Wellcome Library | What we do

Wellcome Library is currently closed to the public

Following careful consideration of the current course of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have decided to close Wellcome Collection.

We have made this decision in the interests of the health and wellbeing of our staff, service partners, tenants, contractors and visitors.

Please note that requesting of closed stacks material is not possible at this time.

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What we do

We are one of the world's major resources for the study of medical history. We also offer a growing collection of material relating to contemporary medicine and biomedical science in society.

Digitisation at the Wellcome Library

A naked athlete being electrified to show the effect of "Chanteclair" embrocation. By Michel Liebeaux. Credit: Wellcome Library, London

The Wellcome Library is developing a world-class online resource for the history of medicine by digitising a substantial proportion of its holdings and making the content freely available on the web.

Open tools and services

A man flying in the air with wings and balloons attached to him. Coloured wood engraving. Credit: Wellcome Library, London

We are continually developing open source tools and services to support digital libraries and the cultural heritage sector. Find out what we're working on and how to contribute.

Developing and caring for our collections

Hospital staff treating a casualty, Hospitals Centre Birmingham Credit: Wellcome Library, London

This section describes how the Wellcome Library builds its physical and digital collections, and how the collections are maintained for future researchers.

History of the Wellcome Library

Henry Solomon Wellcome. Photograph by E Courret. Credit: Wellcome Library, London

A short history of the Wellcome Library from its foundation to the present day.

We have many different employment opportunities at Wellcome Library. These include roles that work with Library members, medical humanities scholars, science communicators, authors and other information professionals.