London Library accepted a £1m pledge from a member of the Sackler family in 2012. The library used £100,000 of that amount. The remaining £900,000 was not used by 2015 because the library's refurbishment plans had changed and no longer matched the purpose for which the donation had been pledged.

An article published on August 12 incorrectly reported that the donation had been rejected by the library because of the Sackler family's role in manufacturing prescription painkiller OxyContin.