6 



A Guide to the Use of the Beading jRoont. 



The Eeading Eoom is seated for 458 persons. Before the 

 War, the daily average of readers exceeded 700, and. showed a 

 tendency towards a further increase. These figures show the 

 importance of preventing overcrowding and the consequent dis- 

 comfort which would deprive students of the quiet and peace 

 which are the primary necessity of those engaged in intellectual 

 work. 



When the present Eeading Eoom was opened in the year 

 1857 there were in the United Kingdom, above all in London, 

 very few Libraries of any description which were open to 

 students either for reference or for recreation. At the present 

 day this is far from being the case. Almost every town of any 

 size or importance is now provided with a Free Public Library 

 from which all residents, whether ratepayers or not, are entitled 

 to borrow books for home reading. The greater number of 

 these Libraries are also provided "with a Eeference Department 

 in which are placed standard works and books of reference 

 which are at the disposal of any respectable person who enters 

 the Library. In the County of London there are about thirty 

 principal Municipal Libraries, each containing a Eeference 

 Department, and about sixty Branch Libraries from which 

 books can be borrowed. In the suburbs, beyond the County 

 Council boundaries, there are about twenty Municipal Libraries 

 with Eeference Departments and with about the same number of 

 Branches. So that in the area of greater London there are not 

 less than one hundred and thirty Free Public Libraries of greater 

 or smaller dimensions. 



Any person, therefore, who requires to consult the latest 

 EngHsh Encyclopaedias, Dictionaries, Gazetteers, and Directories, 

 to study the best editions of the works of great authors, or to 

 make use of the standard text books on any other subject, can 

 find what he wants in a Free Public Library, without going through 

 the formalities necessary to obtain a ticket of admission to the 

 Eeading Eoom of the British Museum. 



The Eeading Eoom is in fact, as well as in theory, a literary 

 workshop rather than a place for recreation, self -improvement 

 or casual reference to books which are easily obtainable 

 elsewhere. Those who can put forward the strongest claim 

 to its use are persons who have occasion to consult original 

 sources, books or periodicals which are not to be found in 

 ordinary libraries, and those who, for literary, scientific or other 

 serious purposes, require a wider range of books on the subject 

 of their study than can be found in other libraries. Applicants 

 should bear this in mind when stating their reasons for desiring 

 admission. 



In order to reserve the limited amount of space which the 

 Eeading Eoom offers for those who are legitimately entitled to use 

 it, the following restrictions have been placed on the granting of 



