Visiting the Library & advice on Coronavirus

From Monday 13 July 2020, Senate House Library will be running a limited on site Click, Collect & Return service. The main Library remains closed and all study spaces, related events and exhibitions have been postponed until further notice, in response to official public health advice.

We will continue to monitor the news and official public health updates daily to tailor our services accordingly, in coordination with the central university. 

We ask that you keep an eye on the latest updates on this page and via our Twitter feed over the coming weeks.

On Site Library Services for members:

Starting 13 July 2020, Senate House Library will operate a Click, Collect & Return service. This will allow members to access thousands of the Library’s books from the open shelves in the Library for study at home while Senate House is closed.   

The service will operate a pick-up and drop off point Monday–Wednesday 11am–3pm every week, from the Ground Floor reception area in the North Block of Senate House.  

This is a collect and return service ONLY. Study spaces remain closed at this time and there is no other onsite access or services for members, such as enquiries, browsing or printing.  

You will be required to wear a face mask and follow health & safety guidance on site to collect/return items. The health and safety of our members and staff is our top priority. 

*This is the only on site service available at this time - access ONLY with email confirmation that your order is ready for collection.

Online Library Services for members:

To mitigate the impact on services and accessibility, we have extended auto-renewals so that 2 week loans renew 10 times and 4 week loans renew 5 times before needing to return the items.

If you have items on loan, you will not be charged any fines for items that are recalled (and non-renewable) during – or immediately after - our closure period.

We also have thousands of online journals and e-resources which you can access through the catalogue remotely (you will need to log on to your library account to do so).

If you have any queries about Library services, please contact us at senatehouselibrary@london.ac.uk. We will continue to monitor all SHL inboxes while the building is closed.

Next week we will be piloting our new WebChat service & launching new online resource guides - watch this space!

Exhibitions & Events:

The onsite exhibition is now closed to the public until further notice. We hope to reopen the Childhood in Dickensian London exhibition (which has been extended until end of November/early Dec - TBC) again later in the year. We do have our online exhibition site so you can still enjoy the image galleries, blogs and videos of the Childhood in Dickensian London exhibition. 

The Dickens's London Legacy Walking Tours will be postponed until another date (to be determined - even if that is some months away). If you would prefer, we can give you a full refund - please select the refund/cancel option directly on the Eventbrite booking page.

Important advice on the Coronavirus:

Last updated: 13 July 2020