The British Library

            The second place we visited for the British Studies Program was the British Library. This visit was divided into two separate tours. The first tour was of the conservation center, and the second was the general tour of the library. Pictured above is the class during the second tour!

           The British Library a leading national library with a comprehensive research collection useful for academics and researchers. They have examples of writing in every form, and a massive collection of items in languages from all over the world. The library was at first a part of the British Museum until around 1973 when it was separated and became its own establishment. The library is a legal deposit library, which means that they receive a copy of every book published in the U.K and Ireland. As a result, the collection has grown to around 170 million items! (and its still growing) These items include books, newspapers, manuscripts, sound recoding's and more. The collection grows every year, adding millions of items. It is actually the third largest library in the world. 

          One thing that was interesting to learn is that the main building was designed to resemble a ship. At first glance it is not really noticeable. Only after learning this I was able to see the ship like aspects of the building. For instance, many of the entrances throughout the library had round port hole windows. Or if you look at the building from outside the shape of it even resembles a ship! If you look at the photo below you can just make it out.

(Credit https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jul/31/british-library-awarded-grade-i-listed-building-status)

          Another interesting thing we learned about on the general library tour was about the glass tower. The tower resides near the center of the building, and is about 4 stories high. It is filled with the first large donation of King George III's personal library of 80,000 books that date from 1423-1820. In fact, the libraries collection model is based off of this collection of books. Apparently King George III was very adamant about having a very diverse collection of books in many different languages and subject matters, and the library has followed suite. They currently have a large selection of books in many different languages. It is for this reason that 38% of patrons are international users, and they have 101 language curators. Check out the image below of the tower!

Close up of the Kings Library in the glass tower. 

The tower from the fourth floor. 

          The first tour we received gave us some insight on how their conservation labs work, and about some of their current conservation projects. For instance, the Qatar project is a 10 year partnership between the British Library and the Qatar Foundation. The project is working on digitizing a large selection of Arabic scientific manuscripts. So far they have digitized over 2 million items, and eventually they will all be accessible online for free. The project is still in process, since they have only completed the first phase they have years to go. Unfortunately, I was not able to take any photographs, but the one below is from their main conservation lab.

          The British Library was really an impressive place to visit. They have a large and diverse collection, with the latest technology. I had a wonderful time, and I'm glad they were able to give us a behind the scenes tour!




Source:
The British Library, (2019). https://www.bl.uk/about-us