Reference libraries
A reference library does not lend books and other items; instead, they must be read at the library itself. Typically such libraries are used for research purposes, for example at a university. Some items at reference libraries may be historical and even unique. Examples of reference libraries include the British Library in London and the Bodleian Library at Oxford University. Many libraries contain a "reference section", which holds books, such as dictionaries, which are common reference books, and are therefore not lent out.[35] Such reference sections may be referred to as "reading rooms", which may also include newspapers and periodicals. The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom.[2] The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from many countries, in many languages[3] and in many formats, both print and digital: books, manuscripts, journals, newspapers, magazines, sound and music recordings, videos, play-scripts, patents, databases, maps, stamps, prints, drawings. The Library's collections include around 14 million books,[4] along with substantial holdings of manuscripts and historical items dating back as far as 2000 BC. As a legal deposit library, the British Library receives copies of all books produced in the United Kingdom and Ireland, including a significant proportion of overseas titles distributed in the UK. It also has a programme for content acquisitions. The British Library adds some three million items every year occupying 9.6 kilometres (6.0 mi) of new shelf space.[5] The library is a non-departmental public body sponsored by he Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is located on the north side of Euston Road in St Pancras, London (between Euston railway station and St Pancras railway station) and has a document storage centre and reading room at Boston Spa, Wetherby in West Yorkshire. The library was originally a department of the British Museum and from the mid-19th century occupied the famous circular British Museum Reading Room. It became legally separate in 1973, and by 1997 had moved into its new purpose-built building at St Pancras, London. The Bodleian Library ( /?b?dli?n/ or /b?d?lin/), the main research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and in Britain is second in size only to the British Library. Known to Oxford scholars as "Bodley" or simply "the Bod", under the Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003 it is one of six legal deposit libraries for works published in the United Kingdom[1][2] and under Irish Law it is entitled to request a copy of each book published in the Republic of Ireland.[3] The Bodleian operates principally as a reference library and in general documents may not be removed from the reading rooms. All Oxford colleges have their own libraries, which in a number of cases were established well before the foundation of the Bodleian. Historically, the college libraries were entirely independent of the Bodleian. However, recent years have seen them brought together for certain purposes under the umbrella of what was formerly known as Oxford University Library Services (OULS), and now as the Bodleian Libraries, of which the Bodleian is just one.