The Green, Chingford E4 7EN
From Thursday 3 December, in line with current government guidance we will be reopening our libraries at
- Hale End
- and Higham Hill
Customers will be able to utilise all regular library services during opening hours.
As part of our £3.2M investment in our library service, Lea Bridge library is in the final exciting stages of construction and will remain closed until works are complete.
Walthamstow library is also in the late stages of a full refurbishment which will provide a new children and young adults area, new computers, new event spaces and an exciting new café. As such, it will remain open for all registrars services by appointment the purchasing of parking permits and our popular click and collect service for books.
We will continue to provide our book delivery service, all of our online resources for you to enjoy from home and our very popular online events via our Facebook page.
All library users who visit a one of our libraries will need to use hand sanitiser prior to entering the library and wipes will be available on entry to stop the spread of the virus.
Extra cleaning will be undertaken, but we urge visitors to take personal responsibility in wiping down shared equipment.
We will be monitoring capacity, which will be lower than normal, so please bear with us if we ask you to queue outside until it is safe to enter.
We hope to open more libraries in due course. Please respect the guidelines, our staff and our buildings so we can continue in opening more libraries to the public.
People will be able to join a library online without needing to visit, we are increasing home deliveries and all late fines will be waived until 31 March 2021.
Follow our libraries on Facebook to enjoy virtual events for kids, tutorials and more. It'll also be a place for sharing news and updates.
Click and Collect
All Waltham Forest Libraries offer a ‘Click and Collect’ service. Customers can search the online catalogue for available items held by these libraries and request books for collection.
Please ensure you only request the books from the Library you are collecting from. To place the hold you will need your Library card and pin number . If you are not a library member already, you will need to join online. You’ll receive an email letting you know when your requested items are ready. Please read our guide for help using the service.
Request library book delivery during COVID-19
If you would like some books delivered straight to your door, just click on the button below and let us know which books you would like from our catalogue and one of our fantastic volunteers will deliver them to your door in the next 3 working days.
Request library book delivery online
If you are not a library member already, you will need to join online.
Access the library online
Register for a library card or manage your existing membership, through the Waltham Forest Libraries website.
Waltham Forest library card gives you access to:
- over six million books, eBooks and eAudiobooks across 170 London library branches - via the Waltham Forest Libraries website or our library app
- thousands of information resources and reference materials, including family history research tools, business and legal resources, and various newspapers, magazines and eMagazines
- free Wi-Fi and PC computer use in the borough’s eight libraries
- a range of online courses, including language lessons, driving theory test preparation and computer skills lessons.
Use our step by step guides to access thousands of newspapers, magazines, e-books and audiobooks.
- eNewspapers and eMagazines by Pressreader - User Guide.pdf
- Audiobooks and eBooks by BorrowBox - UserGuide.pdf
- Audiobooks and eBooks by Overdrive - User Guide.pdf
- Audiobooks by ULibrary - User Guide.pdf
- Audiobooks_ eBooks and eMagazines by RBdigital - User Guide.pdf
Keep up-to-date and get involved, please subscribe to our mailing list.
For enquiries please