Our second excursion found as at the British Library near King's Cross station. This library is national library for the United Kingdom and includes more than 150 million pieces in its collection. The library contionually adds to its collection and each year expands its collection size. Several types of media are acquired by the library including, but not limited to, books, newspapers, magazines, manuscripts, CDs, DVDs, databases, and philatelic items (stamps). The goal of the library is to provide all citizens the opportunity to access information and to preserve these items for future generations.
The library is short walking distance from the tube station. There is a large courtyard occupying the entrance to the building. According to the library professional we toured with this is one of the larger open spaces alotted to an organization in the city. The building itself was designed by a former British Naval Officer and is designed with to have the appearance of a ship.
The library has four levels and each of these contains several reading rooms for specific subjects. Each reading room has reference staff who specialize in the area of study. The 1st floor has reading rooms for humanities, rare books and music, business, and social sciences. These subject categories are broader in scope and within each reading room contain more narrowly defined fields. For instance, the humanties reading room is comprised of subjects such as american studies, celtic studies, drama, media studies, and philisophy.
Reading rooms are only accesible to citizens who register and recieve a library card. Two forms of ID are recquired with a proof of signature and address. With a library card patrons are able to access millions of documents in the collection. The library staff recommends that patrons have items they would like to research already picked out. This is because of the time it takes to retrieve items from basement storage. Users are encouraged to find items over the internet and order them prior to their visit to the library.
When a patron has selected an item they must fill out an inquiry and meet with a member of the staff. The staff member then processes the request and the item is retrieved from the basement stacks. The library also stores collections at offsite locations. On average an item ordered that is onsite is delivered in an hour. Items requested which are stored offsite can take from 2 hours to two days depending on the location. This is why the staff recommends patrons select items in advance.
The British Library is also home to some special collections.
The library is short walking distance from the tube station. There is a large courtyard occupying the entrance to the building. According to the library professional we toured with this is one of the larger open spaces alotted to an organization in the city. The building itself was designed by a former British Naval Officer and is designed with to have the appearance of a ship.
The library has four levels and each of these contains several reading rooms for specific subjects. Each reading room has reference staff who specialize in the area of study. The 1st floor has reading rooms for humanities, rare books and music, business, and social sciences. These subject categories are broader in scope and within each reading room contain more narrowly defined fields. For instance, the humanties reading room is comprised of subjects such as american studies, celtic studies, drama, media studies, and philisophy.
Reading rooms are only accesible to citizens who register and recieve a library card. Two forms of ID are recquired with a proof of signature and address. With a library card patrons are able to access millions of documents in the collection. The library staff recommends that patrons have items they would like to research already picked out. This is because of the time it takes to retrieve items from basement storage. Users are encouraged to find items over the internet and order them prior to their visit to the library.
When a patron has selected an item they must fill out an inquiry and meet with a member of the staff. The staff member then processes the request and the item is retrieved from the basement stacks. The library also stores collections at offsite locations. On average an item ordered that is onsite is delivered in an hour. Items requested which are stored offsite can take from 2 hours to two days depending on the location. This is why the staff recommends patrons select items in advance.
The British Library is also home to some special collections.
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