Day 7 - British Library

We toured the British Library today, and I must say it was not what I expected. There were a lot of people there, as there usually is in London. Inside there is a gift shop, cafe and restaurant, reading rooms, and an old text gallery.
Our class was split up into two groups and guides took us through the book acquisition and distribution process. My group was guided by Kevin Mehmet and he gave us a witty tour through the library. The library's book collection is stored in an underground temperature controlled storage facility 112,000 square meters, with 170 million items.
Plans for the building of the British Library began in 1972 but was not opened until 1997. Up until 1972, the British Museum acted as a library until Parliament decreed the need for a national library.
In order to gain access to any of the books in the library's massive collection, one must first register for a reader's pass to gain authorization to the 11 reading rooms. Reader's enter a book request into the system and then once a library assistant retrieves the book, it is sent through the Automated Book Removal System, or ABRS, to the appropriate destination, or reading room. Over 8,000 requests are received each week.
On display at the library is King George III personal collection of 90,000 books. Housed in the center of the library and extending six stories high, the collection is encased in a glass storage facility on shelves that move forwards and backwards. It was a very beautiful display.
We were also given a view of the conservation studio of the library. That was very interesting. We were able to see a little of how books are restored and the time and energy it takes into restoring a book while keeping to the book or manuscripts historical integrity. I believe I enjoyed the conservation tour most of all. We weren't shown a whole lot of how things are done, and I would have liked to have seen more.
Until next time.