Rob spoke about this membership to the library to Time Out London in the summer of 2009,

Where were your favourite hangouts?
‘I love the steak upstairs at the French House. I really loved the French House and Green Park. I used to go there all the time. It’s one of my favourite parks; and the London Library in St James’s Square. I loved it there. There’s nothing like it anywhere in the world. I used to go there and try to write. But it was also such a labyrinth. You could go around there for hours and not see anyone. You could find Russian translations of Greek books that were hundreds of years old or you could be there for six hours and then suddenly bump into someone round a corridor – you could almost stay there overnight and nobody would notice.’

There were rumors circulating in August 2011 that Robert has a lifetime membership with the library after making a large donation. However, when we reached out to the London Library to confirm his active membership with the library, they clarified that this story is largely incorrect and has clearly come from a misinformed source. The Library has asked The Mail on Sunday, where the story first appeared, to print a clarification to this effect.

While the Library does not disclose members’ private details, Robert has been kind enough to speak publicly and enthusiastically about his membership of The London Library. The Library can confirm that he has not purchased Life Membership, however.

The Library would also like to clarify that while is an institution with a wonderful history, it is not ‘exclusive’, as this story implies: it is in fact a registered charity, and membership is open to all book lovers. Life membership of the Library, as with life membership of any institution, constitutes a significant investment, but most Library members are annual members, paying a monthly fee of £36 per month (young members, aged 24 and under, pay just £18 per month.) As it receives no public funding, subscriptions fees are what enable the Library to exist, preserving and extending its collections.

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