37139 British Library

Introduction British Library 2002/2003

The British Library is a world-class institution devoted to the support of research and innovation through itscollections, services and staff. The Library is an integralcomponent of the national research infrastructure andplays a significant role in ensuring UK researchexcellence. Over 50 per cent of what the Library does isassociated in some way or another with supportingHigher Education and a further 25 per cent of BritishLibrary activity is directed towards support of industryand business.

The British Library also has much to offer the generalpublic. Whether in our Reading Rooms or via ourDocument Supply service some ten per cent of ouractivity relates to the delivery of information to lifelonglearners in the general population. And increasinglydigitisation is enabling us to build upon our exhibitionand education programmes to broaden access to thecollections of the national library to an ever-wideningpublic.

During the period under review I was delighted to see further recognition within Government of thesubstantive contribution that the Library makes to thenation through its support of Higher Education and itssupport for industry and UK competitiveness. In July2002 the Government set out its strategy for science,engineering and technology in a publication entitledInvesting in Innovation, in which it acknowledged ‘thevalue placed on the British Library as a resource toscientific researchers in the UK, both public and private’.Moreover, in its July 2002 report on library resources for Higher Education, the House of Commons Education

and Skills Committee said, ‘We are proud that the BritishLibrary is recognised as a world leader and we paytribute to its work in providing research resources forhigher education and for enterprise.’

Most importantly perhaps, Government recognition ofour unique and important contribution was reflected in a positive Grant in Aid funding settlement for theLibrary for the period 2003/04 – 2005/06. A substantialcapital allocation for the construction of additionalstorage capacity to meet projected collection growthalleviated some of the concerns I expressed in last year’sreport about the need to obtain the necessaryinvestment in infrastructure. And – in what I take as a vote of confidence in the challenging programme ofstrategic change we have embarked upon – the Libraryalso received significant additional Grant fundingearmarked for investment in both the modernisation of the Document Supply service and also the reform ofhuman resources and working practices.

As we approach the next Spending Review I re-affirmmy determination to ensure the necessary investment inthe national library to sustain its world-class status andto make available the knowledge held in our collectionsto all who can benefit from it.

John EatwellBritish Library Chairman

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Economic and social progress is critically dependent on the advance of knowledge.The British Library plays an important role in providing the raw material for newthinking and hence stimulating the generation of ideas.

CHAIRMAN’S INTRODUCTION

37139 British Library 18/7/03 7:39 pm Page 2

We have engaged staff throughout the Library indefining how we all add value to the knowledge whichwe hold in trust for present and future generations. Thecompelling common factor underpinning the roles theLibrary plays for all our diverse audiences has beencrystallised as helping people advance knowledge toenrich lives.

With a clear sense of purpose that is shared by staff andresonates with users, we are turning strategy into action.At an immediate and visible level, an exciting outcomeof this has been the implementation of a distinctive newvisual identity for the Library. We recognise that thesuccess of our new brand will come not only from ourvisual communications but also from the experience thatour many users have of the Library itself. Judging by the opinion of the writer A N Wilson, we have strongfoundations on which to build. In the acknowledgmentsto his recent book The Victorians, he comments that ‘theBritish Library is the glory of our nation; the staff are itsglory’, a sentiment which we all share as we celebratethe fifth anniversary of the opening of the first ReadingRoom at St Pancras.

Another landmark this year was the seventiethanniversary of the opening of our newspaper ReadingRooms at Colindale in North London; meanwhile, greatprogress has been made on the digitisation of ourcollection of the first English newspapers. The project isintended to give fully-searchable web access to ‘the firstdraft of history’. This is just one example of how we areopening up a specialised area of our collection to muchwider usage, enabling innovative new research andadvancing knowledge in very real terms.

The future role of libraries is being fundamentallyinfluenced by the development of Internet and digital technologies. The challenge of handling digitalpublications is shared by all libraries, but there is a specialresponsibility on libraries of legal deposit to guaranteethe integrity of the national published archive. We haveput particular effort into lobbying for the extension of legal deposit to include digital as well as printmaterials, working closely with other key stakeholdersfrom libraries, publishers and Government. A PrivateMember’s Bill, sponsored by Chris Mole MP, successfully

passed its second reading on the 14th March 2003, and we are extremely grateful to all those whosupported the progress of the Bill. There are still severalstages to pass before legislation is secured, and thereremain some issues to be worked through withstakeholders. However, if we are successful in ourefforts, this will be a groundbreaking piece of legislation,ensuring that our national digital memory is preservedand made accessible in perpetuity.

Critical parallel activity has been the development of digital archiving and preservation strategies. Aparticular challenge facing all libraries as they developdigital collection strategies is how to collect and archiveinformation contained in websites. We are collaboratingwith international partners, including the Bibliothèquenationale de France, the Library of Congress and theNational Library of Canada to agree distributed globalapproaches to web archiving.

Sustaining our world-leading acquisition levels remains a priority in the face of continuing budget pressures.With increasing demands on resources, collaboration is crucial if we are to provide the best possible supportfor UK research. A milestone this year has been the publication of the report of the Research SupportLibraries Group and its recommendation to establish a Research Libraries Network for the UK. The BritishLibrary Board welcomed the report’s recognition that‘the British Library is absolutely integral to the success ofUK research’. We will continue to play a leading role inshaping a more integrated future approach to researchsupport, working with the Higher Education FundingCouncil for England and other partners.

We continue to work closely with the Society of Chief Librarians (SCL) to develop a shared agendaappropriate to the challenges facing libraries at both the community and national level. The second annualworkshop between the British Library and SCL was held in December and we are pursuing collaborativeprogrammes with the public library network and otherregional agencies. These will bring our collections andexhibitions to a wider audience and will support thelibrary network in its marketing and delivery of servicesto local audiences.

This year the development of the British Library’s strategy has focused on assessingthe different needs and expectations of our primary constituencies: researchers;business people; schools and students; the library and information network; and thegeneral public. Establishing the current and emerging needs of our users has enabledus to articulate our shared sense of the British Library’s core purpose: to provideaccess to the world’s knowledge.

Year Book British Library 2002/2003

CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S SUMMARY OF THE YEAR

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An exciting new collaboration with the New York PublicLibrary will enable us to share best practice and developjoint initiatives with another great research library with a different function and perspective to our own. Areaswe are investigating together include the role of the library curator in the 21st century, long-term digital strategies, and the provision of services to thescience and business community. We are grateful to theAndrew W. Mellon Foundation for its vital support in the development of this project.

In last year’s report I referred to the fundamentalmodernisation programme which we were undertakingto develop the British Library’s services. This hascontinued and there have been many hard decisions totake, as well as significant and sometimes painfulchanges to implement this year. However, I believe thatthis work is essential if we are to create a Library that is responsive to its users’ needs and aligned with ouroverall vision. We have made significant progress in anumber of key areas as detailed reviews and restructureshave moved forward across all the Library’s Directorates.

The e-Strategy and Information Systems Directorate hasbeen radically restructured to support our servicedelivery. Successful implementation of systems that canmanage and provide access to all our collection items,whether in digital or print form, is critical to the Library’sfuture development. The Directorate has embarked on the implementation of an Integrated Library System,which will deliver a new online catalogue and streamlinethe way in which we process and catalogue items.

We are making major changes to our Document Supplyservice to enable digital delivery of research material on a far greater scale. We have had valuable supportfrom the Government’s Invest to Save programme to help us deliver this improvement. Digital scanningfrom print and microform originals will give researchersrapid, high-quality delivery from over one hundredmillion research articles, reports and conference papersdirect to their desktop. Coupled with the breakthroughin instant, secure electronic delivery from e-journals,made possible by our partnership with Adobe, thisreinforces the Library’s role as the pre-eminent global document supplier. It also confirms our close co-operation with publishers, which is vital to thecontinuing success of the national research infrastructure.

Our Human Resources department has an importantrole to play in supporting the Library during ourprogramme of organisational change. The team hasbeen strengthened by new appointments and has beenrestructured to help deliver the Library’s strategic agendamore effectively. This year we have started to makegood progress against many of our priority areas,supported by special reform funding. We are improvingour industrial relations and we are committed to

developing leadership skills within the Library and willbe rolling out a series of training programmes later in the year. Our performance management scheme isbeing redesigned, and a fundamental review of ourreward and recognition system will commence shortly. I would like to thank our interim HR Director, Andy Cook, for the significant work he directed duringhis appointment, and to welcome our new Director,Mary Canavan, who joins us in June 2003.

We have been reviewing our estates requirements, andto ensure that we have space to accommodate theeleven kilometres of new material we acquire each yearwe have begun planning for new storage developmentsat our site in Yorkshire. We were pleased to receiveadditional capital funding from Government to assist this work. We are also planning a new Centre forConservation to be built at St Pancras, which willenhance the Library’s conservation facilities, ensuringthat our priceless collections are protected for futuregenerations to study and enjoy. The Centre will givepublic visibility to world-class craft skills and willimaginatively engage the growing public interest inconservation activities.

A number of projects in the immediate vicinity of theLibrary, including the building of a new Eurostar terminalat St Pancras and the regeneration of the King’s Crossarea (particularly aimed at attracting the creativeindustries), will draw new businesses, residents andtourists to our doorstep, and look set to position theLibrary at the heart of a new cultural quarter for London.

Looking back over our achievements this year, I amstruck by the pride, dedication and skill shown by staffthroughout the Library, as well as the extraordinarydiversity and quality of what they accomplish. The casestudies and summaries throughout this Report give justa flavour of the many ways in which the knowledge held in our collections has made a difference to people’s lives. The British Library is recognised and valued for its contribution to the economy, to researchcompetitiveness and as a great cultural institution. It isa privilege for me to see this in action every day and to lead the Library at this time of major changes ineducation, learning and the ways in which information isaccessed. Technology is also driving fundamental shiftsin research methods and publishing models. The Libraryis responding with growing confidence to the resultingchallenges, and is now positioned to deliver access to theworld’s knowledge on an unprecedented scale.

Lynne BrindleyChief Executive

CHIEF EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CONTINUED


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FACT BOOK DIVIDERFRONT


Fact Book British Library 2002/2003

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Every minute of each working day (and night),researchers around the world order 9 items fromour Document Supply service.

items

3,000 new words were added to the Oxford English Dictionary last year.

6 OED researchers use the 12 London Reading Rooms to verify new words and identify others which have become obsolete.

Details of 8,000 new research articles appear on our searchable web database every working day.

Our basement stores reach 24 metres below ground– the equivalent of an 8 storey building, and as deep as the Victoria line which runs through them.


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Our collection fills 599 kilometres of shelving on 5 sites in London andYorkshire.

599kmWe hold information on 25 different materials, including glass, bone, wood, stone, papyrus, plastic, wax, skin, bark, cloth, paper, metal and clay.

,,St Pancras Reading Rooms are open 6 days a week and every day Readers consult an average of 17,800 items.

178,08

28It would take you 28 years, day and night, to listen to the Sound Archive’s entire CD collection.

years

8,490,040 searches were made of our catalogue on the web during the year.

The world’s longest-established Sundaypaper, The Observer, is 212 years old. Wehave the 4 page firstissue; copies now have194 pages, and on the CD-Rom version everyword can be searched.

Improving collection access through digitisationOur priority is to develop a coherent digitisation strategy that will state our criteria for selection of content and will contain business models for collection and capture.

Developing life-cycle collection management We are taking an integrated approach to our stewardship of the national collection and considering all aspects ofhow material is brought into the Library,catalogued, shelved, retrieved for users,stored and preserved for the long-term.This will enable us to develop a betterunderstanding of the interdependenciesand costs of each stage of the life-cycle.

Developing an integrated architecture for the hybrid libraryThe challenge is to create an infrastructure that will seamlessly allow us to manage, preserve and provide access to all our collectionswhether the materials are print based, or electronic. This includes creating anenvironment where digital materials can be preserved beyond the life of the original viewing application.

� We defined criteria for digitisation projects,focusing on the benefits we bring to user communities by digitising particular types of material.

� We installed a digital imaging suite that streamlines the capture and processing of digital images from original collection materials.

� We exceeded our target of digitising images from the collection by 5%.

� With support from the National ScienceFoundation in the US, we are working with acontractor to digitise microfilms of pre-1801newspapers. Half a million page images havebeen created so far.

� We have completed a review of the relationships between each stage of our management of the collections.

� We have analysed the economic interdependencies of all stages so we can assess the proportion of resources required at each. This will enable us to manage and allocate resources most effectively in the longer term.

� We are currently implementing a new Integrated Library System, which will efficientlystreamline acquisition and cataloguing of printed and digital items. This will ultimately allow searching of all our catalogue records from a single point of access.

� We are developing a Digital Object Management System to support long term storage, provide access by incorporating appropriate levels of metadata, and manageassociated Intellectual Property Rights.

� We are collaborating with other institutions todevelop standards for digital preservation andaccess to ensure a consistent global approach.

� Sharing material in digital form supports researchand learning in all our user communities.

� We intend to give researchers at all levels fully-searchable web access to digitised newspapers.

� Online resources launched during the year: - 21st Century Citizen in support of the National

Curriculum, providing learning resources forteachers and school students;

- the Database of Fine Bindings, giving art historians and other researchers access to imagesand details of previously hidden treasures;

- Images Online, giving the creative industries aneasy way to find and order pictures from our historic collections.

� All users benefit from the Library’s responsiblestewardship of our collections both now and inthe future.

� We have collaborated with Oxford UniversityLibrary Services on the review and will continue to work with them to establish benchmarksagainst which we, and other libraries, will be ableto assess our collection management practices.

� The UK research libraries have particular interestin this work, which no other organisation hasundertaken before. The review prepares the wayfor collaborative collection management in the UK library network.

� Faster processing of new material will make itaccessible to users more quickly.

� Catalogues of printed material will link to catalogues of sound, manuscript and digitisedholdings.

� It will be easier to share cataloguing data withother libraries.

� Users of Reading Rooms and online services willhave access to digital materials in perpetuity, subject to licensing arrangements, but regardless of original carrier.

� By sharing the workload and establishing bestpractice the library network will be able to makemore digital materials widely accessible, cost-effectively and without duplication of effort.

Strategic priorities Progress during 2002/03 Impact on our users and partners


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STRATEGY INTO ACTIONIn last year’s Annual Report we set out our six strategic priorities. This year we report on our progress. 9%

If you consulted10 items everyday, it would takeyou 40,000 yearsto see the wholeof our current collection.

