History of the Goldsmiths' Library

The Room

Until 1937, due to the inadequate premises originally occupied by Senate House Library in South Kensington, it was not possible to house the Goldsmiths' Library properly. In that year, in an impressive new building in Bloomsbury, the Goldsmiths' Library was installed in the room it now occupies. The room was built and beautifully furnished by the generosity of the Goldsmiths' Company. The architect of the Senate House and Library was Dr Charles Holden, who always took particular and justifiable pride in the Goldsmiths' Library room.

Measuring 87 feet by 33 feet and seating 80 readers, the room is fitted with glazed bookcases of English walnut which line the walls and, projecting into the room, form bays between which are built 8 study carrels. The ceiling is of South American cypress wood with panels framed in gold. The windows are glazed with hand-made rectangular Norman slabs and at the south end, a stained glass window by Bossanyi. Over the entrance is an inscription recording the presentation by the Company of the collection in 1903 and of the room in 1937.