Revised opening hours for 2010
From 5 January 2010 and for the foreseeable future, the Library will be closed to personal visitors on Mondays and Thursdays. On Tuesdays the Library will now close at 5pm. This is due to staff shortages in the current economic climate. We will continue to answer enquiries received by telephone or email on these days. The Library will remain open on Saturday mornings until 1.30pm.
The Members Information Lines will continue to operate Monday - Friday 9.30am - 5pm.
The RIBA Architecture Study Rooms at the Victoria and Albert Museum will no longer open on Saturdays.
The RIBA will keep this position under review and trusts that this reduction in opening hours will not significantly inconvenience members and other users of this important and valuable collection.
November 2009
New learning and teaching resources from the Hackney MLA Project
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This new online educational resource offers an insight into the fascinating history of Hackney and how to uncover the past of your local area. Listen to interviews of local residents and view images from the Hackney Archives and the RIBA.
Students and teachers can now download online resources| based on the collections of the RIBA and Hackney Archives. These have been designed for use in the classroom or for independent learning.
September 2009
Listen to the Pidgeon Digital collection of illustrated talks by architects
Members of RIBA can now access the growing collection of illustrated talks by architects and designers, provided by Pidgeon Digital. Recently added recordings include Will Alsop, Renzo Piano and Cecil Balmond. The Pidgeon Digital collection can be accessed in person at the RIBA British Architectural Library, 66 Portland Place|, London.
January 2009
Palladio and Britain online exhibition
The RIBA British Architectural Library has the greatest collection of Palladio drawings in the world. Once owned by Inigo Jones and Lord Burlington, and numbering over 330, these drawings are key documents in the history of British architecture and the evolution of Palladianism worldwide.
Palladianism was essentially the work of Palladio seen through Inigo Jones’s eyes and adapted for a colder climate and a different social system. His reinterpretation of Palladio was exported back to Europe and to the British Empire and it became the most important style in 18th and early 19th century America.
From 7 October until 17 January 2010, 62 of Andrea Palladio's original drawings from the RIBA British Architectural Library's collection are on loan to the CaixaForum Madrid|. A further selection of 31 drawings will form part of an exhibition on Palladio and Palladianism in America to be shown at the Pierpont Morgan Library and Museum, New York, between April and July 2010
Discover the full extent of the RIBA Library's collection, its influence, and conservation with this new, and developing web resource at our Palladio Online Exhibitions|.
January 2008
RIBA British Architectural Library: free public access from 2 January 2008
Members of the public can now access the RIBA Library at 66 Portland Place, London free of charge for reference purposes.
Since its establishment with the RIBA in 1834, the Library has been almost wholly funded by members. In October 2005 it was recognised as having outstanding national and international importance under the Designation Scheme by The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA). The scheme recognises that organisations with designated collections care for a significant part of England's cultural heritage.
Access to non-RIBA members is now free on production of photographic proof of identity; e.g. passport, driving licence, student university ID, British Library or National Archives Network card.
View the library visiting hours|.