We started off this day at Platform 9 3/4 in King’s Cross train station! A very cool sight to see. We posed with our wands and scarves in front of the trolley to pass through the wall. (Picture to hopefully be added later)
At the British Library, we were given two tours. The first was through the section of the building where they mainly focus on conservation, and the second was through the museum-type part.
The conservation tour was very interesting. We were told about the collaboration project between the British Library and the Qatar Foundation, wherein they work together to digitize some Middle Eastern history. The process of digitization is a complication one, which includes steps like selecting the content, conserving the item, cataloging it, taking the image, and translating the item into many different languages. There are lots of special programs used for this, but this part of the library gets lots of federal funding every year for projects just like this.
In the museum part, we were shown many priceless and treasured items that England has stored within its walls. We were told that the library houses about 200 million items and receives about 8,000 publications per day. The librarian who showed us around made sure to mention that “being a librarian means you know everything.” (And he is not wrong.) We were shown the system that the staff use to get items back and forth from the underground archives to the floor, and vice versa. It all seemed very complicated, but super interesting nonetheless.
I am actually not allowed to post any pictures from this trip because everything in the British Library is under strict copyright law, and therefore cannot be shared. Here is their website.
British Studies 2019 