British Library

Why go

The core of the Library's historical collections is based on a series of donations and acquisitions from the 18th century, known as the "foundation collections". 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.

What to look for

• Newspapers The Library holds an almost complete collection of British and Irish newspapers since 1840.
• Material available online The British Library makes a number of images of items within its collections available online.
• Electronic collections Explore the British Library is the latest iteration of the online catalogue.

The full story

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. 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. 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. In 1973, the British Library Act 1972 detached the library department from the British Museum, but it continued to host the now separated British Library in the same Reading Room and building as the museum until the library moved to a purpose-built building at St Pancras, London.

Your next visit

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