Yesterday, we toured the British Library, one of the largest libraries in the entire world. Holding over 200 million pieces, the British Library's collection when lined up covers over 300 miles.
The main building, which is what we visited, holds forty percent of the total collection, with the remaining sixty percent at satellite centers throughout London and the UK. The bulk of the main building is underground (like USC's Thomas Cooper Library), with eight stories going under. Curiously, this construction does pose two main problems: 1) there is a great deal of underground pressure from the Tube and 2) there are many Bubonic plague pits underground. Indeed, there have been incidents in which construction workers found plague pits and had to evacuate. The librarian giving the tour told a rather disturbing story: once, they accidentally discovered poison gas underground and had to evacuate so they could clear it out!
The building is GORGEOUS inside and out--although Prince Charles evidently complained about it being too modern. It is set amid many historic buildings in London, most notably the gothic style hotels above the St. Pancras Station. As you can see, it is truly a triumph of design.
My favorite piece of furniture there without question was the book bench. Come on, you know you want one!
It is modeled after chained libraries, which would have been the format available to people in the medieval era. Because the printing press had not yet been invented, books were an extremely expensive commodity and not one a library could afford to lose; so, the books were chained to the desks. One would come to the library and actually have to read the book in the library. You can read about chain libraries here.
While the library does have a tremendous amount of material available, it is not exactly for everyone. The British Library specifically serves people who are researching--professors, students, writers, etc.--and are in need of materials not readily available in public libraries. To access the collections, you need a library card and must be 18 or older to apply for one. The librarian assured us there were practical reasons for this age limit. First, because the library holds the largest collections in the world, it also has the largest collection of pornographic material in the world. Much like the Library of Congress, which, along with the Moscow Art Library, rivals the British Library in terms of breadth, the British Library must have copies of everything that is printed in the UK, including newspapers, stamps, and, yes, porn. The age limit curtails any...um...ulterior teenage motives (supposedly). Second, the library prosecutes anyone who steals or damages materials. However, they cannot prosecute children.
As mentioned earlier, researchers must have a reason to research. There are millions of books there, but they are not laid out like in a public or academic library. The materials are underground or in hidden places. To read a document, you must put in a request, which is then sent to a librarian responsible for retrieval. The book is then put on a tray and sent through an elaborate intralibrary tunnel. We were able to see this book tunnel, and it is quite a brilliant feat. I appreciated the fact that they really make stealing quite difficult.
Speaking of which, we were allowed into a secret observatory over one of the reading rooms (each collection--humanities, maps, etc.--has its own reading room) in which librarians can watch people using the manuscripts. The librarian pointed the cameras out to us--the visible ones, that is. She told us there are cameras in the desks to watch patrons. Additionally, when one requests a manuscript, the librarians weigh it before and after one uses it; if there is any difference, they begin searching. I was ambivalent about these measures: while I found them profoundly invasive, I did understand their purpose. These documents are not like, say, a Stephen King novel or an Encyclopedia Britannica at your public library; they are historic and irreplaceable. To be honest, I have not entire worked out my feelings about the degree of surveillance there, especially since I'm nearing the end of 1984.
As you can see from the pictures above, there is a massive tower of books in the entrance. These are known as the King's Book Tower. In the late 18th century, King George III collected a large number of books--over 65,000 volumes--and passed them on to King George IV. In 1820, George IV wanted to redo the library in his palace, transforming it into a party room. So, he gave the books to the British Library. The "house" he redid, by the way, was Buckingham House, which later became Buckingham Palace.
The King's Book Tower is heavily secure; only a select few of the staff can access it, and they need both a card and a specific PIN. All of the books are pre-1850, which the library designates as "old." (I was amused to learn they consider books after 1850 "modern." Odd choice of words, in my opinion.) For all books pre-1850, one must read them in a specific reading room; for post-1850 books, one can read them anywhere.
The King's Book Tower is kept at a low temperature (60 degrees Fahrenheit) and the humidity is controlled. Also, there is a protective gel on the glass of the case to prevent it from melting in a fire. According to our librarian, on September 23, 1940 the library was bombed and about 300 items were destroyed. Curiously, they are still in the catalog. I have no idea why. The point, though, is the gel did prevent the case from melting and burning the entire collection.
The British Library has taken a very long time to be erected. The initial designs were made in the 1970s, but the building was not completed until 1997. Interestingly, when the library was first conceived, the lobby was going to house the card catalog. As time passed, they realized they would not be able to do this, so they put the King's Book Tower in its place.
After the tour, we were able to visit their "Treasure Room," which displayed many of their most notable manuscripts. I was thrilled looking through the displays, which featured such documents as the first known copy of Beowulf, the only known sketch of Jane Austin, the original copy of the Magna Carta, and even napkins upon which Paul McCartney and John Lennon scribbled Beatles lyrics. A marvelous collection! Unfortunately, photographs were prohibited in there, so I can't display anything for you. Rest assured, though, the "Treasures" really were treasures!
Later that day, I enjoyed a "Big Bus London" tour, in which I was able to sit in the top of a bus that had no roof and ride through London. A tour guide spoke into a microphone and gave details about every building we passed, which was fascinating. I took a few pictures from the bus, which included St. Paul's Cathedral, London Bridge, and the Tower of London.
All in all, yesterday was a great day! Stay tuned for pictures from Stonehenge!
Love,
Laura
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