Welcome to the Private Libraries Association 2025
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2025
The PLA agm will take place online (via ZOOM) at 2pm on Wednesday 10th September 2025. All members are cordially invited to participate and have your say about the running of our Association. Please contact us HERE, and you will be sent the Zoom log-in details.
See you at 2pm on Wednesday 10th September
Founded in 1956,
The Private Libraries Association
is an international society for collectors of rare antiquarian books, modern fine-press books, books by particular authors, illustrators and publishers, books on specialist subjects, and much besides...
Above all, the PLA is for those who collect books for the pleasure of handling and reading and ownership, and for the joys of a book simply as an object, written, designed, printed, bound, and associated with care and attention and love.
We publish the well-regarded quarterly journal,
The Private Library , which prints serious
(and not so serious!)
essays by members and others about their libraries, specialised collections, the work of interesting printers and private presses, illustrators, and bookbinders, and any other aspect of
'the book' likely to appeal to collectors. Reviews of new books are also a regular feature.
A series of illustrated works on specialised aspects of book collecting has been issued over the past fifty years, and you'll find those still in print described in our current
Books Catalogue
HERE .
Also available is the annual bibliography
Private Press Books , the definitive checklist for private press output worldwide, in English, from 1960 to 2010. We are proud to say that
The Private Libraries Association
has published
PPB since 1959.
And of course we welcome new members...
See below.
One of the endearing vagaries of our Association means that this 'Winter 22' issue of PL will be the next to appear, later in 2025! What is more, it might not even be this colour!
Stop press: 23rd August 2025. It's now out...
And it has a red cover!
Become a member of the Private Libraries Association today
Next year, 2026, will mark our 70th anniversary, as enthusiasm for all things
Private Library Association
continues to grow.
You are very welcome to become a member of the Private Libraries Association, and join this community of hundreds of individual and institutional enthusiasts for the book.
To help encourage anyone who loves books to join us, we keep the annual subscription to a modest £40 (UK rate). And for that, all members receive our well-respected quarterly journal, packed with interesting articles on all manner of subjects relating to books. Members also receive discounts on all our publications and a free, and beautifully printed and bound members book
every 2-3 years.
There is also the opportunity to come together at our occasional events, zoom lectures, and of course you can join in with the general conversation online with other members.
Students, and anyone under the age of 26, will receive membership at only £20.
Just click on the button below, and find out more...
