Conditions of Use of the V&A Study Rooms

In order to protect the collections and to help other researchers, all users of the National Art Library, the Prints & Drawings Study Room and the Blythe House Reading Room must abide by the following conditions of use.

Security and protection of the collections

1. All collection items (e.g. books, manuscripts, archives, prints, etc.) are for use within the study room only. You are responsible for all materials issued to you until they are returned to the desk from which they were issued.
2. All bags (including handbags), briefcases and parcels must be deposited in the cloakrooms at the main entrances on the ground floor (NAL and the Prints & Drawings Study Room) or lockers (Blythe House Reading Room) provided. Transparent carrier bags are available at the cloakrooms for transporting working materials to the study rooms if required. All personal belongings taken in and out of the study rooms are subject to inspection.
3. The collections must not be damaged or defaced in any way. Do not bring into the study rooms marker pens, crayons, paints, correction fluid, glue, ink, scissors, staplers, post-it notes or any substance or equipment which might damage items from the collection. Only pencils or portable computers may be used for taking notes in the Blythe House Reading Room, the Prints & Drawings Study Room, or when consulting special collections in the NAL. Tracing is not allowed.
4. Please treat all the material with great care. Ask a member of staff if you need help or advice in handling any item or cutting open the pages of a book, and please bring any existing damage to our attention. Printed guidelines on handling different types of material are available in the study rooms.
5. Food and drink, including bottles of water, chewing gum and cough sweets, are not permitted.

Copying and photocopying

1. Copying from the collections must comply with current UK copyright legislation.
2. Information obtained from our unpublished collections relating to living individuals must be used in accordance with the Data Protection Act, 1998.
3. The use of personal copying equipment such as portable scanners is not permitted. Photography (with own equipment, no flash) is permitted for non-commercial research only. Artificial lighting may be used in the areas allocated for this purpose. Photographs required for publication must be obtained from V&A Images.

A pleasant study environment for all

1. Please be considerate towards other users. Brief conversations are permitted but noise should be kept to a minimum. Users of audio equipment should take special care not to disturb other users. Mobile phones must be turned to silent mode.
2. Staff are trained to be courteous and helpful. Please treat us with courtesy and respect. Anyone who behaves in an inappropriate manners towards staff, including swearing, raising their voice or making unwanted physical contact, will be required to leave. Closed circuit television is in operation.

If you are not happy with us, or any aspect of our service, and would like to comment or complain, you can fill in a comments form available from the study rooms, or you can contact Martin Flynn, Head of Information Services, Word & Image Department, V&A, London, SW7 2RL; or email: m.flynn@vam.ac.uk or, for the Theatre & Performance collections, contact Claire Hudson, Head of Collections Management, Theatre & Performance Department, Blythe House, Blythe Road, London W14 0QX; or e-mail: c.hudson@vam.ac.uk