Support The London Library collection by adopting a book for yourself or as a gift
Adopt a Book orders for Christmas delivery must be made no later than 13 December.
Adopting a book is a truly unique gift and each adoption supports the development and preservation the Library’s unique collection.
Prices start from £40 with the choice to adopt a book in a category of your choice, or a favourite book from the collection.
Gifts packages include a bookplate in the chosen volume commemorating the adoption, and an invitation for a private guided tour to see their adopted book in situ.
Christmas Books
The perfect festive gift for book lovers
· Agatha Christie, Hercule Poirot’s Christmas
· Charles Dickens, Christmas Books
· S.R Littlewood, The Story of Santa Claus
· Andrew Gant, Christmas Carols
· Charles Dickens, Bleak House
· Stanley Weintraub, Silent Night; the Christmas Truce
Or if you are interested in making a one-off donation towards book acquisitions or conservation cost, please click here. To set up a regular donation to the Library's Book Fund to support the purchase of books for the Library, or make a larger donation to support the development and care of the collection, please contact the Fundraising team directly on 020 7766 4795 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Adopt a new book: £30
Each year The London Library develops the collection with over 6,000 new books, and you can help support this expansion by adopting a new book. You can choose to adopt a book to be added to one of the Library's unique catalogue subjects: Art, Biography, Fiction and Literature, History, Religion, Science and Miscellaneous, or Topography.
For £30 you will receive a bookplate with your name in a new book in your chosen subject of interest.
Adopt a new book as a gift: £40
If you wish to adopt a new book as a gift, the £40 package includes:
- The recipient’s name on a bookplate inside a new book, in one of the subjects of interest above
- A London Library notecard for your personal message
- A private tour of the Library for the recipient and a guest with the opportunity to see the bookplate in situ
Adopt a favourite book: £100
Whether it's a book by a favourite author, about a memorable place, on a special subject close to your heart, or simply a book that is special to you - adopting a favourite book allows you to choose a specific volume from our collection. Your donation will enable us to conserve our most borrowed and loved books, prolonging their life for current members and generations to come.
For £100 you will receive a bookplate with your name in your chosen volume.
Adopt a favourite book as a gift: £125
If you wish to adopt a new favourite book as a gift, the £125 package includes:
- The recipient’s name on a bookplate inside a chosen favourite book from the Library's collection
- A set of five London Library postcards
- A London Library notecard for your personal message
- A private tour of the Library for the recipient and a guest with the opportunity to see the bookplate in situ
In memoriam
Books can also be adopted in memoriam to remember those special to you. To find out more about this, or to ask about a particular book, please contact the Fundraising team on 020 7766 4795 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Search the Library's catalogue for the book you'd like to adopt. If you're looking for inspiration, we've put together a list below of our most borrowed volumes - because of their regular use by members, our most borrowed and loved books are the ones most often in need of conservation.
Our most borrowed books:
- Tout Simenon, Georges Simenon
- Collected Works, Karl Marx
- The diary of Virginia Woolf, Virginia Woolf
- The complete works of George Orwell, George Orwell
- Winston S. Churchill, Martin Gilbert
- To keep the ball rolling, Anthony Powell
- The Sleepwalkers, Christopher M. Clark
- Mrs Dalloway, Virginia Woolf
- The Hundred Years War, Jonathan Sumption
- Bleak House, Charles Dickens
Please note:
- Although we endeavour to fulfil your book of choice for Adopt a Favourite Book some books may already have existing bookplates. Where this occurs we will suggest a suitable alternative
- Please allow up to three months for your bookplate to be placed in the book
- Tours must be booked in advance and are dependent on Library staff availability.
