Thanks to the generosity of all those who have supported the project, we have secured the required funds to commence building works for Phase One of the Library's Building Connections project. We are aiming to start the building works in late July in order to be complete by the end of December 2025.

The new room on the ground floor will be a permanent, dedicated space for a wide variety of uses that focus on our public benefit remit as a charity, such as sixth-form school visits, meetings of our Emerging Writers, exhibitions and displays, and workshops with other charitable organisations. It will provide a venue for our member special interest groups to meet in, as well as hosting speaker events, discussions, and trustee meetings, and will also be available for private hire.

In addition to this, Phase One includes creating a basement kitchen, which will enable our event caterers to stop using the Study as a field kitchen and provide a consolidated storage area for our catering supplies.

Phase One will involve work in small, contained areas of the building, away from main reading rooms and most of the collection. The Library and its architects have long experience in keeping the Library open during works and keeping disruption to a minimum and this remains a priority.

We are pleased to announce that we have appointed Sykes and Son as our contractor for our building works on Phase One of the Building Connections project - the repurposing of old offices into a new room on the ground floor and the creation of a basement kitchen.

Sykes and Son are a highly respected firm with a long experience of working in heritage buildings such as the British Museum, Kensington Palace, St Paul’s Cathedral, the Old Bailey, and Fishmongers’ Hall. They are used to situations where the building remains open for use during the works. Sykes and Son have also been the Library’s maintenance contractor for the last ten years and are very familiar with our building and the importance we place on maintaining a clean and quiet environment for our members.

We currently expect the works to begin in the week commencing 4 August, enabling us to take advantage of the quieter period in the Library over summer and keep any inconvenience to a minimum

Please continue to check this website for updates as plans progress including more detailed information about the plans, designs and building works, as well as our FAQs page for more information.