61,302We welcomed 61,302 new Readers to our Reading Rooms in the past year. We created 618,661 new

catalogue records duringthe year, exceeding ourtarget by 9%.

Developing and enhancing our cataloguesThe development of more web-based catalogues will be the primary meansof opening up access to our collections.We will improve catalogue coverage and quality. We will improve resource discovery through collaboration.

Improving the way users meet the LibraryOur goal is to make our services easier to use.

Modernising our servicesWe are transforming our services to improve the accessibility of our collections. We will integrate services toenable a seamless process of searching,ordering and receipt by the user.

� We created 618,661 new catalogue records,exceeding our target by 9%

� We have added the Library’s catalogue to thesuite of major UK research library catalogues that can be seamlessly searched on the web.

� We are participating in the project to create a UK Union Catalogue of serials (SUNCAT); the contract for development has been awarded toEDINA/Ex Libris.

� We are monitoring satisfaction with the Library’sservices so that we can maintain a programme of continuous improvement

� We have established our new brand identitywhich expresses our core purpose in visual andwritten terms.

� We are renewing our printed materials in line with the new brand, rationalising them whereverpossible, both to control costs and to ensure users are not overwhelmed with information.

� We have modified the website to reflect thebrand, simplified navigation, and made it easierfor people with disabilities to use.

� We have improved Reading Room facilities for people with physical and visual disabilities.

� We have made reciprocal agreements with university libraries in the UK and public libraries in London for referral of users between research collections.

� We are merging our operations across all locations to harmonise discovery and accessibility of resources.

� New contracts with Relais and Xerox, investment in an innovative digitisation systemand installation of 110 new scanners are enabling us to deliver secure digital copies ofprinted and microform items from our Document Supply collections

� Our new partnership with Adobe to providesecure electronic delivery from e-journals hasenabled us to secure contracts with the major scientific publishers.

� Timeliness and accuracy of holdings information is vital for the library network which uses ourrecords and for researchers and businesses whowant rapid access to new publications.

� Researchers can now search 22 major UK research catalogues in a single sweep ofwww.copac.ac.uk

� Researchers will be able to identify and locate all the serials holdings of the main UK research collections.

� People using our Reading Rooms and DocumentSupply services or visiting our exhibitions arereporting satisfaction levels above our targets.

� People instantly recognise our new visual style,the tone is engaging and the language clear and readily understood.

� Clear, targeted leaflets and guides make it easier for Readers, visitors and customers to get straight to the information they want.

� Browsers are able to find the information theyneed on www.bl.uk quickly and easily.

� Disabled researchers now have better access to a wider range of our services, enabling them to use our resources more effectively.

� Postgraduates, final year students and membersof the public whose research needs can’t be metby their local library’s resources are now entitled,on their librarian’s recommendation, to a Reader’s Pass.

� Businesses and researchers using DocumentSupply have rapid electronic delivery of the vast body of research information that has been published, and will continue to bepublished, in print.

� Businesses and researchers using DocumentSupply have instant access to increasing numbers of e-articles on a ‘pay per item’ basis.

� Researchers in our Reading Rooms now haveinstant access to electronic articles.

� All Document Supply users are benefiting fromgreatly improved service delivery. We typicallydeliver more than 80% of requests within 24 hours.

Strategic priorities Progress during 2002/03 Impact on our users and partners


YEAR BOOK DIVIDERFRONT

2000Fact Book British Library 2002/2003

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EVOLVING OUR STRATEGYOver the past year our strategy has moved forward. The priorities we identified last year areoperational, and have been about enabling the most effective use of our services and resources.Now that we have put in place robust internal changes to deliver on our objectives we areshifting our focus to the outcomes that our users can anticipate.

Every working day staff answer 2,000free enquiries.

� Reading Rooms in St Pancras, Boston Spa and the Newspaper collections in Colindale

� Document Supply services� Online catalogues and databases� On-demand imaging from our

reference collections � British Library publications� Digitised collection materials� Curatorial expertise

� Expert searching services� Reading Rooms in St Pancras, Boston Spa

and Colindale� Document Supply services� Online catalogues and databases� Training, e.g. Patents Clinics� British Library publications� Database licensing� On-demand imaging from our reference collections

� Document Supply services� Supply of bibliographic records� Training� British Library publications� Site visits� Co-operative forums to establish

standards and best practice

� Workshops using exhibitions� Summer schools and seminars� Regional and outreach projects� Partnerships and advice to support research skills

and information literacy� Web resource for teachers and learners� British Library books and CD-Roms for schools

� Exhibitions� Events� Tours� Bookshop� British Library publications� Virtual exhibitions and displays

Researchers:� Postgraduates, teaching staff

and researchers in HigherEducation

� Writers and scholars� Government research

establishments

Business people:� High R&D industries� Professional services� Small and medium-sized

technology-based enterprises� Science Parks� Creative and media industries,

e.g. broadcasting, publishing,advertising and journalism

The library network:� Libraries in Higher and

Further Education� National libraries� Public libraries� Regional archives and museums� Government libraries� Special libraries

Schools and students:� Teachers� School libraries� Students 11-18� Schools in the St Pancras area� Further Education colleges� Undergraduates

The general public:� Communities local to the

Library’s sites� Lifelong learners� Groups and societies� Families� Tourists from the UK

and overseas

� We are meeting the changing needs of the researchcommunity by improving existing services to givequicker and more comprehensive access to ourresources.

� The Integrated Library System will unify and improvecatalogues. This will simplify the discovery of researchsources and increase the accuracy of results.

� Researchers will have online access to major newspaperand sound collections, thanks to support by JISC fordigitisation programmes.

� We will contribute to the studies and new services ofthe Research Libraries Network.

� We are rationalising and modernising existing servicesto make them faster, more efficient and increasinglycustomer-focused.

� We are making services wholly digital wherever appropriate.

� We are developing new services in line with changinguser needs. Our Research Service, for example, willundertake comprehensive searches and analysis ofpatents, technical and business literature for businesses.

� We will support more retrospective cataloguing anddigitisation programmes through partnership funding.

� Through our regional initiatives we are forming partnerships with local agencies for museums, librariesand archives to make the national library’s resourcesmore available at a regional level.

� We are providing resources to support a strand of thepublic library staff development programme.

� We are developing a programme of 4 types of learningworkshop at St Pancras for teachers and students; onestrand focuses on social inclusion goals.

� We are setting up intensive projects with groups ofyoung people in Camden.

� We will extend user involvement in the 21st CenturyCitizen website and develop it in response to feedback.

� Our involvement in the University College WideningParticipation summer school will increase this year.

� Two major new exhibitions on Lindisfarne and modernChinese prints are opening this year.

� We are launching Collect Britain, a web resourceexploring major image and sound collections, supported by the New Opportunities Fund.

� We are developing www.bl.uk to provide wider public accessibility and enrich the interested browser’sexperience of the site.

� We are extending our programme of mounting smallertopical displays with wide appeal.

Key communities of users The services and resources they use How we will add value during 2003/04



Mark’s design will also reduce the 60,000 accidentscaused annually in the UK alone because of the problemspeople have when opening consumer goods. Airtight,and easy to make child-proof, the Simply Squeeze lids are also a boon for the elderly and the disabled.

Mark has had a golden year, winning the Invention of the Year and Gold Consumer Product at the British Invention Show, the Grand Prix at Inpex,America’s largest invention showcase, the Visteon Award for Manufacturing Innovation and gold medals from Geneva’s International Exhibition ofInventions and the Taiwan InventionAssociation.

How did the Library contribute to his triumph? ‘You inspire confidence’,says Mark. During development of the product, he visited the Reading Rooms and the websiteto check on existing patents forpackaging. ‘It’s vital to do thoroughsearches. Otherwise you can waste so much time, and companies canspend thousands of pounds,developing an idea, only to find thata patent already exists. The Librarycan also help innovators andentrepreneurs assess the market.There’s no point developing a prototype unless there’s a bigenough market out there.’

Mark believes that ‘nearly every idea’s already been thought of, but just not commercialised. You can find out who would be interested in your idea by looking at which companies are filing patents in your field. You need to delve into an area, look at how others have addressed a problem, then see if you can move forward from it. Once you’ve filed your patent, you can get in touch with manufacturers.

The Library’s expert staff are a great help for the new inventor. They run patent clinics to help people getstarted. New inventors are vulnerable; you can be takenadvantage of. I keep an eye on the trade press to makesure that none of mine is pirated, and I know that otherinventors have used the collections when taking action to protect their intellectual property. The Library’sresources empower the lone inventor.’

The Library’s support for innovation was highlighted in the Government’s report, Investing in Innovation,published in July 2002. The report underlined the value

the Library added at a national levelin supporting scientific and technicalresearch and development inuniversities and large corporationsthrough Document Supply servicesand Reading Rooms. It alsorecognised the ‘particular benefit(the Library offers) to smaller firmswhich are less able than largecompanies to hold substantialcollections of scientific journals andother publications’.

Refocusing the services we offer to small and medium-sizedcompanies has been central to Julia Stocken’s work since she joined the Library last year as Head of Science, Technology and

Innovation. She says, ‘we’re here to help make ideashappen. The enterprise sector needs reliable information;they may not be familiar with the sources, or know howbest to use them. We’ve got the expertise, the facilitiesand all the scientific and technical information, onlineand in print: we can sift it, assess it, and package it howthey want. We’re developing our ideas with partners,including the London Development Agency. There’ssuch a sense of excitement: we’re fine-tuning a reallypowerful resource.’

...Mark Sheahan, Managing Director of CompGen Limited, was named Innovator ofthe Year 2003 in a ceremony held at the British Library in November 2002 by theLondon Business Innovation Centre. His Simply Squeeze to Open containers are areal breakthrough in packaging design. Cheaper and quicker to produce than standardclosing systems, his invention has already been taken up by major packagingproducers in the US and the UK.

INNOVATION GUARANTEED...

‘The Library’s expert staffare a great help for the new inventor. They runpatent clinics to helppeople get started.Inventors are vulnerableand can be takenadvantage of. The Library’sresources empower thelone inventor.’Mark Sheahan, Innovator of the Year 2003

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Mark Sheahan used our patent and businesscollections when he designed his Simply Squeeze toOpen packaging. It’s cheaper and quicker to producethan standard closing systems and is especially easyfor elderly and disabled people to use.


AstraZeneca has a long association with the BritishLibrary, but recently we’ve signed an agreement tocustomise the Document Supply service we provide to the international research teams. Susan’s unit, Information Science and Library, has pioneered thedevelopment of Glides – the Global Library IntegratedDelivery System – now being rolled out acrossAstraZeneca’s global research and development sites.The system gives scientists desktop access to all theelectronic journals licensed by AstraZeneca, and toinformation about their onsite library collections. Butbacking up these holdings is the British Library’sDocument Supply service. Susanexplains, ‘scientists order researcharticles from their desktop, andwhen we don’t hold what theywant, the system automaticallyputs in an order to the BritishLibrary, on the basis that if theyhaven’t got it, nobody else is likelyto. The Library delivers straight tothe scientists, so they have theinformation quickly and efficiently.We’ve built our system to interfacewith the Library’s, to make therelationship as effective as possible.’

Susan is enthusiastic about the Library’s forthcomingdigital delivery system for printed material. ‘Our Document Supply orders tend to be for articles fromprinted sources. Now that the Library is able to deliversecure electronic files from those originals, that will makea big difference to us – especially for our overseas sites.Speed of delivery is critical to the scientists; we strive toalways be out in front in a rapidly moving environment,so the information has got to be fast as well as right.’

The development of this electronic delivery service hasbeen made possible thanks to new partnerships withXerox, Relais™ International and our agreement withthe Copyright Licensing Agency. The Library can nowdeliver high-quality electronic files from over onehundred million articles, reports and conference papers

in our printed and microform collections direct to theresearcher’s desktop. This service complements ourinstant electronic access, which gives customers powerfulsearching across the most significant e-journals, and adirect link to full text articles already published online.

Publishers’ concerns about the security of copyrightmaterial online have been answered by our ground-breaking partnership with Adobe™, which enables us togive customers instant and secure access to e-articles, and gives all parties the reassurance that their use ofmaterial complies with international copyright legislation.

Publishers receive royalties for eachtransaction, and major publisherssuch as Elsevier, Kluwer Academicand Mary Ann Liebert have beenquick to sign up.

The Library’s service brings theircontent to the attention of aninternational customer base, whoseresearch needs are so varied thatlicensing electronic content frommany different publishers is notpractical. The ability to rely on theLibrary to provide a wide range ofe-articles on a one-off basis as they

need it is a substantial benefit to the commercialresearch sector. Dr Toshinobu Yamaguchi, of thechemical manufacturer Ishihara Sangyo Kaisha Ltd, wasone of the first to use the service. He says, ‘we startedto use the secure electronic delivery service because itwas fast and efficient. It’s enabled us to provide ourresearchers with an even better service than before.We hope the Library takes many more journals withsecure electronic delivery at their earliest convenience.’

We’re certainly acting on Dr Yamaguchi’s request. From Autumn 2003 we’ll be able to supply 100% of our copyright-cleared requests electronically, using our secure technology. This represents a significantreinforcement of our position as the premier source ofinternational document supply in the digital age.

...‘Information helps us manage risk’, says Susan Cooper, information expert atAstraZeneca’s Charnwood research site. The pharmaceutical giant spends $3 billionevery year on research and development of new treatments. Susan says, ‘it can take15 years to bring a successful drug to market, and the chain from molecule to man iscomplicated and expensive. There are stages in that process when the right decisionsare critical, and have to be based on full knowledge. Anything less could be adisaster – for patients, and for the company.’

‘Now that the Library isable to deliver secureelectronic files from printed originals, it willmake a big difference to us – especially for ouroverseas sites.’Susan Cooper, information expert,AstraZeneca


THE RIGHT DECISIONS...

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Our Document Supply services are making moreresearch available for electronic delivery.AstraZeneca’s scientists use our information tounderpin their decision-making, helping them choosefrom among thousands the one compound that couldbecome the basis of a new treatment.


The Beatles were John Evans’ favourite hit-makers when we polled visitors to our 50 Years of Number Ones exhibition. John went on to win the Gibson Les Paul Deluxeguitar in our competition.


