The British Library, etc.

We had a small detour on our way to the British Library.

Platform 9 3/4 is a site in Kings Cross Station that is holy ground to Harry Potter-heads.

The British Library, view from the courtyard

One more group picture before we head inside :)

"History," a functional sculpture commenting on how despite we have the entire book of history available to us, we are still weighed down by our tendency to still make the same types of mistakes.

Chilling out, waiting for our turn to tour the Library

the British Library has one of the largest subterannean spaces in the world;

it's where they store the vast majority of their books

the view that shows how the Library looks like a ship

the computer system(s) that transfer books from the basements to the different reading rooms

no markings on the book or spine, small papers with bar codes are tucked into the book and where the book belongs on the shelf.

one of the book bins, ready to go out in the system

King George III's library, which he left to the nation--

as long as it was accessable to the public and on display to the public.

an intriguing "chair" which you stand in, not sit in,
as demonstrated by a classmate

Does this look three-dimensional to you?

That's because it is!

Doesn't the gated entrance look neat?

We actually came in a different way, but I saw this side later and loved it.

Also in the Library--an amazing exhibition on maps and their role in society

including maps of all sizes, from some as big as a room to the smallest,
the book designed and made to fit in a royal dolls' house.

from the exhibition, on the map as propeganda.