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Web maintenance at the British Library

Disruption to services

An electrical fault is affecting some of our services at the moment.

Illustrative view of building from Midland Road

View our new extension plans

We’ve submitted a planning application with our commercial development partner (SMBL) to extend our St Pancras site with…

A person in a gallery looking at a manuscript

Keeping everyone safe

We’re working hard at both our sites to make sure everyone can visit us safely.

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Blogs

Untold Lives blog from the British Library

Dining with style: the East India Company’s communal table at Mocha

English and Drama blog from the British Library

Coleridge and The Ancient Mariner

Sound and Vision blog from the British Library

Putting 'AIDS: The Unheard Tapes' in context

More blogs

Learn

Preview of the Black literature timeline poster, showing text entries by date, portraits and a tablet featuring images of book covers and handwritten manuscripts

Explore the rich history of Black writing and literature in Britain with our new timeline

Collage of photograph of Andrea Levy's parents and one of her manuscripts

‘How come England did not know me?’: Recording Andrea Levy for Authors’ Lives

More Learning resources

Discover

A Description of Three Hundred Animals [page: frontispiece and title page]

Discover 'A Description of Three Hundred Animals', a natural history book for children

The Devonshire Manuscript

Explore this hand-written volume, known as the Devonshire Manuscript

Explore our Highlights

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Get started at the British Library, photo of a Reading Room

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Business support at the British Library

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Students working in the Library

Current vacancies and other opportunities – and how to apply