Kevin, the Donations Librarian at the British Library, met us in the main entry-meeting zone section and began our tour with a discussion on the facts and figures of the library. There are 2,200 current employees, and 35 million items in the collection at that location alone (170 million items total between all of the branches). The collection is housed in 6 floors underneath the surface, protecting them from environmental damage. There are large industrial freezers housed on each of the floors, for preservation needs in case of water damage; however, there is also a system that wicks water away and out to the Thames as well.
Kevin tells us that there are 3 main purposes for their collection: to be a national bibliographic collection for everything published in the country (meaning publishers must send them books within a month of publication for addition to the collection), to archive items in the collection forever, and to make them available to researchers.
They just recently celebrated their 10th year anniversary. While the decision to separate the books from the British Museum began in 1961, the issues of finding a building plan that was suitable for everyone delayed the construction of the building until the 1990's. Sir Hans Sloan's personal library combined with his idea that knowledge should be shared started the British Library's Collection. Today, the library is the 3rd largest in the world, following Moscow and Library of Congress.
The library is organized by size, with closed stacks. The employees find books in the collection by using shelf labels that note location, floor, and quadrant. They also use dye stamps to mark the books, so that anyone who opens a book knows that they are the British Library's property. Thirty-five percent of their users are overseas researchers, and the library has collections representing every language.
In the middle of the building is a 6-story glass tower encasing King George III's collection. The collection can be accessed by staff members through a side door and elevator, making it not only a beautiful display, but a functional library resource, as well.
The library is separated into two sections: Humanities, and Sciences.
Kevin then talked to us a bit about digitizing collections. He told us that they hoped to have 40% of the collection in electronic format by 2020. Currently 75,000 pages are digitized per day. However he does note that the rapid changes to technology and format make it difficult to know in which formats to make items available electronically.
Their current budget is 120 BSP per year, which is generated from selling their catalog to other libraries and Inter Library Loan. 6.5 million BSP of that budget is going into preservation.
Kevin allowed us to view some of the "behind-the-scenes" action at the library, by allowing us to tour the offices and see the system that allows users to order a library book, have employees find it, and get the book to the user in the appropriate reading room.
We also got a chance to view the Sir John Ritblat Gallery, which currently houses the "Treasures of the British Library" collection. Some of my favorite items on display were: Jane Austen's notebook, Lewis Carroll's diary, Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles folio, and one of Shakespeare's first folios.
It was a very memorable visit. For more about the British Library, http://www.bl.uk/
After my tour of the British Library, I met some Children's Lit. students at Regent's Park for lunch at a cafe. I was very proud of myself, because that was the first time I had to navigate through the city on my own. I managed to get on the right bus and get off at the right stop and walk to the cafe in Regent's Park's Queen Mary's Garden, after briefly getting lost and winding up behind the zoo. All of the trouble was worth it in the end, though, because the rose garden was absolutely heavenly. I only wish I could have stayed there longer.
After my tour of the British Library, I met some Children's Lit. students at Regent's Park for lunch at a cafe. I was very proud of myself, because that was the first time I had to navigate through the city on my own. I managed to get on the right bus and get off at the right stop and walk to the cafe in Regent's Park's Queen Mary's Garden, after briefly getting lost and winding up behind the zoo. All of the trouble was worth it in the end, though, because the rose garden was absolutely heavenly. I only wish I could have stayed there longer.
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