What’s on

All events and exhibitions

News

Web maintenance at the British Library

Website disruption on Sunday 22 May

We're making some updates to our network, which means you won't be able to use our website on Sunday 22 May 2022.

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.

More news

Blogs

Medieval manuscripts blog from the British Library

Highlights from our Gold exhibition

Lead image for Americas blog from the British Library. Image by Agustín Víctor Casasola, shelfmark LF.31.b.696

Cross-media Research: Searching for Poets, Painters and Photographers

Photo of the King's Library at the British Library, credit Luca Sage

Library Lives: Morgan Wadsworth-Boyle, British Library St Pancras

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

Get started

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

Find out how to get a Reader Pass

Support us

Support the British Library

Help grow, protect and share our collection

Business support

Business support at the British Library

We can help you start, run and grow your business

Work with us

Students working in the Library

Current vacancies and other opportunities – and how to apply