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Public Libraries in London
The London Library was founded in 1841, as an independent subscription library designed to serve the needs of readers and scholars by lending books for use at home. It was not the first such subscription library, but it was the first to collect and offer more than new books for current needs, to provide the range of books spanning several centuries otherwise only available in major reference libraries.
The Library owes its foundation to the vision of Thomas Carlyle, who in many ways remains its tutelary genius. But he was not alone in his desire to establish an institution which would allow subscribers to enjoy something of the wealth of a national library for use in their own homes: the Earl of Clarendon, that enlightened early-Victorian politician, was the Library's first president, Thackeray its first auditor; Gladstone and Sir Edward Bunbury were on the first committee. Early members included Dickens and George Eliot. The Library's long-standing role at the centre of the intellectual life of the nation is reflected in the roll-call of its past presidents and vice-presidents, which include Tennyson, Kipling, T.S. Eliot, Rebecca West and Isaiah Berlin. The Library's current president is Tom Stoppard.
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