United Kingdom
United Kingdom
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The British Library
Britain's national library until 1973 was the Library of the British
Museum, which could trace its origins back to 1753, when Sir Hans Sloane
bequeathed his outstanding collection of books and manuscripts to the nation.
In 1969, however, the Dainton Committee Report drew attention to the need
to rationalize the British Museum Library and other related collections.
The LA strongly urged the Government to act on the Dainton Committee Report.
in 1972 Parliament passed the British Library Act, and on July 3, 1973.
the British Library (BL) came into being. It was formed from the British
Museum Library, the Science Reference Library, the Patent Office Library,
the National Lending Library for Science and Technology, the National Central
Library, and the British National Bibliograpy (BNB). The BNB
had been formed in 1950, the British Museum and the LA being among the
partners that had initiated and supported it.
The BL planned a major move for the early 1990s, merging its scattered
London operations in a new building at St. Pancras. Builders planned to
open the first phase of the new structure in 1993, with a gross area of
more than 80,000 sq.m., affording 579 reader seats, 12.7 km. of open-access
shelving, and 292 km. of closed-access shelving. The final phase, scheduled
to open in 1996 with a gross area of almost 35,000 sq.m., was designed
to add 627 reader seats, 10.5 km. of open-access shelving, and 23 km. of
closed-access seating. The architects for the new building are Colin St
John Wilson and Partners. While the building was under construction, the
lending functions of the BL remained at the British Library Document Supply
Center (BLDSC) at Boston Spa in Yorkshire, some 200 miles north of
London.
Scotland
The National Library of Scotland was founded in 1682 as the Advocates' Library; the Faculty of Advocates presented its collections to the nation in 1925 and Parliament set them up as the National Library. Since 1709 it has been a copyright library; it contains a notable collection of Scottish books and manuscripts. Housed in a building on George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, it includes a fine Reading Room and imposing Exhibition Rooms; the printed accessions number more than 100,000 annually. A Board of Trustees directs the Library's activities.
Wales
The National Library of Wales is at Aberystwyth where its building
was begun in 1911 and finally completed in 1955. It has three departments:
Manuscripts and Records; Printed Books; and Prints, Drawings, and Maps.
Classification is by the
Library of Congress system. The Library has benefited under the Copyright
Act since 1911, but it may demand only certain material, mainly Welsh,
under the legal deposit system. It possesses more than 2,000,000
printed books and large collections of other materials. It is
the headquarters of the Regional Library System for Wales.
Sources:
World guide to libraries. New York: Saur, 1998.
World encyclopedia of library and information services. 3rd ed.
Chicago: American Library Association,c1993.