Our collections and resources cover all the arts and humanities in hundreds of languages and a broad range of formats, from the earliest written records to the latest digital collections. Together, they represent a vast and unique resource for the understanding of human experience, history, culture and society.

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Reading Room Paul Grundy

St Pancras Reading Rooms

At St Pancras we have 11 Reading Rooms, each specialising in a different subject area or type of material and with different opening hours. In our Reading Rooms you can:

  • Consult books, journals and other items from our collections
  • Access a wide range of electronic resources and electronic journals
  • Consult subject guides, bibliographies and other research aids

If you need help, please ask our Reference Specialists at the enquiry desks or contact the Reference Service.

We offer a range of free Reader sessions and 1-2-1 consultations to help you make the best use of the Library's collections.

You’ll need a Reader Pass

Opening hours for all Reading Rooms

Projects

British Library St Pancras building

British Library Translator in Residence

A new residency scheme supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council

A colour photograph showing Nur Sobers-Khan, Lead Curator at the British Library, in a room turning the page of an open book which is sitting in a foam rest on top of a table. Beside the book are two more open books sat in rests.

Two Centuries of Indian Print

An international collaboration to digitise South Asian printed books

Chevening logo

Chevening British Library Fellowships

Year-long professional development projects for emerging global leaders

Painted portrait of Frederick Delius

Delius, Modernism, and the Sound of Place

Using manuscripts and digital technologies to understand the composer Frederick Delius

All projects

Blog posts

Alexander the Great: The Making of a Myth

Friday, September 23, 2022

Readers may have noticed the new placards and billboards at the British Library announcing Alexander the Great: The Making of a Myth which opens exactly four weeks today. Son of Philip II of Macedon and his wife Olympias, the historical...

Reach for the stars

Tuesday, January 11, 2022

Marcus Tullius Cicero (b. 106 BC) is one of the best-known ancient Roman authors. A formidable speaker at court trials and political debates as well as a prolific theorist of rhetoric and philosophy, he influenced generations of scholars and students....

Sailing Away To A Distant Land - Mahendra Mahey, Manager of BL Labs - final post

Wednesday, September 29, 2021

Posted by Mahendra Mahey, former Manager of British Library Labs or "BL Labs" for short [estimated reading time of around 15 minutes] This is is my last day working as manager of BL Labs, and also my final posting on...

A Novel Approach To Novels That Shaped Our World!

Tuesday, April 20, 2021

It is wonderful to be collaborating with Leeds Libraries on their online Games Jam this month, which is encouraging people to create playful interactive adaptations of books in the BBC’s Novels that Shaped Our World list. Eye-catching artwork for the...

More blog posts