Planning permission has now been granted for Phase One of the Library's Building Connections project. Thanks to the generosity of all those who have supported the project, we have secured the required funds to move forward to the next stage and invite tenders from building contractors. We are aiming to start the building works in late July in order to be complete by the end of December 2025.

The new room on the ground floor will be a permanent, dedicated space for a wide variety of uses that focus on our public benefit remit as a charity, such as sixth-form school visits, meetings of our Emerging Writers, exhibitions and displays, and workshops with other charitable organisations. It will provide a venue for our member special interest groups to meet in, as well as hosting speaker events, discussions, and trustee meetings, and will also be available for private hire.

In addition to this, Phase One includes creating a basement kitchen, which will enable our event caterers to stop using the Study as a field kitchen and provide a consolidated storage area for our catering supplies.

Phase One will involve work in small, contained areas of the building, away from main reading rooms and most of the collection. The Library and its architects have long experience in keeping the Library open during works and keeping disruption to a minimum and this remains a priority.

The final design work is continuing while we move to the procurement phase. In the next few months, more detailed information about the plans, designs and building works will be on the website and we will keep members up to date in the member newsletter. Visit the project website for further information and detailed FAQs.

If you have any further questions or comments please get in touch with us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

 

As a special limited offer, introduce a friend to the Library and they will receive 10% off their first year of membership and you will receive 10% off your next renewal.

Friends can join online using the code FRIENDS10 at checkout and must enter your name under 'How did you hear about The London Library?'

This offer is valid for most membership types (excludes life membership) until 23 March 2025*.

The Library offers a number of different membership types. From Full to Associate, Young Person to Remote, there's a membership to suit all needs! 

Explore memberships

This is an introductory offer. Friends must be new members to the Library. Terms and conditions apply.

We are delighted to once again partner with The Sunday Times Charlotte Aitken Young Writer of the Year Award 2024/25, offering the winner two years' membership to The London Library and one year's membership to the shortlist.

The most influential prize for young writers in the UK and Ireland has announced its shortlist of four authors, described by chief literary critic of The Times and Sunday Times and chair of the jury, Johanna Thomas Corr, as 'unforgettable new voices' that promise 'new angles on the world'.

Harriet Baker, Rural Hours
Moses McKenzie, Fast by the Horns
Scott Preston, The Borrowed Hills
Ralf Webb, Strange Relations

The award has built an unparalleled reputation for seeking and supporting the defining voices of a generation over the past 30 years, with a list of alumni representing the best of British and Irish writing, including Zadie Smith, Robert Macfarlane, Sarah Waters, Simon Armitage, Naomi Alderman and Caryl Phillips and many others. Recent winners include Tom Crewe, Jay Bernard, Raymond Antrobus, Adam Weymouth, Sally Rooney, Max Porter and Sarah Howe.

Sponsored by the Charlotte Aitken Trust since 2021, the award is given annually to the best work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry by a British or Irish author of 35 or under. The winner will receive a prize sum of £10,000 with each shortlisted writer receiving £1,000.

The winner will be announced on Tuesday 18 March 2025.

We hosted a special event on 4 February, attended by our Patron, Her Majesty the Queen. The dinner celebrated The London Library as one of the UK’s greatest literary institutions, highlighting its charitable work to support writers and widen access to its extensive resources.

Held in the Library’s atmospheric Reading Room, esteemed guests and Library supporters including Sir Tim Rice, Alexandra Shulman, Lady Antonia Fraser, John O’Farrell and Dame Caroline Michel were given an introduction by President of The London Library Helena Bonham Carter CBE. There was a speech from Sir Stephen Fry, and London Library Chair Simon Godwin introduced a participant of the Library’s Emerging Writer’s Programme, Katie Buckley, whose recent novel, Hero, was published by Hachette UK in January. Writer and London Library member, Christopher Simon Sykes also performed a song about the Library, written especially for the evening.

As Patron of The London Library, Her Majesty The Queen has supported the institution since 2012, within her current role and previously as Vice-Patron. A passionate champion of literacy in the UK and internationally, Her Majesty The Queen encourages a love of reading and writing from an early age. Her charity and book club The Queen’s Reading Room, works to advance education by providing opportunities for the appreciation of literature among adults and children in the UK and around the world.

London Library President, Helena Bonham Carter said, "I have the honour of being the President of The London Library. It is very easy to be astonished by the atmosphere of this place, we have 17 miles of books here, which is the equivalent of the underground Circle line. Thank you for becoming our Royal Patron and continuing the long line of Royal Patrons that the Library has been fortunate to have.”

Sir Stephen Fry said: "Thank you for your patronage, your support not just of The London Library, but of your support for books and writing everywhere. Just like The Queen’s Reading Room, this Library is open and welcoming to all. Here we are all equal citizens of the great kingdom of letters, the realm of reading, and here the highest possible doctrine is held for the value of books, the value of collections, the value of a sanctuary… where anybody who loves books is made to feel at home."

London Library Emerging Writer's Programme participant, Katie Buckley said: “EWP (as it’s affectionately called) is a lifechanging programme. Generosity is what underpins the thing that all new writers need – someone who will listen. A chain reaction of people holding out their hand and pulling you upwards... It has been the honour of my life to have begun my beginnings here and for that, I will be forever grateful.”

London Library Director, Philip Marshall said, “We were delighted to host a wonderful evening to celebrate The London Library as the home of literary inspiration. We are tremendously grateful to our Patron, Her Majesty The Queen, for her continued support as we aim to engage, inform and inspire many more readers and writers with our incredible resources.”

Photo: Dale Weeks

  1. Which? magazine online and print subscription
  2. Applications for The London Library Emerging Writers Programme 2025/26 are now open! 
  3. New Year’s Honours 2025: Celebrating Dame Caroline Michel, Sir Kazuo Ishiguro, Robert Harris CBE, Sir Stephen Fry
  4. The London Library joins Bloomberg Philanthropies Digital Accelerator Programme
  5. Member Notice: Scheduled Maintenance on Catalyst

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