Your Library, Your Legacy

If you are thinking about leaving a gift to The London Library in your will, thank you. Gifts in wills play a vital role in securing the Library’s future and are a very special way of ensuring that the Library remains a haven of creativity and community for readers, writers and thinkers for generations to come.

The London Library is the largest independent lending library in the world, home to over a million books and manuscripts, from bestselling fiction and cutting-edge research to thousands of rare volumes that are many centuries old. Our collection and beautiful building have inspired and served as a creative and intellectual resource for some of the world’s most important and best loved writers and thinkers, from Charles Darwin, Virginia Woolf and T.S. Eliot to Christabel Pankhurst, Bram Stoker and Angela Carter. Membership of the Library continues to attract and support the work of the brightest lights in fields as diverse as medicine, music, science, law, literature and art. A gift in your will is a wonderful opportunity to safeguard the Library’s unique collection and ensure that it can continue to inspire the curiosity and creativity of future generations.

Leaving a gift to the Library

Your will might contain some of the most important words you ever write. After making provision for family, friends and loved ones, your will gives you the chance to support the causes that are most important to you. Leaving a gift to The London Library is a way for you to build an incredible and lasting legacy for the writers, readers and thinkers of the future. As a charitable bequest, a gift to the Library will also reduce or eliminate the inheritance tax liability on your estate.

There a number of different ways to leave a gift to the Library in your will.

Residuary bequest - a gift of a percentage share, or the whole, of your estate after debts, expenses and other gifts have been distributed

Pecuniary bequest - a donation of a fixed sum of money or shares

Specific bequest- a gift of a particular item, such as a painting, royalties or a historical document

We have provided suggested wordings for pecuniary, residuary and specific gifts, as well as a wealth of information about how gifts in wills make a difference to the Library, in our free legacies leaflet.

If you considering leaving a specific item to the Library, please telephone 020 7766 4795 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to ensure that the Library will be able to accept and provide a suitable home for your gift.

Writing a will need not be complicated, but we strongly recommend you seek professional legal advice to ensure your will reflects your wishes and is valid.

Thank you

Gifts in wills make a huge difference to the Library’s future, its collection and, most importantly, its readers. Your support is truly appreciated.

If you have already left a gift to The London Library in your will, thank you. We are immensely grateful for your support. It is very helpful for us to know when someone is planning to leave a legacy to the Library, so please do consider letting us know your intentions. We would be delighted to have the opportunity to thank you for your generosity, invite you to special supporters’ events and send you advance updates on important developments at the Library.

If you would like to get in touch with our fundraising team to discuss your gift, let us know your intentions or find out more about leaving a gift in your will, please call 020 7766 4795 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..