The British Library, London, one of the most famous libraries in the world, is located on Euston Road in St. Pacras in London, England. The library was first created in July of 1973 as part of the British Library Act of 1972. The Act was passed in order to create a centralized library for all of the United Kingdom. Each year thousands of people make their way to the library either to check out one of the many displays the library is famous for or to do research of a personal or professional nature. Gaining access to the library for research purposes is a relatively easy process as all a visitor needs to do is apply for a Reader Pass. A visit to the British Library is truly on the must do list of every visitor to London who loves books or is interested in learning.
In its early days the British Library was located in the British Museum Reading Room and it was not easily accessible for everyone, except those doing serious research work. After the new building was built in St. Pancras in 1997 the library itself became more accessible and is now available for anyone who truly needs to use one of the 150 million items that reside in the library's vast collections. The library is home to over 14 million books for individuals to study and some of the oldest items in the library's collection date back to 2000 BC.
One great way to take advantage of all the British Library has to offer, besides researching, is to go to the Sir John Ritblat Gallery. The gallery is open every day of the week and is free to the public. The gallery is home to some of the best known pieces of literature the library has to offer such as Captain Cook's Journal, Jane Austen's History of England and an original copy of Lewis Carroll's famous children's book Alice's Adventures Under Ground.
If an individual is unable to visit one of the libraries physical locations, either in St. Pancras or West Yorkshire, they can still see some of the great works offered by this historic library. Over 57 million records from the library are available online through the library's main website.
People seeking to learn more about the history of England, or the world at large, can't go wrong by making a visit to the British Library.
