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Institute of Laryngology & RNID Libraries

The Royal National Throat Nose and Ear [RNTNE] Hospital is home to two of UCL Library Services smallest, but most specialised Libraries: the Institute of Laryngology and Otology [ILO] Library, and the Royal National Institute for Deaf People [RNID] Library.

The ILO is one of the premier global research and training centres in Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) medicine, with chairs in Otorhinolaryngology, Audiology, Auditory Biophysics, Auditory Cell Biology, and Rhinology. The creation of an £11m UCL Auditory Hearing Research Centre is due to start shortly.

The ILO Library, founded with the Postgraduate Institute of Laryngology and Otology in 1946, specialises in material on ENT medicine. It houses 3,000 books, and 2,500 bound journals, forming one of the largest specialist collections of material on ENT medicine in the world. The Library also has a growing collection of multimedia resources. The Library is regularly used as a resource in those fields by clinicians and other medical libraries from around the country.

The ILO Library was completely refurbished by the Institute in 1999 [see Library News, No.1], resulting in major improvements to facilities available.

The ILO Library is staffed by the Librarian Alex Stagg with a rota of Library Assistants from UCL Library Services in Gower Street.
Top: Help in the RNID Library. 
Bottom: Reading in the ILO Library
Top: Help in the RNID Library.
Bottom: Reading in the ILO Library

The RNID Library, created with the RNID in 1911, was founded to support the research interests of the RNID. It has an extensive collection of materials covering all aspects of hearing, speech and language, and particularly deafness.

Staffed by the Librarian Mary Plackett, and her assistant Sally England, the RNID Library is unique amongst UCL Library Services in being open to the public for reference and enquiry, and specialises in providing advice for anyone interested in research into the issues surrounding deafness in society.

The RNID Library is regularly used by students in deaf studies from around the country, while its collection of historical material has earned it a reputation as one of the archives of the English deaf community, making it a vitally important national resource.

Content by Alex Stagg and Mary Plackett


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