Tours of the London Library

The London Library is running guided tours of its rooms on Monday 16 November and Monday 14 December, both starting at 6:00pm. It's one of the world's largest independent lending libraries, and these are monthly evening walk-throughs of the building itself, rather than a talk or a lecture.

To give you a sense of the scale, the collection runs to a million volumes across 17 miles of shelving. It's an independent lending library, so it's not a public one — it's a private institution with its own membership, and these tours are one of the few ways to see inside if you aren't a member. The library describes itself as a literary oasis in the heart of the capital, and the tours take you through the rooms where all those books are kept, so you get to see the actual shelves and the space they fill.

Booking is essential, and the tours run on Monday evenings, so they're a good way to spend a start-of-the-week night in town. The library is at 14 St James's Square, St James's, London SW1Y 4LG, right in the middle of St James's. Tickets are £16.00, and with the two dates — Monday 16 November and Monday 14 December, both at 6:00pm — you can pick whichever fits your calendar best.