About us

Public Lending Right (PLR) is the right for authors to receive payment for the loans of their books by public libraries.

Under the PLR system in the UK, payment is made from government funds to authors, illustrators and other contributors whose books are borrowed from public libraries. Payments are made annually on the basis of loans data collected from a sample of public libraries in the UK. The Irish Public Lending Remuneration (PLR) system covers all libraries in the Republic of Ireland and operates in a similar way.

To qualify for payment, applicants must apply to register their books.

The UK PLR scheme is administered by the British Library from its offices in Stockton-on-Tees (the 'PLR office'). The PLR office also provides registration for the Irish PLR scheme on behalf of the Public Lending Remuneration office.

Over 22,000 writers, illustrators, photographers, translators and editors who have contributed to books lent out by public libraries in the UK receive PLR payments each year.

If you have contributed to a book which is lent out by public libraries in the UK and the Republic of Ireland and wish to apply to register for UK and Irish PLR schemes, Applying for PLR will provide you with further information and guidance.

See Our organisation for more details of our core objectives and background to Public Lending Right.


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Our organisation

Details of our organisation, our core objectives and background

PLR Committees

The PLR Advisory Committee provides advice on the operation of the UK PLR scheme

PLR International

Find out more about PLR systems around the world

PLR news stories

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Update on Public Lending Right (PLR) review

19 March 2018

The new PLR Operations Team has now been recruited

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Advisory Committee for Public Lending Right - vacancy for appointed member

14 March 2018

The British Library is looking to appoint a new member to its PLR Advisory Committee

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Authors' Incomes: Top Tips

12 March 2018

Authors and experts share their advice for establishing and maintaining your income as an author

More news stories

PLR case studies

Daniel Hahn
…“The financial support is invaluable – translators don’t always get a royalty so PLR is really precious. Equally important is the symbolic recognition of our stake in a book. While it is taken for granted that an author has a stake in a book it is not always remembered that a translator does too.”…

Daniel Hahn, translator and writer, registered for PLR on the publication of his first translation. He values highly the existence of the built-in PLR share to which all translators are entitled. Having translated 35 books and written several others since 2007, Daniel outlined his career as a translator and how he works.

Jeff Harding
…“I expected pennies and I got pounds! Quite a few more than I had expected. How many times in somebodies life do you get something for nothing?”…

Audio-book narrator Jeff Harding, registered for his PLR share in an astonishing 658 audio books when the extension of UK PLR to non-print material was first introduced in July 2014. He currently has over 700 titles registered. Jeff describes the skills of narration and explains what PLR means to him.

…Tracy Chevalier, Alexis Deacon and S F Said tells us why it is important that contributors register for PLR, how easy it is to apply and the value of PLR to them.…

Watch our short video in which authors Tracy Chevalier and S F Said and writer / illustrator Alexis Deacon talk about why eligible contributors should register for payment through the government-funded PLR scheme.