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Temporary reading room move – September 2021

Author
Adam Lines
Published Date
July 26, 2021

Between 31 August and 24 September 2021, the reading room will be moving to the Conference Room to make way for essential maintenance work.

The Conference Room is located above the current reading room and can be accessed via the staircase or lift from the locker room.

Closure days

During this period, however, we will be closed on the following days:

• Tuesday – 7th September
• Thursday – 9th September
• Wednesday – 15th September
• Tuesday – 21st September
• Wednesday – 22nd September

We will be opening on Monday 6th, 13th and 20th to provide additional capacity during this period.

Arrangements

We will keep our current arrangements and opening times. Please visit our reading room page to find out how to arrange a visit. The only exception is the open access library corridor – we will not be able to allow access for browsing. Books and periodicals can be ordered in advance along with archive and rare book items.

Spaces will be limited to 5 researchers a day, so we recommend booking in advance to avoid disappointment.

We apologise for any inconvenience this might cause.

Guy Baxter at The MERL
Author
Joe
/
Published Date
September 30, 2026

Leadership changes: Guy Baxter becomes our new Director

Guy Baxter becomes the new Director of the University of Reading’s Museums and Collections, as Kate Arnold-Forster and Isabel Hughes depart.

Richard Watts with a tractor and film reels
Author
Joe
/
Published Date
September 23, 2026

Beyond nostalgia

How do we help audiences of today encounter films from the past?

Friday Fledglings brand logo – a cartoon bird jumps through autumnal leaves
Author
Joe
/
Published Date
September 17, 2026

A new Friday Fledglings brand has hatched

An iconic under-5s group deserves iconic design.

Author
Joe
/
Published Date
September 15, 2026

Digitising the Fowler archives

Learn about our project to improve access to our Fowler archives of engine drawings, including 7,171 new drawings in our database.

Robert Davey
Author
Joe
/
Published Date
September 1, 2026

Remembering Robert Davey

All of us at The Museum of English Rural Life are deeply saddened by the recent passing of Robert Davey – a valued member of our community.

Merle the bat, asleep in a glove
Author
Joe
/
Published Date
August 19, 2026

So we found a live bat in our galleries (again)

Seven years after we gave a bat a library card, another bat has visited The Museum of English Rural Life.