RIBA Architecture Study Rooms, Victoria and Albert Museum
Entry to all the British Architectural Library's sites and collections is free and everyone is welcome. The admissions requirements will vary depending on which site and collection you wish to visit.
Visitor notice: From now until 2014, due to the construction of a new permanent gallery at 66 Portland Place, there will be substantially reduced access to the Photographs Collection. Some books and journals will be available by advanced request only. Temporary opening hours for the Library's Reading Room will operate from now to the end of May 2013. For further details go to Library news|.
Summary
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Reading Room/
Books and
Periodicals Collection/
Polychrome Lens exhibition
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Photographs Collection
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Study Rooms/
Drawings and Archives Collections
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Entry
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Free
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Free
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Free
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Photographic ID
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Required
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Required
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Not required
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Appointment needed?
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No, except for offsite material.
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Yes. Please book before your visit.
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No
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Use of cameras and mobiles
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Not allowed
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Not allowed
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Not allowed
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Lockers available for visitors?
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Yes, free of charge.
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Yes, free of charge.
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Yes, free of charge.
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Can materials be requested in advance?
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Recommended. Some items are held in stores and collected by staff for visitors at specific times only or require advanced notice.
Not applicable to the temporary exhibition.
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Essential. All items are collected by staff for visitors before all booked appointments.
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Recommended. All items are collected by staff for visitors at set times from stores.
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Please read the additional information below for each site and collection you require before your visit.
Collections:
From now until April 2014 there will be reduced access| to parts of the Books and Periodicals Collection
Location: Reading Room, RIBA, 66 Portland Place, London
Entry: Entry is free. For access to the Reading Room, members of the RIBA must bring their RIBA membership card. Access to non-RIBA members is on production of proof of identity, which must contain a photograph, e.g. passport, driving licence, student university ID, British Library or National Archives Network card.
Bags: Bags cannot be brought into the Reading Room. Most items may be stored in lockers which are free of charge - the keys are available from the enquiry desk. Please note that there are no facilities to store overly large items or bags.
Personal photography: The use of mobile phones, cameras and recording equipment is not allowed inside the Reading Room.
Personal equipment: Visitors can only use pencil or laptops to make notes near items from the Early Imprints Collection| of rare books. The use of ink or pens is not allowed near these items.
Access to material: Most material from this collection is available either on open shelves or is retrievable on request if stored in non-public areas. Only RIBA members may borrow books from the Loan Library|.
Access to offsite material (15 April 2013 - April 2014): Due to work to build a new exhibition gallery at 66 Portland Place, some items from this collection have been moved and will be available by appointment only or will not be accessible.
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Location or shelfmark (indicated in the online catalogue|)
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Current access
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77 Portland Place, BASEMENT, BOX, Pamphlet or AV
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Advanced appointment
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SP-COLL
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Special request
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HANDLEY-READ
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No access
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Books and periodicals that require an advanced appointment are available to visitors via the Reading Room (66 Portland Place), but all requests must be received before any visit with the following length of notice:
To consult these items please fill in the 'Closed Access Request form' and email the completed form to info@riba.org| . Please mark your email 'Closed Access Request'.
For conservation reasons any books or periodicals with the location 'SP-COLL' can only be seen by special request. All items with the location 'HANDLEY-READ' will be unavailable due to the fragility of the material.
Photographs Collection
From now until March 2014 there will be substantially reduced access| to the Photographs Collection
Location: Reading Room, RIBA, 66 Portland Place, London
Entry: Entry is free For access to the Reading Room, members of the RIBA must bring their RIBA membership card. Access to non-RIBA members is on production of proof of identity, which must contain a photograph, e.g. passport, driving licence, student university ID, British Library or National Archives Network card.
Bags: Bags cannot be brought into the Reading Room. Most items may be stored in lockers which are free of charge - the keys are available from the enquiry desk. Please note that there are no facilities to store overly large items or bags.
Personal photography: The use of mobile phones, cameras and recording equipment is not allowed inside the Reading Room.
Access to material: Material from this collection is fetched from an environmentally-controlled store before being made available to users on arrival. To view material it is therefore essential that an appointment is made by contacting the team at the Photographs Collection on +44 (0)20 7307 3710/3684 (phone line open Monday - Friday 9.30am - 5.30pm) or by emailing Photo@riba.org| before any visit.
Location: RIBA Architecture Study Rooms, Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Entry: Entry to the Study Rooms is free.
Bags: Before coming into the Study Rooms, visitors must leave all coats and bags in cloakrooms which are provided free of charge within the museum. The nearest cloakroom is located on Level 0 of the Sackler Centre, another cloakroom is available near the Grand Entrance on Cromwell Road.
Personal photography: The use of mobile phones, cameras and recording equipment is not allowed inside the Study Rooms.
Access to material: Material from these collections are held in stores and made available on request to visitors. Requested items are fetched from the stores at set times from Tuesday – Friday: 10.15am, 11.45am, 2pm and 3.15pm. Alternatively you can request material in advance by telephoning the Study Rooms on +44 (0)20 7307 3708 (phone line open Tuesday - Friday 10am - 5pm) or by emailing drawings&archives@riba.org| .
Visitors can bring pencils, paper and laptop computers to make notes (ink is not allowed).
Readers are asked to read and sign the reader information form before requesting to view any material from the Drawings and Archives Collections.