I'm not going to lie; getting into the Reading Rooms is a process even if you're a student. For us independent researchers, it's a bigger process yet. And it definitely helps to have a friend who is a high-up muckity-muck in the librarian world who is also willing to help you out.
To start out, you need to apply for a Reference Number. This, in itself, is really simple. You can go to this url and read the instructions before clicking on the link in the paragraph titled "You can register online today". (You're going to want to read the instructions all the way through because they're helpful. I skimmed them, which was my first mistake.) That Reference Number is only good for three months, so don't apply for it too soon. Once you provide proof of identity and address at the library itself, you'll get a Reader Card pass that's good for three years.
So, once you have your Reference Number, you can set up an account on the British Library page, which is essential. It's how you request access to books and manuscripts in the Reading Rooms, which is where all of the things us history geeks are excited about. There are some caveats on the stuff you can request, however. Every book that I wanted required that I have a Letter of Introduction from a professor or librarian who could vouch that I wasn't going to do something stupid with the materials once I had them. We'll get to that in a second, but I wanted to make sure to mention it here because otherwise you'll just get frustrated on requesting things.
Okay, so, I acquired my Reference Number, I set up my BL account online, and I looked up the books that I wanted to see. Here's where Problem #1 came up. I study bookbinding, which is to say, how books are held together. My main area of study is the Romanesque Era, or roughly 1100 - 1350. There are a number of books from this time period, but historical librarians did a number on us bookbinders. It was common practice for manuscripts to have their entire book covers be replaced if they showed wear and tear rather than conserve the original bindings. This means that of the dozens of Romanesque books listed on the BL website, I had absolutely no idea which ones would actually have a Romanesque binding.
So, this is entirely for my bookbinder friends and the rest of you can skim or skip over this, but... on the BL website, there is actually a searchable database on bookbinding time frames. I had absolutely no idea, and it would have saved me about an hour at the library itself had I known, because I could have replied to the nice email that I got from Zoe asking for what I wanted to see so she could have them ready for me. Here's the link for that database: https://www.bl.uk/catalogues/bookbindings/ You get there by clicking on <All Catalogs> in the Catalogs & Collections link, then again on the <All Catalogs> on that page. It's the fifth link down.
What you're looking for is the Shelfmark ID. Most of the books that I was interested in started with "Add Ms #####", though a few were something like "Davis ##" or "IA #####". The Add Ms items are all gotten through the Archives and Manuscripts Reading Room, and usually only require that Letter of Introduction. The others required approval from the Curator, which meant I had to fill out a form explaining who I was, what I wanted, why I wanted it, and how that knowledge was going to be used. And then wait 48 hours for approval, and another 24 hours to actually receive the item. You can see now why knowing what you want ahead of time is incredibly helpful.
There's also the part where if you do your research online, you'll be able to see what you need in order to actually be allowed access to some of the materials. My area of research is old - some of the oldest codices still in existence - so I needed some verification that I wouldn't be an idiot with them once I had my hands on them. This required a Letter of Introduction from a trusted academic on their learning institution's letterhead with a signature. My lovely and wonderful friend Heather S graciously agreed to write a Letter of Introduction for me, even though she was on winter break and enjoying time with her son while he was on leave from the military. I <3 her so damn much.
Her letter basically said, "This is how I know her. This is what I know of her studies. I heartily recommend that she be given access for her independent research. Signed, Dr. Heather." It came to me - and to them - as a pdf in an email, which they printed and filed with my Reference Number.
Because I couldn't figure out which books I wanted, I couldn't send the reference librarian a list of books or request them online. This meant that I had to wait until I had gotten my library card and was allowed into the Reader Rooms in order to get the help of a living, breathing librarian. This took time, and I was on a limited schedule.
After you've done all of the legwork online prior to arriving in London, it's time to present yourself to the Registration Staff in order to prove you are who you say you are and provide proof of your address. It's a simple process that is more about waiting in a queue than anything overly difficult. (Thus is the British Way(tm).) When you walk in the door of the library, after you've had your bags searched, you go up the stairs to the right of the Information Desk. From there, turn right, and then right again, and you'll find the Registration Desk. There is likely to be a queue, which you can stand in if you'd like additional direction, or you can skip the line and go straight into the computers on the left-hand side of the desk.
