Libraries in London when it rains

Quiet, free, and among the driest places in London.

• London Library: Historic independent library. Piccadilly Circus 5 mins.
• Barbican Library: Modern library in the Barbican complex. Barbican direct.
• British Library: View original manuscripts from history's greatest writers. King's Cross 2 mins.
• Peckham Library: The copper-clad one that won the Stirling Prize, and the only library ever to have done it. The read
• Bethnal Green Library: Victorian red brick outside, chequerboard floors and a stained-glass arched ceiling inside. A workin
• National Poetry Library: Fifth floor of the Southbank Centre, and the largest collection of modern poetry anywhere. Free, ope
• Guildhall Library: A public reference library the City has run since the 1420s. Enormous London history collection and
• Maughan Library: Neo-gothic, with a twelve-sided domed reading room that looks invented. King's College runs it, so c
• Wiener Holocaust Library: The oldest Holocaust archive in the world, with free exhibitions on the ground floor. Quiet, serious