We work with record donors, volunteers and a wide variety of researchers to keep our collections growing, accessible and useful. If you are interested in getting involved with our archive please get in touch.
We are always interested in collecting personal papers, records or objects associated with the Guardian or the Observer. If you would like to discuss donating your personal papers, or other material relating to the newspapers' histories, please contact us at archives@theguardianfoundation.org, including as much detail as possible about your records. Material is accepted in line with our acquisitions policy.
Our reading room in Kings Place, London, is open to members of the public by appointment. A wide variety of researchers use our collections, including family historians, academics and artists, and we welcome initial enquiries via email and telephone. You do not need to be affiliated with a university to visit our reading room.
We are grateful for the help our volunteers give us to preserve and open up the records in our care. We work with regular staff volunteers from among our GNM colleagues and remote volunteers as part of specific projects. We also host week-long onsite placements for those interested in gaining archive experience.
Placement volunteers gain a taste of what it is like to work in an archive as well as valuable pre-training experience. Recent volunteers have been involved with cataloguing cartoons by Les Gibbard, listing and repackaging photographic negatives from the 1970s and helping to plan in-house exhibitions. We provide all relevant training and no previous knowledge or experience is necessary.
In particular, we actively and warmly welcome Black, Asian and minority ethnic volunteers, male volunteers and volunteers with a disability as they are currently under-represented at The Guardian Foundation and in the wider archive sector.