The winner was John Evans, a former semi-professionalguitarist from North London. ‘I love the guitar, and plans are afoot for many musical reunions. I’ve beenresearching at the Library for the past decade, and the50 Years of Number Ones exhibition suddenly gave theplace a new angle for me.’

John has been using the Humanities and ScienceReading Rooms to research a book about thinking andlearning. He says, ‘I used to be a systems analyst, and I noticed that some of the best analysts I came acrosswere, like me, dyslexic. I found this was often true of builders, architects and others who use graphical techniques tocommunicate highly complexcontent. So I began researchinginto the new field of artificial andnatural neural networks. It seemsthat three dimensional graphicaltechniques speak the same spatiallanguage as our neural networks.’

John’s been sharing his ideas withpublic sector policy officers to helpthem develop their thinking onintegrating public service delivery.The first application of his ideas hasbeen in literacy teaching in prison, with people whohave had very little formal teaching, and were veryresistant to standard literacy training. ‘Prisons have avery high proportion of dyslexics, and working withthem I found that they were able to use graphical andspatial learning tools very effectively. Over a few monthstheir literacy improved, along with their self-confidence.’

‘Self-confidence is vital if people are to participate fullyin the community,’ agrees Chris Davies, the editor ofChanging Society, a book and CD based on interviewswith key individuals in the development of Scope, acharity for people with cerebral palsy. Chris says, ‘Scopecampaigned for a change in attitude, a recognition that

disabled people had a valuable contribution to make.We wanted to record the memories of the people whocreated Scope and made that change possible. It was a race against time: three of our interviewees have sincedied, but their testimony remains, so that future generations can hear them speak for themselves.

The support of the Library was important because itgave our project credibility. It brought us into contactwith other oral historians who were working in relatedfields and giving a voice to those who usually remainunheard. Oral history is about valuing people’s

experiences. I was born with cerebralpalsy, and I strongly believe thatdisabled people’s experience shouldbe valued.’

The Library’s Sound Archive gaveChris training in oral historytechniques, and advice on structuringthe project, question schemes and recording formats. The interviewshe recorded have now joined theSound Archive’s growing researchcollection of oral history recordings onsubjects relating to disability, medicalpractice and mental health.

The Library was also the venue for the launch ofChanging Society, which was published in May 2002 tocelebrate the 50th Anniversary of Scope. Chris says,‘The event gave many disabled people the opportunityto visit the building, and they were impressed by theaccess and the facilities there. It also prompted them tocome to us with their memories and their own archives,and as a result we’ve recently published another bookwith a Millennium Award. It’s the autobiography of BillHargreaves, a founder of Scope, called Can You ManageStares?, and now we’re starting a bigger oral historyproject to record the wider life experiences of peoplewith cerebral palsy in the 20th century.’

...The British Library Sound Archive’s exhibition, 50 Years of Number Ones, attractedrecord numbers of visitors in celebration of the anniversary of the UK singles chart,first published by the New Musical Express in 1952. Five decades of hit singles – 946in all – were available for listeners, who were given a chance to enter a competitionto win a guitar – a Gibson Les Paul Deluxe reissue.

VOCAL HISTORY...

‘Lots of people from theReading Rooms took timeout from their research todon the headsets and taptheir feet. Visitors weredancing around the soundpoints.’

John Evans, researcher

19



Nina spends her days building links between differentfaiths and the Council. She says, ‘having the BritishLibrary in Camden offers us a wonderful resource. Wehad a multi-faith tour of the John Ritblat Gallery, whichholds great treasures from many world religions. BritishLibrary staff were incredibly generous with their time,offering expertise on how these works were producedand discussing them with Camden’s faith leaders. It wasa great evening – Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindusand Zoroastrians came together to learn about eachother’s sacred texts, all housed at the British Library, andwe were even shown items that aren’t usually exhibited.People especially loved the Turningthe Pages display and having theLibrary experts on hand; the eventwill certainly result in the faithleaders returning to the Library withother members of their groups.’

The Library provided some of thosetexts for use in Camden Council’sdirectory of the places of worshipand faith-based organisations in theBorough. The Library’s contribution to the directory has helped it gain the reputation as a ‘directory that’sactually a pleasure to read!’ It’s called Neighbours, adirectory of faith communities in Camden and includessome core facts about nine of the world’s major religions,and quotes from their sacred texts on the subject ofneighbourliness, and responsibilities to strangers. Copieshave been distributed to community and youth groups,places of worship, schools, and hospitals. Nina says,‘Neighbours is in demand – we’ve reprinted it, and it’sbeen distributed as an example of good practice to allcouncil Chief Executives in the UK. If we understandwhat motivates communities, recognise the values thatinform their spiritual, social and even working lives, wecan work with them more effectively to ensure thatservices and facilities are appropriate, and inclusive.’

Throughout the millennia, faith has inspired creativity.The sacred texts in the Library are wonderful examplesof the heights to which individuals and societies aspire.We aim to bring that alive in our exhibitions, displays,publications and events, and help people develop theirunderstanding of the artistry and humanity that havecreated these masterpieces of faith. For example, thesuperb Qur’an created for Egypt’s Sultan Baybars 700

years ago has been digitised with the generous help ofthe Noon Foundation. Visitors can explore its wonders onour interactive Turning the Pages system in the Galleries,or see highlights on our website. The Prime Minister, TonyBlair, said, ‘this Qur’an is an object of beauty as well asfaith, and it is excellent that the UK’s national library hasenabled people to appreciate such a magnificent work’.

Bringing the people into contact with God was theinspiration for the first translation of the Bible into English in 1388 by John Wycliffe’s followers. The Libraryhas published a new edition of this New Testament, in

association with the Tyndale Society.Dr William Cooper, who transcribedthe text into modern spelling andpunctuation for a contemporaryreadership, considers the original‘more splendid…than any ofChaucer’s writings, and perhaps ofgreater…significance than any otherwriting that has come down to usfrom the Middle Ages’. It offers ‘anextraordinary freshness’, as onereviewer noted. Banned in 1401,ownership of a Wycliffe manuscriptwas a capital offence; we should

remember, wrote the reviewer, that ‘men died in order towrite these words, and their faith shows through’.

The systematic destruction of early Bible translationsmakes them very rare; the Library is fortunate in havinga fine copy that was used for the transcription. The rolethe Library plays in conserving such vital documents ofworld culture was again highlighted when Dr JeevanDeol, of St John’s College, Cambridge, revealed one ofour manuscripts of the Sikh scripture, the Guru GranthSahib, to be the oldest outside India, dating back toc.1670. For the Sikh community, the discovery issignificant because it’s estimated that up to 80 per centof Sikh scriptural manuscripts have disappeared over the past century because of conflict and conservationproblems.

The Library has continued its exploration of faith with anexhibition on the Lindisfarne Gospels this year. Theexhibition is complemented by an ongoing series ofevents around the theme Faith Matters, and anextensive web display that includes the LindisfarneTurning the Pages.

...‘Respect. It’s crucial if diverse communities are to live and work together’, saysNina Rahel, Camden Council’s Faith Officer. ‘Understanding each other’s beliefs is oneway of strengthening respect between different groups. Camden Council has beenbringing together faith groups in the Borough since 1998, but after the awful eventsof September 2001, emphasising the common ground between religions becameeven more important.’

FAITH MATTERS...

‘Faith is so important inthe lives of many of thecommunities we serve.Working with faith groupsis helping to buildstronger, more cohesivecommunities in Camden.’Nina Rahel, Camden Council’s Faith Officer

21

Digitising Sultan Baybars’ Qur’an has enabled millionsto see this superb manuscript, while our work withCamden Council is helping to build bridges betweendifferent faiths. We’ve contributed to a new directory oflocal places of worship, which includes the magnificentLondon Central Mosque in Regent’s Park.


Our Mendelssohn scores are being used by ChristopherHogwood to prepare new editions of seven overtures, andlocal music groups like the Enfield Strings are performinga wider repertoire thanks to the Library’s support for aweb catalogue of performance sets in UK music libraries.


Christopher Hogwood, renowned musicologist andconductor, is using the Society’s archive to recreateauthoritative scores of seven of Mendelssohn’sOvertures. He explains, ‘the Urtext is a version of a scorewith minimal editorial interference, which gives you the sound picture the composer was aiming for.Different versions of Mendelssohn’s scores exist – thereare often several ‘original’ autograph manuscripts aswell as corrected proofs of first printed editions, rehears-al and first performance scores – and from these I hopeI’ve got as close as possible to all the versions that Mendelssohn considered fit to perform. With hisenthusiasm for constant changethere will, in several cases, be morethan one version published.’

New scores of seven MendelssohnOvertures under Christopher’s editorship are being published byBärenreiter, starting with The FairMelusine which appeared in spring2003. Christopher says, ‘the Libraryhas the earlier version of thisOverture, which was first performedin London in 1834. Mendelssohnthen revised it and saw it through the press in 1836. In letters fromthose years he explains the process,and I’ve prefaced the edition with an account of that revealing period of his life.’

The Trumpet Overture and The Hebrides (Fingal’s Cave) are next in line for publication, and Christopherhas been working on the Library’s performance scores.‘Mendelssohn’s handwritten changes demonstrate vividly his restless, self-critical instinct, as he adapts the orchestration, the dynamics and articulation to refine out the texture of the piece, and even alters the larger form and the transitional passages. His musicsuffers today from concert performances based on over-edited publications made after his death. Therevised scores will give Mendelssohn a fresh hearing,and I hope reinvigorate our appreciation of his work.’

Christopher has an international reputation both as ascholar – this year he was made Honorary Professor of Music by the University of Cambridge – and as a practising musician. Chris Banks, Head of the Library’sMusic Collections, says, ‘performers will relish the neweditions. Christopher’s research is meticulous, butbecause he’s a great player and conductor, his scholar-ship is also informed by the demands of performance.’

The Royal Philharmonic Society has been supportingmusical performance since 1813. In the past year, theLibrary has also played a part in supporting performance

through a grant we made to theUK branch of the InternationalAssociation of Music Libraries to setup Encore! – a web catalogue ofperformance sets in British musiclibraries.

Ceri Mann and her colleagues fromEnfield’s Library Resources Unit orderscores from Encore! every day. ‘Themusic departments in many localschools use Encore! and so do thelarger church choirs, the choralgroups, local operatic societies andthe youth orchestra. They can emailus, phone or call in, then we ordersets from whichever participating

library in the country holds them. They’re delivered here, and the performers can borrow them for as long as they need. This is the first time it’s been possibleto locate sets from a single catalogue on the web, andfor performers to see what’s available. So it’s certainlybroadening the range of music that’s being performedaround us.’

Sally Isaacs, a cellist with the Enfield Strings, is an enthusiastic user. ‘We decide on possible pieces for ourconcerts, then I go onto Encore! and check if they’reavailable. We borrow the full set of 25 string parts, andthe service hardly costs us anything – which is a greathelp since we’re an amateur group.’

...The Royal Philharmonic Society’s Archive has been saved for the nation following apublic appeal by the Library. Launched by the celebrated pianist Mitsuko Uchida andSir Colin Davis, Principal Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, the appealraised one million pounds from individuals, trusts and foundations, including a majorcontribution from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The generosity of the many donorsensured that the archive remained in the UK, intact and available to researchers.

FROM SCORE TO ENCORE...

‘Our local library has an excellent music collection,but Encore! shows me thewonderful range of musicheld in libraries all overthe country, and makesthem all available to me in Enfield.’Sally Isaacs, cellist with the Enfield Strings and Encore! user

23

Sixth Form students came to the Library to studyoriginal sources from the English Civil War duringthe Revolutions in History summer school. Thebanners of the Parliamentarians intrigued them,and Oliver Cromwell’s personal letters broughthistory to life.


Simon McGuinness of UCL ran the summer school withthe Library. ‘It was a great success and the group webrought together was very committed. We ran studysessions at the British Library, and I watched the awe onthe students’ faces when they were able to handle orig-inal documents. That was an inspiring moment.’

Jenny Chambers, now in her final year at Stockton Sixth Form College, County Durham, was one of 35 stu-dents selected from 200 applicants. ‘I had an amazingtime. Staying in a hall of residence and being part of lec-tures and discussions really showed me what universitywas about. It was great being withothers who were so interested inhistory. It confirmed what I wantedto do. I’ve had an offer now fromUCL, so I’m concentrating on get-ting the grades.’

The students worked on major turn-ing points, then visited the Library tostudy with the curators. FrancesHarris, one of the ManuscriptsCurators, worked with the groupstudying the English Revolution.‘They were very rewarding and I enjoyed their company andresponses. I’m looking forward torepeating the experience.’ For Jenny,working with Frances was her highpoint. ‘I was really overwhelmed reading Cromwell’s actual letters – it brought the big ideas of history to a per-sonal level.’

Frances herself has been overwhelmed recently by theacclaim for her latest book, Transformations of Love,which reviewers have called ‘a masterly achievement’. Inthe Sunday Times, Lisa Jardine said it was a ‘work ofimpeccable scholarship…(and) also a fantastically goodread’. The book explores the friendship between JohnEvelyn, the great English diarist, scientist and man of let-ters, and Margaret Blagge, whom he met as a youngmaid of honour in the Restoration court of Charles II.

Frances is modest about her achievement. ‘John Evelyn’sso fruitful to work on. He soaks up ideas and reconcilesthe conflicting views of his time. That made it easy forme to characterise the age he lived in. He kept every-thing: his papers document so many aspects of intellectual, spiritual and political life.’ The Evelyn Archivecame to the Library in 1995, when Frances was alreadydeep into her research. ‘That was stroke of fortune. I wasresponsible for cataloguing the archive and making it available to scholars, even organising a conferencearound it. So my working life fed into the writing andresearch I was doing at weekends. For the final stretch,

I had a short period on secondmentto Royal Holloway, under the Artsand Humanities Research BoardExchange Scheme.’

A breakthrough in the research came with the apparently un-related acquisition of papers fromthe family of a Norfolk doctor.Frances describes a revelation: ‘Irecognised the handwriting in a pre-viously unidentified packet ofunsigned letters, and realised that Iwas reading the correspondence ofMargaret with her future husband,Sidney Godolphin. Her friendshipwith John Evelyn continued after hermarriage, but she died three years

later, aged 26, giving birth to her only child. Years later,her son gave the letters to his doctor as a keepsake.Suddenly, here was the evidence from the other side ofMargaret’s life that I needed to complete her story.’

