Urgent action service
If you urgently need a periodical article, a loan of a periodical issue or a loan of a book, you can take advantage of the Urgent Action Service offered by the British Library. If an item is in the British Library Document Supply Centre (BLDSC) in Yorkshire, it may be possible to obtain photocopies of periodical articles for readers within two hours. Loans can be obtained within 24-48 hours. Complete the usual request form and it will be faxed to the BLDSC within a few minutes. The BLDSC will charge the Library at least three times the usual fee and it is therefore necessary to charge readers accordingly:
To receive an urgent action request through the post
(usually arriving the next day): £9.00
To receive an urgent action request via fax (periodical articles only)
(to arrive the same day): £12.00
All items whether sent by post or fax will be received here at the Library and should be collected from the enquiry desk in the Commonwealth Room. Please note that loans are for library use only.
Please note that this service is only available when the Commonwealth Room enquiry desk is open and that it cannot be requested in the main Reading Room.