Monitoring success
26 April 2005 :: Posted by Catriona Finlayson
British Library records increase in readers
The British Library is currently seeing a mark ed increase in the number of people using the Library's Reading Rooms. Latest figures up to March 2005 show that we are seeing double the number of people applying for reader passes at the British Library and the number of collection items consulted is up by 20%. The number of visits to the Reading Rooms has varied over the last year with the busiest months being November, December and January but there is a growing upward trend.
The report shows that the most popular research subjects with new readers are history, business, literature and medical sciences. As well as academic, personal and commercial research the report shows that there is also a wide cross section of people using the Library's collections with an increase in readers living in London, those based outside the capital and an increase in readers based overseas.
Readers can access the Library's collection of 150 million items which include manuscripts, maps, newspapers, magazines, prints and drawings, music scores, 11 million books, 1.5 million sound recordings, 8 million philatelic items and 53 million patents.
The British Library has always welcomed researchers, innovators and entrepreneurs across all fields of study into its Reading Rooms. In 2004 the Library took a number of steps to streamline its application process to make it more straightforward for researchers from all backgrounds to use the Library for their academic, commercial or private research. Statistics show that in the last month the 1,200 desks in 11 Reading Rooms have been virtually full on a daily basis with an average of only five to ten seats available.
Natalie Ceeney, Director of Operations and Services said: "We are delighted that the Reading Rooms are busy with people researching a wide range of topics. It is too early to predict if this is a lasting trend as we normally see an increase in reading room usage during academic holidays and large numbers of overseas visitors in the summer.
This success obviously has an impact on staff and services which we are addressing. As well as the increase in the physical use of our Reading Rooms we have seen a significant increase in the use of our website which features a range of research services to allow them to work from their desk."
For further information and images please contact Catriona Finlayson at the British Library Press Office, Telephone +44 (0)20 7412 7114, e-mail catriona.finlayson@bl.uk
Notes for editors
The latest figures show that up to March 2005:
- Latest figures up show that there has been a 113% increase in the number of people applying for reader passes with 4,154 passes issued in comparison to 1950 issued in April 2004.
- The report shows that the most popular research subjects with new readers are history, business, literature and medical sciences.
- There is also a wide cross section of people using the Library's collections with a 109% increase in readers living in London, 128% increase of those based outside the capital and a 96% increase in readers based overseas.
- 19 users search the British Library's online catalogue every minute
- 294,775 items were consulted in March 2005
- 75% of new registrations for our commercial services are from SMEs
- 25% of our users are from the creative industries
- 142, 461 people have reader passes
- 397,940 visits were made to the Reading Rooms in 2004
- 606 kilometre of shelving are currently filled and users have access to 44 metres of new material everyday.
- All 148 UK universities use the British Library's document supply service
- All 208 public library services in the UK use the British Library to borrow specialist books and journals for their readers