Southern States - Karnataka-Bangalore   

British Library moves to new premises

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE Dec. 16. Ushering in a new format in its facilities, ambience, and even schedule, the British Library formally shifted to its new premises on Monday. The library, into its 42nd year in Bangalore, will now function from 23, Kasturba Road Cross.

The new premises is not just a physical change, but also an ideological change reflected in a space that is both physical and virtual, Eunice Crook, British Council's Director of South India, said at the event.

The library now has a collection of over 18,000 book volumes and 50 periodicals, an online collection providing access to databases with over 3,000 journals, a huge archive of four million articles dating from 1989, a children's collection with over 1,000 books, CDs and online resources for five to 15 year olds, a dedicated section offering comprehensive information on studies in the UK, meeting rooms with videoconferencing facility, and special access and comfort for the physically challenged.

As per the new schedule, the library will be open between 10.30 a.m. and 6.30 p.m. from Monday to Saturday.

The Education U.K. area of the library has prospectuses and reference materials on British educational institutions. "Between January and July this year, the library dealt with 6,450 enquiries from people wanting to study in the U.K.. In the past two years, the number of student visas issued in South India had tripled,'' Ms. Crook said.

She said the biotechnology section and English language material would be boosted shortly. The library would also soon upgrade its online content by providing members access to over 3,000 journals, an archive of four million full text journals. 90 of the leading UK reference sources, and the entire Oxford reference collection in a cross-searchable database.

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