About the Library
The London Library, founded in 1841, is the world’s largest independent lending library with a mission to inspire, support and promote the creation and sharing of knowledge and ideas through reading, writing and discussion.
Our beautiful grade-listed building in the heart of London holds one million volumes, in print and online, for our members to freely browse, borrow and discover, and five reading rooms with quiet desk spaces that support our community of readers, writers and researchers. A unique space to read, write, research and be inspired, an estimated 700 books, 15,000 articles and 460 screenplays and theatre scripts are written by Library users every year (Nordicity and Chartered Accountants Saffrey Champness Impact Report, 2020).
Established as a membership library before the existence of state funded libraries by early founding members including Thomas Carlyle, Charles Dickens and Harriet Martineau, the Library was created to provide access to books and knowledge without restriction – a principle that continues to shape it today. The collection which spans the arts and humanities, dates from the 1500s to the present day. The collection opened with 2,500 books and around 5,000 new books are added every year.
The Library is a registered independent charity that receives no regular public funding and is sustained through membership fees, donations and philanthropic support.
Story & Heritage
The London Library opened above a shop in Pall Mall with 382 founding members and 2,000 books. Nearly two centuries later, from its current home in St James's Square, the Library has around 7,500 members and houses one million volumes, nearly all of which are available for members to browse, borrow and discover. Discover the history and heritage of the Library and how it has helped shape literature for 185 years.
Our Community
The Library has been the home of inspiration for leading literary figures for almost two centuries.
Well known and frequent borrows have included: AS Byatt, Angela Carter, Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens, TS Eliot, Ian Fleming, EM Forster, Daphne du Maurier, Muriel Spark, Bram Stoker, Sir Tom Stoppard and Virginia Woolf.
Today, current members include writers: Raymond Antrobus, Jessie Burton, Sir Kazuo Ishiguro, Sir Simon Schama and Sarah Waters. 13 winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature have been Library members.
Charitable support of writers
For 185 years, The London Library has played a central role in inspiring both established and emerging writers. This continues to this day as we work to make sure that as many people as possible benefit from the Library’s unrivalled resources and preserve our collection for future generations.
Since 2019, our Emerging Writers Programme has nurtured hundreds of early career writers to develop their work through Library membership and its many incredible resources. We offer charitable support to writers by expanding access to schools, community groups and literary partners.
“This is an independent library with its doors flung wide open”