British Library 8 July 2010

This morning, we met in the courtyard to proceed to our visit at the British Library. Prior to meeting in the courtyard of the new library building, we stopped at King's Cross Station for a photo op at Platform Nine and three-quarters. It was such a touristy thing to do, but the majority seemed to enjoy. It is tucked in an out-of-the way part of the station; of course this may be more due to the major construction of the station than any other administrative decision to hide the area from Potter-maniacs.

The British Library, as it is today, was created by the British Library Act of 1972. Prior to this, the collection was housed with the British Museum. This national library was founded on collections from Sir Robert Cotton, Sir Hans Sloane, Robert Harley and King George III. The King's library is housed withing a glass columnar enclosure immediately behind the information desk and is visible upon entering the lobby. The collection is housed in this manner under the direction of the King that his collection be displayed prominently.

The collection is comprised of approximately 14 million books, 920,000 journal and newspaper titles, 58 million patents, 3 million sound recordings (according to their website: http://www.bl.uk/) in addition to the Philatelic collection and other ephemera. An act of Parliament in 1911 instituted legal deposit of all items into the British Library collection published in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. Legal deposit is augmented by acquisitions and donations; not all items are in English. The collection is housed both in the underground tunnels beneath the Euston Road Building and in a separate facility in West Yorkshire.

Our tour was conducted by Kevin Mehmet of the Front Office. While not a chartered librarian, Mr. Mehmet's job is to be the face of the library to the public. His tour was insightful and entertaining. Our group was extremely fortunate to have him take us through the building. He was engaging and seemed genuinely interested in the various members of our motley band. Although I did not have the opportunity to meet the other guides, I felt very fortunate in our lot.

The building housing the British Library was designed by Sir Colin St. John Wilson and has a decidedly nautical style. The large model shows both the concourse and the underground tunnels in which the books are stored (at seventy-five feet below the building). The library has a specialized book retrieval system similar in design to the baggage handling system at an airport. When a patron makes a request, two identical tickets are printed in the storage area . The items are stored by size. A worker will then locate the item and scan the bar code on the ticket and then the bin in which the item is placed is scanned. The retrieval system is completely automated. Once the bin arrives in the appropriate receiving area, another worker scans both the ticket and the bin and a light appears at the desk at which the patron has indicated advising them their item is available. The aim (by mandate) is that it should take no more than one hour from request to delivery. The maintenance group for the automated retrieval system is in-house and available should any SNAFU's occur. According to Mr. Mehmet, there are very few breakdowns. Additionally, there are no real back-up plans for manual retrieval as this institution of a manual plan would take longer than simply waiting for the maintenance team to fix whatever issue has come up.

In order to use the items at the British Library, you must register either on site or electronically. Proof of identification and signature are required in order to be issued a reading card. Items may also be requested in advance. Cards can be issued for short term, one year for Master's students and up to three years for doctoral research. Cards are renewable. If items are too fragile for use, microfilm or digital copies can be made available.

In addition to the regular exhibit of some of the libraries most rare in beautiful items, a special gallery was presenting an exhibit entitled: Magnificent Maps: power, propaganda and art a magnificent display of the art and science of mapping the world and our place in it. One of the more impressive installations in this exhibit were two stations at which images of maps were projected upon a plan white table. Details upon the map were revealed both visually and audibly through the use of a large plastic "magnifying glass." It allowed for a deeper and closer look into the maps and their meanings. This portion of the display was only topped by the digital kiosks in both the lobby and in the Sir John Ritblat gallery consisting of a digital screen at which 6 books were displayed. These items could be selected and the pages turned via a touch screen interface. Options include detail display, audio commentary and even the sound of the text being sung or read aloud. We were informed that this kiosk was made possible by Bill Gates and the Microsoft corporation. It was an outstanding opportunity to "interact" with such rare items. Although it deprives one of the experience of the feel and smell of a live interaction and does not provide a proper perspective of the size and shape of the original volume, it was still a wonderful tool.

We were able to tour both the Ritblat Gallery, the special exhibit on maps, visit the reader's registration room and even got behind the scenes to one of the receiving areas for the automated book retrieval system, I think there was a general sense of disappointment (at least in my group) at not being able to go through the underground storage area. In spite of our disappointment, we consoled ourselves that not only are we a large group and quite probably would be disruptive, but there were probably safety and security issues making such a visit impracticable.