British Library
We are the national library of the UK. Our shelves hold over 170 million items - a living collection that gets bigger every day.
Although our roots extend back centuries, we collect everything published today, tomorrow and decades into the future. We have millions of books, but also newspapers, maps, sound recordings, patents and stamps.
Our spaces are open for study, a place to meet friends, to start up a new business or to get inspired by visiting our galleries and events.
We're continuing to experience a major technology outage as a result of a cyber-attack. Our buildings are open as usual, however, the outage is still affecting our website, online systems and services, as well as some onsite services. This is a temporary website, with limited content outlining the services that are currently available, as well as what's on at the Library.
I want to...
Consult the collection
Search our online catalogue to find most of our printed collections and some freely available online resources, but not everything is available.
Use the Library
Our Reading Rooms in London and Yorkshire are open, but access to our collection and online resources is limited.
Visit our buildings
Our buildings in London and Yorkshire are open as usual. Find our opening hours, facilities and access information.
Attend an event
Discover what's on at the Library. We have five-star exhibitions, events and courses, family activities, free galleries and tours.
Find schools information
Explore our free workshops and activities for schools, available in London, Leeds and online.
Get business support
Start-up, protect or grow your business. Our centres across the UK offer expert advice for all stages of your business journey.
Support our work
As a charity, we work to preserve and share our collection of over 170 million items, which grows every day.
Access the British Newspaper Archive in our Reading Rooms
19 February 2025 - You can now access nearly 90 million pages of digitised newspapers when you use the British Newspaper Archive on your own device in our Reading Rooms. Login or register for the BNA to access the archive when you connect to our WiFi.
Essential maintenance in the Reading Rooms
14 February 2025 - Scaffolding will be in place in the BIPC Reading Room on Saturday 22 February and in the Humanities Reading Room on Saturday 1 March. The rooms will be open as usual, but due to the scaffolding some banks of desks will be unavailable and part of the open access shelving in the BIPC will be inaccessible. All our other Reading Rooms are open as usual.
Four major digitised manuscripts restored
30 October 2024 - We've now added the Moutier-Grandval Bible, Codex Sinaiticus, Chronicle of the Kings of Mann and the Isles; John of Salisbury, Entheticus in Policraticum etc., and the Lindisfarne Gospels to our restored digitised manuscripts.
Contact us
Email customer@bl.uk or use our online chat (Monday – Friday, 09.30 – 16.00).