The Library preserves the record of our past and present, and makes
it available to everyone who wants to do research. But the heavier
the use of our collections, the more important our conservation
work becomes so that material remains in usable condition for researchers
in the centuries to come. Some information is recorded on carriers
that degrade even if they are not used, such as sound recordings
made on acetate discs. Our Centre
for Conservation signals the importance that the Library attaches
to this aspect of our work. The fact that money for its construction
was raised from trusts and individuals demonstrates how widely our
commitment is shared.
The Centre will bring together all our different book conservation
teams for the first time in the history of the Library. It will
also house the Sound
Archive's technical operations and professional remastering
facilities. We will be giving tours of the studios, demonstrations
and lectures so that people can engage with experts in their working
environment. A training programme for conservation professionals
is being planned in partnership with a higher education provider.
Construction of the new Centre for Conservation is progressing
on target and on budget, and a Topping Out Ceremony has now been
held to mark completion of the outer shell. New donations have included
major awards from the Garfield Weston Foundation, Paccar Foundation,
Fidelity UK Foundation and American
Trust for the British Library.
When the building opens in spring
2007, dedicated facilities will
enable us to offer a range of new
training opportunities for book
conservation and sound archiving.
We want to offer bursaries to
young people undertaking
internships, and the Heritage
Lottery Fund and the Ernest Cook
Trust have kindly agreed to
contribute towards these.
Conservation research
One of the largest grants ever made for
conservation research in the UK has been
awarded to the British Library. The grant
of $695,000 from the Andrew W Mellon
Foundation will help us safeguard the future
of the nation's collections by enabling us
to research the impact of environmental
conditions on books.
The research will be led by Dr Barry
Knight, the UK's first Head of Conservation
Research, and we will collaborate with
the other five Legal Deposit libraries, the
National Archives and the National Archives
of Scotland.
One project will examine copies of the
same books held by various libraries and
compare how differences in their storage
conditions and usage have affected
their state of preservation. An element
of the work will analyse volatile organic
compounds, which all paper emits as it ages
(hence the smell of old books) and which,
being acidic, contribute to degradation. By sampling the air in their storage facilities
the partners will get early warnings of when
the acid content is reaching dangerous
levels. This will help them to improve the
design of stores to minimise degradation.
William Byrd was 16th century England's most celebrated composer,
and a manuscript containing 42 of his works has been acquired for
the nation. Completed in 1591,
the manuscript contains alterations and additions believed to
be by Byrd himself. Musicians and scholars acknowledge it as one
of the finest Tudor music manuscripts in existence.
The acquisition was made possible through
the generous support of the National
Heritage Memorial Fund, National Art
Collections Fund, Friends of the British
Library, Friends of the National Libraries,
the Golsoncott Foundation and members
of the public.
The Ford Foundation has awarded a substantial grant to the International
Dunhuang Project (IDP) to enhance significantly our connections
with partners in China, India and Russia. As well as enabling 10,000
items from their collections to be catalogued, digitised and added
to IDP's online database, the grant will also help us develop the
research skills and networks of scholars in these regions, and will
pump-prime the foundation of an IDP Centre in India. Further funding
is now being sought to conserve, catalogue and digitise the remainder
of our Silk Road collections and to introduce new resources for
schools and colleges.
A number of major grants have been made this year to support the
Codex
Sinaiticus Project, an international collaboration to conserve
and digitise the world's oldest Bible. These included awards from
the Arts and Humanities Research Council, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft,
AG Leventis Foundation, the American Friends of Saint Catherine's
Monastery and an anonymous trust. The awards enabled us to more
than match the Stavros S Niarchos Foundation's £150,000 challenge
grant. A Royal Gala Dinner is being held in June 2006, in partnership
with the Saint Catherine Foundation, to complete the appeal.
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We connect with our supporters through
a shared desire to widen access to the
world's knowledge.
"My Ladye Nevells Booke is
delightful not only because of
the music it contains, but also
for its decoration, calligraphy
and binding. The book quickly
caught the imagination of
funders and the public.
The acquisition was very
rewarding for me personally
because I'm a keen pianist
and in my excitement I
bought a modern edition
to play in preparation for
the fundraising work! I feel
privileged to be able to make
that connection between my
work and my own passion." 
