National Art Library reading room. Source: Wikimedia Commons (edited).
A major collection: all kinds of art, from all continents and all periods
National Art Library homepage
National Art Library catalogue
Included in Library Hub Discover? Yes
Access
Before you can use the library you must register as a reader. This can be done online in advance: instructions are here. When collecting your reader's card you will need to produce personal ID and proof of address. Appointments are not necessary once you have your card, but it will save you time if you request material in advance: see the instructions for searching the catalogue and requesting material.
The Library is open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays only. No appointment is needed, but you are advised to order material in advance.
Contact
No public phone number nal.enquiries@vam.ac.uk 
South Kensington (map)
Collections
This is a major reference library of fine and decorative arts of many countries and periods. Has extensive runs of sales catalogues, including older catalogues received from the auction houses and annotated with price and buyers' names. This priced collection is not yet fully catalogued by the Library. There are significant special collections.
Online resources and wi-fi
A very good range of online resources is available, on the library's own computers, as well as computers in the Prints & Drawings Study Rooms and Blythe House Reading Room and via the Library's secure wi-fi. Please ask Library staff for the password.
Resources include some which SIA does not subscribe to: the Art & Architecture ePortal, Art History Research net, Art Sales Catalogues Online, Artists of the World Online (Allgemeines Kunstlerlexikon), the Berg Fashion Library, Empire Online, Oxford Bibliographies: Art History, the Vogue Archive and World's Fairs: A Global History of Expositions.
Help with your research
Librarians can offer some help with research enquiries. You can email the library or ask in person. Please note that librarians cannot spend more than 30 minutes on any enquiry, and only very simple enquiries will be answered immediately.