Accessibility and facilities

George IV Bridge Building access and facilities

Our public spaces are open to everyone and we aim to ensure that everyone is treated equally. This page outlines the facilities available to our visitors.

If you have a disability, you can contact us before your visit to find out more about our facilities and provision. 

On this page: George IV Bridge Building

On other pages: Maps Reading Room at Causewayside and  Kelvin Hall

Blue-badge-holders can park on the double yellow lines on George IV Bridge. There is also parking for blue-badge-holders 24 hours a day at the top of Victoria Street (south side) opposite the Library.

Pavement level: stairs; wheelchair lifts to ground floor.
Ground floor: Readers' Registration; lockers; unisex accessible toilet; Visitor Centre. 
First floor: Security checkpoint; Issue Hall, with Enquiry Desk and Collection and Return Desk; Discovery Room;  General Reading Room; wheelchair accessible doors; unisex accessible toilet. 
Second floor: Special Collections Reading Room.

Access from George IV Bridge is level from the pavement, through doors that open automatically. There are lifts (width: 872mm) for wheelchair users on either side of the stairs. Staff can help with operating the lift if needed.

All our staff desks are equipped with hearing induction loops.

You cannot take bags into the reading rooms, so we have wheelchair accessible lockers you can use. If you need to take a bag or other equipment with you while you work, speak to a member of staff. We will do what is needed to ensure you can work in the Library.

Access to the first floor is by the main staircase. A lift (width: 780mm) to the first and second floors is also available, at the end of a short corridor to the left of the foot of the main stair. We can provide access to a wider lift, if needed.

To ensure safe emergency evacuation, we will provide access to special collections material for mobility-impaired visitors and wheelchair users in the General Reading Room on the first floor.

The Issue Hall doors at the top of the main stairs are heavy and have to be kept closed to maintain conditions for the collection material. We can help you with these doors if needed. Please let Information Desk staff know if you would like assistance. We also have a card access wheelchair accessible door, which is available for registered library users.

Off the Issue Hall, to the right, is the Discovery Room. This has:

• Computers that have a large keyboard and screen
• Adjustable-height tables
• An Aladdin Rainbow Pro CCTV Reading System
• 'MyReader2' (CCTV/video magnifier) for enlarging text
• Kurzweil, Supernova and JAWS software.

The reading room doors are heavy and have to be kept closed to maintain conditions for the collection material. We can help you with these doors if needed. Please let Information Desk staff know if you would like assistance. We also have an automatic door which is accessible by push-pads displaying the wheelchair logo.

The General Reading Room has two levels. Many of the tables have power sockets for laptops. Please contact us to check about the suitability of using your own specialist equipment at these locations before coming to the Library.

Kneeling and ergonomic chairs, height adjustable tables, and foot supports are available. We can also provide support cushions, magnifying glasses, and aids for keeping books open. We provide book rests as standard equipment in the reading rooms, and we have two laptop stands.

Please ask at the Enquiry Desk about any of this equipment.

The upper area can only be reached by stairs. To consult open-access books stored upstairs, please ask staff to bring you the books you need if stairs cause you difficulty.

The Special Collections Reading Room can be reached by both lift and stairs.

To ensure safe emergency evacuation, mobility-impaired visitors, and wheelchair users will be provided with access to special collections material within the General Reading Room.

This room has:

• Height adjustable tables.
• Kneeling and balance chairs, including one adjustable posture chair.
• SmartView Synergy SI magnifier.
• Magnifying glasses.
• Portable hearing loop.

Please ask at the Enquiry desk about any of this equipment. Please contact us to check about the suitability of using your own specialist equipment at these locations before coming to the Library.

To help you make the most of your study sessions, you can preorder up to six items. However, we can reserve more items for readers with disabilities, if this would be helpful. See our remote ordering details.

• Toilets
  There is a unisex accessible toilet on the ground floor and on the first floor.
• Wheelchairs
  We have a wheelchair available for exhibition visitors who are unable to stand for long periods.
• Lifts
  There are wheelchair lifts at the entrance which gives access to the ground floor of the Library. Further lift access to the first and second floors of the Library is available, but please refer back to the paragraph on getting to the reading rooms for details of restrictions on access.
• Assistance dogs
  You can bring assistance dogs into the building.
• For hearing impaired visitors
  There are induction loops fitted at all service counters. Portable induction loops are available at Readers' Registration on the ground floor and in the Issue Hall.

You can visit our café which is part of the ground-floor Visitor Centre. There is level access to the café, the shop, and exhibitions.

The locker room has tables and chairs where you can enjoy your own food and drink.

A = Front entrance,
B = Cowgate exit,
C = Staff fire assembly point.
See area on Google maps

• First floor reading rooms: The main evacuation route is from the exit to the stairway at the south side of the General Reading Room.
• Second floor reading room: The main evacuation route is from the north side of the Special Collections Reading Room.

You then go down eight flights of stairs to the Cowgate.

From there, you make your way back up the hill to the front door on George IV Bridge. There are two main routes back from the Cowgate:

• Via Old Fishmarket Close, which is quite a steep climb, and then on to the Royal Mile
• Via Victoria Street, which is a longer route, but not quite so steep.

If you have a medical condition or a disability which would make it difficult to negotiate the stairs or the hill:

• When you first visit us, we will complete a short Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (PEEP) questionnaire with you
• Your normal evacuation route would be via the fire-protected lift at the south side of the General Reading Room
• If the fire-protected lift is not available, we will help with your evacuation using Evac+Chairs down one flight of stairs at the north side of the General Reading Room and out via the Advocates Library at Parliament Square
• We will then bring you back into the building via the fire-protected lift or the main entrance.

As well as sound, the fire alarms have flashing lights to alert hearing-impaired visitors. Please contact a member of staff if you have visual impairment and would like help in leaving the building.

Reference Services staff will be happy to discuss any queries you may have about facilities in the George IV Bridge Building. You'll find contact information on our General Reading Room enquiries page.

We recognise the importance of getting the views of disabled people in order to develop our service. If you have visited the Library and would like to comment on our services, please use our comments form.