We have recently installed a new display of pictures on the Library’s atmospheric Red Stairs which tells the story of the Library as a unique centre of creativity and inspiration.
Along six flights of stairs - from the Issue Hall up to the entrance of the St James’s Stacks - over 60 framed pictures have been put in place. Included in the display are portraits of over 50 well-known members with interpretation describing their remarkable connections to the Library and the work they produced during their membership.
It is an extraordinary and varied list – from Angela Carter to Charles Dickens, Christabel Pankhurst to Stanley Kubrick, Alec Guinness to Daphne du Maurier.
The exhibition shows how a remarkable number of members joined at an early stage in their careers and the Library provided a thread through much of their writing lives. Virginia Woolf joined 11 years before writing her first novel; Ian Fleming’s entire output on James Bond was written as a Library member; TS Eliot’s early writing career depended on access to the Library’s collection.
Personal connections are revealed – EM Forster donated the manuscript of The Passage to India to save the Library he loved; George Bernard Shaw applied for life membership only hours after the death of his wife, Charlotte Payne-Townshend (a member for 45 years); sisters Vanessa Bell and Virginia Woolf celebrated their father becoming Library President in their childhood diaries; Diana Rigg joked about her age on her membership form.
Alongside the Library’s connections with well-known members, the exhibition profiles some of the world-famous books – such as Dracula and Possession - that have been inspired by the Library and its collection.
We also take a look at the Library’s vibrant and varied events programme – which is open to anyone; the important work we do to support writers; the personalities featuring in The London Library magazine; and the role the Library plays as a location for filming and media work – from Killing Eve to the Netflix comedy Death to 2020.
We hope that anyone visiting the Library – whether longstanding members or first-time visitors – will enjoy finding out more about the remarkable community that is connected in so many diverse ways to this remarkable place.
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EM Forster by Dora Carrington ©National Portrait Gallery
Beryl Bainbridge by Eamonn McCabe ©Eamonn McCabe
Virginia Woolf by George Charles Beresford, ©National Portrait Gallery
Paul Robeson, anon c1942
Muriel Spark by Mark Gerson ©Mark Gerson/National Portrait Gallery
HG Wells by George Charles Beresford ©National Portrait Gallery
Looking for a creative place to work, study, write or read? The London Library is an independent library with a lending collection of over one million books, 180 desks to work at and creative community of readers and writers.
We offer amazing and quiet spaces to work, think and create in beautiful St. James's Square, for £45 a month, or £22.50 if you're 29 and under.
The Library is a magical place with six dedicated reading rooms plus individual desks hidden in the book stacks of our atmospheric building.
By becoming a member of The London Library you will have access to:
- Beautiful and practical spaces in which to read and write, open six days a week with late night openings;
- An incredible collection of 1 million books, with 6,000 more being added every year, almost all of which are available to browse on open shelves and borrow;
- A postal loans service anywhere within Europe, currently with free postage anywhere in the UK;
- Subscriptions to thousands of journals and periodicals and a wide range of digital resources;
- Fiction and non-fiction eBooks;
- Expert staff, always on hand to assist with enquiries;
- Invitations to special events and discounts on our popular public speaker events.
View all of the benefits of membership.
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The London Library promises to respect and protect any personal data you share with us. Your information is used to send you the communications you have requested and, personalise your experience of, and communications from, the Library. If you are over 18 we may, in some instances, analyse your data and obtain further publicly available data to help us make our communications more appropriate and relevant to your interests, and anticipate whether you might want to support us in the future.
You can opt-out of most communications or the ways in which we process your data by contacting This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. For full details of how we collect, store, use and protect your data, see our Privacy Policy at www.londonlibrary.co.uk/privacypolicy.
Looking for a creative place to work, study, write or read? The London Library is an independent library with a lending collection of over one million books, 180 desks to work at and creative community of readers and writers.
We offer amazing and quiet spaces to work, think and create in beautiful St. James's Square, for £45 a month, or £22.50 if you're 29 and under.
The Library is a magical place with six dedicated reading rooms plus individual desks hidden in the book stacks of our atmospheric building.
By becoming a member of The London Library you will have access to:
- Beautiful and practical spaces in which to read and write, open six days a week with late night openings;
- An incredible collection of 1 million books, with 6,000 more being added every year, almost all of which are available to browse on open shelves and borrow;
- A postal loans service anywhere within Europe, currently with free postage anywhere in the UK;
- Subscriptions to thousands of journals and periodicals and a wide range of digital resources;
- Fiction and non-fiction eBooks;
- Expert staff, always on hand to assist with enquiries;
- Invitations to special events and discounts on our popular public speaker events.
View all of the benefits of membership.
Newsletter
Not quite ready to join? Sign up to our newsletter and receive news, special offers and event updates.
The London Library promises to respect and protect any personal data you share with us. Your information is used to send you the communications you have requested and, personalise your experience of, and communications from, the Library. If you are over 18 we may, in some instances, analyse your data and obtain further publicly available data to help us make our communications more appropriate and relevant to your interests, and anticipate whether you might want to support us in the future.
You can opt-out of most communications or the ways in which we process your data by contacting This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. For full details of how we collect, store, use and protect your data, see our Privacy Policy at www.londonlibrary.co.uk/privacypolicy.
Looking for a creative place to work, study, write or read? The London Library is an independent library with a lending collection of over one million books, 180 desks to work at and creative community of readers and writers.
We offer amazing and quiet spaces to work, think and create in beautiful St. James's Square, for £45 a month, or £22.50 if you're 29 and under.
The Library is a magical place with six dedicated reading rooms plus individual desks hidden in the book stacks of our atmospheric building.
By becoming a member of The London Library you will have access to:
- Beautiful and practical spaces in which to read and write, open six days a week with late night openings;
- An incredible collection of 1 million books, with 6,000 more being added every year, almost all of which are available to browse on open shelves and borrow;
- A postal loans service anywhere within Europe, currently with free postage anywhere in the UK;
- Subscriptions to thousands of journals and periodicals and a wide range of digital resources;
- Fiction and non-fiction eBooks;
- Expert staff, always on hand to assist with enquiries;
- Invitations to special events and discounts on our popular public speaker events.
View all of the benefits of membership.
Newsletter
Not quite ready to join? Sign up to our newsletter and receive news, special offers and event updates.
The London Library promises to respect and protect any personal data you share with us. Your information is used to send you the communications you have requested and, personalise your experience of, and communications from, the Library. If you are over 18 we may, in some instances, analyse your data and obtain further publicly available data to help us make our communications more appropriate and relevant to your interests, and anticipate whether you might want to support us in the future.
You can opt-out of most communications or the ways in which we process your data by contacting This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. For full details of how we collect, store, use and protect your data, see our Privacy Policy at www.londonlibrary.co.uk/privacypolicy.
