Religious Society of Friends in Britain (Quakers)

Last updated 9th February 2020
Name of library Religious Society of Friends in Britain (Quakers) 
Address Friends House, Euston Road, London NW1 2BJ 
Telephone  020 7663 1135
Fax  
E-mail  library@quaker.org.uk
Website  http://www.quaker.org.uk
Alternative names LSF
Contact & Job Title Libby Adams, Head of Library and Archives
Purpose & main user community of the library Members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), academic researchers and members of the public
Terms of access On completion of reader registration form with proof of identification & address. 50 year rule on archival material 
Opening hours Tuesday-Friday 10.00 – 17.00. The Library has an annual closed week in the autumn and is closed between Christmas and New Year.
Disabled access The Library is on the ground floor of an accessible building; most of the Reading Room is accessible but there are books on high shelves.
Lending to other libraries & visitors Some books can be borrowed by registered readers. The Library does not do interlibrary loans. 
Number of volumes c 98,000
Periodicals – Back Issues c 2,300
Current Periodicals  150
Other materials Microfilms; paintings, photographs and sculpture by Quaker artists, costume and textiles, lantern slides, maps, posters, artefacts – viewed only by prior appointment
Volumes added per year c. 250 books and 1400 pamphlets
Coverage Quakerism; C17 theology; peace; conscientious objection; anti-slavery; international relations; relief work 
Special Collections Richard Richardson Collection (16th-17th century printed books); Hawkins Collection (17th-18th century books and pamphlets); bound tract volumes (17th-20th century); Anti-slavery pamphlets collection (18th-19th century)
Manuscripts The central records of London/Britain Yearly Meeting, Quaker meeting records for the London and Middlesex area, and archives of Quaker individuals, families and organisations from the 17th century to the present day. These include various collections of the papers of early Friends, such as the Swarthmore Mss, and more recent collections such as the archives of the Friends Ambulance Unit in World War I and World War II.
Research resource Major library on Quakerism in the UK and internationally, holding the chief sources of early Quaker history and the central archives of the Society of Friends in the UK.
Catalogue Type Computer, card and typescript handlists
URL of catalogue  http://www.quaker.org.uk/catalogue
Other facilities Photocopying of printed material under 100 years old
Full Time Staff  4
Part Time Staff  4
Voluntary Staff  
Changes in next five years affecting the above  Retrospective cataloguing of printed collections is on-going
Anything else about the library