National Poetry Library

The National Poetry Library sits on the fifth floor of the Royal Festival Hall, overlooking the Thames in London’s Southbank Centre. It holds the largest collection of contemporary UK poetry, with over 200,000 items since 1912, including works from small presses and audio-visual materials. The library also keeps press cuttings and loans books through national inter-lending services. It supports schools locally and nationally, and provides an exhibition and event space. Founded in 1953 on the recommendation of the Arts Council’s Poetry Panel, the library was opened by poets T. S. Eliot and Herbert Read. It moved several times before settling at the Royal Festival Hall in 1988, when Seamus Heaney opened the new venue. The Signal Poetry Collection of children’s books, transferred from Book House, became the basis for its youth section. The beech furniture was designed by Terence Conran, and the library closed from 2005 to 2007 during refurbishment. Visitors find quiet reading spaces filled with modern poetry alongside critical texts and children’s works. A bronze bust of Dylan Thomas by Hugh Oloff de Wet stands near the entrance. Poets such as Ted Hughes, Philip Larkin and Andrew Motion have worked here, and the library remains a place where poets and readers gather. The view across the river adds to the calm atmosphere of this special collection.