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Where the books were written, set, sold, printed and buried: from the Globe to the graves, the bookshops to the presses.
This season's book talks, festivals and exhibitions are in What's On: Books & writers
A free library of London's radicals, protests and everyday lives, in Townsend's 1895 building by Liverpool Street.
Libraries & archivesGo insideFree
Charles Harrison Townsend designed it, as he did the Whitechapel Gallery and the Horniman, and it opened in 1895 as a library and lecture hall for the East End; the library's special collections have grown into the record of London from below - the labour and co-operative movements, the Lesbian and Gay Newsmedia Archive and Switchboard's papers, protest banners and placards, feminist and humanist archives, and the diaries, photographs and flyers of ordinary Londoners. Anyone can ask to see them, and the Great Hall upstairs still holds the talks.
| Monday | 10:00 – 17:00 |
|---|---|
| Tuesday | 10:00 – 17:00 |
| Wednesday | 10:00 – 20:00 |
| Thursday | 10:00 – 17:00 |
| Friday | 10:00 – 17:00 |
| Saturday | Closed |
| Sunday | Closed |
Hours from the page that lists them, checked 5 September 2026.
Researchers' Area hours; no membership needed, material is read on site. The Reading Room opens most Mondays and Fridays.
Submit a correction for this listing.
Data is compiled from public sources including OpenStreetMap, under the ODbL. Hours change often, so check before making a journey.