Since you've already signed up online and gotten a Reference Number, you can select Option #4, use your Reference Number to sign through, and then update the requested information. You'll be assigned a queue number. Note that number, because that's what they'll call out when it's your turn to provide your documentation. Then sit down on one of the round settees and wait. Depending on time of day, how many people are in front of you, and how many people are working, the wait can be anywhere from five minutes to half an hour. I went as soon as the doors opened on the Monday between Christmas and New Years. I waited two minutes.
When your number is called, you go to the desk, sit down, and provide your passport and drivers' license/ID with your current mailing address. If you don't have that, bring a utility bill with the correct address and your name on it. The registration person will verify the information you've already put into the computer, give you a lecture on what's allowed and not allowed in the Reading Rooms, take your picture, and give you a card. That is your Gold Key into the Inner Sanctum.
Now, you're ready to go to the Reading Room!
Oh wait! NOPE! You're not! And here's why: you are not allowed to bring any bags other than a clear plastic bag, and you are not allowed to bring in any sharp objects, pens, or anything else that may be used to injure or harm the books or documents. No coats, no purses, no backpacks. (For the record, this is true of nearly any Rare Books Library that you go to. Expect it.)
Luckily, they provide for this. There is a Coat Check in the bottom floor where you can leave your belongings that you won't need and pick up a plastic bag for the things you will need (your wallet, notepad, pencil, magnifying glass, etc.). Leave the Registration Room and go down the escalator to the basement, where the Cloak Room is readily apparent. Give them your coat and bags (sans wallet, etc), they'll give you a number, grab the plastic bag from the shelf on the back wall, and off you go to the Reading Room! No, for real this time. You're finally ready.
The two rooms that I was interested in were one on top of the other on the left side of the building from where you entered, the Archives and Manuscripts Reading Room, and the Rare Books Reading Room. First floor (which is second floor to Americans) is the Rare Books Reading Room and where I would have gone had I been able to get the Curator's approval prior to arrival. As I didn't, the books that I could access were in the Archives and Manuscripts Reading Room on the third, er, excuse me, second floor.
Because of all of the weirdnesses with my experience, I should have gone straight to the Reference Librarian to ask for help after I showed my Reading Room Card to the guard at the front door. She was off to the side of the main desk. If you happen go to the main desk first to ask where she is, they'll point you to her... after they ask you a million questions to make sure you should go to her. Which you already know because you haven't actually reserved any books, which is where the main desk comes in. But they'll verify it anyway... taking up some of your precious few minutes. (But I'm not bitter.)
Here's where I'm going to sing the praises of the Reference Librarians at both of these Reading Rooms. They went above and beyond in helping me acquire access to books quickly, efficiently, and with minimal fuss once they learned that I only had a few hours to do any research. They moved heaven and earth to get me the books I was able to request, and painfully explained the process for the next time I want to come in and get the other items on my list. (And believe you me, people, there will be a next time. My Reader Card Pass is good for three years!) Truly, these men and women were extraordinary in their care of this poor, stupid American woman.
Now! I have put in my request, waited the one hour and 10 minutes I was told to wait, and gone to the main desk in the Reading Room to get my books. Yay! But hold on just one moment, little lady. There are rules to these books. Rules like no photography. At all. None.
Okay, that's really the only rule, but it was awful! First of all, I can't draw for crap, so anything I tried to draw out came out looking nothing like the actual item. Second of all, I still have a broken right hand, so even if I could draw, after about 10 minutes, my hand hurt like crazy and I could barely hold a pencil. In a morning of frustrating red tape and exceptional rules, this one about undid me. I stood there, looking at the man behind the desk, mouth agape, and I kid you not, growled. He looked taken aback, as was I, so I quickly closed my mouth, apologized, acknowledged the rule, and slunk away with the first book. (Turns out, books that old can only go out one at a time. Yeah, okay, that one actually makes sense to me, too.)
At the end of the morning, I'd had the opportunity to examine and explore three books that were over 900 years old. I'd been able to run my fingers along the spine to feel the cords and linen thread. I'd inspected the end bands - and found one where the leather was actually tucked around the threads!! - and seen the way the metal cover was attached to the same book. I'd had a lot of my research verified, and several of my assumptions, as well. Yes, I wish that I could have gotten pictures of the books, but I also know that I can reach out to the Reference Librarians, and they can and will take pictures for me and email them to me should I ask it of them.