Frances explores the sincerity and spiritual intensity of the friendship between the young Margaret and the far older Evelyn, which contrasts vividly with thehedonism and lasciviousness of the Restoration court.‘Friendship becomes a celebrated, almost sacramentalstate during this period. For one thing, it allowed women to interact with men on a basis of equality and freedom,which marriage then didn’t’, she says.

...The Library worked with University College London (UCL) in July 2002 on aninaugural summer school, Revolutions in History. The school was run as part of UCL’sWidening Participation scheme, an outreach programme linking to state schools inthe Excellence in Cities areas. The Excellence initiative aims to raise aspirations andimprove opportunities, and ensure that talented students reach their full potential.

INSPIRING TRANSFORMATIONS...

‘The curators who helpedus when we studied theoriginal documents werereally enthusiastic. Wewere a bunch of sixth for-mers, so I thought theymight be a bit remote. But they were great atsharing their ideas with us.’Jenny Chambers, student attending theRevolutions in History Summer School

25

From late Victorian surgical manuals to the latest research articles, thyroidhistory.net lists all publications on thyroid conditions. Using thesite helped Elisabeth Klaar identify her illness and seek treatment, with the result that she’s now able to walk again.


Staff were delighted by A N Wilson’s acknowledgementin his new book, The Victorians: ‘The friendliness of the staff in this stupendously well-run library is a verybright light in life. Though we, the readers, enjoy all the seemingly magic computerised catalogues andcomfortable reading rooms, the books do still have to belifted and heaved and wheeled.’

We’ve recently brought more ‘magic computerised’resources into the Reading Rooms – the number ofelectronic titles available has increased over the past yearby 25 per cent. Creating catalogue records for DVDs,online databases and e-journals soresearchers can find the materialthey need is a challenge for our new digital cataloguing team.Cynthia McKinley, who’s leading theteam, says, ‘we’re working withcataloguing standards that are verynew, and still evolving. We’reapplying them at a practical level,then feeding back to the Task Forcewe’ve established with the AmericanLibrary Association to refine the international cataloguing rules.Standards for cataloguing andinterpreting digital content have gotto be consistent so records can beshared between libraries or searchedacross different databases.’

Use of these resources in the Reading Rooms is growingrapidly – the number of online articles accessed morethan doubled last year and we increased the number ofterminals by 20 per cent. The majority of these arenetworked, making online resources accessible across allReading Rooms, regardless of subject, and so enablinginter-disciplinary research.

We continue to improve access for researchers withdisabilities, providing keyboards with large type andlarge screen monitors, and there are magnifiers and a‘text to speech’ reader. We’re working with the RNIB toensure that visually-impaired users can get the most outof our website. We’re also making our web-contentaccessible from the keyboard, for the benefit of peoplewith disabilities that prevent them using a mouse. TheReaders’ Adviser, Mark Walton, makes contact with new

Readers who indicate that they have a disability. He says,‘I help with the practical things: the easiest routes to the Reading Rooms and reserving special desks, forexample. We’ve produced large print versions of ourguides for Readers, as well as an audio guide to using thecollections. The heavy oak doors of the Reading Roomsnow open automatically, and other improvements includeadjustable chairs and induction loops.’

Edna Kyrie is a Reader who uses a wheelchair and hasfound the Library’s staff especially helpful. ‘Gettingthings off the shelves is tricky for me, and so’s

photocopying, but staff always cometo my rescue.’ Edna compiles thewebsite thyroidhistory.net, a guide toall the research published on thediagnosis and treatment of thyroid-related illness. She uses the ScienceReading Rooms and says, ‘the sheerrange of material available isbreathtaking. Occasionally I’ve haddifficulty tracking down olderAmerican articles, but I’ve hadmarvellous letters written on mybehalf by Library staff and a while later, photocopies have magicallyappeared.’ Staff have also advisedEdna on copyright law so she can beconfident that what she provides onher site complies with legislation.

Lyn Mynott, who chairs Thyroid UK, the support groupfor patients and their families, says, ‘thyroidhistory.net isnot only a great help to patients, but also to doctors and medical students. The site is excellent for medicalprofessionals looking for specific research articles.’ Edna Kyrie has received moving testimonials frompeople who have ‘got their lives back’ after seekingtreatment on the basis of research found on the site.Elisabeth Klaar, for example, was suffering from anundiagnosed illness and was no longer able to walk. ’I discovered the site and was persuaded by the researchto try treatment for hypothyroidism. I approached the diagnosis with caution, but what followed is a seriesof miracles – symptoms vanishing one-by-one, andstrength and energy returning. I no longer use awheelchair. This would never have been possiblewithout thyroidhistory.net.’

...The St Pancras Reading Rooms enjoyed another busy year, with over five millionitems consulted in the course of 407,000 reader visits. The satisfaction rate amongreaders - measured as those who said the service was ‘excellent’ or ‘good’ - stood at92 per cent. We aim to deliver all material held in our basement stores to readerswithin 70 minutes of an order being entered on our automated request system. Ourtarget is 90 per cent, but this year we achieved a 92 per cent success rate.

ENABLING RESEARCH...

‘The British Library, bybeing part of a tradition of providing open access tosources of information andknowledge, has given EdnaKyrie, and through her,many others, the chance to change their world.’Elisabeth Klaar, thyroidhistory.net user

27


The study of African snakes is important because they’rea vital part of the ecology and economy: they control the rodent population, which, if left unchecked, canreach plague proportions and devastate cereal crops.Destruction of snakes’ natural habitat, caused by agri-culture, mining, deforestation for the timber trade andfirewood as human settlement encroaches, seriouslythreatens their numbers, which can have profoundimplications for communities.

Rupert has also made considerable use of the ScienceReading Rooms, which have, he says, ‘a fantastic rangeof rare reports and research papersabout snakes, published in all sorts ofstrange places.’ He has almostcompleted production of a CD-Rom,A Guide to the Snakes of Malawi,and intends to develop this to detailall 750 snake species in Africa.

The first edition of the CD will be dis-tributed free to all the medical cen-tres in Malawi. Rupert says, ‘most Malawians consider all snakesdangerous, and will kill them onsight. Nine of the 67 speciesrecorded in Malawi are venomous,including several types of cobra and the Black and Green Mambas.Few medics are trained in the treatment of snake bites, and to give a victim the wrong anti-venom can be fatal.’

Medical staff will use the CD to identify the symptomsof all types of snake bite, or to identify the snake fromits markings, colour, fang-type or scale counts. There are pictures of all the recorded types and features, andstep-by-step guides to treatment for each. Rupert

is field-testing a prototype CD in Malawi by capturingsnakes, feeding their data into the CD and confirming he can get a good match. It’s also being tested at Blessings Hospital, a local clinic outside Lilongwe.Rupert says, ‘the CD’s getting a good response. Nothinglike this has ever been done, and medical people arewelcoming the initiative. It should greatly reduce thenumber of deaths from snake bite that happen everyyear.’

Knowledge about snake species and their distribution inMalawi is incomplete: some species are unique to the

country, most have not been studiedfor decades, and some had neverbeen recorded until Rupert’s studywas published. Understanding oftheir ecological importance is limited.As Victor Msiska, the RegionalForestry Officer in Mzuzu, withwhom Rupert has been working,says, ‘the destruction of the naturalhabitat is a major threat to the sur-vival and conservation of our bio-logical diversity. Destruction of thehabitat is often done by our villagecommunities in search of basicneeds. Provision of information andtraining and small scale communityprojects would go some way along

the road to addressing the problem.’

Rupert’s publisher, the Richard Terrell Society, is helpingthe Forestry Department in Malawi find ways to encour-age local people to develop crops and enterprises thatleave the forests – and the habitats – intact. It’s alsobuilding a body of knowledge about conservationpractices, and promoting the exchange of informationabout local initiatives.

...Rupert Wilkey is an expert on African snakes. He’s just published the first volumesof a seven part series, A Checklist of African Snakes, a groundbreaking work aimedat ecologists, agriculturalists and the medical profession. He has worked extensive-ly in the Map Library, and says, ‘I use the considerable collection of African maps tocheck locations and sightings of snakes. Geoff, Nicola, Cathy, Debbie, Sol and Carlosare extremely helpful and have assisted me greatly over the past ten years.’

SNAKE CONSERVATION...

‘The most importantaspect of my work is tomake knowledge of snakeconservation as accessibleas possible. The Library’sservices are excellent ways to make sure thathappens.’

Rupert Wilkey, author of A Checklist of African Snakes

28

The Digitised Qur’anWe put the magnificent Qur’an of Sultan Baybars II onto our Turning the Pages systemin our galleries, on the web and on CD-Rom. The process is complex: a curator is filmed turning the pages so we can replicate how they move – no two manuscripts are the same. Accurate wireframe Computer Assisted Design (CAD) models are created, then scans of each page are overlaid to produce a virtual book. Finally, interactivity is programmed in to allow people to turn the pages using a touch screen or mouse.

Source Book British Library 2002/2003

29

Images OnlineImages from our collection constantly appear on TV and websites, in books, newspapers,greetings cards and adverts. Now we’ve digitised thousands of brilliant pictures, and our Images Online website makes finding, buying and receiving them an easy matter.

21st Century CitizenCitizenship became part of the National Curriculum in 2002and we launched 21st Century Citizen to support students’research. The website, part of www.bl.uk/learning, gets themthinking about democracy, utopia, nationalism, families andcrime. It is being developed with the help of teachers and students around the UK and was funded by the Government’sInvest to Save programme.

Antony Gormley’s PlanetsAntony Gormley, Angel of the North sculptor and Turner Prize-winner, created a new sculpture, Planets, for the Library’s piazza. It depicts human forms clinging to the surface of boulders, and its unveiling was celebrated by a specially commissioned poem from Simon Armitage. Planets was made possible by generous donations from John Ritblat and the Henry Moore Foundation.

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Record Book British Library 2002/2003

33

The Board and staff of the British Library are extremely grateful to the following for their generous support this year.

SUPPORT FOR THE LIBRARY FROM DONORS AND SPONSORS 2002/03

Anonymous donorsThe Mary Andrews Charitable

FoundationThe Arimathea Charitable TrustA BaryThe John S. Cohen FoundationGladys Krieble Delmas FoundationDr Carl Djerassi and

Professor Diane MiddlebrookThe Dulverton TrustMary, Viscountess EcclesThe Foyle FoundationFriends of the British LibraryFriends of the National LibrariesHeritage Lottery FundThe International Music and Art

FoundationJerwood Charitable FoundationThe Kirby Laing FoundationThe Carole and Geoffrey Lawson

FoundationJohn Lyon’s CharityThe Andrew W Mellon FoundationThe Mercers’ Charitable

FoundationNational Art Collections FundPearson plcThe Penny TrustThe Pilgrim TrustJohn Ritblat and the Ritblat FamilyThe Dr Mortimer and Theresa

Sackler FoundationMrs R SacksStandard Chartered BankThe Staypar Charitable TrustBernard Sunley Charitable

FoundationGarfield Weston FoundationEva Ziegler

American Trust for the British LibraryChairman’s CouncilMr George B AdamsMrs Charlotte P ArmstrongMr Roger S BaskesMrs Christopher ChenDr Paul Cushman JrMary, Viscountess Eccles

(honorary member)Mr Ronald M. FreemanMr William T. GoldenMr Lansing LamontMr William R. MillerMr Howard Phipps, JrMr Edgar A. Robinson* Mr Arthur RossMrs Jane Gregory RubinMr James B. SitrickMr Stephen StamasDr Prudence L. SteinerMrs Michael von Clemmand other members of The American Trust for the

British Library

* deceased

Benefactors to Adopt a BookOur thanks to all those whoadopted books in 2002/03,including:Mr Sahib AhluwaliaThe American School in LondonThe American Trust for the

British LibraryM D BoultonMs Stephanie BradaThe Canadian High CommissionMrs Ingrid FitzGeraldMiss R A M GreenFelicia HeadFrances HendrixAmanda JaggerMrs Stephanie KennaMrs Irene KreitmanIzzy LaneMrs J C MacleodRebeccah NeffMartha del NidoQueenswood SchoolVeetee Rice LtdThe Sikh Education CouncilMrs Elisabeth J Stodel-CarrMiss Mary Woodhouse

Patrons and CorporateBenefactors of the National LifeStory CollectionAmerada HessBaxters of SpeysideThe Grocers’ CharityEnglish HeritageInner TempleJerwood FoundationThe John S Cohen FoundationLord LaingLondon Institute

(Camberwell School of Arts)London Institute

(London College of Fashion)David MannNew Art Centre Sculpture Park

and TrustNicholas & Judith Goodison

Charitable TrustNorthern Foods PlcThe Paul Hamlyn FoundationThe Paul Mellon Centre for

Studies in British ArtPentagram Design LtdPF Charitable TrustRoxanne Levy RosomanTotalFinaElfTransOceanUnwin Charitable TrustWolff OlinsBrian F WrubleYale Center for British Art

See how it all adds up. Our support,performance, operations, governance and financial management made clear.


