Editing British Museum Reading Room (section)

=== Exhibition space ===
In 2007 the books and facilities installed in 2000 were removed, and the Reading Room was relaunched as a venue for special exhibitions, beginning with one featuring China's [[Terracotta Army]]. The general library for visitors, Paul Hamlyn Library, was moved to a room accessible through nearby Room 2, but closed permanently on 13 August 2011. This is an earlier library that has also had distinguished users, including [[Thomas Babington Macaulay]], [[William Makepeace Thackeray]], [[Robert Browning]], [[Giuseppe Mazzini]], [[Charles Darwin]], and [[Charles Dickens]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.museumsassociation.org/museums-journal/news/11082011-paul-hamlyn-library-to-shut-on-Friday|title=BM confirms closure of Paul Hamlyn library {{!}} Museums Association|website=www.museumsassociation.org|date=11 August 2011 |access-date=2020-04-29}}</ref>

A selection of past exhibitions:<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.britishmuseum.org/about_us/past_exhibitions.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180209063638/http://www.britishmuseum.org/about_us/past_exhibitions.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=2018-02-09|title=British Museum - Past exhibitions|date=2018-02-09|access-date=2020-04-29}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Exhibit
! From
! To
|-
| ''The First Emperor: China's Terracotta Army''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/about_us/news_and_press/press_releases/2007/the_first_emperor.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401015132/https://www.britishmuseum.org/about_us/news_and_press/press_releases/2007/the_first_emperor.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=2019-04-01|title=British Museum - The First Emperor: China's Terracotta Army|date=2019-04-01|access-date=2020-04-29}}</ref>
| 13 September 2007
| 6 April 2008
|-
| ''Hadrian: Empire and Conflict''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/about_us/past_exhibitions/2008/archive_hadrian.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190323042808/https://www.britishmuseum.org/about_us/past_exhibitions/2008/archive_hadrian.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=2019-03-23|title=British Museum - Archive: Hadrian|date=2019-03-23|access-date=2020-04-29}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2008/jul/20/art1|title=Hadrian: Empire and Conflict, British Museum, London|date=2008-07-19|website=the Guardian|language=en|access-date=2020-04-29}}</ref>
| 24 July 2008
| 27 October 2008
|-
| ''Shah ʿAbbas: The Remaking of Iran''<ref name=":1" />
| 19 February 2009
| 14 June 2009
|-
| ''Indian Summer''<ref name=":1" />
| May 2009
| September 2009
|-
| ''Montezuma: Aztec Ruler''<ref name=":1" />
| 24 September 2009
| 24 January 2010
|-
| ''Italian Renaissance drawings''<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/all_current_exhibitions/italian_renaissance_drawings.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181012195203/http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/all_current_exhibitions/italian_renaissance_drawings.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=2018-10-12|title=British Museum - Archive: Fra Angelico to Leonardo: Italian Renaissance Drawings|date=2018-10-12|access-date=2020-04-29}}</ref>
| 22 April 2010
| 25 July 2010
|-
| ''Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead: Journey Through the Afterlife''<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/all_current_exhibitions/book_of_the_dead.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181028235248/http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/all_current_exhibitions/book_of_the_dead.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=2018-10-28|title=British Museum - Book of the Dead|date=2018-10-28|access-date=2020-04-29}}</ref>
| 4 November 2010
| 6 March 2011
|-
| ''Treasures of Heaven: Saints, Relics and Devotion in Medieval Europe''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/exhibitions/treasures_of_heaven.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190905095024/https://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/exhibitions/treasures_of_heaven.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=2019-09-05|title=British Museum - Treasures of Heaven|date=2019-09-05|access-date=2020-04-29}}</ref>
| 23 June 2011
| 9 October 2011
|-
| ''[[Hajj: Journey to the Heart of Islam]]''
| 26 January 2012
| 15 April 2012
|-
| ''Shakespeare: staging the world''
| 19 July 2012
| 25 November 2012
|-
| ''Life and death in Pompeii and Herculaneum''
| 28 March 2013
| 29 September 2013
|-
| ''Vikings: life and legend''<ref name=":1" />
| 6 March 2014
| 22 June 2014
|-
| ''Ancient lives, new discoveries''<ref name=":1" />
| 22 May 2014
| 12 July 2015
|-
| ''Germany: memories of a nation''<ref name=":1" />
| 16 October 2014
| 25 January 2015
|-
| ''Indigenous Australia: enduring civilisations''<ref name=":1" />
| 23 April 2015
| 2 August 2015
|-
| ''Drawing in silver and gold: Leonardo to Jasper Johns''<ref name=":1" />
| 10 September 2015
| 6 December 2015
|-
| ''Celts: art and identity''<ref name=":1" />
| 24 September 2015
| 31 January 2016
|-
| ''Egypt: faith after the pharaohs''<ref name=":1" />
| 29 October 2015
| 7 February 2016
|-
| ''Sunken Cities: Egypt's lost worlds''<ref name=":1" />
| 19 May 2016
| 27 November 2016
|-
| ''Hokusai: beyond the Great Wave''<ref name=":1" />
| 25 May 2017
| 13 August 2017
|}