The Maughan library is located just outside of the City of London at Kings College. The library opened its doors in 1851 as a public records office, so they also store government records. When the library was built they kept fire safety and cost in mind since it was built before electricity. The facility only has a couple of fireplaces in the entire building, so it was really cold in the wintertime (they don't use them anymore). They also wanted as much natural light as possible so they put in as many windows as possible. The building has a cellular structure, with over 300 total rooms! Some more modern renovations have opened up some of these rooms. Where the inquiry room is at the front of the building, it was originally a reading room. Now they have around reading room similar to the one at the British Library but smaller. We were able to get a quick look into the reading room, but students were studying so we had to be quiet.
The tour of the Maughan Library was split up into two parts. The first group was given a lecture on the library and about some items they had on display. While the second group got to tour the library and the reading room in the library. I really enjoyed my visit to the library because they showed us some really interesting items. More so, because this was the only place that actually let us touch some of the items. This was really exciting for me because it actually allowed me to really experience the items and get a feel for them. One item in particular that I got really excited over actually came from Thomas Jefferson's own personal library. It was the called The Charters of the Provence of Pennsylvania, and they know it was his because the inside cover bears his signature!
Overall, I had a wonderful experience at the Kings College Maughan Library.
https://www.kcl.ac.uk/library/visiting/maughan
No comments:
Post a Comment