Globe opens Shakespeare library and archive

Shakespeare's Globe has opened a new research centre on its Bankside site, which it says is London's only dedicated Shakespeare library and archive open to the public.

The Research and Collections Centre holds more than 6,000 books on Shakespeare as well as early modern literature and drama, alongside the theatre's own archive of past productions.

The rare book collection includes nearly 500 plays, poems and other works from the 16th and 17th centuries, among them a second folio edition of Shakespeare's complete works, published in 1632.

Entry is free, but anyone wanting to consult the collections has to register and book an appointment in advance because of the nature of the material.

Those who are not there to research can still visit a foyer space which hosts free temporary exhibitions.

Dr Will Tosh, who leads higher education and research at the Globe, said: "We want anyone with an interest to come and enjoy this space.

"In a time when libraries tend not to open, they tend to close, and we're in a real crisis of library provision and also a crisis of reading, I'm extremely proud at the Globe that we are putting our name and our energy into the importance of books and libraries."

The theatre has had a library for years, but Dr Tosh said it "wasn't housed in facilities that were appropriate" and was "harder to access". It now sits at the heart of the building, where he said it would "be quite hard to miss".

The centre opened to researchers on 22 September and to the public two days later.

At its heart is the Audre D. Carlin Reading Room, where visitors can request items from the library and archive, including recordings of every production staged at the Globe since the mid-1990s.

The building also houses the John Wolfson Rare Book Room, a lecture theatre, the Weston Foyer exhibition space and a climate-controlled store for the archive.

Books that belonged to the Globe's founder, the American actor and director Sam Wanamaker, will be on display, some containing his handwritten notes.

"Institutions have histories," Dr Tosh said. "Shakespeare has the most extraordinary history globally and in London.

"This is somewhere that can bring those stories together."

The archive also keeps costumes made using the Globe's "original practices" approach, which aims to recreate how plays were staged in Shakespeare's time.

The Weston Foyer's displays are tied to the Globe's events programme, which this month includes a Shakespeare and race festival.

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