The document summarizes the origins and history of the British Library. It discusses how the British Library was formed from the merging of the British Museum Library in 1753, the Patent Office Library in 1855, and the establishment of the British Library as an independent entity in 1973. It also describes the British Library's main locations over time, including its current location at St. Pancras opened in 1997, as well as its science reading rooms and facility in Boston Spa. Finally, it provides information about the British Library's digital services and online resources.

1. The British Library
Science Reading Rooms
Eurolib June 2017
Richard Wakeford

2. www.bl.uk
The origins of the British Library
• The British Museum Library 1753
• Patent Office Library 1855
• The British Library 1973
• The British Library at St Pancras 1997
2

3. www.bl.uk
The British Museum Library 1753 - 1973
Sir Hans Sloane and Sir Joseph Banks
3

4. www.bl.uk
The Patent Office Library 1855 - 1973
Bennet Woodcroft
4

5. www.bl.uk
Reading Rooms at The Patent Office Library
5

6. www.bl.uk
The British Library at St Pancras 1997 -
6

7. www.bl.uk
Science Reading Rooms at St Pancras
7

8. www.bl.uk
The British Library at Boston Spa
8

9. www.bl.uk
British Library On Demand
• Remote Document Supply Service
• Digital (born digital or scanned)
• Print
• Loan
• Automatch
• Copyright compliant
• Library system integration
• Order tracking
• Get it for me service from other libraries
9

10. www.bl.uk
British Library On Demand
• 3 million monographs
• 296,000 international journal titles, with over 13 million articles
available to download immediately 25,000 current
• Doctoral theses and dissertations
• 5 million research reports and official publications, with strengths in
British, US Federal Agency and international agency publications
• 400,000 conference papers and proceedings
10

11. www.bl.uk
The British Library - using our services
• Science Reference Enquiries
• https://www.bl.uk/reshelp/inrrooms/stp/refteam/refteam.html
• British Library On Demand
• https://www.bl.uk/on-demand
• The British Library Reading Rooms – presentation to Eurolib - June 2017
• http://tinyurl.com/Eurolib-BL
11

12. www.bl.uk
A Room near Chancery Lane by Charles Dickens
Mr. Woodcroft has collected a valuable store of books
of reference relating to patents;…. One among the many
rooms in this building is now a reading-room, open to
the public for the study of any and everything relating to
patents. A small room it is: much too small, indeed; but
as it is the beginning of a good thing, its gradual growth
may be pleasantly watched hereafter.
It is well filled, and tended by officials, who show the
utmost courtesy to visitors having any reasonable
motive for going thither: ...This they can do, either by
their own researches, or still more readily by the aid of
the polite attendants. Household Words - 21 February 1857 pp 190-192
12