

Urge the British Library not to close its reading rooms
The Issue
The British Library is planning to close three public reading rooms to turn them into privately-run office-working space.
The reading rooms are currently free to the public and are used by people of all ages and all backgrounds.
The closure of these social science reading rooms will cause overcrowding elsewhere and disproportionately hit people from low income backgrounds.
We urge the British Library to keep the reading rooms open and free for all.

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The Issue
The British Library is planning to close three public reading rooms to turn them into privately-run office-working space.
The reading rooms are currently free to the public and are used by people of all ages and all backgrounds.
The closure of these social science reading rooms will cause overcrowding elsewhere and disproportionately hit people from low income backgrounds.
We urge the British Library to keep the reading rooms open and free for all.

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Petition created on 2 November 2026