British Library Research Jolly

I feel weary but terribly scholarly just now as I jollied off to the BL to study for the first time today [well, yesterday, now]. And quite amazing it is to. “The World’s Knowledge” is not far wrong.

One can make it door to door from Oak Hill in 45mins if you walk briskly, change to the Victoria line and Ken Livingstone’s tube smiles on you.

It is totally free and the criterion for use is (I think) just that you couldn’t reasonably get the books you want from another library. (I simplify!).

Well, it was quite different from the Bodleian. Most of the books are on-site and don’t have to be brought in from the country by a man in a van on a Thursday afternoon only but its mainly big pretty books and referencey type stuff on open shelves, as far as I could see.

The staff were horrified at my suggestion that I might just leave my books on the desk overnight and come back tomorrow. They write down your desk number (I was 2216) so that they know where all their books are at any one time. People patrol like a weird cross between flight attendants, exam invigilators and security guards. I was tempted to order drinks, but I thought better of it.

The readers are like hundreds of silent intellectual battery hens on 3 huge levels.

If it were smaller, the reading room could not be nicer. Big wooden desks – though not as big as DP’s, of course. And spacious leather covered padded chairs. My bottom bore up.

They also had the books ready. I ordered them on-line yesterday and most of them say they’ll be delivered in 70 mins. Overnight they’d got a book from Boston Spa, West Yorkshire, for me. I had to queue for a while to collect them and take them back.

Its BL clear carrier bags only and no pens in the reading rooms. I had my own overhead light and there seemed to be the interweb. I hadn’t brought the lead and I don’t know if one has to sign up in some special geeky way. There might be wireless access too. I think there may even be a button at my desk to call an attendant, but I didn’t dare press it!

Unfortunately one is not allowed to take bottled water into the library. Free drinking water is provided outside from a machine I could hardly work. The café is good. In the cafeteria style restaurant I had a main meal, a pudding and a drink for under a tenner and it was all yummy. Interesting literary items, books and gifts in the shop. I got a poster of an old map of Mrs Lloyd’s place of birth for a fiver.

They do jip you for photocopying, though. Single pages only at a time and 20p a shot!

One can have a look at Codex Whatsit in one of the permanent free exhibitions (Treasures of the British Library) while u r there.

There are newspapers and sound archives too.

All in all its outstanding and I’m a very satisfied customer – I mean, reader. Though of course Oak Hill library is better, Wendy.