Scholarship and Collections

Our collections are amongst the greatest in the world. And, with our copyright Library status and an annual acquisitions budget of £17 million, they’re growing all the time. Internationally renowned for our services and expertise, we work both to save the collection for posterity – and make it ever more accessible to millions around the world.

The department has had many successes recently. We’ve curated major exhibitions, from ‘London: A Life in Maps’ to ‘Sacred’. We’ve completed the construction of the new Centre for Conservation, which is a world-class facility for preserving books and sound recordings. And we’ve acquired some major heritage items, including My Ladye Nevells Booke, a 16th-century music manuscript containing 42 of William Byrd’s works.

Many more exciting projects are currently being developed. We’re creating a new Social Services Department, archiving valuable websites, developing a Writers & Scholars centre and establishing a European Library with seven other national libraries across the continent.

Join us, and you’ll also get involved in our long-term projects, from moving 250 kilometres of books from King’s Cross to Boston Spa to working with Microsoft and JISC to digitise 10 million pages of out of copyright books and newspapers. This is the place for strategic thinkers and innovators who want to work at the forefront of their field.