School of Oriental Studies Library, London, England

Post-1945 Card of Admission, School of Oriental Studies Library

The School of Oriental Studies

Opened in 1916, The School of Oriental Studies, part of the University of London in London, England, was originally housed in the former London Institution buildings at Finsbury Circus.  In the mid-1930s, the School of Oriental Studies moved to Bloomsbury and subsequently, the buildings of the London Institution were abandoned and then demolished.

Focusing on Asian, African and Middle Eastern studies, the library holds over one million volumes and electronic resources for the study of Africa, Asia and the Middle East, and was designated by HEFCE in 2011 as one of the United Kingdom’s five National Research Libraries.   Since 1973, the library has been located in the Philips Building on the Russell Square  campus of the University of London.  The Philips Building was designed by British architect Sir Denys Lasdun, who also designed some of Britain’s most famous brutalist buildings such as the National Theatre and the Institute of Education.