National Poetry Library

History and future plans

Use and enjoy this place. Burrow in, borrow on.

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The library was established in 1953 on the recommendation of the Poetry Panel of the Arts Council of Great Britain, with the remit of promoting modern and contemporary poetry. Opened by poets TS Eliot and Herbert Read, the library quickly grew beyond the capacity of premises and then the next, moving from Albemarle Street to Piccadilly, to Long Acre in Covent Garden and then to a larger space back in Piccadilly.

It has been located at the Royal Festival Hall since 1988, when Seamus Heaney opened the new venue. With the relocation, the library was given the Signal Poetry Collection of children's poetry books which had been held by Book House. This formed the basis for the library's body of works for children and young adults, available for loan and reference. The beech furniture was designed for the site by Terrance Conran. The library was closed from 2005 to 2007 during refurbishment of the Festival Hall building. Its re-opening was celebrated with London's first festival of literature.

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Commentators on BBC's Radio 4 have described it as one of the world's greatest libraries."Southbank to Host London's First Festival of Literature", London Evening Standard 17 May 2007 Many poets and editors have developed their collections and anthologies at the Poetry Library, including Poet Laureate Ted Hughes. He worked on the Rattle Bag anthology at the library during the 1970s, writing of the experience:

Very strange experience, squeezing every morning into modern poetry, and sitting in there all day all curled up with book clamped over mouth inhaling deeply, then coming out in the five or six o clock dark. Many other poets find their inspiration in the library. It's truly a place where poets and readers meet. As well as poets laureate, though, we see school students, families with young children, casual readers, critics, academics, teachers and artists 'squeezing every morning into modern poetry.Valencia, Miriam, "Poetry at Southbank Centre", NATE Classroom, Spring 2011 Volume/issue: No. 13

Poet Philip Larkin was a vocal supporter. He wrote "The Poetry Library is one of the occasional pure flowerings of the imagination for which the English are so seldom given credit". Poet Laureate Andrew Motion echoes Larkin's sentiments: "The most extraordinary thing, is the fact that it exists at all. As Larkin said, it's the kind of thing that you don't expect England to do. It flies in the face of the way we generally run things, ie neglect things. I used it a lot when I was doing the Here to Eternity anthology. The stock is extremely good and very catholic – and the ancillary services, such as quote-checking, are wonderful." "Live poets society", The Independent 10 May 2003

"£100 million revamp of Southbank Centre hailed as 'biggest step forward since the ‘60s'", Independent, 6 March 2013

The library has a bronze bust of Dylan Thomas by Hugh Oloff de Wet.

References

References

1. [http://www.poetrybooks.co.uk/poetry_portal/the_poetry_library Poetry Book Society] {{Webarchive. link. (1 August 2016 Poetry Library profile)
2. [https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2012/apr/18/top-10-london-peaceful-places?INTCMP=SRCH "London's top 10 peaceful places"], ''The Guardian'' 18 April 2012
3. ''The Letters of Ted Hughes'', Faber and Faber (2007)
4. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-21693615 "'Floating' glass pavilion plan for Southbank Centre"], BBC News, 6 March 2013
5. Ezard, John. (20 October 2003). "Unique Dylan Thomas bust found". The Guardian.