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- DictionaryBritish Library
- 1. the national library of Britain, containing the former library departments of the British Museum. The principal copyright library, it was established separately from the British Museum in 1972, and moved to a new headquarters in 1998.
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The British Library is a research library in London that is the national library of the United Kingdom. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries.
We are the national library of the UK. Our London and Yorkshire sites have everything from books and newspapers to sound recordings, patents, prints and drawings, maps, and manuscripts. We are free to use and open to everyone.
- Where Is The British Library?
- Contact Us
- Facilities
The main entrance to our St Pancras site is 96 Euston Road, London, NW1 2DB. Our Boston Spa site is located at Boston Spa, Wetherby, West Yorkshire, LS23 7BQ.
Please email customer@bl.uk(08.30 - 16.30 Monday to Friday). We'll get back to you as quickly as we can but are currently experiencing a high volume of enquiries so it may take us some time to respond.
Cloakrooms and lockers
Visitors to our Reading Rooms are required to leave coats and bags in the cloakroom or in a locker. If you're visiting our exhibition galleries you will also need to leave backpacks in the cloakroom. Our cloakroom and digital lockers are free to use, located on the Lower Ground Floor. Please note our cloakroom is closed on Sundays, but you can use our lockers.
Wifi
Free wifi is available. No username or password is required but you will need to agree to the Terms and Conditions to access it.
Last Word community hub
We've opened The Last Word community hub in our Piazza, which is the new base for our Community Engagement team. Here they'll meet Camden residents and host a range of activities with and for local people. The hub will also showcase changing displays of community projects for everyone to enjoy. Open Monday – Saturday 10.00 – 16.00, but times will vary to respond to community needs.
How to use the British Library, and which resources are currently available in our Reading Rooms and our online.
The British Library (BL) is the national library of the United Kingdom and one of the world’s largest libraries. Its collections include more than 150 million items, in over 400 languages...
May 15, 2024 · British Library, national library of Great Britain, formed by the British Library Act (1972) and organized by July 1, 1973. It holds more than 170 million items, including 13 million printed and electronic books as well as hundreds of thousands of periodicals, microfilms, and rare manuscripts.
The British Library is one of six UK legal deposit libraries. We are a dual site based in London and Boston Spa, Yorkshire. At St. Pancras in London we have eleven different subject focused reading rooms comprising of: Humanities 1. Humanities 2 - Sound & Vision. Newsroom. Science 1 & 2. Social Sciences. Business & Intellectual Property.
