The British Library Reviews

The wifi access is absolutely terrible. It is impossible to get anything done here.

Great public library though you need to register a genuine interest to use it

A treasure, just to back able to access all the medical literature is a gift so precious. A great place.

Fantastic library, good choice of books, I would have given them 5 stars if they had computers members of the public could access. Although Wi-Fi access is provided you have to bring your own laptop

Great place to visit. Beautiful library. Nice courtyard for taking a it of time off.

Attended events here too - no surprise that rooms are named after famous authors.

Definitely worth a visit. The gigantic bookshelf is amazing and the atmosphere is so nice.

Had the worst experience there. I wanted to be a reader so I made an account, and on their site it said everything s online at the moment(cuz of COVID) and I just had to book a study space if I wanted to visit. I went there, waited for half an hour to get in, and they didn t let me in as I didn t have a reader s pass, and when I asked them how can I get a readers pass if everything s online, they didn t know the answer. Furthermore they said I can only book a reading room if I request books, which wasn t mentioned anywhere online. Won t be going back there anymore.

Very good place to visit especially for days out and families.

Visited free cat exhibition on Thursday. Really food selection of books written about cats - both fiction and non fiction ... though there was noted exceptions like Street Cat Named Bob, Garfield and the ginger cat in Harry Potter. Great bookshop though original prices so expensive.

A bibliophile's dream, and reason enough to live in London. Quite possibly my favourite place in London. There's always a free exhibit and if you get there early enough, a space to study of read for non members.

The staff are friendly and try and help as much as they can.

The Harry Potter exhibition is spectacular! So much to read but it is fascinating! Especially reading the annotated drafts!

If one day I will live in London, surely I will go there reading or writing whenever I could. It's a very peaceful place.

Great place. In the treasures of BL you can find manuscripts from Beatles, Mozart, Henry VIII, among other others.

Huge library and by far one of my very favorites libraries in London . This place is like a paradise for me . They have so many drama and comic options is fascinating.

Pages from Leonardo da Vinci's notebook. Jane Austen's writing desk. Free entry. Do I need to say more?

Having studied in lots of libraries, this is among my favourites, not only for the organised service but also the ambience. This is in many ways a fountain of knowledge and fantastic if you are able to use it for your research.

I liked the library, it is the largest library I have ever seen

It is truly a privilege to see original copies of great documents and diaries. For a tourist, this is remarkable.

WOW. Visited first time. Love it. Spent hours here. Such a nice place so sit and chill and see people doing their own thing. Lovely clean beautiful place.

It's a great free attraction, a really good retreat to relax and view an exhibit, read, or grab a bite to eat or drink.

I have been meaning to go here for ages and finally have. Wow what a beautiful library, even just to take a look at the stunning display of books. With an amazing collection that is always on display in a variety of exhibitions particularly love the British Library Treasures. This is a library and museum of books. Particularly nice shop!

I loved it here; perfect location, great staff and awesome facilities; you have everything to study or work in a very productive environment.

a wonderful building to have a look at. when we went there was an alice in wonderland exhibit which was really interesting. you need to obtain a pass to get through to the actual library with books. there's cafes and study desks that are available with charging points.

if you're interested in philately - within 2 hours you will see the largest collections of the most valuable exhibits

Unmissable on a visit to London! The living room on the ground floor with old books is really amazing

Just never had this experience in the libraries of any other countries. A staff at the registration office talking what they want instead of what would be relevant to the user. Security guards wasting their time going through the user's own books.

A sprawling building with a very rich design, I could spend hours looking at it! Great reading halls and studying spaces. Staff is very helpful. Read online how to get registered and order a book.

Very informing on certain subjects and vague otherwise.

Love this place especially when I am working out of office and have to catch up on skype meetings or emails, i get to log on here. Also reminds me of way back to my uni days with my friends studying here. This place has not changed at all.

Went here to see the Magna Carta and other historical texts in the free public gallery. Very cool. I especially liked the maps.

oho this was a stupendous experience. oh i read all about the computers in this fine establishment.. well pip pip cheerio im going to beat my kids

Very beautiful building with free exhibits inside. A good way to start a visit to London

Excellent free exhibition of Treasures of the British Library. Early books, early bibles, Islamic, Hindu and Buddhist texts, Magna Carta, Papal bull overturning Magna Carta less than 3 months later. Leonardo da Vinci architectural and mathematical drawings. Dim lighting to protect the documents. No photography.

