Senate House Library

Being a student at UOL is amazing because you get to go into this library for absolutely free. It’s also pretty much essential for my course, because it has an amazing collections of arts and humanities books and is so quiet you could hear a pin drop. I’ve been relying heavily on it for my day to day reading and my coursebooks. If you’re a researcher, this is a great place to go to as well. Just browsing through certain topics can net you a great variety of authors and books on the subject.
Great for a library, but the kind of place you probably want to borrow a book and go and not linger for too long, lest you get lost in the wilderness of books. I’m the sort of person who’d want to borrow everything and would never claw my way out of the book forest. Awesome.

They have a huge collection of historical books which I really required when I was working on one of my historical arts projects. There are also books on academic literature therefore I visit there very often whenever I need to write free academic papers (
). The sitting area is well-​maintained as well.

I go here a lot.
It’s got a huge and usually up-​to-​date collection of books and periodicals, a lot of workspaces with outlets nearby, an efficient stack-​service ordering system, and pretty reliable wifi (unlike the BL).
It’s also really nice and toasty-​warm in the wintertime, which could be a good or bad thing depending on your need for productivity.
The only two gripes I have about this place are a) the fact that it’s on floor four and there are only two (really slow) lifts. I often climb the stairs instead, but they’re a real bitch and I’m all out of breath and sweaty when I get to the library (remember how I said it’s really toasty in here?), and b) the fact that you can only order ten books at a time (although, to be fair, I’ve been allowed twelve once because I’m special. And because I begged).
You may be in a really impersonal and fascist-​looking building, Senate House Library, but you feel like home to me.

I really want to like this library… but I don’t.
Firstly, there should be a sign that indicates that the library is on the 4^th Floor of Senate House. C’mon (in my GOB voice)! And if such a sign exists, then it needs to be bigger for us myopic library patrons.
Secondly, I can’t vibe with the overall musty, old, stately feel of the space. I’m sure these classic library stereotypes are a bibliophile’s dream, but they don’t work for me. I do, however, appreciate how quiet it is. If you need to get on your academic grind, this is the place to do so. Plus, Senate House is located right in the heart of Bloomsbury, which is a beautiful neighborhood.
Pro-​tip: If you attend a university in the University of London system, be sure to set up your eduroam account before coming to Senate House. I had difficulty connecting to the free wifi, but I’m sure that my eduroam credentials would have worked if I had set them up.

I Like Senate House, I do, I can find most books there and the librarians are friendly, it’s rather eerie and quiet but it’s a good place to work, but it can be a bit cramped in places. The reading rooms are very old school library types. The marble flooring echoes when you walk, uh, stomp across it in winter boots. But it’s a massive place, you can technically find everything here. (with a few restrictions, I will eleborate on)
Stack service is a bit rubbish. You need to set aside at least 2 – 3 hours if you want stack service, mainly because they only collect periodicals from years gone by every hour on the hour and because it’s reference only after they’ve decided to take it down from stack service. Of course, we can all try to get that by that time but usually I go when my lectures have finished on the hour, so that means I’d have to wait until the next hour to get whatever I needed. Maybe it’s just me, but I always seem to get there at 20 past and i have to hang around for 40 minutes because there’s no point trekking down 4 flights of stairs. Like I said, reference only so either photocopy or sit in the reading rooms. I live in zone 6, either of those means I spend EVEN more pennies or staying late and then getting home late so work is delayed. Senate House makes me FML all the time.
Also, I know people find it easy to get their books, is it only my course that makes me have to trek about 3 different floors to find a book to realise it’s not there and thus have to apply to the Warburg Institute (Which I will not do, because they’re just pretentious, I HAVE A SENATE HOUSE LIBRARY CARD, IMPERIAL CARD, AND UCL CARD, I need a letter of recommendation too? JOG ON.)

Thank you, Senate House, for being an organized, logically organized library in London where there are many that are not. And thank you for having an intuitive and always functional website and research interface. Thank you, as well, for having useful staff and reliable stacks service. You have your s$^& together. Most appreciated.
Love,
Katie
MMUS Musicology

Big with lots of texts individual uni libraries sometimes don’t have, but not particularly pretty and some bits of it smell like hospital, bizarrely.
I studied English and this place was good for a few extra texts on film, as well as translations of some things my library only had in German.

The library is located in the magnificent Senate House, but with such magnificence comes downfalls. You have to trek up two long flights of stairs, navigate your way through a door and down a hall, and then walk up two more long flights of stairs to get to the library’s entrance. Once inside, the library stacks prove particularly labyrinthine. If you’re an academic, however, you generally get used to your specialist sections and immediate surroundings and don’t often find yourself befuddled, wandering around the library’s four floors looking for a toilet (that you ultimately find through a door marked ‘staff only’).
After the initial disorientation, the Senate House Library offers an invaluable resource to students and academics. It generally carries more titles than nearby university libraries. Although I have often found that a book I’m looking for that is marked as available is not on the shelf and doesn’t materialise after weeks of patient waiting.
The library has more hard-​copy periodicals than other local libraries, although periodicals not written in the last year or so are located on the second floor of the Senate House, in a completely different section to the library itself. Be advised that you have to lock your belongings up in the lockers provided outside the turnstile before being allowed access to the periodicals.
One last thing to note: the Palaeography section of the library is also in a completely separate section of the Senate House. It’s on the Ground Floor ‘Small Hall’ and has buzz-​only access.

