Following the major cyber-attack in late 2023, 2024 saw us bring back interim versions of a number of our key services, including:

• an online version of our catalogue;
• remote ordering of print items to our Reading Rooms;
• our entire print collection – including newspapers – accessible to Readers
• the first 1,000 digitised manuscripts available to explore online.

The damage caused in the attack was extensive, and our recovery continues to be underpinned by the need to rebuild our infrastructure safely and securely.

We have also recently published more digitised manuscripts, this time items that recently appeared in our exhibition, Medieval Women: In Their Own Words, and have made the British Newspaper Archive available again in our Reading Rooms.

Over the next year we’ll continue to restore systems and services, and you can find a list of all of these and their status on our website. We’ll update this list on an ongoing basis with service improvements and restoration dates.

Planning a visit?

If you’re planning to visit us for your research, we recommend checking what’s available before you come. If you need any help, you can ask our Reference team via live chat, email or in person in our Reading Rooms. They can help you find collection items, place requests, and advise on the availability of the services you need.

We know this has been disruptive to our users, partners and supporters, and we really appreciate your understanding as we continue work to restore all our services.