Leaving the Reading Room: Some Personal Reflections from within the British Library

Abstract

The history of the British Museum Library, so much identified with its famous Reading Room, can help inform some of the present and future obligations of The British Library. An example of this is the development and impact of various manifestations of the British Library Catalogue. Knowledge of the collections, expertise in selecting material and in database interpretation will be of high importance within a marriage of old and new skills. The new British Library building in London will be the future focus for Humanities & Social Sciences collections and reading rooms. By bringing together in one place vast and renowned collections, the new building itself will be a contribution to the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of researchers' interests and needs. The new library building should be celebrated as a cause for pride and high expectations. Just as considerable personalities of the past have created and maintained The British Library and its predecessors, so the BL must always also be looking towards the researchers of the future.