All-in-all, this was an incredible day for me despite the small irritations and slow downs. Make the effort, if it's an option for you. It's oh so worth it.
To start out, you need to apply for a Reference Number. This, in itself, is really simple. You can go to this url and read the instructions before clicking on the link in the paragraph titled "You can register online today". (You're going to want to read the instructions all the way through because they're helpful. I skimmed them, which was my first mistake.) That Reference Number is only good for three months, so don't apply for it too soon. Once you provide proof of identity and address at the library itself, you'll get a Reader Card pass that's good for three years.
So, once you have your Reference Number, you can set up an account on the British Library page, which is essential. It's how you request access to books and manuscripts in the Reading Rooms, which is where all of the things us history geeks are excited about. There are some caveats on the stuff you can request, however. Every book that I wanted required that I have a Letter of Introduction from a professor or librarian who could vouch that I wasn't going to do something stupid with the materials once I had them. We'll get to that in a second, but I wanted to make sure to mention it here because otherwise you'll just get frustrated on requesting things.
Okay, so, I acquired my Reference Number, I set up my BL account online, and I looked up the books that I wanted to see. Here's where Problem #1 came up. I study bookbinding, which is to say, how books are held together. My main area of study is the Romanesque Era, or roughly 1100 - 1350. There are a number of books from this time period, but historical librarians did a number on us bookbinders. It was common practice for manuscripts to have their entire book covers be replaced if they showed wear and tear rather than conserve the original bindings. This means that of the dozens of Romanesque books listed on the BL website, I had absolutely no idea which ones would actually have a Romanesque binding.
So, this is entirely for my bookbinder friends and the rest of you can skim or skip over this, but... on the BL website, there is actually a searchable database on bookbinding time frames. I had absolutely no idea, and it would have saved me about an hour at the library itself had I known, because I could have replied to the nice email that I got from Zoe asking for what I wanted to see so she could have them ready for me. Here's the link for that database: https://www.bl.uk/catalogues/bookbindings/ You get there by clicking on <All Catalogs> in the Catalogs & Collections link, then again on the <All Catalogs> on that page. It's the fifth link down.
What you're looking for is the Shelfmark ID. Most of the books that I was interested in started with "Add Ms #####", though a few were something like "Davis ##" or "IA #####". The Add Ms items are all gotten through the Archives and Manuscripts Reading Room, and usually only require that Letter of Introduction. The others required approval from the Curator, which meant I had to fill out a form explaining who I was, what I wanted, why I wanted it, and how that knowledge was going to be used. And then wait 48 hours for approval, and another 24 hours to actually receive the item. You can see now why knowing what you want ahead of time is incredibly helpful.
There's also the part where if you do your research online, you'll be able to see what you need in order to actually be allowed access to some of the materials. My area of research is old - some of the oldest codices still in existence - so I needed some verification that I wouldn't be an idiot with them once I had my hands on them. This required a Letter of Introduction from a trusted academic on their learning institution's letterhead with a signature. My lovely and wonderful friend Heather S graciously agreed to write a Letter of Introduction for me, even though she was on winter break and enjoying time with her son while he was on leave from the military. I <3 her so damn much.
Her letter basically said, "This is how I know her. This is what I know of her studies. I heartily recommend that she be given access for her independent research. Signed, Dr. Heather." It came to me - and to them - as a pdf in an email, which they printed and filed with my Reference Number.
Because I couldn't figure out which books I wanted, I couldn't send the reference librarian a list of books or request them online. This meant that I had to wait until I had gotten my library card and was allowed into the Reader Rooms in order to get the help of a living, breathing librarian. This took time, and I was on a limited schedule.
After you've done all of the legwork online prior to arriving in London, it's time to present yourself to the Registration Staff in order to prove you are who you say you are and provide proof of your address. It's a simple process that is more about waiting in a queue than anything overly difficult. (Thus is the British Way(tm).) When you walk in the door of the library, after you've had your bags searched, you go up the stairs to the right of the Information Desk. From there, turn right, and then right again, and you'll find the Registration Desk. There is likely to be a queue, which you can stand in if you'd like additional direction, or you can skip the line and go straight into the computers on the left-hand side of the desk.