Record Book British Library 2002/2003Record Book British Library 2002/2003

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Actual Target Actual Target Actual

2000-01 1999-00 1999-00 1998-99 1998-99

94% n/a 89% n/a n/a

98% n/a n/a n/a n/a

85% 85% 85% 85% 85%

456,144 502,750 446,754 405,000 416,418

6,392,259 3,900,000 5,135,658 2,340,000 3,643,008

8,322,223 9,420,550 8,188,357 9,036,226 8,254,442

370,188 300,000 318,429 250,000 n/a

6,436 n/a 5,985 n/a 7,866

809,331 653,984 375,870 781,733 743,212

n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a

n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a

n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a

7.58 n/a 8.47 n/a 8.62

Measure Target Actual Target Actual Target

2002-03 2002-03 2001-02 2001-02 2000-01

QualityReading Room user satisfaction: percentage of Readers describing the services and facilities they used as either “excellent” or “good” 90% 92% 89% 90% 89%

Exhibition visitors rating the quality of their visit as either “excellent” or “good” 98% 98% 98% 99% n/a

User satisfaction rating for UK remote users of Document Supply 80% 82% 85% 81% 85%

ThroughputReading Room visits1 384,500 407,729 466,600 431,525 485,300

Searches of the British Library Public Catalogue2 7,200,000 8,490,040 7,500,000 6,876,148 6,000,000

Items supplied remotely and supplied/consulted in Reading Rooms 7,464,902 8,182,428 8,967,441 8,515,227 8,927,500

Visits to exhibitions 350,000 382,458 350,000 365,792 300,000

Number of schoolchildren attending workshops 5,000 6,679 4,950 7,604 4,950

Catalogue records created3 565,000 618,661 397,544 571,711 790,980

National Curriculum learning resources available on the BL’s website and the National Grid for Learning 600 975 550 906 n/a

Digital images created 500,000 527,177 n/a n/a n/a

Pages of digitised material viewed over the web4 1,000,000 4,677,049 n/a n/a n/a

EfficiencySick leave per staff member 9 9.47 7 9.01 n/a

The Funding Agreement is the principal sponsorship and planning document between the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the British Library, and sets out the outputs and levels of performance that the Library is expected to deliver to achieve Ministerial objectives. This section contains the Funding Agreement indicators and the other key performance indicators used by the Library to measure performance.

FUNDING AGREEMENT AND KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

Performance Against Funding Agreement Targets 2002/03The Library’s achievements against the targets are set out in the table below. The table enables performance in 2002/03 to be compared with performance in the previous four years.

1 We are constantly refining and improvingthe accuracy of our measures. The methodfor calculating Reading Room visitschanged in 2002/03. We now count thenumber of readers who request one ormore items per day rather than taking ahead count at a certain time in the day. The use of this new methodology meansthat the figures are lower than previouslyreported. However experienced ReadingRoom staff report that the Reading Roomsare busier than ever.

2 The introduction of new interfaces hasfacilitated access to the website, and has led to increased usage.

3 The variations in cataloguing output reflect the uneven pattern of adding large quantities of derived records forretrospective holdings to the SoundArchive’s catalogue of sound recordings.Cataloguing output for other areas hasincreased from 273,287 in 1998/99 to 311,085 in 2002/03.

4 The initial target, set at the beginning of the year, was for viewings of three sets of digitised images available at thattime on the Library’s website. During the year the Library added further sets ofdigitised images to the web and therefore exceeded the original target considerably.There were 1,574,972 viewings of theimages for which the original target hadbeen 1,000,000.

A READING ROOM USER SATISFACTIONWe have maintained a very high satisfaction rate from our Readers by taking note of feedback received through our regular surveys. Over the past year we have made improvements to benefit Readers with disabilities; we have taken action to keep noise to a minimum and we have increased the number of educational sessions to help our Readers make better use of the collections and services available to them.

B VISITS TO EXHIBITIONSWe welcomed over 16,000 more visitors than last year. In addition to our permanent gallery of major treasures, our learning gallery and ourregularly changing topical displays, we ran three popular and diverseexhibitions:

Trading Places, the East India Company and Asia, from May to September 2002

Magic Pencil, held jointly with the British Council and featuring the work of 13 contemporary illustrators of children’s books, from November 2002 to March 2003

50 years of Number Ones, celebrating the UK pop charts, from November 2002 to March 2003.

C CATALOGUE RECORDS CREATEDWe created 618,661 new catalogue records this year, exceeding ourtarget by 9%. This benefits researchers and the business community who want rapid access to new publications.

D SICK LEAVE PER STAFF MEMBERWe fell short of our sick leave target by 5% and have put in place a corporate programme to actively manage such absence.

B

C

D

A

35



37


36

Actual Target Actual Target Actual

2000-01 1999-00 1999-00 1998-99 1998-99

£1.01m £0.79m £0.93m n/a £0.34m

85% n/a n/a n/a n/a

69 50 46 21 7

188,113 167,900 180,146 146,500 173,717

118,429 110,400 98,281 109,773 107,763

181,580 189,500 188,331 208,000 187,424

1,736,444 1,700,000 1,748,178 1,045,000 1,806,985

160,631 269,450 182,559 269,450 230,184

n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a

n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a

58,653 77,050 65,212 51,180 45,744

427,072 391,951 403,543 367,793 377,176

n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a

86% 85% 85% 85% 84%

88% 80% 85% 80% 84%

Measure Target Actual Target Actual Target

2002-03 2002-03 2001-02 2001-02 2000-01

Financial performance1

Expenditure on acquisition of digital material £1.24m £1.36m £1.01m £1.11m £0.91m

QualityPercentage of material held onsite delivered in St Pancras Reading Rooms within 70 mins 90% 92% 90% 91% 90%

ThroughputExhibition loans to other institutions2 50 34 50 61 50

Items acquired:3

Books 178,000 193,430 177,523 187,324 174,700

Serial titles 110,000 106,125 107,408 112,369 129,250

Newspaper issues 179,800 175,738 185,800 172,949 189,500

Patent specifications 2,000,000 2,051,470 1,750,000 1,992,763 1,800,000

Other special materials 164,500 165,244 168,840 172,676 212,150

Electronic titles (voluntary deposit) 1,600 1,919 1,000 1,350 n/a

Electronic titles (purchased) 380 355 n/a n/a n/a

Reader passes issued 61,287 61,302 62,500 57,212 72,800

Cataloguing backlogs4 438,000 437,792 444,340 475,232 368,375

Percentage of UK legal deposit material acquired 96% 96% 96% 96% n/a

EfficiencyDocument Supply – satisfied from stock 85% 84% 85% 83% 85%

British National Bibliography ‘hit rate’ 85% 89% 85% 85% 80%

FUNDING AGREEMENT AND KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

Performance Against Other Key Performance Targets 2002/03The Library’s achievements against its other key performance targets are set out in the table below.

1 These figures are reported on a cash basis.

2 These are loans to individual institutions,not numbers of items lent. The averagenumber of items per loan in 2002/03 was 4.

3 Figures reflect acquisition by purchase,donation, exchange and through legal deposit.

4 The figures for 2001/02 have been revised since publication of the 2001/02 Annual Report.

A ELECTRONIC TITLES (VOLUNTARY DEPOSIT)The British Library seeks new legal deposit legislation to enforce the legaldeposit of publications not already covered by the current UK system oflegislation for print publications. At the same time, the Library receiveselectronic titles through a voluntary deposit scheme with publishers. The number of items received in this way is increasing.

B BRITISH NATIONAL BIBLIOGRAPHY ‘HIT RATE’The ‘hit rate’ is derived from an independent survey carried out byUKOLN, the Office for Library and Information Networking at theUniversity of Bath. It measures the availability of catalogue records fromthe Library’s British National Bibliography database. The figure of 89%for 2002/03 shows that 89 out of every 100 items acquired by UKlibraries could be found on the British Library’s database at the time the books were about to be catalogued, thus eliminating the need for libraries to create their own records.

A

B



39


38

Records in British Library catalogues and databases (as at 31 March 2003)

2002-03 2001-02

Allied and Complementary Medicine (AMED) 167,674 141,581British National Bibliography (BNB) 2,105,761 2,007,966Boston Spa Books1 1,417,182 1,338,083Boston Spa Conferences1 459,833 445,906Boston Spa Serials1 621,505 612,960British Library Catalogue1 4,436,433 4,420,450Sound Archive Catalogue2,3 2,806,057 2,642,255English Short Title Catalogue 368,760 368,760Humanities and Social Sciences1 2,617,645 2,469,239Incunable Short Title Catalogue 29,021 29,021Electronic table of contents3,4 c. 20,981,000 c. 18,750,000International Standard Serial Numbers (ISSN) UK Centre 69,579 66,747Manuscripts3 748,250 740,263Maps 212,444 211,217Music1 278,025 271,915Newspapers3 51,972 51,659Register of Preservation Surrogates 187,724 178,043Science, Technology and Business1 399,990 392,168System for Information on Grey Literature in Europe1 828,579 780,271

Total5 38,787,434 35,918,504

2002-03 2001-02

Monographs 100,671 95,671Serial issues 296,657 271,548Maps and atlases 2,169 1,994Music scores 1,549 1,934Newspaper issues 152,643 154,645Playscripts 421 466

Total 554,110 526,258

Serial titles received 47,069 45,633Claims for items not deposited6 83,997 112,024

FACTS AND FIGURES 2002/03 FACTS AND FIGURES 2002/03

1 This includes seating for typing, theLibrary’s Online Catalogue and other cata-logues, microform, Internet and CD-ROM access and study carrels.

2 The Readers’ Adviser supports readers with disabilities. This figure includes allemails, fax, telephone and personal con-tacts. The method for calculating thenumber of contacts has been changed and comparable figures are unavailable for 2001/02.

3 2002/03 was year two of a three year pro-gramme to make the most efficient use of the Library’s storage and extend the working capacity to accommodate anadditional year’s growth. This followed onfrom a major exercise carried out during2001/02 to re-assess both the workingcapacity and the ‘extent of the collection’.The working capacity increased by 2 linearkms in 2002/03 when storage space for-merly allocated to the Booknet service(which ceased operations) was reallocatedto collection storage. During 2002/03 thegross increase in the extent of the materialacquired by the Library was 10.8 km. The net increase in the extent of the collec-tion was reduced to 5.1 km through the‘de-accessioning’ at Boston Spa of dupli-cate material and the subsequent move ofstock to release a block of useable storagespace.

4 ‘Extent of collection’ stands for the linearlength of the solid stock, plus the associat-ed growth spaces without which the collec-tion could not be used and added to effectively.

5 The website provides a comprehensiveguide to the Library’s collection and servic-es. The site is available at www.bl.uk.

6 ‘Unique hosts served’ is the best approxi-mation available to the number of individual users of the website.

Figures illustrating the scale and breadth of the Library’s activities are set out in the following tables:

Service in the Reading Rooms Bibliographic Services

Items received on legal deposit

Storage

Website Usage

1 These databases are available on the British Library Public Catalogue on our website.

2 The Sound Archive’s catalogue of soundrecordings is also known as Cadensa.

3 Available on the Library’s website.

4 Titles of articles and conference papersmade available through the Inside andZetoc services.

5 The total does not represent the number of unique records. There is significant over-lap between some files e.g. BNB and Humanities and Social Sciences.

6 Titles received by the end of the year.

Seats available for users (at 31 March 2003)

Reader desks Other provision1

Humanities 1&2 Reading Rooms 424 88Rare Books and Music Reading Room 280 80Maps Reading Room 37 21Oriental and India Office Reading Room 74 44Manuscripts Reading Room 72 21Philatelic Collections 1 0Science,Technology and Innovation Reading Rooms 228 135Newspaper Library (Colindale) 77 76Boston Spa Reading Room 76 11

Total 1,269 476

Other Reader services2002-03 2001-02

Reader education: training session attendees 1,041 591Readers’ Adviser service2: number of contacts 473 n/aReader satisfaction: comments forms/letters received 1,577 1,457

Kilometres of shelving and percentage occupied2002-03 2001-02

Working capacity: linear km3 651 649Extent of collection: linear km3,4 599 594Percentage fullness 92% 91.5%

Use of the Library’s website5

2002-03 2001-02

Unique hosts served6 1,815,805 1,370,689Successful requests for pages (page hits) 18,427,973 15,240,617


40

FACTS AND FIGURES 2002/03

1 The figure for monographs is based on the number of records in the relevant cata-logues. It therefore relates to the numberof titles rather than to the number of volumes held.

2 The figure for serial titles is also based on the number of records in the relevantcatalogues. Changes of title are thereforecounted as separate titles. However, thefigure includes official publications formany countries, a significant proportion of which are issued in series and are there-fore covered by single records within the catalogues.

3 The figure for newspaper titles includes all items on the Newspaper catalogue (as well as newspaper titles listed in othercatalogues) and therefore also includesweekly and fortnightly magazines as well as newspapers.

4 A comprehensive survey of the Library’smicroform reports holdings, not undertakenfor several years, has resulted in a moreaccurate estimate than was available previ-ously. The figure quoted in the 2001/02 report was 4,505,019.

5 ‘Other work’ covers miscellaneous pro-grammes and year-on-year fluctuations ofoutputs are significant due to the widerange of programmes covered. The ‘VocalMusic Parts’ project produced highthroughput in 2001/02.

6 Details for work summarised againstpreservation microfilming line of ‘Items pre-served’ table above.

7 Figures for last year restated.

8 There has been a change in priorities for the programmes undertaken over2001/02 and 2002/03 which has led to fewer frames for books, periodicals,record volumes and manuscripts in2002/03.

Figures illustrating the scale and breadth of the Library’s activities are set out in the following tables:

Collection development

Holdings (at 31 March 2003)

2003

Monographs1 9,975,512Serial titles (all)2 802,656Newspaper titles (all)3 55,289Manuscripts (single and volumes) 311,045India Office records 271,000Philatelic items 8,209,559Cartographic items 4,290,080Music scores 1,587,067Sound discs 1,244,372Sound tape items 214,442Videograms 24,550Prints and drawings 32,587Photographs 213,159Patent specifications 51,633,821Reports in microform4 8,000,000Theses 656,920

Preservation funding£m (gross) 2002-03 2001-02

Grant in aid 6.21 6.46Donations/external funds 0.15 0.07Sales income 0.34 0.26

Total 6.7 6.79

Items preserved2002-03 2001-02

Conservation and/or rebinding 11,333 10,902New binding 86,367 84,227Minor repairs 35,340 25,170Boxing/other work5 37,580 127,318Preservation microfilming 14,054 15,526

Total 184,674 263,143

Book cleaning/linear metres 10,849 9,609

Preservation microfilming6

Frames 2002-03 2001-027

Newspapers 13,031,509 13,829,403Books, periodicals, record volumes, manuscripts8 2,603,416 3,442,888

Total 15,634,925 17,272,291

Preservation


41

During 2002 the British Library commissioned an independent review of its corporate governance and advisory arrangements with the aim of ensuring that these meet best practice for a public institution of oursize. The review recommended inter alia that the Library’s existing formal advisory framework should be reformed.

The British Library is now working to establish a new advisory framework comprising a re-constituted British Library Advisory Council to advise the British Library Board.

The new structure will be in place by the end of 2003.

