'Consumed' by Karis Kelly was announced on 10 March as the winning script for The Women’s Prize for Playwriting 2021 in an award ceremony at the Library. The Prize, now in its second year, is produced by Ellie Keel and Paines Plough, with Principal Partner 45North and in association with Sonia Friedman Productions. Kelly has won for her play 'Consumed,' a story of four generations of Northern Irish Women and "a house full of hungry ghosts, with more than one skeleton in the closet." Having written a play about the transgenerational impacts of war, Kelly will be donating a portion of the prize money to those impacted by the war in Ukraine.

On winning the award, Kelly said “I’m absolutely blown away to be the Winner of the 2021 Women’s Prize for Playwriting. In today’s theatre ecology, we really do need programmes that highlight female and female identifying voices. I’m so proud to be a part of its legacy. Like many others in the arts, during the pandemic, I had a complete crisis of faith, and was considering a complete career change! So, to go from that point, to receiving recognition from such an amazing prize and panel of judges is genuinely a dream come true.”

We are pleased to welcome Kelly to the Library with a prize of two years' membership alongside the 7 other finalists of this year's prize who will each receive a year's membership: Alison Carr, Somebody Jones, Isabella Leung, lydia luke, Isley Lynn, Paula B Stanic and Abi Zakarian.

In line with Government guidance and the increasing relaxation of preventative measures around covid, we are updating arrangements at the Library.

From Monday 28 March, it will no longer be mandatory for members to wear masks when entering, moving around, or being seated in the Library. It is however the government’s guidance that masks are worn in crowded and enclosed spaces, and we would encourage you to follow that advice. We would also ask you to wear a mask during interactions with members of staff. A supply of face masks will remain available at Reception.

Distancing will be removed between all desks in the Library and The Writers’ Room, Sackler Study, and Reading Room will be reset to their normal configurations. 14 distanced desks can still be found in the Art Reading Room and members can make use of individual desks around the Library and within the stacks, which are placed a good distance from one another. For help finding these, please do ask a member of staff. While desk signs will be removed, hand sanitiser will remain available by shared equipment and at key touch points around the Library.

We ask that members please do not come to the Library if they have tested positive or are showing symptoms for covid.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation in keeping everyone at the Library safe.   

We are pleased to announce that the Men's and Women's toilets on the Red Stairs are now open! 

This major refurbishment allowed us to restore the original character of the toilets, keeping the original Victorian fabric of the building while significantly modernising facilities for members. What started as a much needed renovation turned into a fascinating conservation project. As the work progressed we made discoveries such as the original layout of the Mens' cubicles and learnt that the locks were the original, handmade fixtures. These restored features now sit alongside motion activated dispensers and modern lighting.

The toilets were officially opened this morning by John O’Farrell and Lissa Evans, our Library Fund ambassadors for 2019/20, in a toilet paper ribbon cutting ceremony. Lissa said "I’m with Leonardo da Vinci on the importance of a splendid loo: ‘Small rooms discipline the mind, large ones weaken it." See the proud moment on our Instagram here, and contribute a literary toilet pun! 

We would like to thank our members for all of their patience and co-operation whilst we carried out the works. We would also like to thank them for their generosity as the refurbishment of the red staircase toilets was made possible by the support of the 2019/2020 Library Fund appeal donors.

Please consider supporting this year’s Library Fund appeal which plans to replace the lighting around the building with a more sustainable LED option that will also be safer for the collection.