Bring your curiosity to the table
Get up close to one of the world’s greatest collections of print, typography and design history. Everyone is welcome: whether you’re coming for research, a passion project, or simple curiosity.
:format(webp))
:format(webp))
How to book a Reading Room visit
Our reading room is open every Wednesday, 12:00-3:00 pm and 3:30-6:30 pm.
See 'How to choose material' below for resources you can use to search our collections. We will need to know the title, date, and accession or reference number for each thing you want to see.
Email us the items from the catalogue you want to see, along with when you plan to visit. We need 48 hours’ notice, and recommend no more than 10 items per booking.
We charge a £1 retrieval fee per item. This applies to the majority of the collections - marked CLOSED ACCESS - aside from the books available to browse on the reading room shelves.
A photography permit is £5 for the day.
Please be aware that our reading room will be closed the 23 and 30 December and 6 January for Christmas. We will reopen on Wednesday 13 January.
:format(webp))
How to choose material
Our books, periodicals and type specimens are catalogued and searchable online
We have developed Collection Guides explaining the different categories of material that we hold, including tips for how to search them.
You are the expert in what you are looking for and therefore will be the best person to search our online catalogue. However, parts of our catalogue have not been digitised or are in a format we cannot easily put online. We are happy to look through these lists for other material which might be useful to you.
:format(webp))
Useful information
Please handle items with clean, dry hands. They're often old, delicate, and irreplaceable. If you're unsure please ask.
If you cannot visit in person or would like higher resolution images of anything you can purchase copies of our collections for personal use.
If you would like to reuse images of our collections, in general we only charge for non-educational or commercial use.
Planning to visit the Foundation?
Find us off Fleet Street on Bride Lane. We’re the red-brick Victorian building – you can’t miss us.