Westminster Reference Library is a reference library in St Martin's Street, London, in the

City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and London boroughs, borough in Inner London. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It occupies a large area of cent ...

, part of the Westminster Libraries network.

History

The library was opened by W. Foxley Norris, dean of Westminster, on 8 October 1928 to replace the former library of the parish of St Martin in the Fields. The Leicester Fields chapel, built by the Huguenots in 1693, was once located on the site. Isaac Newton lived on a house on the site from 1710 to 1727, and later the house was occupied by the novelist Fanny Burney. The cellars of the house are part of the current building. The library was designed by the architect

A. N. Prentice Andrew Noble Prentice (20 April 1866 - 23 December 1941) was a British architect. Family He was born on 20 April 1866 in Greenock, the son of Thomas Prentice (1830 - 1908) and Jessie Mcalpine (b 1829). He died on 23 December 1941 in Llandudno ...

for Westminster City Council, and built by Walden & Company of Reading. It was modified in the 1950s and 1980s.

Collections

In addition to a general reference collection, the library has specialist fine art and performing arts, business and law collections. Since 2021 the library has also been home to the Westminster Music Library collection, which was formerly based at Victoria Library. Westminster Music Library is one of the largest public music libraries in the UK, holding a wide range of sheet music, scores, and books about music. The library also loans telescopes.

Events and exhibitions

Outside of library opening hours the library has hosted many events and concerts including Telemachus,

Sea Power Command of the sea (also called control of the sea or sea control) is a naval military concept regarding the strength of a particular navy to a specific naval area it controls. A navy has command of the sea when it is so strong that its rivals ...

, Mr Hudson and The Library,

Polar Bear The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the largest extant bear specie ...

Harry Keyworth Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...

, Chisara Agor,

Piney Gir Piney Gir (pronounced "gear"), often shortened to Piney, is an American musician and singer, born in Kansas but based in London, England since 1998. She has released seven studio albums. Piney's musical style is predominately edgy indie-pop, ...

and

The Real Tuesday Weld The Real Tuesday Weld are a British band, founded in 1999 by lead singer and producer Stephen Coates, who studied at the Royal College of Art. They have released several albums, many singles and EPs, and many tracks on compilations. Their comb ...

. The library also has art exhibition spaces. A corner of Westminster reference library (48881853812)

References

External links

*https://www.westminster.gov.uk/library-opening-hours-and-contact-details Libraries in the City of Westminster Grade II listed buildings in the City of Westminster Public libraries in London {{London-struct-stub