The special collections has over 2000 items that are from the 15th century to present day. There are 7 staff and assistants who work with the special collections. The collection is always growing due to acquisitions and gifts from donors. Their main goals and activities are the following: Cataloging the collection Preserving the collection Commissioning…
Middle Temple Law Library
The Middle Temple Law Library functions as a library for the four Inns of the Court. There are four Inns in the UK and these spaces all share their library collections. The Middle Temple Law Library focuses on EU and American law and therefore has a very strong relationship with the US. For example, upon heading…
Northern Ireland
This post is going to be different from my previous posts because instead of talking about a library or archive I visited, I’m going discuss my experience in Northern Ireland over two days. Before I begin, I would also like to explain that my experiences are MINE. I in no way an trying to make…
Royal Geography Society
The Royal Geographical Society was created in 1830. Its aim was to pursue scientific geography. Its manifesto explained that that it was there to exchange of societies across the globe. From here, exploration across the world ensued and the society gained documents and items from various expeditions. Currently, they have over two million items –…
Tate Modern
Visiting the Tate Modern in London was a dream come true. Having studied art in college, I was thrilled when I got to see some of the artwork I have been learning about for years (and even teaching to my students) in the flesh. I put the featured image as Duchamp’s Fountain because I find it…
Barbican Library
The original public library for the City of London was on Cannon street and was flattened by bombs in World War II. After the war, there was a desire to give back to the state and the Barbican Center was envisioned for the people. The Barbican Library was opened in 1982 – twenty years after…
St. Paul’s Cathedral Library
Today I had the pleasure of going to St. Paul’s Cathedral’s Library. It is a small library that is nestled on the first gallery floor flanking the cathedral.
British Library Conservation Center
With more paintings than the National Gallery, the British Library’s Conservation Center does much more that conserve books. Their collections span every culture in the world such as textiles from Asia and Africa, costumes, clothing, metals, ceramics, and stones
British Museum Archives
The British Museum opened in 1759 to display the collection of Han Sloan. The main books of this collection were of natural curiosities. The museum was initially funded by lottery money, and although records were archived, there was no actual archivist in the library until recently. Therefore, nothing in the museum’s archive is cataloged. It…
The British Library
The British Library is the second largest library in the world. It is a copyright library and therefore has about 24.5 million volumes underground. The library’s underground structures were built around a London tube. About 18 million books come to the surface by a mechanical railway network. The library is two stories and had 600…
The Bodleian Library and Merton College Library in Oxford
The Bodleian Library in Oxford was first built in 1320 and was the first library in Oxford. It was attached to Saint Mary’s Church, above parliament. The library was called the Humphrey Library. Nearly 100 years after it was built, it was opened to students and served for 76 years. In 1420, a new room…
The V&A Library
At the Victoria and Albert Library I was able to learn about the services and history of the library as well as the archives and special collections that they currently house.
Libraries + London 