The London Library's first female President.

Helena Bonham Carter CBE

In November 2022, The London Library announced Helena Bonham Carter CBE as its first female President. Proposed by the Library's Trustees, members formally confirmed the appointment at the Annual General Meeting on 15 November 2022, marking the end of incumbent President Sir Tim Rice's five-year term.

The new President has been a Library member since 1986 and has been chosen for her creativity and connections with literature and stories, high profile, and potential to advocate among new audiences.

Bonham Carter has a passion for books and deeply appreciates the importance of writers to the acting profession. She rose to prominence by playing Lucy Honeychurch in the film adaptation of the novel A Room with a View (1985), written by former Library Vice President EM Forster Later; she played Miss Havisham in Great Expectations (2012); Charles Dickens was a founding member of the Library, and more recently, Eudoria Holmes in the Enola Holmes films based on characters created by Library member Arthur Conan Doyle. Much of her career links with London Library members who have drawn on the Library's rich cultural heritage, extensive resources, and unparalleled atmosphere.

Open to all, the Library has had innumerable female artists, writers, and thinkers in membership throughout its 181-year history. Early members included pioneering women such as social theorist Harriet Martineau, suffragette Christabel Pankhurst and the first woman to qualify in Britain, and physician and surgeon, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson. Great writers in membership have included Virginia Woolf, Angela Carter, Daphne du Maurier, Muriel Spark, and Beryl Bainbridge, and other creatives such as actress Diana Rigg and artist Vanessa Bell.

The Library Presidency is an honorary position with fundraising and advocacy at its core; the Library is a charity that receives no regular public funding. Bonham Carter's first foremost duty was to host The Library's Christmas Party. Still, she is particularly interested in the Library's highly regarded Emerging Writers Programme, its growing school program, and the Library's various types of supported membership for those unable to meet the full annual fee.

The Library is a world-class center of creativity and inspiration. Around 700 books are published each year by Library members, and over 460 film scripts, TV screenplays, or theatre scripts are also produced by Library members annually, estimating an annual value of £213m generated for the UK economy (Nordicity and Chartered Accountants Saffrey Champness Impact Report,2020).

Helena Bonham Carter, CBE, said: "I am delighted to become The London Library's first female President and champion an institution open to all. The Library is truly a place like no other, inspiring and supporting writers for over 180 years, many of whom have in some way informed my career and those of actors everywhere. The Library's unique resources, history, and membership help connect the literary greats of the past with those of the future. I am proud to support this incredible and vital establishment".

Philip Marshall, Director of The London Library, said:'We are thrilled to welcome Helena Bonham Carter as our new President. With a passion for books and stories and a long-standing love of the Library, Helena is ideally placed to promote this tremendous resource for the creative and curious'.