Discover more about Collection Care

The Collection Care department aims to minimise the risk of damage to our collections and to maximise their lifespan for people to use now and in the future.

We use a combination of established and innovative approaches to manage the changes to the collections. Those changes can be a result of a range of factors: for example, mechanical damage as the collections are consulted or from the natural deterioration of materials.

Collection Care is made up of the following areas: Collection Storage, Collection Security, Conservation, Preservation, Digital Preservation, Research and Training and Development.

Major projects include the new storage building currently under construction at Boston Spa, and the British Library Centre for Conservation which opened in 2007. The Centre for Conservation welcomes visitors for “behind the scenes” tours, to complement the permanent exhibition and the events programme. For more information on the behind the scenes tours and details of how to book can be found here.