Since you've already signed up online and gotten a Reference Number, you can select Option #4, use your Reference Number to sign through, and then update the requested information. You'll be assigned a queue number. Note that number, because that's what they'll call out when it's your turn to provide your documentation. Then sit down on one of the round settees and wait. Depending on time of day, how many people are in front of you, and how many people are working, the wait can be anywhere from five minutes to half an hour. I went as soon as the doors opened on the Monday between Christmas and New Years. I waited two minutes.
When your number is called, you go to the desk, sit down, and provide your passport and drivers' license/ID with your current mailing address. If you don't have that, bring a utility bill with the correct address and your name on it. The registration person will verify the information you've already put into the computer, give you a lecture on what's allowed and not allowed in the Reading Rooms, take your picture, and give you a card. That is your Gold Key into the Inner Sanctum.
Now, you're ready to go to the Reading Room!
Oh wait! NOPE! You're not! And here's why: you are not allowed to bring any bags other than a clear plastic bag, and you are not allowed to bring in any sharp objects, pens, or anything else that may be used to injure or harm the books or documents. No coats, no purses, no backpacks. (For the record, this is true of nearly any Rare Books Library that you go to. Expect it.)
Luckily, they provide for this. There is a Coat Check in the bottom floor where you can leave your belongings that you won't need and pick up a plastic bag for the things you will need (your wallet, notepad, pencil, magnifying glass, etc.). Leave the Registration Room and go down the escalator to the basement, where the Cloak Room is readily apparent. Give them your coat and bags (sans wallet, etc), they'll give you a number, grab the plastic bag from the shelf on the back wall, and off you go to the Reading Room! No, for real this time. You're finally ready.
The two rooms that I was interested in were one on top of the other on the left side of the building from where you entered, the Archives and Manuscripts Reading Room, and the Rare Books Reading Room. First floor (which is second floor to Americans) is the Rare Books Reading Room and where I would have gone had I been able to get the Curator's approval prior to arrival. As I didn't, the books that I could access were in the Archives and Manuscripts Reading Room on the third, er, excuse me, second floor.
Because of all of the weirdnesses with my experience, I should have gone straight to the Reference Librarian to ask for help after I showed my Reading Room Card to the guard at the front door. She was off to the side of the main desk. If you happen go to the main desk first to ask where she is, they'll point you to her... after they ask you a million questions to make sure you should go to her. Which you already know because you haven't actually reserved any books, which is where the main desk comes in. But they'll verify it anyway... taking up some of your precious few minutes. (But I'm not bitter.)
Here's where I'm going to sing the praises of the Reference Librarians at both of these Reading Rooms. They went above and beyond in helping me acquire access to books quickly, efficiently, and with minimal fuss once they learned that I only had a few hours to do any research. They moved heaven and earth to get me the books I was able to request, and painfully explained the process for the next time I want to come in and get the other items on my list. (And believe you me, people, there will be a next time. My Reader Card Pass is good for three years!) Truly, these men and women were extraordinary in their care of this poor, stupid American woman.
Now! I have put in my request, waited the one hour and 10 minutes I was told to wait, and gone to the main desk in the Reading Room to get my books. Yay! But hold on just one moment, little lady. There are rules to these books. Rules like no photography. At all. None.
Okay, that's really the only rule, but it was awful! First of all, I can't draw for crap, so anything I tried to draw out came out looking nothing like the actual item. Second of all, I still have a broken right hand, so even if I could draw, after about 10 minutes, my hand hurt like crazy and I could barely hold a pencil. In a morning of frustrating red tape and exceptional rules, this one about undid me. I stood there, looking at the man behind the desk, mouth agape, and I kid you not, growled. He looked taken aback, as was I, so I quickly closed my mouth, apologized, acknowledged the rule, and slunk away with the first book. (Turns out, books that old can only go out one at a time. Yeah, okay, that one actually makes sense to me, too.)
At the end of the morning, I'd had the opportunity to examine and explore three books that were over 900 years old. I'd been able to run my fingers along the spine to feel the cords and linen thread. I'd inspected the end bands - and found one where the leather was actually tucked around the threads!! - and seen the way the metal cover was attached to the same book. I'd had a lot of my research verified, and several of my assumptions, as well. Yes, I wish that I could have gotten pictures of the books, but I also know that I can reach out to the Reference Librarians, and they can and will take pictures for me and email them to me should I ask it of them.
All-in-all, this was an incredible day for me despite the small irritations and slow downs. Make the effort, if it's an option for you. It's oh so worth it.
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