Comments on: At The London Library

By: Dr Dave Morris

Dr Dave Morris — Sat, 09 Aug 2025 15:08:05 +0000

Your article was recently passed to me by a friend. London Library! What memories! I was a junior librarian there around 1970. I studied for my A-levels during my lunch hours in that immaculate Reading Room (in those days with a coal fire!). I finally ended up as a university lecturer with a PhD, I think thanks largely to my beginnings at that establishment. Long may it live.

By: gkbowood

gkbowood — Sun, 03 Aug 2025 17:37:06 +0000

Oh My! It is just as well that they require a membership, else I would never have left while on my visit to London. Just look at the books- so enticing. That grilled walkway high up in the stacks would bother me a bit but the translucent ones really seem scary for some reason. I am sure after
pulling the first book, I would forget all about how high up I was standing! Thank you so much for this small glimpse of a library I never knew existed.

By: Lynne Perrella

Lynne Perrella — Sun, 03 Aug 2025 14:21:35 +0000

I often suspected that the Carnegies, the Skaifes, the Whitneys, and the Fricks “atoned” to the citizens of Pittsburgh by endowing us with the BEST libraires, museums, conservatories, and more. Their perceived thanks to us, in exchange for the harsh labor conditions of our blue-collar region. Just a theory. Our local library, started in 1899 (one of the original Carnegie Libraries) was a safe haven and I still have vivid memories of “sitting in the stacks” on a summer day; letting my eyes slide over the endless volumes. Crouched down on one of the round stools, I came across a book that would stay with me for a lifetime — “The Great Gatsby”. That year, I eagerly read everything by or about Fitzgerald. My interest in him eventually widened to include so many touchstones of that era — Gerald and Sara Murphy, the Ballet Russes, Zelda and her paper dolls, European seasides and Manhattan speakeasies. And although in adulthood I eventually invested in my own collection of books on all these topics, my Magic Carpet Ride began in my local library.

Thank you for taking us along to the London Library, with words
and pictures. Oh goodness, miles of books!? How I long to sit at one of those little wooden
tables, and look through a stack of discoveries.

By: Cherub

Cherub — Sun, 03 Aug 2025 12:55:24 +0000

I would feel privileged if I had access to this, what a beautiful place to browse and be able to read in.

Before I moved to London in 1984, whilst still living in Scotland I used to love going to my local library for peace and quiet, especially during lengthy period of unemployment. I just loved the old fashioned huge oak bookshelves and the smell of the books; the huge oak tables and chairs in the reading room. After I moved back to Scotland in 2004 I was dismayed to find a modernised interior with white flatpack bookshelves and a reading room full of modular furniture. The council eventually closed it and it’s now luxury flats!

Now I’m in Switzerland, the public library system where I am is run by a charity and membership is not free. We often take things like libraries for granted in Britain.

By: achim

achim — Sun, 03 Aug 2025 12:38:11 +0000

Yes, the libraries! Those were the days when people went into them to expand their knowledge. Slipcases and microfilms were the media you had to move around. Today, it all goes even further: Digital and AI are available.

One of the best articles from the GA! I don’t need to say anything else: I recognise everything exactly as described here!

Love & Peace
ACHIM

By: Howard Lewis

Howard Lewis — Sun, 03 Aug 2025 12:00:46 +0000

The London Library is a marvel and I have been a member on and off over the years. Although my principal interest is art, the library is a treasure trove of highways and byways and most rewarding if you have the time and inclination to wander off the beaten track!

By: Pam Thomas

Pam Thomas — Sun, 03 Aug 2025 10:00:19 +0000

I joined the London Library more than 40 years ago, when I was in my early 30s and just embarking on my writing career. As I was shown round on my first visit, I suspected that I was probably the youngest person there by about 30 years! I’ve been a member ever since, though now it’s as a cheaper ‘remote’ subscription, with books posted to me and complete access to their online resources, because I live outside London and don’t visit very often. I do miss those wonderful stacks, the labyrinthine layers of book upon book, the smell of old leather and worn pages, the joy of coming across something very useful that you didn’t even know existed, and then taking your haul to the Reading Room and perusing them at leisure before deciding which to borrow. I do like their embracing of modern technology – yes, those huge old red leather volumes of catalogues were splendid, but not exactly user-friendly! And the shelving arrangements take a bit of getting used to – the ‘Science’ section seems to be a catch-all for anything that doesn’t fit in anywhere else. Slavery? Gardening? Women? Really? It’s confusing, idiosyncratic, in some respects hopelessly old-fashioned. But over my writing life it’s been one of the most valuable resources for research, and the subscription has saved me a fortune in books I don’t need to buy.