The British Library conducted a survey of 600 readers in January/February 2015 to understand who uses the reading rooms and how. Key findings include: 1) Most readers were from higher education or conducting professional research. Over half were London-based. 2) Readers primarily used the reading rooms for academic works, research degrees, and personal interest. Printed books and journals remained the most used materials. 3) Dedicated reading rooms for specific disciplines remained important for many readers to have materials and support in one place. However, remote access to electronic resources was the most requested improvement. 4) Compared to 2009 data, certain activities like browsing shelves and using printed indexes were in decline, while use

1. What do 21st century readers
expect from the British Library?
Ian Cooke
Head of Contemporary British Publications
ALISS AGM 2015
Senate House, University of London 1st July 2015

2. www.bl.uk 2
Why do we conduct Reading Room
surveys?
• To find our who our Readers are and what they are doing
• Information is used in planning: services; content
management
• To understand the impact of changes in Library activities
and policy on our Readers
• To understand how changing research environment affects
our Readers
• Most effective way of contacting our Readers
• We are interested in behaviour on the day of visit

3. www.bl.uk 3
Methodology and Numbers
• In Jan/Feb 2015, 600 interviews
were undertaken with
readers over a 3-week period.
• Interviews undertaken during opening
hours, including Saturdays and evenings
• Survey by questionnaire with coded
responses, and some open questions.
• Comparison of some responses against
2009 data (380 interviews overall; 134
Social Sciences)
Reading Room Number
Social Science 232
Science 2 200
Science 3 168
Total 600
Source: IRN Research.
2015

4. www.bl.uk 4
Who are our Readers?
Social Science Reading Room 2015
Higher Education
Professional
Researcher
Other work-related
Personal/ family
research
Other & no answer
Source: IRN Research.
2015

5. www.bl.uk 5
2015 & 2009 compared
Social Science Reading
Room 2009
Higher
Education
Professional
Researcher
Other work-
related
Personal/
family
research
Other & no
answerSource: IRN Research.
2009 & 2015
Social Science Reading
Room 2015
Higher
Education
Professional
Researcher
Other work-
related
Personal/
family
research
Other & no
answer

6. www.bl.uk 6
Higher Education readers
Social Science Reading Room 2015
Undergraduate
Taught PG
Research PG
Lecturer/ Reader/
Professor
Research Fellow/
Manager
Other academic
Social Science Reading Room 2009
Undergraduate
Source: IRN Research.
2009 & 2015

7. www.bl.uk 7
Why use the Reading Room today?
What is the main purpose of your use of the
Reading Room today?
Preparing a publication
Work for a research
degree
Work for a taught course
A space to study
Professional
development/ my work
Personal interest
Source: IRN Research.
2015

8. www.bl.uk 8
Location of Readers
Current residence
• 83% London
• 89% London & South East
Home institution
• 30% London University
• 43% University in London
Next highest responses: Cambridge 4%; Oxford 3%; Kent 2%
(based on 174 replies)
Source: IRN Research.
2015

9. www.bl.uk 9
Key:
30 mins
60 mins
120 mins
Visitor postcode
British Library
60mins:
16%
30 mins:
65%
120 mins:
8%
Visitor Mapping (Academic Researchers) - 89% of academics come
from within a 2 hour drivetime, 65% within 30 minutes
source: bdrc, Annual Visitor Research April 2014- March 2015

10. www.bl.uk 10
Visitor Mapping (Academic Researchers)
source: bdrc Annual Visitor Research April 2014- March 2015

11. www.bl.uk 11
Subjects studied
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Main subject studied
Main subject studied
Number of responses per
subject (or group of subjects for
humanities and STM).
Interviewees were each asked
to select one option only as
their ‘main subject’.
Source: IRN Research. 2015

12. www.bl.uk 12
Reading rooms used
Reading Room Number %
Social Science 232 100
Science 2 23 9.9
Science 3 11 4.7
Business & IP 11 4.7
Humanities 1 35 15.1
Humanities 2 17 7.3
Rare Books & Music 13 5.6
Maps 3 1.3
Manuscripts 6 2.6
Newsroom 7 3
Asian & African Studies 5 2.2
Source: IRN Research.
2015

13. www.bl.uk 13
How important are Reading Rooms
dedicated to specific disciplines?
Reasons given:
• Materials relating to a
specific discipline
should be in one
place
• Easier to find material
• Staff with subject
knowledge are
accessible in one
place

14. www.bl.uk 14
How do Readers use the Reading Room?
• 81% using collections or databases on day of visit
• 7% say they never use collections or databases
• 2011 Focus groups: some researchers do report using
British Library as place of study only, BUT tend not to use
Reading Rooms
Source: IRN Research.
2011 & 2015

15. www.bl.uk 15
77
15
34
8
2 2 2 4 1
53
7 7
<1 1 <1 0
8
Academic
Research
Q6c. Which of the following did you actually do at the British Library today? Base: Academic (n=357)
Academic researcher activity - Academic researchers predominantly study in
dedicated study areas. Around 1 in 10 academic researchers conduct a cultural activity.
Source: bdrc Annual Visitor Research, April 2014- March 2015
Average dwell time:
4hrs 1 min
STUDY
SECONDAR
Y SPEND CULTURE CIRCULATING
86% 38% 9% 59%Net

