Philip Richardson Library Website

           I started my research by searching for dance libraries in London because I know London has a lot of dance companies and schools.  In my search I stumbled upon the Philip Richardson Library at the Royal Academy of Dance.  The Philip Richardson Library has records that date back to 1924 when the Academy received rare and valuable from the estate of the late Rev. Stewart Headlam.  In 1963 the library received the personal library of Philip Richardson which contained rare and valuable dance books.  In the 1970s, the Royal Academy of Dance moved to their current location where they named the library after Philip Richardson.  However, it was not until 1988 that a full time librarian was appointed. 

                The library is opened Monday through Friday varying times and is opened Saturday only during term times.  Visits to the library are free for Royal Academy of Dance members, Friends of the Royal Academy of Dance, members of the Association of Performing Arts Collections, and members of the Society for Dance Research.  Non-RAD registered students, Independent Researchers (non – commercial use), and Commercial Researchers are required to pay to use the in library amenities.  

                You can access the library’s catalogue online.  The catalogue contains information on the general reference collections which includes: articles, books, CDs, DVDs, resource packs, journals, books, and Benesh Movement Notation Scores.  The information in the catalogue can help in finding out what they have in stock, what is out on loan, view bibliographic details, or to check references. 

                In their Archives and Special Collection, they have items that relate to events and activities of the organization, personal collections, GBL Wilson photographic archive, memorabilia relating to artists, rare books, music scores, photographs, artworks, artefacts, manuscripts, notebooks, programmes, costume designs, transcript, scrapbooks, and souvenir brochures. 

                The website is very user friendly and accessible.  There are tabs for the library’s website is on the left hand side of the screen.  There are six sections: About The Library, Visit The Library, Catalogue & Resources, Services & Facilities, Library News, and Contacts & FAQS.  Under these sections there are sub-sections pertaining to the topic.  All of these things will be helpful for my research paper.  

Screenshot of the homepage