Inside the Special Collections Reading Room at George IV Bridge.
Free WiFi is available in all George IV Bridge reading rooms and public areas.
Hard-copy collections
Most of our collections are not out on the shelves so you will need to pre-order material before you visit.
We have a range of reference material available to use within the reading room. These include:
- Specialist catalogues of other organisations' collections.
- Third-party catalogues of our own collections.
- Facsimiles of some manuscripts.
- Manuscript indexes.
- Accession inventories.
- Reference works.
- Dictionaries.
Study spaces and equipment
The Special Collections Reading Room has seating for 38 people.
You are welcome to use a portable device in the Reading Room and there are power points for charging. We also provide:
- Computers with access to the Library's online catalogues and resources.
- Assistive technologies. A full list is available on our accessibility page.
- A digital microform reader.
- Infrared, ultraviolet, and cold light sources.
- Conservation book-cradles, cushions, and weights.
Please check with staff if you want to bring in any other equipment.
Consultation room
This room has equipment for listening to audio material and a Yamaha P125 keyboard for playing music.
You can book this room for groups of up to four people.
If you are interested in using this room, please get in touch via our online enquiry form to discuss booking it.