British Library

The British Library came into existence in 1973 as a result of the British Library Act. Parliament’s vision was for a single institution at the heart of the UK’s information network, which would aid scientific and technological research, business, the arts and humanities. To make this happen, several organisations were brought together to create a national library. The British Museum Library, founded in 1753, contained one of the world’s largest collections of books, manuscripts and periodicals, both contemporary and antique, British and foreign. It was created as ‘one general repository’ to hold the collections of Sir Hans Sloane, Sir Robert Cotton and Robert and Edward Harley. When it inherited the library of George III in 1823, its printed books doubled in number, prompting a move to the site of the current British Museum. Opening in 1857, the Library’s Round Reading Room – with its magnificent domed roof – became an iconic destination in the literary landscape of London. George Gissing used it as the setting of his 1891 novel New Grub Street, describing it as ‘the valley of the shadow of books’, while lamenting the difficulties of obtaining a Reader ticket. Its roof was also used in the climax of Alfred Hitchcock’s film Blackmail (1929). The room welcomed many famous visitors including Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens, Karl Marx, George Bernard Shaw and Virginia Woolf. Lenin too applied for a Reader ticket, adopting the pseudonym Jacob Richter to cover his tracks from the Russian authorities. During World War II, some of our most precious treasures were moved to a secure cave in Aberystwyth, with round the clock guards. Meanwhile, the Newspaper Library in Colindale, north London, suffered substantial damage from bombing and some of the collection had to be transferred to quarries in Wiltshire while repairs were made. One of the first challenges for the new British Library in 1973 was to find a premises to bring together these disparate collections and institutions. An old rail goods yard in St Pancras would become our home. Opening its doors to the public in November 1997 and receiving an official inauguration by HM Queen Elizabeth II the following June, the Library became the largest public building constructed in Britain in the last 100 years. Although its modernist design by architect Sir Colin St. John Wilson originally divided critics, the building achieved Grade 1 listed status in 2015. Today it lies at the centre of an area of huge regeneration, home to the Knowledge Quarter and Google. 

If you wish to reproduce an image for publication in electronic or any other form you must obtain the specific written permission of the British Library in advance; a fee will usually be charged. Reproduction of British Library images on the internet requires a special pre-negotiated licensing agreement; please contact British Library Publications. The following require written permission from the British Library: Publication in any form of hard copy (book, periodical, partwork). Use in television, film or video. Publication in any electronic form of an image, whether modified or not. Duplication of an image in any networked or public site, or in any"virtual librar". Public display in any form of electronic or hard copy. Duplication by photocopying or any other means for use in any teaching pack. Hand-made artwork is exempt from these restrictions. 

The Library is open to everyone who has a genuine need to use its collections. Anyone with a permanent address who wishes to carry out research can apply for a Reader Pass; they are required to provide proof of signature and address.