Reopening the British Library and Digitisation Services

From 22 July we're intending to open some of our Reading Rooms in St Pancras and Boston Spa as the first step of a phased reopening. We're working really hard to open more of our spaces and services as quickly and as safely as possible. Find out more information on the re-opening of the British Library.

Digitisation Services have started to operate a reduced service from our Boston Spa studio, and we are working on plans to gradually open our St Pancras studios safely. We are still able to help you plan a digitisation project while we work from home, please get in touch.

Please do bear with us during this period of transition and regularly check here and follow us on tiwtter for our latest updates. Our Customer Service team will be offering a limited support service should you require assistance.

We send colleagues and customers our best wishes.

Images of some of our collections are already digitised and available for delivery straight away, please contact our Customer Service team for more information.

For copies of contemporary research content, such as journal articles and book chapters, please use British Library On Demand.

What you need to know

Imaging-digitisation

Bulk digitisation

Find out how our digitisation experts can help you and your organisation digitise your archives

Digitisation of rare manuscript

Ordering images

All you need to know about ordering scans or photographs of British Library collection items

Digitisation of specialist material

Specialist digitisation

We have specialist expertise in handling a range of material types and managing complex preservation requirements

News

British Library St Pancras building

Coronavirus notice

26 May 2020

To keep our users and all our staff safe and healthy we’ve taken the decision to close our physical sites in London and Boston Spa for the time being, and suspend our public events.

Digitising the Malmesbury Bible

British Library digitises 600-year old Malmesbury Bible

23 October 2019

The Friends of Malmesbury Abbey commissioned the British Library to digitise four volumes of its bible, known as the Malmesbury Bible, this summer. Malmesbury had one of the most important libraries in Europe in the Middle Ages and was home to 12th-century historian and monk William of Malmesbury.

British Library, St Pancras

Accessing British Library online content and services

19 March 2020

Our Reading Rooms and public spaces may be closed for the time being but over the coming weeks we will continue to offer as many online services as we possibly can so that the British Library remains open to everyone, wherever you are in the world. And we will be working hard to maintain this access during these unprecedented times.

Case studies

Digitising at Birmingham Oratory
…“As custodians of this invaluable Elgar manuscript, it’s a joy to open up access to it online. We were very impressed by Eugenio’s meticulous handling of the score and the two Newman manuscripts of the poem and are delighted with the final images.” Daniel Joyce, Librarian & Archivist, Birmingham Oratory …

One of our cultural heritage photographers uncovered discarded draft sections to Elgar’s score whilst digitising the original manuscripts on location at Birmingham Oratory

The Malmesbury Bible on Display
…"We were delighted with the British Library service offering onsite photography at our convenience: it was efficient and enjoyable, and produced the most beautiful images." John Sunderland, Friends of Malmesbury Abbey…

Malmesbury and its Abbey, had one of the most important libraries in Europe in the Middle Ages, and the famous historian William was from Malmesbury. The Friends of Malmesbury Abbey commissioned the British Library to digitise four volumes of the bible, known as the Malmesbury Bible earlier this summer.

Digitisation of rare globe
…This project makes a number of our most important globes available beyond the British Library’s Reading Rooms and exhibition galleries, to a wider audience and in a more imaginative way than ever before.…

Using 3D photography, the British Library’s rare and fragile collection of historical globes have been digitised and made available for the public to discover via augmented reality.

Help

Ordering images

Using your images

Other copying services