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The British Library

British Library
BritishLibrary.svg
British library london.jpg
Pictured from the concourse
Country United Kingdom
Type National library
Established 1973 (44 years ago) (1973) (1753)
Location Euston Road
London, NW1
Branches 1 (Boston Spa, West Yorkshire)
Collection
Items collected Books, journals, newspapers, magazines, sound and music recordings, patents, databases, maps, stamps, prints, drawings and manuscripts
Size

over 150,000,000 items
13,950,000 books
824,101 serial titles
351,116 manuscripts (single and volumes)
8,266,276 philatelic items
4,347,505 cartographic items
1,607,885 music scores

6,000,000 sound recordings
Legal deposit Yes, as enshrined in the Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003
Access and use
Access requirements Open to anyone with a need to use the collections and services
Other information
Budget £142 million
Director Roly Keating (chief executive, since 12 September 2012)
Website bl.uk

Coordinates: 51°31′46″N 0°07′37″W / 51.52944°N 0.12694°W / 51.52944; -0.12694

over 150,000,000 items
13,950,000 books
824,101 serial titles
351,116 manuscripts (single and volumes)
8,266,276 philatelic items
4,347,505 cartographic items
1,607,885 music scores

The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and the second largest library in the world by number of items catalogued. Formally, officially classified and certified in the U.K. as a Grade I listed building "of exceptional interest" because of its special architectural and historic interest, the library is a major research library, holding well over 150 million items from many countries, and receives a copy of every publication produced in the UK and Ireland (approximately 8,000 per day). Items are in many languages and in many formats, both print and digital: books, manuscripts, journals, newspapers, magazines, sound and music recordings, videos, play-scripts, patents, databases, maps, stamps, prints, drawings. The Library's collections include around 14 million books, along with substantial holdings of manuscripts and historical items dating back as far as 2000 BC.

As a legal deposit library, the British Library receives copies of all books produced in the United Kingdom and Ireland, including a significant proportion of overseas titles distributed in the UK. It also has a programme for content acquisitions. The British Library adds some three million items every year occupying 9.6 kilometres (6.0 mi) of new shelf space.

The library is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is located on the north side of Euston Road in St Pancras, London (between Euston railway station and St Pancras railway station) and has a document storage centre and reading room near Boston Spa, 2.5 miles (4.0 km) east of Wetherby in West Yorkshire.


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