We are happy to announce that we will be re-opening the reading room in its usual space from Tuesday 23 November 2021. This means that we will have capacity for […]

From 18 May 2021 we will be extending our opening hours to include Tuesdays for general access to collections through the Special Collections Service reading room. Capacity will remain limited […]

From 14 April 2021 we will be providing access to collections through the Special Collections Service reading room for all those requiring it, although capacity remains limited to enable social […]

From 10 March we will be providing access to collections through the Special Collections Service reading room for academic research and teaching only. For all other research requiring access to […]

Following the Government’s announcement of a national lockdown on 4 January 2021, the Special Collections Reading Room will be closed until further notice. If you require access to the collections, […]

Following the latest Government announcement that Berkshire will enter Tier 3 on Saturday 19 December 2020, we will be making some changes to our Special Collections Service in the New […]

In line with the latest Government announcement that Reading will enter Tier 2 at the end of the national lockdown, the reading room will be open to all researchers from […]

Following the latest Government regulations in response to the coronavirus pandemic, The Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) will close to the public at 5pm on Wednesday 4 November 2020 […]