British library private tour

I am a lucky devil as I have been able to visit the British library a number of times. On this occasion I was with my great friend George Darwin. My brother's friend, Francis Dean, kindly showed us around. I have been there on numbers occasion and can never go enough times.

It was at one time the largest building built in the UK in the twentieth century. The British library was bombed during the second world war. Colin St John Wilson was the architect for the new building that we see today. He started building the new library in the 1960s. The library was formerly opened by the Queen in the year of 1998. The boardrooms are incredible because they are very quiet and impressive. The Library I think is very special because anyone can just visit that fountain of knowledge.

The British library is a very modern building in the center of london. When it was being built it met with a lot of opposition yet it stands the test ot time. The basement is very impressive as it goes 24.5 metres below ground. That's like a eight story building! When I visited the basement it reminded me of a hospital. If one did not have a guide one could never be seen again in there. I think of the basement as a grave for books from where they are then sent to a stressed student who needs it for research. It blows the mind when one truly thinks about the amount of logistics that went into creating the British library.

The King's Library collection was created by King George III. In this amazing glass tower we can see a breathtaking book collection. King George was a keen book collector in the 18th century. He collected books with a passion and despite being mad in person he was also mad on books. The Glass tower has tightly controlled security; when one enters the glass tower one has to wear science coats and gloves and be highly qualified. Around 65,000 volumes of printed books and more than 19,000 pamphlets call this super-shiny glass-encased library their home. When one thinks about how many books are in the glass tower one wishes that they could also spend a life time in the glass tower.

When I was at the British library on my fourth special tour, I was taking in new information.We were taken to some special boardrooms which are like a gentlemens clubs. I loved the balcony above the main reading room. It gives a special view of the British library that not many of the students would know about. This time I was interested in the Saxon history. I have always loved Saxon history.

Am being shown the secrets of British li

When I was at the amazing a Saxon exhibition I saw the worlds oldest Bible. It literally took my breath away they were created before the printing press in the year of 715 . The Lindisfarne Gospels were created off the coast of Northumbria on a Island called Lindisfarne. I was particularly taken with these gospels as they are some of the world's oldest bibles and the calligraphy and art that went into creating them by the monk scribes are truly remarkable.

I thought the Saxon exhibit was very well put together as their collection of bilbles are very rare. There was one that took me by surprise, which is called the gospel according to Judas. What found most interesting about the Judas gospel was that the cover was made of solid gold and emeralds and rubies. Apparently the legend goes that it is covered in semi precious stones because it is there to tempt the potential reader to open the book.

I think what makes the British Library better than the old libraries, like the Wormsley Estate, is the amount of space it has. The British library reading rooms are world famous. The reading rooms are used by scholars or students doing research. Every book in the English language is there. When I went the with George he was curious about the comics and they have every comic every made in the British library.

I personally think that overall, the British Library is the king of all libraries. It is unique and special because it is modern and huge. It can survive in the modern world because its flexible with technology. I personally would love to be a librarian there hint hint hint!