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Senate House Library

Exhibitions

The Library runs free exhibitions and events throughout the year.

Find details of current and past exhibitions.

Current exhibition

Spineless Wonders: The Power of Print Unbound

Open now until Saturday 15 November 2025. Monday to Friday 09:00-19:00, Saturday 09:45-17:00.

Learn more about the exhibition

Online exhibitions

In the Grip of Change: the Caribbean and its British diaspora

Trace the journey from colony to independence and diaspora through Senate House Library’s Caribbean and Black history collections - now available as an online exhibition

Find out more about the online exhibition

Seized Books!

In 1984, London's Gay's the Word book shop was raided by HM Customs and Excise, seizing LGBTQ+ books & charging staff. A public fight for LGBT rights ensued.

Find out more about the online exhibition

Previous exhibitions

In the Grip of Change: the Caribbean and its British Diaspora

Trace the journey from colony to independence and diaspora through Senate House Library’s Caribbean and Black history collections - now available as an online exhibition

Shakespeare’s First Folios: a 400-year journey

Find out more about Senate House Library's exciting new exhibition, Shakespeare’s First Folios: a 400-year journey.

Senate House Library 150

We are celebrating 150 years since Senate House Library's founding collections were established with this online exhibition of featured treasures.

Childhood in Dickensian London

Free exhibition - Childhood in Dickensian London (20 January - 20 June 2020)

Reformation

Reformation
26 Jun - 15 Dec 2017

Radical Voices

16 Jan - 19 May 2017

Utopia and Dystopia

03 Oct - 17 Dec 2016

Shakespeare: Metamorphosis

14 Apr - 17 Sep 2016

Not with words but with things

18 Jan - 22 Mar 2016

Illumination

28 Sep - 19 Dec 2015

Writing in Times of Conflict

This exhibition showcased the power of words to achieve peace and reconciliation over the last 100 years.

Staging Magic

The exhibition features stories from over 400 years of magic, in the form of sleight of hand (legerdemain) and stage illusions.

Rights for Women

This exhibition explored some of the famous and lesser-known stories of over 50 women pioneers.

Queer Between the Covers

Queer Between the Covers explored over 250 years of queer literature.

Visiting the Library

How to find Senate House Library, public transport and accessibility information.

Digital galleries

Discover Senate House Library's unique collections with our digital galleries.

Collections

Find out about the wealth of printed and digital collections available to Library members, plus the support offered by our librarians.

Senate House Library blog

Blog posts on a broad range of subjects relating to the collections at Senate House Library, and in support of our exhibitions and events.