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.

Please read our full statement.

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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.

We select material based on the strengths of our holdings and the interests of current or potential audiences. We also aim to create significant online resources that will stimulate research in the global health themes that underpin our collecting strategy.

The Library’s digital collections are growing to include:

  • cover-to-cover books
  • video and audio
  • entire archive collections and manuscripts
  • paintings, prints, drawings, photographs, ephemera and more.

We will also strive to include important content from other institutions, which complements our own holdings, and to explore commercial partnerships for cost-effective digitisation of other parts of our collections.

Using the Library’s digitised content

There are a range of tools and features to help you find and use the Library’s digitised content.

You can:

  • Browse all digitised content by topic, genre, author and collection
  • Search the catalogue for your topic to find digital media alongside analogue resources.
  • Subscribe via RSS to see new additions to the digital collections. 
  • View, download and reuse content under a range of licenses, including Creative Commons non-commercial, attribution and Public Domain licenses where appropriate.

Digitised material is gradually being added to the Library website and catalogue. Some access restrictions will apply. Access restrictions are described in Access to personal and sensitive information within our collections [PDF 1.49MB].

Digitisation schedules

Two suns. From 'Histoires Prodigieuses', Folio 73 verso. Credit: Wellcome Library, London