Religious Society of Friends in Britain (Quakers)

City/town

London

address

Friends House, Euston Road, London NW1 2BJ

Telephone

020 7663 1135

Alternative Names

LSF

Contact & Job Title

Libby Adams, Head of Library and Archives

Purpose & main user community of the library

Members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), academic researchers and members of the public

Terms of access

On completion of reader registration form with proof of identification & address. 50 year rule on archival material

Opening hours

Tuesday–Friday 10.00 – 17.00. The Library has an annual closed week in the autumn and is closed between Christmas and New Year.

Disabled access

The Library is on the ground floor of an accessible building; most of the Reading Room is accessible but there are books on high shelves.

Lending to other libraries & visitors

Some books can be borrowed by registered readers. The Library does not do interlibrary loans.

Number of volumes

c 98,000

Periodicals – Back Issues

c 2,300

Current Periodicals

150

Other materials

Microfilms; paintings, photographs and sculpture by Quaker artists, costume and textiles, lantern slides, maps, posters, artefacts – viewed only by prior appointment

Volumes added per year

c. 250 books and 1400 pamphlets

Coverage

Quakerism; C17 theology; peace; conscientious objection; anti-slavery; international relations; relief work

Special Collections

Richard Richardson Collection (16th-17th century printed books); Hawkins Collection (17th-18th century books and pamphlets); bound tract volumes (17th-20th century); Anti-slavery pamphlets collection (18th-19th century)

Manuscripts

The central records of London/Britain Yearly Meeting, Quaker meeting records for the London and Middlesex area, and archives of Quaker individuals, families and organisations from the 17th century to the present day. These include various collections of the papers of early Friends, such as the Swarthmore Mss, and more recent collections such as the archives of the Friends Ambulance Unit in World War I and World War II.

Research resource

Major library on Quakerism in the UK and internationally, holding the chief sources of early Quaker history and the central archives of the Society of Friends in the UK.

Catalogue Type

Computer, card and typescript handlists

URL of catalogue
Other facilities

Photocopying of printed material under 100 years old

Full Time Staff

4

Part Time Staff

4

Changes in next five years affecting the above

Retrospective cataloguing of printed collections is on-going