The British Library's document supply service

All our British Library On Demand services are fully operational. You can receive the materials you need, including loans, right now.

On Demand is the document Supply Service from the British Library. We scan and send chapters and articles from our collections so you can have them when and where you need them and we provide access to vast stores of digital content.

Search and order from over 42 million items right now or find out more about what British Library On Demand can do for you or your organisation.

Bank Holiday Operating Hours

The British Library document supply service will be closed on Monday 29 May for a UK Bank Holiday

While we are closed we will be unable to supply On Demand orders from our physical collections and third-party suppliers. You will still be able to order items from our electronic stores for immediate download. The reading room at Boston Spa will also be closed and Customer Services will be unavailable.

Key times and dates:

All Document Supply services will be closed on the following dates

16.00 on 26 May – 08.00 on 30 May (UK time)

Contact us

If you have any queries contact our Customer Service Department:

Quick chat: Quick Chat is available Monday to Friday: 09.30 – 16.00.
e-mail: customer-services@bl.uk
phone: You can contact our Customer Services Team by telephone on +44 (0)1937 546060 during the hours of 09.00 – 16.30, Monday to Friday.

Please check back regularly for updates and the latest news. You can also follow us on twitter to keep up to date @ondemandBL.

What you need to know

Commercial

Power your business with cutting edge research direct from the British Library

Public good

Information and specialist On Demand services for UK public sector organisations and charities

Partners

On Demand partners with publishers, rights organisations and others to bring you a better service

Content

The largest physical collection in the world available to you and millions more items to download

Case studies

More Case studies
…Working with the British Library has been the best co-operative development I’ve ever experienced…

Jennifer Perkins from Clio tells us why her customers have seen a 75% reduction in failed requests since they integrated their Interlibrary Loans software with British Library On Demand

…British Library On Demand is a major pillar in our strategy, without it we couldn’t provide the service we do…

For the University of Sheffield, British Library On Demand does more than just supply articles. Their relationship with the British Library enables them to come good on their core promise to students and researchers.

News stories

RMS collection embargo

8 March 2022

We're enhancing our storage facilities in Boston Spa and some of our collections are being moved to enable this work. As a result, some of the items you requested might not be available while they're being moved.