London Metropolitan Archives - visitor information

Arrangements for access to archives at LMA from Monday 4 October 2021

Thanks for your patience over the last 18 months. We have been open on a restricted basis for six of these months and have been fully booked throughout. We are now taking the next step to opening more fully whilst retaining a safe environment within our spacious well-ventilated public rooms.

Welcome back!

• We are pleased to open more fully and without the need to book a seat from 4 October 2021
• We anticipate that we will be busier than usual through October and November
• Our opening hours will be Monday to Thursday 10am-4pm
• Use of face coverings is mandatory when you visit LMA, as part of our rules and regulations and to keep us all safe, unless you have an exemption
• Please wash your hands thoroughly and apply hand sanitiser throughout your visit - except from in the Archive Study Area where it might damage documents
• We intend to be open on this basis until 23 December 2021. There will be no two week Annual Closure this year
• The Information Area library, public computers, microfilms, map area and Mediatheque will be open (the printing facilities, however, are not in use)
• We have thought a lot about what we can offer safely and realistically given the restrictions on social distancing which impact on document production processes and the need to transport our unique historic documents safely around the 30 strongrooms and 100 km of shelving on our premises
• Please bear with us as we try to open up more to allow for greater access to archives without the need to book a seat in advance

Ordering documents

• Please order your documents in advance online. If you order in advance, you can consult your documents shortly after arrival
• You can order documents on the day at hourly intervals but we strongly recommend ordering in advance. The limit is now 10 items per collection
• Last orders will be at 2pm so please order online in advance or make sure you are at LMA in good time to place an order
• We expect to be busy in October and November and anticipate that you may occasionally have to wait for documents or staff to be available
• If you have obtained permission to see closed records, please email LMA Enquires to order these records in advance of your visit

History Card Renewals

• History Cards can only be renewed at LMA

Contingency arrangements

• We will manage access to our Archive Study Area for the safety of researchers, staff and documents
• In the unlikely but possible event of the maximum capacity in our Archive Study Area being reached, we ask that all researchers minimise their breaks away from their desks and we reserve the right to reclaim any desk left unoccupied (for an unreasonable length of time) to provide access for someone else

Review

• As always we will keep these arrangements under review and we welcome feedback on our services
• We are aiming to provide safe access to as many people as possible to see original documents and we do expect October and November to be busy
• If you prefer a less busy visitor experience you may want to defer until December