THE BOARD AND EXECUTIVE TEAM

ChairmanThe Rt Hon Lord Eatwell ofStratton St Margaret MA PhD

Deputy ChairmanProfessor Michael AndersonOBE FBA FRSE The University of Edinburgh

Chief ExecutiveLynne BrindleyMA FCILIP FRSA

Sir Henry Boyd-CarpenterKCVO MA(appointed by HM the Queen)Formerly Senior Partner, Farrer and Co.

Professor Linda ColleyFRHistS FBALondon School of Economics and Political Science

CG Rodney Leach MADirector, Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd

Secretary to the BoardIan Millar BSc IPFADirector, Finance and Corporate Resources

Simon Olswang BA EconSolicitor, Attorney at Law(California)Formerly Chairman, Olswang

Professor Dame Jessica RawsonDBE DLitt FBAWarden, Merton College

John Ritblat FRICSChairman, British Land Company plc

Assistant Secretary to the BoardAndrew Stephens BScHead, Corporate Secretariat

NEW BOARD MEMBERS

Professor Robert G Burgess PhDVice Chancellor, University of Leicester

Sheila Forbes CBECivil Service Commissioner, Chair of the Board of Governors of Thames Valley University

Duncan Lewis MASenior Policy Adviser,The Carlyle Group

In accordance with the recommen-dations of the Nolan Committee,the Library maintains a register of interests of Membersof the Board. The register will bemade available for inspection onapplication to the Secretary to theBoard, who can also provide copiesof the information it contains.


The BoardThe British Library Board is ultimately responsible for the development ofLibrary strategy and policy and for overseeing its execution by management.

Under the terms of the British Library Act 1972, the Board comprises aChairman appointed by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media andSport and not less than eight, nor more than thirteen, other members of whom one is appointed by HM the Queen and the remainder by theSecretary of State. Ministerial appointments to the British Library Boardare subject to the Code of Practice and detailed guidance of theCommissioner for Public Appointments.

MEMBERSHIP at 31 MARCH 2003

Advisory and support bodies

Executive TeamThe Executive Team has responsibil-ity for the day-to-day managementof the Library.

MEMBERSHIP at 31 MARCH 2003

Chief ExecutiveLynne BrindleyMA FCILIP FRSA

Director, Finance and Corporate ResourcesIan Millar BSc IPFA

Director, Scholarship and CollectionsDr Clive Field MA DPhil FRHistS

Director, Operations and ServicesNatalie Ceeney MA FRSA

Director, Strategic Marketing andCommunicationsJill Finney BA MBA

Director, e-Strategy and Information SystemsRichard Boulderstone BSc

Director, Human ResourcesAndy Cook

Secretary to the Executive TeamHannah Jenkins BA


42

ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE

Scholarship and CollectionsResponsible for strategic and operational management of the Library’scollections, in all formats and at all stages of the life-cycle, includingselection, acquisition, cataloguing, processing, storage and preservation.Also responsible for the provision of a wide range of value addedservices to facilitate access to, interpretation and use of the collections by both scholarly and general audiences.

Operations and ServicesResponsibilities include providing the full range of Library services,including Reading Rooms and Document Supply, to all our user sectorsacross humanities, research, business use and innovation. Responsible forsecuring partnerships with publishers to enable distribution of material,plus promoting the sale of Library services.

Finance and Corporate ResourcesIn addition to financial management, responsibilities include corporategovernance and risk management; co-ordinating strategy and developingbusiness plans; and the maintenance and development of the Library’s estate. Ian Millar is also a member of the British Library Board.

Strategic Marketing and CommunicationsResponsibilities include developing the marketing strategy for our keycommunities of users, taking forward the Library’s brand strategy andimplementing it through design, marketing and publishing. Alsoresponsible for internal communications and fundraising, as well as co-operative programmes with partners to extend the reach of the Library.

e-Strategy and Information SystemsResponsibilities include: the effective development, integration, anddelivery of all e and IT functions; the development and implementationof e and IT strategies for digital media; services, projects andprogrammes; managing the delivery of the e-strategy and the IT changeprogramme; leading the development of e-business methods and tools.

Human ResourcesResponsibilities include: devising and implementing the Library’s peoplepolicies; negotiating pay and terms and conditions with the TradesUnions; providing advice on HR issues to line managers; leading onstrategic projects to modernise the Library’s people management policies and procedures; and developing the skill base of the Library’sstaff and managers.

Lord EatwellChairman

Lynne BrindleyChief Executive


Dr Clive FieldDirector,

Scholarshipand Collections

Natalie CeeneyDirector,

Operations and Services

Ian MillarDirector,

Finance andCorporate Resources

Jill FinneyDirector,

Strategic Marketing andCommunications

Richard BoulderstoneDirector,

e-Strategy and Information Systems

Andy CookDirector, Human

Resources


43

FINANCIAL OVERVIEW

In the year 2002/3 the British Library received£85.19 million Grant in Aid from the Departmentfor Culture, Media and Sport. This was made up of its operational Grant in Aid of £82.7 million and £2.4 million for restructuring.

In addition the Department held £5.7m of funding which the Library will apply to the construction of a Centre for Conservation to the north of our Library building at St Pancras. Plans for this project were developed during the year with a view to starting construction in January 2005.

The Library’s other income, £34 million, increased by 5.4 per cent. The largest revenue earning service is Document Supply where revenuedropped by 2.4 per cent against 2001/02, but overall margins weremaintained at last year’s levels.

On 1 August 2002 the British Library Pension Scheme was closed andexisting members and pensioners were transferred to the Principal CivilService Pension Scheme. From this date the PCSPS takes on liability forpayment of all pensions, with the Library taking responsibility forpayment of employer contributions to the PCSPS.

44 Foreword

45 Statement of the Board and Accounting Officer’s Responsibilities

46 Statement on the System of Internal Control

47 The Certificate and Report of the Comptrollerand Auditor General to the House of Parliament

48 The Accounts

52 Notes to the Accounts



43

FINANCIAL OVERVIEW

In the year 2002/3 the British Library received£85.19 million Grant in Aid from the Departmentfor Culture, Media and Sport. This was made up of its operational Grant in Aid of £82.7 million and £2.4 million for restructuring.

In addition the Department held £5.7m of funding which the Library will apply to the construction of a Centre for Conservation to the north of our Library building at St Pancras. Plans for this project were developed during the year with a view to starting construction in January 2005.

The Library’s other income, £34 million, increased by 5.4 per cent. The largest revenue earning service is Document Supply where revenuedropped by 2.4 per cent against 2001/02, but overall margins weremaintained at last year’s levels.

On 1 August 2002 the British Library Pension Scheme was closed andexisting members and pensioners were transferred to the Principal CivilService Pension Scheme. From this date the PCSPS takes on liability forpayment of all pensions, with the Library taking responsibility for pay-ment of employer contributions to the PCSPS.

44 Foreword

45 Statement of the Board and Accounting Officer’s Responsibilities

46 Statement on the System of Internal Control

47 The Certificate and Report of the Comptrollerand Auditor General to the House of Parliament

48 The Accounts

52 Notes to the Accounts


45


44

STATEMENT OF THE BOARD AND ACCOUNTING OFFICER’S RESPONSIBILITIES

The British Library’s Management Statement andFinancial Memorandum with DCMS sets out theroles and responsibilities of the Board, the Chairand the Accounting Officer. It includes thefollowing points:

� Board members have a corporate responsibility to the Secretary of State for ensuring that the Library fulfils the aims and objectives set out in legislation and complies with any statutory or administrative requirements for the use of public funds.

� The Chair is responsible to the Secretary of State, on behalf of the Board, for ensuring that where appropriate the Library’s policies are consistent with those of the Secretary of State, and that the Library’s affairs are conducted with probity. (S)he will ensure that all members of the Board, when taking up office, are fully briefed on the terms of their appointment and on their other duties, rights and responsibilities.(S)he is responsible for advising the Secretary of State of the needs of the Library with a view to ensuring a proper balance of professional and financial expertise.

The Accounting Officer is personally responsible for safeguarding thepublic funds for which (s)he has charge, for propriety and regularity inthe handling of those public funds and for the day-to-day operationsand management of the Library. (S)he should act in accordance with the terms of the Management Statement and Financial Memorandumand with the instructions and guidance in Government Accounting and other instructions and guidance issued from time to time by theDepartment, the Treasury and the Cabinet Office – in particular, theTreasury documents The Responsibilities of an NDPB Accounting Officer and Regularity and Propriety.

Lord Eatwell Lynne BrindleyChairman Accounting OfficerJune 27 2003 June 27 2003

FOREWORD

ConstitutionThe British Library was established under Section 1(1) of the BritishLibrary Act 1972 (the Act) as the national library of the United Kingdom.Section 1(2) of the Act placed it under the control and management of the British Library Board, the duty of which is to manage the Libraryas a national centre for reference, study and bibliographical and otherinformation services, in relation both to scientific and technologicalmatters and to the humanities. The British Library has exempt charitable status.

ObjectivesUnder Sections 1(3) and 1(4) of the Act the Board is required to make the services of the British Library available to the public (in particular toinstitutions of education and learning, other libraries and industry). It maycarry out and sponsor research, contribute to the expenses of libraryauthorities or other persons providing library facilities, and make any partof its collections, or of its premises, available in connection with events ofan educational, literary or cultural nature. Under Section 2, the Scheduleto the Act empowers the Board to impose charges for any servicesprovided or for the loan or use of any item from its collections subject to the approval of the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.

Board MembershipDetails of Board members who served between 1 April 2002 and 31 March 2003 are as published on page 41.

Accounting ConventionsThe basis on which the accounts have been prepared is stated on page 52 at note 1a.

Financial ResultsThe Accounts provide a Statement of the Financial Activities (SOFA) ofthe Board during the year ended 31 March 2003. In accordance withSection 5(1) of the Act, as amended by Statutory Instrument 1986 No600, the Secretary of State paid to the Board such sums as were necessaryto defray expenses incurred with his approval, so far as those expensesexceeded the receipts derived from the exercise of the Board’s functionsand applied in such manner as required by Section 5(2) of the Act.

The Accounts have been prepared to take account of the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) 2000 “Accounting for Charities”. A Statement of Financial Activities for the year is set out on page 51. This shows all resources made available to the British Library Board and all expenditure incurred by it and reconciles all changes in its funds.

The British Library Board generated total income of £119.21m, of whichGrant in Aid received was £85.19m. Sales income declined from £28.29min the previous year to £27.07m, the majority of this being due to adecrease in the revenue generated from Document Supply. However,margins for this service were maintained at last year’s levels.

There was a net increase in the movement of funds in the year of£16.09m. This was an increase of £9.72m on the unrestricted funds and an increase of £6.37m on the restricted funds. The excess of income over expenditure of £9.07m before St Pancras depreciation and movements between revenue funds was principally a consequence of the fixed assets purchased during the year of £5.69m and the £3mreceipt in respect of the Shaw fund.

PensionsDuring 2002/03 the Library transferred existing members and eligibleemployees to the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS) underthe same terms and conditions as apply to the British Library PensionScheme (BLPS). Further details can be found on page 55 at note 6a.

ReservesThe Library’s policy on reserves is disclosed on page 53 at note 1k.

Equal OpportunitiesThe British Library Board is an equal opportunities employer and iscommitted to promoting diversity. A full time Diversity Manager is now in post. The Library’s policy for training, career development andpromotion are in line with its equal opportunities policy and in thisregard disabled employees are treated the same as all other staff withrespect to their aptitudes and abilities. The Library aims to develop anadaptable, well motivated and well trained staff, possessing a complexblend of knowledge and skills in managerial, technical, scholarly andspecialist disciplines.

Communications with employeesThe Library is committed to developing effective communicationsbetween all employees in order to keep them informed, motivated and able to support the Library’s users. Main communications channelsinclude a staff newsletter, team briefing system and employee Intranet.

Key ObjectivesDetails of the Library’s strategic priorities can be found on pages 10 to 12.

Payment of creditorsIt is the policy of the British Library Board to pay all creditors within 30days of the invoice date unless there is a specific payment date agreedwith the supplier. For the year ended 31 March 2003, 90% of invoiceswere paid within 30 days (2002 - 92%). Compliance in this matter is in accordance with the Better Payment Practice Code.

Related TransactionsDetails of related party transactions are disclosed on page 64 at note 23.

Code of best practice on corporate governanceA Statement of Internal Control is included on page 46 and the Libraryhas achieved full compliance in this respect, as at March 2003.

Lord Eatwell Lynne BrindleyChairman Accounting OfficerJune 27 2003 June 27 2003

STATEMENT ON THE SYSTEM OF INTERNAL CONTROL

In line with the responsibilities as set out above,the Chair, on behalf of the Board, is responsible for ensuring that appropriate arrangements existto implement and maintain the Library’s internalcontrol framework. The Accounting Officer isresponsible for making sure that a sound system of internal control exists and is maintained andthat the public funds and assets for which we are personally responsible are safeguarded inaccordance with the responsibilities assigned to us in Government Accounting; and ensuringcompliance with the requirements of the BritishLibrary’s Management Statement and FinancialMemorandum.

The system of internal control is designed to manage rather thaneliminate the risk of failure to achieve policies, aims and objectives; it can therefore only provide reasonable and not absolute assurance of effectiveness.

The system of internal control is based on an on-going process designedto identify the principal risks to the achievement of policies, aims andobjectives, to evaluate the nature and extent of those risks and tomanage them efficiently, effectively and economically. The proceduresnecessary to implement the Treasury guidance set out in DAO 13/00were fully established at 31 March 2003 as envisaged in last year’sstatement and are being applied in full in financial year 2003/04. They will be kept under review and updated as necessary.

As envisaged in last year’s annual report specific steps were taken in2002/03 to achieve compliance and these included:

� A full review of the Corporate Risk Register by the Executive Team to ensure appropriate coverage of the Library’s strategic aims. This review was facilitated by the Library’s internal auditors and endorsed by both the Board Audit Committee and the full Board;

� Reference to the main risks to the achievement of our objectives in the Library’s Business Plan and this forms part of the monitoring process we have introduced;

� Directorate risks are reviewed on a monthly basis to support and inform the higher level Executive Team process. In addition a quarterly and monthly review by Executive Team has been introduced with the results of this reported to the Board Audit Committee and the Board;

� Continuation of the development of the approach to embedding risk management as part of day to day management through a series of workshops and training sessions with key groups. The appointment of a Head of Estates Risk and the confirmation of an IT Security Officer with risk identification and management as a main part of their role have further consolidated the approach in these two areas;

� The refocusing of the internal audit approach during the year to develop a programme based around risk while maintaining a balanced approach with regard to control assurance.

