingdom With Royal Patronage, Private Libraries In The United Kingdom, St James's, Subscription Libraries In England, Research Libraries In The United Kingdom
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