British Library ~ 12 July 2007

The British Library as we visit it today in its current facility was established in 1998; however, its collection began forming in 1753 with the private collection of Sir Hans Sloane. There are four storage facilities, three of which are separate sites and one of which is in the basement of the main building. Also, the main building has recently had the addition of a conservation center. The British Library is purely a reference library, so researchers who qualify for a reader's card, based on their research needs, are able to request specific books and use them in one of the many reading rooms within the library.
The library is heavily funded by the British government. In fact, it receives more government funding than any other institution. There is also a strong Friends of the Library volunteer program that assists in raising funds. The library seems to be quite successful, both in its funding but also in its frequency of use.

The library's collection is made up of around 200 million items, making it the second largest library in the world! (The largest is the Library of Congress.) It holds 11 reading rooms, 4.2 million stamps, and 80,000 volumes just within "The King's Library." The Treasures gallery is one of its most valuable exhibitions; some examples of manuscripts that are on display include: a handwritten letter by Jane Austen, Shakespeare's First Folio, Da Vinci's sketches, Lewis Carrol's handwritten version of Alice in Wonderland, a Gutenberg Bible, and the Magna Carta. Another exhibit within the library is the Sacred Manuscript Exhibit, which displays a section of the Dead Sea Scrolls, for example.
The library is staffed with around 2,500 employees, divided between the three sites. However, the majority of the staff (2,100) works at the main library building. Some examples of the necessary personnel include the curators; staff to work with the public; tour guides; staff to operate book delivery, registration, conservation, exhibits, etc.

I was very impressed with the organization and magnitude of the British Library. How it can remain so efficient and yet reach such a broad scope of patrons is amazing to me. It is busy with readers and researchers from all over the world! It was clear that this library is very up-to-date with technology, facilities, and research. For example, I enjoyed the "Turning the Pages" interactive program; it really pulls the visitors in and encourages them to explore the manuscripts thoroughly and for themselves. Some aspects of the storage were completely new to me, and quite interesting to note. The basement storage is kept at a temperature of 16 degrees Celsius, which is recommended to be the ideal temperature for book preservation. And, many of the books are organized according to size, not subject, in order to maximize space. I was fascinated to learn about the whole behind-the-scenes process, as well: The reader must present a reading list, explaining his/her research needs, which may be done electronically since one can access the online catalog with a reader's card number. Then the librarian will gather the requested books and deliver them directly to the reading room where the reader is located, through a complex conveyor belt system.