In the coming year the Library intends to develop the process still furtherby undertaking the following:

� A review of the full register against the Library’s Business Plan objectives and key performance indicators to ensure that it still reflects an accurate and balanced position and that all risk events have been actively reviewed each quarter;

� Reports on the main exceptions and the results of the quarterlyExecutive Team review to the Board Audit Committee and the Boardon the same timescale;

� A review of risk by Directorates and a progress report on an exception basis to Executive Team each month;

� A full review of the risk register in the course of the planning cycle to make sure that longer term impacts are reflected;

� Continuing to work with Internal Audit to develop managers’ awareness of risk and to streamline the risk assessment and monitoringapproach by means of a rolling programme of workshops and presentations;

� The inclusion of risk awareness as a competency requirement within the context of the Learning and Development programme.

The Library has an internal audit service, which operates to GovernmentInternal Audit Standards. They submit regular reports which include theHead of Internal Audit’s independent opinion on the adequacy andeffectiveness of the Library’s system of internal control based on theprogramme of work approved by the Board Audit Committee, togetherwith recommendations for improvement.

The effectiveness of the system of internal control is informed by thework of the internal auditors and the executive managers within theLibrary who have responsibility for the development and maintenance of the internal control framework, and comments made by the externalauditors in their management letter and other reports.

In addition the Directors support the Accounting Officer in her role bymonitoring and developing the internal control framework in their ownareas in line with corporate aims and the governance framework set outin the Library’s Management Statement and Financial Memorandum withDCMS and with Government Accounting. To this end each Director signsa personal statement of compliance covering the areas under their control.

The Board gain assurance in their role from the work of the various sub-Committees, particularly the Board Audit Committee, which considersgovernance and internal control matters including all internal audit reports,external audit management letters and other reports, at each of itsmeetings and reports to the Board following those meetings. The termsof reference of the Board Audit Committee are based on the “AuditCommittee Model Terms of Reference” published by HM Treasury.

Lord Eatwell Lynne BrindleyChairman Accounting Officer27 June 2003 27 June 2003

Record Book British Library 2002/2003Record Book British Library 2002/2003

47

THE CERTIFICATE AND REPORT OF THE COMPTROLLER ANDAUDITOR GENERAL TO THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT

I have audited the financial statements inaccordance with the British Library Act 1972. These financial statements have been prepared in the form directed by the Secretary of State forthe Departments for Culture, Media and Sport and approved by the Treasury. The financialstatements cover the Summary income andexpenditure account, the Statement of totalrecognised gains and losses, the Stament ofFinancial Activities, the Balance Sheet, Cash FlowStatement and related notes, and have beenprepared under the historical cost convention as modified by the revaluation of certain fixedassets and the accounting policies note.

Respective responsibilities of the Board, the Chief Executive and the AuditorsAs described in Statement of Board and Accounting Officer’sResponsibilities the Board and the Chief Executive of the British Library,as Accounting Officer, are responsible for the preparation of financialstatements and for ensuring the regularity of financial transactionsfunded by Parliamentary grant (“Grant in Aid”). The Board and theChief Executive of the British Library are also responsible for thepreparation of other contents of the Annual Report. My responsibilities,as independent auditor, are guided by the Auditing Practices Board andthe auditing profession’s ethical guidance. I have been appointed asauditor in accordance with the British Library Act 1972 and directionsmade by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

I report my opinion as to whether the financial statements give a trueand fair view and are properly prepared in accordance with and thedirections made by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport,and whether in all material respects the expenditure, income andresources funded by Grant in Aid have been applied to the purposesintended by Parliament and the financial transactions conform to theauthorities which govern them. I also report if, in my opinion, the othercontents of the report are not consistent with the financial statements, if the Library has not kept proper accounting records, or if I have notreceived all the information and explanations I require for my audit.

I read the other information contained in the Annual Report and considerwhether it is consistent with the audited financial statements. I considerthe implications for my report if I become aware of any apparentmisstatements or material inconsistencies with the financial statements.

I review whether the statement on the system of internal financialcontrol reflects the Library’s compliance with Treasury’s guidance“Corporate governance: statement on the system of internal financialcontrol”. I report if it does not meet the requirements specified byTreasury, or if the statement is misleading or inconsistent with otherinformation I am aware of from my audit of the financial statements.

Basis of audit opinionI conducted my audit in accordance with United Kingdom AuditingStandards issued by the Auditing Practices Board. An audit includesexamination, on a test basis, of evidence relevant to the amounts anddisclosures in the financial statements. It also includes an assessment ofthe significant estimates and judgements made by the Board and theChief Executive of the British Library in the preparation of the financialstatements, and of whether the accounting policies are appropriate tothe Library, consistently applied and adequately disclosed.

I planned and performed my audit so as to obtain all the information and explanations which I considered necessary in order to provide mewith sufficient evidence to give reasonable assurance that the financialstatements are free from material misstatement, whether caused by error or by fraud or other irregularity and that, in all material respects,the expenditure, income and resources funded by Grant in Aid havebeen applied to the purposes intended by Parliament and the financialtransactions conform to the authorities which govern them. In formingmy opinion I also evaluated the overall adequacy of the presentation of information in the financial statements.

OpinionIn my opinion:� the financial statements give a true and fair view of the state of affairs

of the British Library at 31 March 2003 and of the incoming resourcesand application of resources for the year then ended and have beenproperly prepared in accordance with the British Library Act 1972 anddirections made thereunder by the Secretary of State for CultureMedia and Sports; and

� in all material respects the expenditure, income and resources fundedby Grant in Aid have been applied to the purposes intended byParliament and the financial transactions conform to the authoritieswhich govern them.

� I have no observations to make on these financial statements.

John BournComptroller and Auditor General 7 July 2003

National Audit Office 157-197 Buckingham Palace Road Victoria London SW1W 9SP

Supplementary Statement by the Comptroller and Auditor GeneralThe maintenance and integrity of the British Library website is theresponsibility of the Accounting Officer; my work does not involveconsideration of these matters and accordingly I accept no responsibilityfor any changes that may have occurred to the financial statements since they were initially presented on the web site.

46

48


Notes 2002-03 2001-02

£000 £000

Total income of continuing operations 119,212 120,900Operating expenditure 110,140 112,296

Operating surplus / (deficit) on revenue income and expenditure before St Pancras depreciation and movements between revenue funds 9,072 8,604

Depreciation on St Pancras assets (full year) 11 (12,146) (14,007)Transfer into restricted funds 17 4,982 523

Operating surplus / (deficit) on revenue income and expenditure 1,908 (4,880)

All of the British Library’s activities are derived from continuing operations.

SUMMARY INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNTFor the year ended 31 March 2003

Notes 2002-03 2001-02

£000 £000

Operating surplus / (deficit) on revenue income and expenditure 1,908 (4,880)Current cost adjustment 11 15,399 16,938Realised gain / (loss) 17 (181) 40Unrealised loss 17 (1,039) (43)

Total recognised gains for the year 16,087 12,055

The notes on pages 52 to 64 form part of these accounts.

STATEMENT OF TOTAL RECOGNISED GAINS AND LOSSESFor the year ended 31 March 2003


49

Notes Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Total Total

2002-03 2001-02

£000 £000 £000 £000

Incoming resourcesDonations, legacies and similar incoming resources 2 102 6,060 6,162 3,283Trading activities in furtherance of the charity’s objectives 3 27,068 - 27,068 28,290Investment income 4 468 327 795 710Grant in Aid 5 85,187 - 85,187 88,617

Total incoming resources 112,825 6,387 119,212 120,900

Resources expendedCosts of generating funds 396 - 396 239Grants payable in furtherance of the charity’s objectives 272 - 272 448Costs in furtherance of the charity’s objectives:

Collection Management 37,912 1,163 39,075 38,229Collection Development 14,445 1,034 15,479 14,826Access to Collection 35,008 7 35,015 37,948Wider Public Access 6,103 1,034 7,137 6,077Bibliographic Services 2,832 6 2,838 3,527Reference / Information Services 4,846 44 4,890 5,133Leadership, Partnership & Co-operation 3,053 455 3,508 3,988

Management and Administration 1,496 34 1,530 1,881

Total resources expended 6 106,363 3,777 110,140 112,296

Net increase in resources before St Pancras depreciation and notional costs 6,462 2,610 9,072 8,604Depreciation on St Pancras assets 7 (12,146) - (12,146) (14,007)

Net decrease in resources after St Pancras depreciation (5,684) 2,610 (3,074) (5,403)Notional cost of capital 8 (28,048) - (28,048) (27,267)

Net outgoing resources after notional costs (33,732) 2,610 (31,122) (32,670)Reversal of notional cost of capital 28,048 - 28,048 27,267

Net outgoing resources before transfers 9 (5,684) 2,610 (3,074) (5,403)Transfer into restricted fund 17 - 4,982 4,982 523

Net movement in funds (5,684) 7,592 1,908 (4,880)Realised loss 17 - (181) (181) 40Unrealised loss 17 - (1,039) (1,039) (43)Current cost adjustment 11 15,399 - 15,399 16,938

Net movement in funds after revaluation 9,715 6,372 16,087 12,055Fund balances brought forward at 1 April 456,804 3,912 460,716 448,661

Fund balances carried forward at 31 March 466,519 10,284 476,803 460,716

All recognised gains and losses are included within the Statement of Financial Activities and all the Library’s activities are classed as continuing. The notes on pages 52 to 64 form part of these accounts.

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIESFor the year ended 31 March 2003


50

Notes 2002-03 2001-02

£000 £000

Fixed assetsIntangible assets 10 777 -Tangible assets 11 455,898 449,021Investments 12 3,592 146

460,267 449,167

Current assetsStocks 14 953 769Debtors and prepayments 15 11,048 10,582Short term deposits 207 9Cash at bank and in hand 16,832 12,674

29,040 24,034

Current liabilitiesCreditors: amounts falling duewithin one year 16 (12,504) (12,485)

Net current assets 16,536 11,549Total assets less current liabilities 476,803 460,716

Net assets 476,803 460,716

Represented by:

Income fundsRestricted funds 17 10,284 3,912Unrestricted funds:

General funds 17 466,499 456,784Donated asset reserve 17 20 20

Total funds 476,803 460,716

The notes on pages 52 to 64 form part of these accounts.

The financial statements on pages 48 to 51 were approved by the Board/Trustees on 27 June 2003, and were signed on their behalf by:

Lord Eatwell Lynne BrindleyChairman Accounting Officer27 June 2003 27 June 2003

BALANCE SHEETAs at 31 March 2003


51

Notes 2002-03 2001-02

£000 £000 £000 £000

Reconciliation of net movement in funds to net cash inflow from operating activitiesNet movement in funds inflow 16,087 12,055Depreciation 13,366 15,178Loss on asset disposals 49 27Realised loss on investments 15 -Unrealised loss on investments 23 -MHCA adjustment net (15,399) (16,938)Increase in stocks (184) (409)Increase in debtors (466) (5,253)Increase / (decrease) in creditors 19 (606)

Net cash inflow from operating activities 13,510 4,054

Capital expenditure and financial investmentPurchase of intangible fixed assets (802) -Purchase of tangible fixed assets (4,888) (1,632)Purchase of investments (8) -Receipts from sale of tangible fixed assets 20 13Transfer of investments from endowment fund and trust fund accounts 12 (3,516) (143)Receipts from sales of investments 40 -

Net cash outflow from capital expenditure (9,154) (1,762)

Increase in cash in the year 4,356 2,292

Reconciliation of net cash flow to movement in net fundsIncrease in cash in the year 4,356 2,292Net funds as at 1 April 12,683 10,391

Net funds as at 31 March 17,039 12,683

Net funds comprise cash at bank and in hand and short term deposits.

CASH FLOW STATEMENTFor the year ended 31 March 2003


52

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS

1 Accounting Policies

a) Accounting conventionThe Accounts have been prepared in accordance with the accountsdirection given by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sportwith the approval of the Treasury, in accordance with Section 5(3) of the British Library Act 1972. A copy of the accounts direction can beobtained from The British Library, 96 Euston Road, London, NW1 2DB.

Accordingly, the Accounts have been prepared under the historical costconvention as modified by the revaluation of land and buildings and takeaccount of the Statement of Recommended Practice “Accounting andReporting by Charities,” issued October 2000, (the “SORP”), theCharities Act 1993, the Charities (Accounting and Reports) Regulations1995 and generally accepted accounting practice so far as consideredappropriate or as modified by Treasury guidance.

In addition, modified historic cost accounting has been utilised to morefairly represent the current cost of the Library’s most significant assets,where the comparison with historic values shows a material difference.

b) Incoming resourcesGrant in Aid received from the DCMS is allocated to unrestricted funds inthe year to which it relates.

Trading income is recorded on an accruals basis and is shown net ofValue Added Tax.

Donations are included in the Statement of Financial Activities on a cashreceived basis, or where they are assured with certainty and receivableby the Balance Sheet date.

Investment income relates to interest received on daily bank balancesand dividends from the Fixed Asset Investments. These are recorded onan accruals basis.

c) TaxationThe British Library has no sources of income liable to corporation tax andno provision has therefore been made.

d) ValuationsIn line with Government Accounting, regular professional valuations ofland and property are required to be carried out, having regard to theimportance of the estate to the operation of the department, but in any event, at least once in every five years. Such a valuation was undertaken as at 31 March 1999 and in addition, the St Pancras property wasrevalued as at 31 March 2000.

e) DepreciationThe threshold for capitalising assets is £10,000.

In accordance with Executive NDPB Annual Reports and AccountsGuidance, additions to the collection acquired since 1 April 2001 arecapitalised and recognised in the Balance Sheet. The cost or value of the acquisition is used, where such a cost or valuation is reasonably obtainable. Such items are not depreciated or revalued as a matter ofroutine. Collection items with values below the capitalisation thresholdare written off when the expenditure is incurred.

Depreciation is provided on all intangible and tangible fixed assetscosting £10,000 and above, other than freehold land and collectionitems. Depreciation rates are calculated to write off the cost or valuationof each asset, less estimated residual value, evenly over its expecteduseful life, as follows:

� Freehold buildings – over the remaining useful life as at the valuation date, up to a maximum of 50 years.

