Reading Room

Design and construction

By the early 1850s the British Museum Library badly needed a larger reading room. Antonio Panizzi, the Keeper of Printed Books (1837–56), had the idea of constructing a round room in the empty central courtyard of the Museum building.

With a design by Sydney Smirke (1798–1877), work on the Reading Room began in 1854. Three years later it was completed.

Using cast iron, concrete, glass and the latest heating and ventilation systems, it was a masterpiece of mid-nineteenth century technology. The room had a diameter of 140 feet (approximately 42.6m) and was inspired by the domed Pantheon in Rome.

However, it is not a free standing dome in the technical sense. It has been constructed in segments on a cast iron framework. The ceiling is suspended on cast iron struts hanging down from the frame and is made out of papier mache.

A number of bookstacks were built surrounding the new Reading Room. They were made of iron to take the weight of the books and protect them against fire. In all they contained three miles (4.8 kilometres) of bookcases and twenty-five miles (forty kilometres) of shelves.

Early years

The Reading Room opened on 2 May 1857. Between 8–16 May, the library was opened up for a special one-off public viewing. Over 62,000 visitors came to marvel at the new building.

Those wanting to use it had to apply in writing and were issued a reader’s ticket by the Principal Librarian. Among those granted tickets were: Karl Marx, Lenin (who signed in under the name Jacob Richter) and novelists such as Bram Stoker and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Restoration and exhibition space

In 1997 the books were moved to a new purpose-built building in St Pancras and the bookstacks were taken down. As part of the Great Court development the interior of the Reading Room was carefully restored. This process saw the papier mâché interior of the dome repaired and the original blue, cream and gold colour scheme reinstated.

When it reopened in 2000, the Reading Room was made available to all Museum visitors for the first time. It housed a modern information centre, the Walter and Leonore Annenberg Centre, and a collection of 25,000 books, catalogues and other printed material, which focused on the world cultures represented in the Museum.

The Reading Room is now in a new episode in its already illustrious history as a temporary home for major exhibitions. It will continue to be used for special exhibitions until the new World Conservation and Exhibitions Centre opens in 2014. In the lead-up to the opening, the Museum will be consulting widely about the future use of the Reading Room.

Throughout this period, there are public facilities in each of the Museum's curatorial and research departments including study rooms and, in most cases, a library. Find out more about the Museum's libraries.

Previous exhibitions held in the Reading Room include:

• The First Emperor: China’s Terracotta Army
  From 13 September 2007 until 6 April 2008
• Hadrian: Empire and Conflict
  From 24 July until 27 October 2008
• Shah 'Abbas: The Remaking of Iran
  From 19 February until 14 June 2009 
• Moctezuma: Aztec Ruler
  From 24 September 2009 until 24 January 2010
• Fra Angelico to Leonardo:
  Italian Renaissance Drawings
  From 22 April until 25 July 2010
• Journey through the afterlife:
  ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead
  From 4 November 2010 until 6 March 2011
• Treasures of Heaven:
  saints, relics and devotion in medieval Europe
  From 23 June until 9 October 2011