The British Library

The Georgian House Hotel is a wonderful place to stay if you are planning a visit to the British Library.  The British Library houses an extensive collection in an impressive purpose built environment, opened in 1998.

The roots of the British Library

The British Library, national library of the UK is relatively young. Its immediate roots lie in the report of the National Libraries Committee under the Chairmanship of the late Lord Dainton issued in 1969, followed in 1971 by a White Paper recommending the setting up of a national library for the UK.

Under the Act the following institutions were administratively combined to form the British Library: the library departments of the British Museum, the National Central Library, and the National Lending Library for Science and Technology. In 1974 the British National Bibliography and the Office for Scientific and Technical Information joined the UK's new national library.

History of the British Library

To the library community and the public at large, the best known component of the new national library consisted of the library departments of the British Museum. The Museum's Department of Printed Books was founded in 1753, the year of the foundation of the Museum itself. Over the intervening two hundred years, the library of the British Museum had grown into one of the largest in the world, sustained by its privilege of legal deposit whereby it was entitled to a copy of most items printed in the United Kingdom - not only books and periodicals, but newspapers, maps and printed music. In addition, the Museum's comprehensive holdings of non-legal deposit items had reportedly earned it the accolade from Lenin of possessing a more comprehensive collection of Russian books than libraries in Moscow and St Petersburg.

Why the British Library is unique

Lenin was one of those privileged to use the Museum's spectacular domed reading room. Designed in the 1850s at the instigation of Sir Anthony Panizzi, then Chief Librarian, the reading room and surrounding bookstacks were constructed in the courtyard of the British Museum providing its library with impressive premises in the heart of what was already an overcrowded building. The Reading Room had been thrown open to all for a short period at the time of its opening in May 1857, thereafter admission was by pass only, giving access to its collections an aura of selectivity and exclusiveness. In addition to Lenin, the roll call of those holding reader passes included Karl Marx, Charles Dickens, George Bernard Shaw and Virginia Woolf.

The British Library was formally opened by HM the Queen in June 1998. Since then it has become firmly established as a major addition to London's library, intellectual and cultural scene.

Cheap Hotels near the British Library

The British Library is located very close to St.Pancras underground station. If you stay at Georgian House Hotel, you will have easy access to British Library as well as to other popular tourist places. From Victoria station there is a bus No73 running frequently and it will take you to the Library without needing to change. The Georgian House Hotel is a great cheap hotel for the British Library.
For more information visit www.bl.uk.

Georgian House Hotel is ideally situated in a very central location, so visiting sights all over London is quick and easy. Why not book Georgian House Hotel when you plan your trip to the British Library? You can book online or email to make a reservation on reception@georgianhousehotel.co.uk, or telephone on 0044(0)207 834 1438.