ZSL Library Collection

The Zoological Society of London's Library contains a unique collection of journals and books on zoology and animal conservation

Library Darwin
Founded in 1826, it is one of the major zoological libraries in the world and is open to all.

The library contains a wide range of books and journals on all types of animals and their conservation. It has:

more than 200,000 volumes
5,000 journal titles, 1,300 of which are current
photocopying facilities
archives of ZSL
books dating from 16th century to the present, ranging from popular to technical
holdings located on-site
modern books on open access in our Reading Room
special collection relating to information on zoos
friendly service from specialist library staff.

We will be closed between 25 December 2008 and 4 January 2009 inclusive.

Search our catalogue: ZSL library catalogue
The ZSL Library Catalogue can be viewed online with details of all serial holdings - most-pre-1860 books and books published from 1993 onwards can be found. Details of other books can be found in our card catalogue in the Reading Room. Find out more about the ZSL Library Catalogue
Fellowship Certificate of Charles Darwin, 1831 This month’s artefact is the application form filled out by Charles Darwin to become a member of the Zoological Society of London. Discover the November 2008 artefact
Ernest Griset online exhibition
To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the death of Ernest Griset (1843/1844-1907), caricaturist and artist we are displaying examples of his caricatures and animal paintings online.
Gallery of extinct species
The ZSL Library contains an extensive collection of literature concerning animals and their conservation. Many of these publications contain amazing illustrations, this is just a very small selection of images of extinct species from some of the printed books in the Library.

ZSL