The Library has been committed to supporting innovation and economic growth in British industry since its foundation in 1973.

In 2006, we opened a Business & IP Centre, which has since helped to create over 12,000 businesses and over 7,000 jobs and serves as an invaluable resource to businesses of all shapes and sizes.

In 2014, we created the Knowledge Quarter partnership, an urban cluster of knowledge-based organisations and businesses that have a physical presence within a mile radius of our building in St. Pancras.

Today, it’s a rapidly growing community of creative businesses, start-ups and knowledge-driven innovators that help each other to grow and achieve commercial success.

Our priorities to support our Business purpose until 2023 and beyond are to work with partners to secure funding to grow the National Network of regional Business & IP Centres to a total of 20 UK city libraries (since the first one opened, we have opened other centres in some of the UK’s major cities). We also plan to develop and open up our St. Pancras campus to maximise its potential for knowledge exchange and innovation at the heart of the Knowledge Quarter. Indeed, this is already happening.