Adopt a Book

A group of hardback books on a shelf, with Alice and Wonderland in the foreground.

Adopt a book for your favourite bookworm

Adopt a classic title for £40 and receive a digital certificate, which can be personalised with a message of your choice.

Your donation will directly support our vital conservation work, helping us preserve our extraordinary collections for future generations.

If you're giving from the US, you can adopt a book via the American Trust for the British Library here.

Our website is currently experiencing some issues and certificates aren’t being generated – please get in touch at adoptabook@bl.uk with the recipient’s name, book choice, email address, and message and we can make a certificate for you. Please note that we won’t be able to fulfil certificates in time for Christmas after 22 December at 4pm. We are very sorry for the inconvenience.

Choose your title

Can't find your favourite book?

Choose almost any book from our collection of over 170 million items with a bespoke adoption from £1,000 – a wonderful option for celebrating a special occasion or remembering a loved one. You can:

choose from our extensive collection, including rare and early editions

protect your book by housing it in a specialist conservation box

make a personal bookplate dedication that will last for the lifetime of the box

enjoy a special tour of our Centre for Conservation with family and friends.

Your gift will help us care for the collection items that most urgently need our attention. Donations only support conservation work on your title where agreed.

For more information about bespoke adoptions, get in touch with Lucy Richardson at lucy.richardson@bl.uk. Terms and conditions for bespoke adoptions can be found here.

Please note that, due to the size of our collection, it can take anywhere between a few weeks and several months to finalise a title and have work begin on the box.