The London Library was an interesting place to visit. I can honestly say that I have never been to
a library like the London Library. The
London Library is strictly a subscription library. It is extremely private library institution
but membership is open to everyone. A
factor that makes it unique is the construction of the building. The original library was housed in a London
townhouse. As the library has grown overtime
expansion has been needed. Expansion has
occurred several times since it was founded.
About eighteen months ago expansion and construction was completed and
which allows for 25 more years of growth and a new conservation studio.
The library houses over a million books. These books range from 16th century
to present day. One of the stands out
pieces from their 16th century special collection was Assertio Septem Sacramentorum written by
Henry VIII and published in 1521. The
title roughly translates into “Defense of the Seven Sacraments”. The purpose of the book was to defend the
seven sacraments of the Catholic faith against Martin Luther and the Protestant
Reformation. In recognition of his efforts
the Pope declared Henry VIII the Defender of the Faith. Soon after Henry VIII was looking for a
divorce from Catherine of Aragon his first wife. When he was not getting the results he wanted
he broke from the Pope and become head of the English Church; also marrying
Anne Boleyn.
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· The London
Library was founded in 1841 and is now the largest private lending library in
the world.
· They are an
independent library and entirely self-supported
· There are
about 7,000 registered members
· The
collection ranges from the 16th century to present day
· There are
about one million books in the collection and 15 miles of shelves
· 97% of the
collection is available for loan
· There are
about thirty thousand rare books within the collection
· 2,500
periodical titles
· There are
roughly 8,000 new books a year added to the collection
· Having a
policy of ‘books do not become redundant just because they are old’ means that
no books are ever weeded from the collection
· They have
created their own cataloging and shelving procedures
Previous
London Library members include
§ Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle
§ Bram Stoker
§ T.S Elliot (also
president of the library from 1952-1964)
§ Virginia Woolf
(listed her occupation on her application as ‘spinster’
§ Agatha Christie
§ Winston Churchill
§ Henry James
§ Charles Darwin
§ Charles Dickens
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