The library that almost devoured a neighborhood

Does the British Library serve as the national library of the United Kingdom? It certainly does. It houses an estimated collection of over 200 million items, with manuscripts stretching all the way back to 2000 BC. It is a Grade I listed building, which is a classification for buildings of exceptional interest. It was the largest public building constructed in the United Kingdom in the 20th century.

For many years, the library's collections were dispersed in various buildings around central London including Bloomsbury, Chancery Lane, Bayswater, and Holborn. In 1973, the Library was officially created by absorbing parts of the British Museum and other smaller archives. It took decades to consolidate these pieces into one home, with functions from various organisations being taken over between 1973 and 1983.

Was the site choice a bit of a drama? Absolutely. Original plans aimed to demolish a seven-acre swathe of streets in Bloomsbury to put the library directly opposite the British Museum. A long-fought campaign led by George Wagner overturned this decision, and the library was instead constructed on a site at Euston Road next to St Pancras railway station. Colin St John Wilson designed the building in collaboration with his wife MJ Long, creating a large piazza on Euston Road that houses sculptures by artists like Eduardo Paolozzi.

Is the building open to the public today? It is. While more than 200 km of material was moved to an additional storage building near Boston Spa in Yorkshire, the main reading rooms remain in London. The library adds about three million items every year, requiring about 9.6 kilometres of new shelf space.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons