From early 2027, our Spanish Collection will temporarily be unavailable to researchers as we embark on two exciting projects that will transform access to these important archives, both on site and online.

The first of our major projects is an exciting new partnership with AM Digital, which will see material from the Spanish Collection digitised as part of a major online publishing project. This will provide an important opportunity to digitally preserve the collection while making a substantial body of material accessible to researchers and others around the world, without the need to visit our archive in person.

At the same time, our 'Opening Doors' Project, supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, will involve significant capital works at our site. These works are an important part of our plans to improve the way our collections are cared for and accessed. We anticipate that the capital works will have an impact on on-site access to collections during the second half of 2027, with further details to follow.

We know that the temporary interruption to access will be disappointing for researchers who rely on the Spanish Collection, and we are announcing it now to give our researchers and supporters as much notice as possible. We hope that the long-term benefits of these projects - improved preservation, greater online access and enhanced facilities for accessing the collections on site - will make this period of disruption worthwhile.

We will provide further information, including more detail about the timing of the closure and the impact on access to other collections, by the end of 2026.

Thank you for your patience and continued support as we undertake this important work to secure and expand access to the Spanish Collection for future generations.