Visit the Hyman Kreitman Reading Rooms to see items from Tate's Library, Archive or Public Records collections
All are welcome to use the Reading Rooms and admission is free by appointment. First time visitors are required to register.
Please read the admission information prior to your visit, and bring along any necessary documents on the day you come in.
Library
Tate Library is a centre of excellence for art historical research, covering British art since 1500 and international art since 1900. As well as a wide selection of books, printed journals and electronic resources about art and artists, the library has a pre-eminent collection of exhibition catalogues dating from the late 19th century to recent contemporary shows. Tate Library also has a collection of 6500 artists’ books which date from the 1960s to the present day.
Archive
Tate Archive contains over a million items related to artists, art world figures and art organisations in Britain, primarily from 1900 to the present day. Serving as the national repository for the history of fine art practice in the UK it includes personal and institutional papers, letters, writings, sketchbooks and maquettes, audio-visual and born-digital material, photographs and press cuttings. In addition, Tate Archive houses materials that are international in scope. These include collections of more than 100,000 documentary photographs of artists, their studios and installation shots, 3,500 audio-visual accessions, 2,500 artist-designed posters, and 1,500 single items - from a letter written by J. M. W. Turner to Christmas gifts by YBA’s. Over 52,000 digitised images from the Archive collections are now available to view online.
Public Records
Tate's Public Records document the full range of Tate’s activities throughout its history, including exhibitions, acquisitions, development and expansion across its current sites. Records also include Board of Trustees’ minutes, posters and photographs. They capture fascinating chapters in Tate's history, such as the 1928 flood and the gallery during wartime.
Archive and Public Records catalogue
Scan and send
We have introduced a free scan and send service for small quantities of information from both our Library, Archive and Public Records collections. This is for individuals undertaking non-commercial research and private study only.
Please allow up 10 working days for Library and Archive scan requests, and 20 working days for Public Records.
- For Library we recommend up to 3 Library items
- 1 item could be a journal article or 1 chapter, or 10% of a book
- For Archive we recommend 20-25 pages
- For Public Records we recommend up to 5 A4 sheets
The onward use, for example publication or wider dissemination, of any documents will require express copyright clearance. The researcher is solely responsible for attaining this.
Contact us for more information.