The British Library:
The British Library, founded on July 1st 1973 was created due to the British Library Act in 1972, which was an act in attempt to establish a national library for the United Kingdom and to serve its citizens with knowledge and wisdom. “Over the intervening two hundred years, the library of the British Museum had grown into one of the largest in the world, sustained by its privilege of legal deposit whereby it was entitled to a copy of most items printed in the United Kingdom”(“British Library”) The library, which holds one of the world’s largest collections of artifacts holds books, journals, manuscripts, newspaper, magazines, voice recordings, videos, maps, drawings etc. and got most of its series from the British Museum. The core collection of the British Library came from donations and contributions during the 18th century known as “foundation collection” are art piece that Sir Robert Cotton, Sir Hans Sloane, Robert Harley and King George III acquired over the years.
The library was the largest constructed building in the U.K during the 20th century, inside stands a four stories glass tower known as the King George tower which holds over 65,000 manuscripts, maps, pamphlet that he collected through the time of his travels between 1763-1820. In 2009, an expansion was made in West Yorkshire, which held more than seven million pieces of artifacts in a temperature and humidity controlled environment in attempt to preserve the well being of the relics. The British Library does not only hold one of the first largest collection of artifacts but also “The world’s earliest dated printed book, the Diamond Sutra, [and is] sometimes on display in [the] exhibition gallery alongside many other treasures.” (“Facts and Figures”) As many libraries keep copies of newspaper dating up to 50 years back, The British Library holds almost a full collection of newspaper from 1840. It’s not only amazing to see such a vast array of artifacts in so many fields but it was The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“British Library”) that allowed the general public to have access to these historical and precious articles in the library. As the library have many component to their array of collections, The National Lending Library for Science and Technology (NLLST) was founded and have been in service since 1961. “The function of the Lending Division was to support the library systems of the UK by providing a loan and photocopy service to other libraries throughout the country” (“National Lending Library for Science and Technology”) allowing not just British citizens but also people from around the world to have access to information on science and technology.
The library holds not just books for any age but also an extensive collection of online resources, magazines, newspapers and maps since the beginning to better serve the people of England in learning about the world. The reason that I’ve pursued a report on The British Library was that I was always fascinated and amazed by the extensiveness of the collections held in libraries. People don’t only go there for knowledge or information but also for pleasure and entertainments. Next, I’d like to learn more about The British Library by exploring the collections of artifacts that it holds and also more into the history of the library. Although it contains many prestigious and precious artifacts such as two of the Gutenberg Bibles and The Diamond Sutra, its substantial collection does not stop here, therefore I would not only want to know more about the series of artifacts held there but also the history of how these artifacts got there in the first place.