Barbican Library

Lovely library in the middle of the Barbican Centre. Usual fare of books to loan as well as DVDs and CDs. One good thing is you can renew online now, so you do not have to make an extra trip to renew, and saves getting a fine, if you are late returning the books, because you wanted to keep it a bit longer.
The Library also have many events and activities, art exhibitions, and children’s events. Anyone can use and join the library. You do not have to be resident or work in the area.

Pianos for check out? Sharing a roof with a concert hall and a theatre? Barbican Library is an easily spotted yet heavily missed venue in the heart of the Barbican complex. You wouldn’t think this library is for the public… Just walk in at your leisure or just before your indulging in the concerts /​plays (Tue/​Thurs opens till 7:30pm).
Barbican library is low key in appearance yet high energy in content, a heaven for performing arts lovers. The collection is comprised of sheet music covering 62,000 titles, 17,000 CDs (largest collection in London), and many more… for you to plug in and play on the digital pianos available next to the shelves.
Situated on the 2^nd fl in the Shakespeare Tower, it is one of largest public libraries in London. Other than the music library, it also has separate art and children depts. It also houses the ‘London Collection’ of historical books and resources, some of which date back 300 years, all being available on loan. The library averages 1200 visitors per day with 44 staff.
Thanks for Helen H. initial introduction.

Situated in the sprawling Barbican Centre, the Barbican library is a surprisingly good location for a library. It is a split level place with books, dvds and a study area on the upper floor and a comprehensive music area on the lower area. To take out books etc you need to either work or live in the City of London, but anyone can use the library facilities.
My only gripes are that the open plan set up leaves it open to getting quite noisy when there are people waiting for an event in the lower levels of the Centre. The study area suffers from poor lighting levels which means it can’t be used for too long a period.