The Bookshelf's are massive (3 floors high) but they are only for display. The main book collection is underground with 150 million books. The reading rooms are massive and peaceful to do all sorts of work in. The only problem I have is the subjects. They have specific rooms for subjects and there's no Maths or even English. But overall, Fantastic place

Incredible place where we can see historical and important documents, ancient texts, maps, objects, a real dive into the past.

The British Library is comprised of three Floors. It has one restaurant and tuckshop to buy food and there are 5 reading rooms. Outside of the Reading Rooms are spaces to study and also to use your laptop. The library is very quiet and suitable to anyone that loves reading and being with people that are like minded.

The most wonderful library. If you're thinking of starting a business, they have fantastic resources.

Easy to join and access reference books. Very friendly and helpful staff. Can t wait to revisit when out of lockdown.

The Library is open to everyone who has a need to use its collections. Anyone with a permanent address who wishes to carry out research can apply for a Reader Pass; they are required to provide proof of signature and address.

Building itself is lovely but library disappointing. No access to see books without a card. Punk rock exhibition very disappointing. 99 per cent of people using laptops , only 1 using a book. Surely that's the whole point of going to a library.

An amazing space.....exhibitions to die for, great archive, cafe and all round good cerebral egg.

I've been to two of the rotating exhibits and they are very well done. Permanent display of historically significant books is impressive as well.

One of London's gems. They hold great exhibitions & talks. You can hold a Readers Ticket. I've been a member for several years & I think it's a great place.

A place where a lot of tourists would miss. Entry is free of charge.

The Sir John Ritblat Treasures of the British Library Gallery contains treasures such as 2 copies of the Gutenberg Bible, Codex Sinaiticus from the 4th century (one of the two earliest surviving manuscripts into which the full canon of the Christian Bible was copied into one volume), 2 of the 4 exemplifications of the original 1215 Magna Carta, etc.

Love the British library, always so alive with people and books. Really incredible public space with fascinating events and exhibitions.

It s beautiful * I have to sit and drink coffee without a seat ~ Look at the beautiful book

At first I thought it was really a library, but I did n t expect that the places where I read books could not prove that I could n t look in, so I changed the feeling of studying in the study room. It feels better than Hong Kong Central Library

The Treasures of the British Library collection is amazing

Around the middle of this big bookcase is really shocking, London is worth visiting. After coming out, there are many literary youths.

The Treasures of the British Library is a must see exhibition. I almost cried when I saw some first editions. From Jane Austen, Mary Shelley, and Shakespeare to famous composers, the Beatles and the Bible. Free and amazing. Can't wait to visit again.

Free! Where to see Magna Carta, Beatles lyrics, Shakespeare poem and a Gutenberg Bible (plus more!).

Great museum! Easy to get stuck here. Great architecture and complement to St Pancras.

Love this.place. a lot of individual seat. Unbelievable confronted.

Love going through the museum at this awesome library. So many neat historical documents to view.

A treasure trove! I love that the museums in London are mostly free to visit and the British Library is no exception. There is a 'treasures' collection that can be viewed every day and there really are some wonderful historic documents from More

The library has everything you could possibly want, and in my experience the staff are extremely reliable. They have a clear, functional online ordering system. The food at the library, however, is incredibly expensive. Take your culinary custom elsewhere!

The ceiling on the side of the cafe is really high. A place to relax in a quiet place.

NOT FOR WORK. Beautiful space but nowhere to get work done. Very little seating and extremely loud/crowded. Cafe forces you to buy something to sit then doesn t let you use any electronics.

Great for super quiet study/ work, achieved so much work in the time spent in the reading rooms. Good start up/ tech events and advice.

An excellent place for study. It has wifi (eduroam) and is very close to King's Cross station.

Superb library, accessible to all. Very interesting shop. Many places to land.

An interesting place and definitely worth a visit. If you're more interested than I am in this kind of thing you'd probably love it. I still think it's a very useful and important thing for the society to have.

Beautiful library! Wish I had more time to spend here. Love the little exhibit they have with displays of Jane Austen's desk and writing.

Great social distancing and setup, as always amazing.

is one of the best and largest libraries in the world, it is worth a visit and spend a few hours to be filled with culture

Not bad. I went there specifically for co-working space, of which are is a lot of - which was pleasantly surprising but I would get there earlier than later because these spots do get snapped up quickly and the people generally won't move More