16. www.bl.uk 16
Personal
Research
Q6c. Which of the following did you actually do at the British Library today? Base: Personal Research (n=124)
Personal researchers activity - Personal researcher activity is similar to
academic researchers - shorter average dwell time. Source: bdrc Annual Visitor
Research, April 2014- March 2015
64
20
30
13
1 2 2 1 3
55
9
1 1 1 0 0
12
Average dwell time:
3hrs 15 mins
STUDY
SECONDAR
Y SPEND CULTURE CIRCULATING
80% 35% 8% 59%Net

17. www.bl.uk 17
How do Readers use the Reading Room?
• Frequent visitors:
54% at least once per week;
76% stay at least 3 hours; 48% stay 5- 6 hours
• Planning ahead:
59% use website in advance; 50% use catalogue in
advance
BUT numbers ordering in advance has declined:
27% in 2015 vs >50% in 2009
• 2011 Focus Groups: A “British Library” way of working –
using the Library requires planning and a different sort of
discipline to using other libraries.
Source: IRN Research.
2009, 2011 & 2015

18. www.bl.uk 18
Certain activities in decline
Activity 2015 2009
Using printed indexes 10% 24%
Browsing shelves 22% 40%
Using open-shelf
material*
56% 67%
Consulting Library staff 53% 61%
* But, higher proportions are using more items from the shelves:
15% using 7+ items in 2015 (5% in 2009)
Source: IRN Research.
2009 & 2015

19. www.bl.uk 19
What are Readers using?
Material type 2015 use on
day
2015 ‘use
regularly’
2009 2007
Printed books 54% 44% 63%* 68%*
E-books 14% 6% n/a n/a
Printed
journals
25% 28% 18% 22%
E-journals 25% 31% 24% 17%
Databases 10% 18% 12% 13%
General
internet
12% 12% 7% 9%
Remote resources used:
9% Ethos; 7% remote access databases; 5% MBS Portal
* No option given for ‘e-books’ in 2009 and 2007
Source: IRN Research. 2009 & 2015; Ipsos MORI. 2007

20. www.bl.uk 20
Why do Readers use the British Library?
Reasons for choosing the British Library
Over half of
interviewees – 53% -
mentioned the good
working environment
as a reason for using
the library. This falls to
just 43% of Social
Science readers.
Breadth of coverage
appears to be much
less important to
Science readers than
Social Science readers .
Source: IRN Research. 2015

21. www.bl.uk 21
Where else do Readers go?
2015 2009
University/ school/ college
library
55% 30%
Other ‘home’ library 10% 1%
Internet 40% 22%
Public library 11% 6%
Specialist/ membership
library
12% 1%
Source: IRN Research.
2009 & 2015

22. www.bl.uk 22
Most popular improvement would be remote access to
electronic content.
Improvements Readers Would Like to See %
Able to use electronic content from my home or office 43%
Able to use my own laptop/device to access electronic
content in reading rooms
35%
Access BL services using one username and password 22%
Able to discover digital content available online from
other organisations alongside BL content
18%
Able to use electronic content in public café and other
public areas of the British Library building
15%
More tools to manipulate and analyse datasets 9%
Able to add reviews/comments to records on BL
catalogues
5%
Other 13%
None of the above 19%
Source: IRN Research. 2015

23. www.bl.uk 23
How do Readers compare with BL use generally?
Source: bdrc Annual Visitor Research April 2014- March 2015
370,982
visits
347,796
visits
115,932
visits
81,152
visits
Primary stated purpose for visiting The British Library
243,457
visits
320,021
visitors
189,033
visitors
84,359
visitors
25,605
visitors42,417
visitors
No. of visits No. of unique visitors
Visit Intention groups Culture (n=359) Personal Escape (n=278); Academic (n=357);
Personal (n=124); Work (n=76)
Q2a. How would you best describe the primary purpose of your visit here today?

24. www.bl.uk 24
70
48
22
16
16
12
8
Consulted books, journals and
other items ordered
Searched the online
catalogues
Accessed electronic material
Didn't access BL material
Asked for help from
information specialists
Accessed material on open
shelves
Used copying and printing
services
41
1911
9
9
7
7
5
1
Humanities
How do Social Science and Science Researchers compare with users of other
Reading Rooms?
Source: bdrc Annual Visitor Research March 2014- April 2015
%
Base: All who used the reading room (n=394)
.
Rare books
& music
Social
sciences
African &
Asian studies
Science
Manuscripts
Newsroom
Business &
IP Centre
Maps

25. www.bl.uk 25
So what?
• HE research remains largest user group, but later-career researchers,
and researchers outside HE, are getting harder to reach
• Distance is a barrier to use. How does the Library support researchers
outside London and South East?
• For those who do use the Library, it occupies a significant role in
research: many are using the Library 0.5- 1 days per week or more
• Access to content (books and journals) is most important for Social
Sciences, but working environment also significant
• Subject specialism is important to a significant proportion

26. www.bl.uk 26
Sources used
IRN Research. 2015. British Library Social Science and
Science Readers Survey 2015.
IRN Research. 2011. British Library Social Science and
Science Focus Groups.
IRN Research. 2009. British Library Social Science and
Science Readers Survey.
Ipsos MORI. 2007. British Library Social Sciences and STM
Reading Rooms survey February to March 2007.
bdrc continental. 2015. Annual Visitor Research Presentation.