Senate House is one of the unsung architectural landmarks of London. Cycle or walk anywhere north of Oxford Street and prepared to navigate yourself via it’s beckoning mid-​20^th century beacon of a tower. I had access to the libraries here while studying for my masters degree and found it to be the location most suited to quiet study, except, perhaps, the BL. The range of books and other resources stocked is similarly unmatched in my university or anywhere in the capital. So if you are studying in the capital, this is somewhere to be aware of, to find a quiet corner in and to secret yourself away in with a pile of tomes. Even if you’re a casual borrower, it’s worth a browse. Bit of history for you: during the Second World War, this imposing building was GHQ of the UK’s secret service.

I was at university in London and whilst my School’s library had an incredibly wide selection of books, ergonomically it was a mess. As a result I spent a lot of time in Senate House.
Senate House is in Bloomsbury and is the library for the University of London (in as far as it still exists as an entity). People from other academic institutions can gain entry and for an annual fee (around £80) members of the public can gain access.
Designed to cater for almost all subjects the library has a large, diverse selection, however, it is not comprehensive so check ahead if you need particular books. I often brought books from my library to work here.
Despite its imposing exterior only about three floors are take up by the library (as a student there was endless speculation about what occupied the top floors). Within these three floors are a few handsome, dedicated reading rooms. They are great for working and if you need a distraction the surrounding shelves are filled with art and photography books.
Additionally there are a few pieces of trivia /​urban legends that every Senate House user knows:
1) The foyer is used in Batman Begins in the scene where Joe Chill leaves the courtroom to face the paparazzi and is shot.
2) If Hitler had taken London Senate House is where he wanted to have the Nazi headquarters.
3) Perhaps as a result, it is the inspiration for the Ministry of Truth building in 1984.
4) On a lighter, but vaguely related, note, the exterior is used as the set for Bertie Wooster’s New York apartment building in the Fry and Laurie series.
I have fond memories of this library and I encourage all ULU students and interested people to use it. It may not have the most books but it has a wonderful selection, all the Barthes, Camus, Sontag etc. that you need when you’re a student and want people to think you’re an intellectual.

I was a frequent visitor to senate house library whilst reading History at university in London The main reason myself and my classmates visited was due to the fact that we received free membership throughout our studies. The library at Queen mary’s was nice, but due to the demand for books, it was often necessary to visit senate house.
The purpose of senate house library is to provide students throughout the university of London the resources required in order to pursue research in order that they might ascertain and maintain the highest international standards, for under-​graduates and post gradueates alike.
The building itself is stange, the design certainly ahead of its time. It has a cold, unique exterior and I feel presents an aura of totalitarianism. But then what do I know, I am a history graduate.

The towering structure of Senat House Library dominates the skyline of Russel Square. Someone told me the building was even used for filming in one of the Ghostbusters movies, though I’m not too sure if this is true.
With one of the largest collections available in the UK, Senate House Library is popular amongst students and academics alike. Situated in UCL’s main campus, access and borrowing privileges are restricted to those affiliated with the University of London or those permitted for research purposes.
I didn’t use this resource enough when I was a student and this is one thing I deeply regret. The working environment is excellent and, once you get used to the rather higgeldy-​piggeldy layout, it’s very easy to use.

After The British Library, the best literary resource in the country.
Currently undergoing rennovation and pending closure [though multiple petitions are floating around to avoid this considering Senate House is home to every university student in the country] this library is most definitely a British landmark.
A short walk through Russell Square [nearest tube Russell Sqaure on the Piccadilly line] Senate House is perfect for extensive reseach for dissertations, browsing through a collection of online journals or simply having some quiet time to yourself, indulging in one of it’s 4 floors.

If you ever use Senate House Library, use it some more. It has recently had a cut-​back in funding (see
) and needs a bit of support.
As for décor and atmosphere, the library itself is a tribute to dusty academia housed within an imposing, dictatorial structure. Think the Ministry of Information with beards. You can walk from the west side of the lobby to the east in about 2.8 seconds, which is pretty frightening considering how tall the building is. It is like an oak tree, gnawed at the base by a beaver. On the upside, it doubles as a handy short-​cut between Russell Sq. and Tottenham Court Rd.
It can be a bit frustrating getting to the 6^th floor at the moment because of refurbishment. You have to use 3 different lifts — and as each lift will only take you 2 floors, you feel a moral inclination to walk instead. Your legs will not forgive you for this. Legs have no morals.