British Library

The British Library is both the national library and the largest public building constructed in the 20th century in the UK. With a collection of more than 150 million items, it is also one of the world’s greatest libraries.

The collection is simply outstanding, with 3 million new items added every year. This includes newspapers, magazines, maps, prints, drawings, manuscripts, music scores and patents. You can find, amongst other things, the Magna Carta, Leonardo da Vinci’s Notebook and the Beatles manuscripts. Not only that, but the earliest dated printed book, called the Diamond Sutra and material from 300 BC to today.

The British Library has many departments, serving other institutions such as The British Museum, The Patent Office (49.5 million patents are stored there), The National Central Library and the National Lending Library for Science and Technology.

Every day, the British Library serves students, academics, researchers, industry and business, both in the UK and the rest of the world. Every year, nearly 400,000 people visit the reading rooms, 6 million searches are generated on their website and 100 million items are supplied to people all over the world.

Regular exhibitions, performances and talks are held at the British Library, as well as free workshops, gallery tours and resources for learning.

The British Library can be found at St Pancras, a short Underground ride from the Regency House Hotel.