British Library, The John Ritblat Gallery

British Library, The John Ritblat Gallery

The British Library (BL) is the national library of the United Kingdom. It is based in London and is one of the world's largest research libraries, holding over 150 million items in all known languages and formats; books, journals, newspapers, magazines, sound and music recordings, patents, databases, maps, stamps, prints, drawings and much more. It is only second to the American Library of Congress. The Library's collections include around 25 million books, along with substantial additional collection of manuscripts and historical items dating back as far as 300 BC.

As a legal deposit library, the BL receives copies of all books produced in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, including all foreign books distributed in the UK. It also purchases many items which are only published outside Britain and Ireland. The British Library adds some 3 million items every year.

The Library is a Non-Departmental Public Body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.