Directory and guide to the history and collections of independent subscription libraries.

One of the world's oldest and most famous libraries at Oxford University.

The bfi National Library provides access to a large collection of documentation and information on film and television.

Lending library of hand made wooden jigsaw puzzles. 3,500 puzzles in current circulation. The club has been in existence since 1933.

A free service to allow you to find out what material is held in the major Reference and Document Supply collections of the British Library.

Access to 10.5 million articles from 20,000 premier journals, 2.5 million conference papers, 10,000 new articles daily. Search and order directly over the Web and receive articles within two hours.

The British Library's Online Information Server. Includes: Blaise - bibliographic records provided by the major departments of the British Library, including Humanities and Social Sciences, the Science Reference and Information Service, Oriental and India Office Collections, Music, Maps and the Document Supply Centre. Gabriel - the information server for Europe's National Libraries and the full text of the Magna Carta.

Unified access to the catalogues of some of the largest university research libraries in the UK and Ireland.

Centre for the Study of Early English Women's Writing, 1600-1830, in Jane Austen's former home. Online texts, history and access.

Founded in 1653 in Manchester, England and open free of charge. History, list of manuscripts and online catalogue.

Index of family history resources held by public libraries in Britain and Ireland

A law library for Inner Temple members and for barrister members of the other Inns of Court. Includes a history of the Inner Temple.

Also known as the British Library of Political and Economic Science. Description of facilities, special collections and archives, and online catalogue.

The oldest subscription library in Britain. History of the library and the village, photographs and information for visitors.

Directory with summary information arranged geographically and by type of library.

Subscription lending library in London dedicated to Marxism and labour movements. Overview of collections, lecture programme and membership rates.

The national (UK) development agency working for and on behalf of museums, libraries and archives and advising government on policy and priorities for the sector.

The NMBL contains one of the world's major collections of literature on aquatic sciences and fisheries, and acts as a marine biological sciences resource for the UK.

Government site detailing the progress of the government's project to connect all public libraries to the Internet

World's largest public library devoted exclusively to modern poetry. Lost Quotation Noticeboard for when one can't remember what comes next.

Provides information on the PLR Scheme. It provides advice on eligibility, registration and payment from government for the free lending of their books by libraries.

Science Museum Library is a research library, open to the general public for reference. Our collections form a record of scientific, technological and medical change since the eighteenth century

Free educational institution in the Lake District. Bibliographies and artefacts on natural history and local people including Beatrix Potter, Ruskin and the Lake poets.

Book collection dating from 1799 and music library. Events, membership and location map.

Private lending library in London including archives relating to Highgate Village and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Description of collections and lecture programme.

Subscription library founded 1793 with 150,000 books music CDs and opera videos. Provides free public lunchtime concerts and lectures.

Scholarly subscription library in central London collecting principally in the humanities. History, collections, membership information and online catalogue.

A subscription library in Manchester featuring 19th century literature, local school exhibits, artist submissions, and gallery.

An exhaustive list of libraries, compiled by Sheila and Robert Harden with sites that make 'an effort to use the medium imaginatively' marked.

A complete list of library catalogs and indexes, current exhibitions and a digital library. Located in Edinburgh.

Books, maps, manuscripts, archives, bibliography, pictures, and photographs dealing with Welch history and culture. Located in Aberystwyth, Ceredigion.

Library is based in London and is open to visitors. Provides access to catalogues and resources.

History and description of the local history, maritime and geological collections of this English learned society.