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The Reading Room

Photograph of a museum gallery space with free standing book shelves, wooden chairs, framed artworks on the wall and a red staircase in the distance. Standing in the centre of the image is a man in a pink shirt wearing a yellow face covering. He is looking at a framed artwork on the wall. Next to him is a woman in a stripy jacket, also wearing a face covering. She is also looking at the artworks and has her arms raised as if in conversation.
The Reading Room, Steven Pocock. Source: Wellcome Collection. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).

Visit the Reading Room to hang out in a safe and comfortable space and find inspiration in the array of books, artworks and objects on display.

We’ve made some changes to keep us all safe, so there will be fewer interactive activities than before, but there are still plenty of things to see and enjoy.

There are loads of books and objects for you to discover, grouped in different themes around the room, including travel, pain and the body. On the shelves you will find over 1,000 different titles, featuring fiction, memoirs, graphic novels, magazines and even pop-up books. You will need to place all books in the quarantine trolleys provided after use. Find out more about how we're keeping you safe.

Enjoy this informal place to sit and discuss the books and objects, or just to relax.

You can also hire the Reading Room for your own private events out of hours.