Our extensive collections from the Romance-speaking countries of Europe include materials in French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Catalan and Occitan, as well as in non-Romance languages such as Modern Greek, Basque and Breton.

Collection guides

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Help

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

Blog posts

La Nuit des Idées

Thursday, February 9, 2023

Hélène Duchêne, Ambassador of France to the UK and writer Zadie Smith will open the 7th edition of the “Night of ideas” on Thursday 9 February 2023, at the Institut français in London. This year’s edition will gather 40 leading...

PhD placement opportunity: Enhancing access to manuscripts and archives in the French language

Friday, January 20, 2023

The British Library has released a call for applicants for PhD placements in 2023–24. The PhD placement scheme supports the professional development of researchers for future career paths both within and outside academia. One of these placements, ‘Enhancing access to...

An A to Z of the European Studies Blog 2022

Friday, December 30, 2022

A is for Alexander the Great, subject of the Library’s current exhibition. B is for Birds and Bull fighting. C is for Czechoslovak Independence Day, which marks the foundation of the independent Czechoslovak State in 1918. D is for Digitisation,...

Annie Ernaux’s time in London

Thursday, October 20, 2022

On 10 October 2022, the Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the French author Annie Ernaux “for the courage and clinical acuity with which she uncovers the roots, estrangements and collective restraints of personal memory.” A major literary presence...

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Related events

Highlights
Exhibition FREE

Treasures of the British Library

-

From Magna Carta and Shakespeare to Florence Nightingale and Gandhi. Explore some of the world’s most exciting, beautiful and significant books, maps and manuscripts.

Highlights
Exhibition FREE

Treasures of the British Library

-

From Magna Carta and Shakespeare to Florence Nightingale and Gandhi. Explore some of the world’s most exciting, beautiful and significant books, maps and manuscripts.

Highlights
Exhibition FREE

Treasures of the British Library

-

From Magna Carta and Shakespeare to Florence Nightingale and Gandhi. Explore some of the world’s most exciting, beautiful and significant books, maps and manuscripts.

View all events

Library experts

Valentina Mirabella British Library

Valentina Mirabella

Curator in Romance Languages

Romance languages case studies

French Posters British Library
…I met dozens of brilliant people who generously shared the stories of their career pathways, which has been inspiring and encouraging.…

Cataloguing, digitising and promoting a collection of First World War posters from France.

Shop

Censors at Work: How States Shaped Literature

Censors at Work: How States Shaped Literature

In 18th-century France, censors navigated the intricacies of royal privilege in a working collaboration with authors and booksellers on the making of literature.

£25

Out Of This World - exhibition book

Out Of This World

From the works of Cyrano de Bergerac to Ray Bradbury, this book reveals the full heritage and wonder of science fiction.

£16.96