British Library

Today our class visited the British Library. Our tour guide for the day was Stephen Sandford. He was friendly and knowledgeable. He took us on a behind the scenes tour of the Library. This library has four underground rooms that house an extreme number of books. The British Library used to be in the same building as the British Museum, but in 1997 it moved near St. Pancras Railway Station. It houses one-hundred and fifty million books and other materials. King George III donated his library of sixty-five thousand books to the British Library. They are on display behind fire proof glass and the lights are fiber optic lights so that they will not be damaged, you can look at the books at this library but these items may not be checked out. This collection even boasts Ancient Egyptian writings on papyrus. They also house the world's largest book called the Klencke Atlas. I was shocked when he told us how many materials were housed in their collections. We also got to go on a tour at the preservation studio. I do not envy the people who have this job. I'm glad they do it, but it is very hard work. I enjoyed this tour very much. (This photo was retrieved from photos.reverberate.org/london.)