Please explain the local library system in London, England

10/3/2016 10:35:10 AM

The previous two answers are correct regarding the library system in the UK, but I feel I should warn you about the requirements about joining a library.

You usually have to be a permanent resident and proof will be needed to join a library, receive a library card and checkout (loan) books.

The City of Westminster requirements to join a library require you to bring along proof of address such as:

  • a recent utilities bill (last six months)
  • rent/child benefit/pension book
  • current driving licence
  • bank/credit card statement (last six months)
  • building society book.

You can still use the facilities of libraries if you are not a member, but you will be not be able to loan out any books. For Westminster libraries your grandparents may qualify for a short stay membership, but I am not sure what library benefits that will give them.

10/1/2016 3:12:32 PM

1.) Yes, every borough has, in most cases, more than one library.

2.) Here is a list of all the libraries in London: http://www.allinlondon.co.uk/directory/1272.php

3.) The City of London is just one of London’s 33 local authority districts, but it’s the only one that’s not a borough (it has been administered separately since around the 9th century). But, just like all other districts, it too has libraries (see here: http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/services/libraries-and-archives/our-libraries/Pages/default.aspx).

4.) As the previous answer stated, for libraries within the London Libraries Consortium, it’s possible to do interlibrary loans, but else it’s not.

10/1/2016 2:40:39 PM

  1. Aye and many.

  2. Here’s a map of the London Libraries Consortium libraries.

  3. City of London libraries

  4. The London Libraries Consortium has 14 boroughs but not all of them so it’s highly doubtful it’s doable (or if doable then feasible) to do interlibrary operations outside of these 14. Within these 14 “able to borrow and return items to any libraries”.

Credit:stackoverflow.com

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