St Pancras

I'm afraid I can't summon up much sympathy for Antonia Fraser and others who are complaining about undergraduates being let into the British Library reading rooms. I use the BL from time to time, but have never failed to find a seat. And some of the criticisms about frappuccinos in the reading rooms are incorrect: coffee is emphatically not allowed in the reading rooms, though anyone can use the cafés. Odd though, that the BL website makes no reference to the debate. I fear they don't understand the 21st century world

I think there is a fundamental principle here: should publicly-funded libraries exclude any citizens? It might help if applicants for readers passes were interviewed and referred elsewhere if the materials they needed to consult were easily available in public or university libraries.

Comments

[Hazel Edmunds]

I think that the BL is maintaining a dignified silence on this issue. I was at a workshop there last week and it was mentioned but dismissed as unimportnat. Yes, at times, particularly when undergrads are finishing dissertations which should have been completed weeks ago, the reading rooms are full to bursting. You may never have had a problem -- I stood working for two hours last month because I needed material on open access in a specific room (Humanities level 2) but that's not a problem.
You'll never get a frappuccino in the BL cafe or restaurant -- you'll need to cross Euston Road for one as it's a Starbucks' trade mark drink.
And have you used the new coffee machine in the readers' rest room? Freshly ground coffee from a machine at 40p a cup and it works every time (so far) which is more than the old machine did.
Must stop now -- I'm off to London to spend the whole of tomorrow at the good old BL so I can write my newsletter at the weekend.