� Leasehold buildings – over the lease term, up to a maximum of 25 years.

� Plant & machinery, office and computer equipment – 3 to 10 years.

� Motor vehicles – 4 years.

All items of plant and machinery at St Pancras are now depreciated on a consistent basis over 10 years. Previously some items had been depreciated over 5 years. This accounts for the reduction in St Pancras depreciation noted on the financial statements.

f) Government grantGrant in Aid from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport isallocated to general purposes and is taken to the Statement of FinancialActivities and recognised in the appropriate period.

g) StocksStocks are stated at the lower of cost or net realisable value. Provision is made against slow-moving and obsolete stock. Any stocks ofconsumables held are considered written off at the time of purchase.

Stocks held in respect of bookbinding activities are recorded at cost. Asthis stock is not of a general nature it would not be cost effective to testthe realisable value in determining which provides the lower valuation.

h) Foreign currenciesAssets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are translated at the rate of exchange ruling at the year end. Transactions in foreigncurrencies are translated at the rate ruling at the time of the transaction. All exchange differences are taken to the Statement of Financial Activities.

i) Operating leasesCosts relating to operating leases are charged to the income andexpenditure account over the life of the lease.

j) Fund accountingGeneral funds are available for use at the discretion of the Board infurtherance of the general objectives of the Library.

Designated funds comprise resources which have been set aside at the discretion of the Board for specific purposes. The purposes and use ofthe designated funds are set out in the notes to the Accounts.

Restricted funds are resources subject to specific restrictions imposed by donors or by the purpose of the appeal.


53

k) Reserves The Library does not hold accumulated surpluses in the form of reserves.Grant in Aid funding is provided on an annual basis and is drawn downaccording to forecasted spending patterns.

Any funds arising from an excess of income over expenditure are fullyearmarked in the purchase of fixed assets or are fully earmarked to meetcommitments in 2003/04 and 2004/05.

l) Notional costsIn accordance with Treasury guidance a notional cost of capital ischarged to the Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA) in arriving at a net incoming/(outgoing) resources figure. This cost is reversed so that no provision is included on the Balance Sheet.


Donations received in the year include a £3,000,000 receipt in respect of the Shaw Fund, this disbursement having been approved by the Charity Commission.

2 Donations

Trading income includes document supply services and associated activities, computer information search and retrieval and publications. Trading income can be further analysed by both business and geographical segments.

a) Classes of Business 2002-03 2001-02

£000 £000

Access to Collection 20,304 21,363Wider Public Access 2,448 2,586Reference / Information Services 368 451Bibliographic Services 2,628 2,790Other 1,320 1,100

27,068 28,290

b) Geographical Segments 2002-03 2001-02

£000 £000

United Kingdom 15,911 16,600Overseas 11,157 11,690

27,068 28,290

3 Trading Income

2002-03 2001-02

£000 £000

Interest receivable 795 710

Total interest 795 710

4 Investment Income

Total Grant in Aid made available to the British Library Board was £85.19m (£88.62m received in 2001/02); this included £2.40m for restructuringprogrammes. This money is available for running costs, capital improvements and collection purchases.

5 Grant in Aid

1 Accounting Policies (continued)


54

Staff Other Depreciation Income Allocated 2002-03 2001-02

Costs Direct Support

Costs Cost Net cost1 Net Cost

£000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000

Direct CostsCosts of generating funds 170 226 - - - 396 239Grants payable - 272 - - - 272 448Collection Management 12,327 3,684 30 4,024 22,442 34,459 36,138Collection Development 1,129 13,627 - 1,016 703 14,443 14,285Access to Collection 15,029 3,780 115 20,304 15,678 14,298 16,110Wider Public Access 2,053 2,554 53 2,660 2,413 4,413 2,614Bibliographic Services 708 926 4 2,654 1,170 154 683Reference / Information Services 2,380 371 5 494 2,079 4,341 4,430Leadership, Partnership, & Co-operation 1,578 754 - 1,806 1,146 1,672 3,185Management and Administration2 667 863 - - - 1,530 1,881

36,041 27,057 207 32,958 45,631 75,978 80,013Support CostsInformation systems 3,884 3,953 449 33 (8,253) - -Corporate services 15,287 19,982 562 1,166 (34,665) - -Directorate costs 2,323 393 2 5 (2,713) - -

57,535 51,385 1,220 34,162 - 75,978 80,013

The categories used in 2002/03 have been based on the Library’s strategic objectives. When costs cannot be directly attributed to one of the Library’s objectives, they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.

In accordance with HM Treasury disclosure requirements, in respect of fees and charges, the above table identifies the net cost of the Library’s activities, which is derived by deducting trading, donated and investment income from total expenditure. This segmental information is not disclosed for the purpose of SSAP 25.


6 Net Cost of Resources Expended

1 Net cost is calculated by deducting trading,donated and investment income from totalexpenditure.

2 Management and administration includesthe costs of Corporate Administration,Board Membership fees, legal fees, internaland external audit fees and staff costsassociated with the preparation of thestatutory accounts.


55

a) Staff costs 2002-03 2001-02

£000 £000

Wages & salaries 47,542 46,276Social security costs 2,953 3,264Pension disbursements 6,037 6,249Superannuation disbursements 429 1,998

56,961 57,787

Board Members’ remuneration (see below) 574 598

57,535 58,385


Prior to the 31 July 2002 staff of the British Library Board were employedunder very similar conditions of service as Civil Servants to whom theconditions of the Superannuation Acts 1965 and 1972 and subsequentamendments apply. The British Library offers a non-contributory pension scheme to provide retirement and related benefits to all eligibleemployees. Pension benefits are provided on a final salary basis, at anormal retirement age of 60. Benefits accrue at the rate of one eightiethof pensionable salary for each year of service. In addition, a lump sumequivalent to three years’ pension is payable on retirement. Memberspay contributions of 1.5% of pensionable earnings, mainly towards thecost of providing benefits for their widow(er) after death. Pensionsincrease in value, in line with the Retail Price Index

On death, pensions are payable to the surviving spouse at a rate of halfthe member’s pension. On death in service, the beneficiary receives alump sum benefit of twice pensionable pay and also provides a serviceenhancement on computing the spouse’s pension. The enhancementdepends on the length of service and cannot exceed 10 years. Medicalretirement is possible in the case of serious ill health.

On 1 August 2002 the Library transferred existing members and eligibleemployees of the British Library Pension Scheme to the Principal CivilService Pension Scheme (PCSPS) under the same terms and conditions.

Pension disbursements up to 31 July represent amounts paid to thoseformer employees who have retired and are receiving a pension.From 1 August 2002 the pension disbursements relate to the AccruingSuperannuation Liability Contributions payable to the Principal CivilService Pension Scheme in respect of existing eligible employees.

Superannuation disbursements are the costs up to 31 July 2002 for thelump sums paid to former employees who have retired or transferred outof the British Library and who were members of the Library’s pensionscheme, net of inward transfer values and additional contributions.

As at 31 July 2002 the Library’s pension scheme liability is provisionallyvalued by the Government Actuary’s Department (GAD) as £254.5m.The main financial assumptions made by GAD, in calculating the pensionliabilities were:

� a discount rate net of price increases of 3.5% p.a.� a rate of inflation and pension increases of 4.3% p.a.� a rate of earning increases, including the impact of promotion and

performance increments of 7.0% p.a.� a nominal discount rate of 8% p.a.

The PCSPS is an unfunded multi-employer defined benefit scheme, and the British Library is unable to identify its share of the underlying assets and liabilities. A full actuarial valuation was carried out at 31st March 1999. Details can be found in the resource accounts of the Cabinet Office: Civil Superannuation.In the 2001/02 Annual Accounts the Library’s pension scheme liability at31 March 2002 was stated at £294.8m, based on a valuation providedby the GAD. GAD subsequently reported that this valuation should havebeen £245.2m, as an adjustment had inadvertently been applied twice inthe calculation.

i) Board Members’ remuneration 2002-03 2001-02

£000 £000

Fees and salaries 316 343Other emoluments 29 31Pensions to former members 229 224

574 598

6 Net Cost of Resources Expended (continued)


56

Disclosures under the Greenbury Code for non-pensionable Board Members2002-03 2001-02

£000 £000

Professor Michael Anderson OBE 7.9 7.7Professor Robert Burgess 2.3 -Sir Henry Boyd-Carpenter KCVO 7.9 7.7Professor Linda Colley 7.9 7.7Ms Sheila Forbes CBE 1.6 -Mr Charles Guy Rodney Leach 7.9 7.7Mr Duncan Lewis 6.1 -Mr Bernard Naylor - 5.6Mr Simon Olswang 7.9 7.7Professor Dame Jessica Rawson DBE 7.9 7.7Mr John Henry Ritblat 7.9 7.7Viscount Runciman of Doxford CBE - 5.8

65.3 65.3

No pension contributions were made on behalf of the above Board Members in the year.

The remuneration paid and pension entitlements of the executive members of the British Library Board and the Chairman, were as follows:

Age Remuneration Real increase in Total Accrued

Paid pension at 60 Pension at 60,

as at 31 March 2003

£000 £000 £000

Lord Eatwell 58 32.8 0.5 0.8Chairman

Mrs Lynne Brindley 52 127.2 1.4 30.2Chief Executive

Mr Ian Millar 43 92.0 1.2 3.6Director of Finance and Corporate Resources

Board Members are reimbursed for expenses incurred in relation to the performance of their duties.

ii) Senior employees

The following number of employees, excluding executive members of the British Library Board and the Chairman, received remuneration falling within the following ranges:

2002-03 2001-02

No. No.

£50,001 - £60,000 10 9£60,001 - £70,000 5 2£70,001 - £80,000 2 6£80,001 - £90,000 - - £90,001 - £100,000 2 -£100,001 - £110,000 1 -

In accordance with the SORP 2000, for 2002/03 emoluments are reported in bands from £50,000. 2002-03 2001-02

The average number of employees during the year was: No. No.

Collections and Services 1,866 1,870Library Support Services 443 478

2,309 2,348


10 Intangible Assets

Licences Total

Cost £000 £000

At 1 April 2002 - -Additions 802 802Disposals - -

At 31 March 2003 802 802

DepreciationAt 1 April 2002 - -Charge for year 25 25

At 31 March 2003 25 25

Net Book Value at 31 March 2003 777 777

Net Book Value at 31 March 2002 - -

All intangible assets have been valued on the basis of purchase price. The assets are all depreciated over a period of 3 years which is consistent withthe IT equipment that the licence supports.


57


7 Depreciation on St Pancras Assets

b) Other direct costs 2002-03 2001-02

£000 £000

Acquisitions for the collections 13,553 12,947Research and other grants 272 448Conservation and binding services 2,625 2,240Administration, equipment, supplies and services 33,903 36,176Non-recoverable VAT (net) 983 902Loss on disposal of fixed assets 49 27

51,385 52,740

The above table is exclusive of staff costs.

Due to the significant amount involved, depreciation on the total value of assets transferred in December 1997 from the Department for Culture,Media and Sport, for no consideration, is shown separately in the Statement of Financial Activities. This amount represents a full year’s depreciation.

8 Notional Cost of Capital

Notional cost of capital is calculated as 6% of the average capital employed in the year, excluding collection assets purchased and donated, and isrequired by the Executive NDPB Annual Report and Accounts Guidance.

9 Net Outgoing Resources Before Transfers

This is stated after charging.2002-03 2000-01

£000 £000

Auditors’ remuneration 49 43Rent on land and buildings 1,328 1,275Lease payments on equipment 742 606Depreciation on St Pancras assets 12,146 14,007Depreciation on other fixed assets 1,220 1,171

6 Net Cost of Resources Expended (continued)6 Net Cost of Resources Expended (continued)


58

11 Tangible Fixed Assets

a) MovementsLand & Plant & Office Motor Computer Collections Collections Total

Buildings Machinery Equipment Vehicles Equipment Purchased Donated

£000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000

Cost or ValuationAt 1 April 2002 458,370 25,637 10,792 81 9,107 449 20 504,456Additions 20 1,467 107 - 1,660 1,634 - 4,888Modified Historic Cost Accounting (MHCA) 14,899 730 147 - - - - 15,776adjustmentDisposals - (227) (19) (9) (3,409) - - (3,664)

At 31 March 2003 473,289 27,607 11,027 72 7,358 2,083 20 521,456

DepreciationAt 1 April 2002 18,460 20,949 8,534 49 7,443 - - 55,435Charge for yearSt Pancras Assets 8,072 1,770 2,210 - 94 - - 12,146Other Assets 553 138 14 8 482 - - 1,195MHCA adjustment 275 73 29 - - - - 377Elimination on disposal - (199) (19) (5) (3,372) - - (3,595)

At 31 March 2003 27,360 22,731 10,768 52 4,647 - - 65,558

At 31 March 2003 445,929 4,876 259 20 2,711 2,083 20 455,898

At 31 March 2002 439,910 4,688 2,258 32 1,664 449 20 449,021

b) Valuations

The land and buildings as at 31 March 2003 include six properties valued at £32,095,000 on 31 March 1999 and one building, St Pancras, revalued at £390,652,000 on 31 March 2000, for which title or lease has been vested in the British Library Board.

Land Buildings Totals

Site £000 £000 £000

St Pancras Freehold 27,500 363,152 390,652Boston Spa Freehold 2,000 24,500 26,500Colindale Avenue Freehold 2,825 2,750 5,575Unit 3, Colindale Avenue Leasehold (short) 5 15 2022 Micawber Street Leasehold - - -Building 25, Woolwich Leasehold - - -Bindery, British Museum Leasehold - - -

32,330 390,417 422,747

The St Pancras site was valued as at 31 March 2000 by CB Hillier Parker, Surveyors and Valuers, using the ‘Depreciated Replacement Cost’ basis of valuation. All remaining land and buildings in use by the British Library were revalued as at 31 March 1999 by Rogers Chapman, Chartered Surveyors, using the ‘Worth for Existing Use’ basis of valuation.


59

12 Investments

2002-03 2001-02

£000 £000

Market Value at 1 April 2002 146 3Transfer of Investments into Restricted Funds 3,516 143Purchases at Cost 8 -Disposals at Book Value (52) -Increase / (Decrease) in Market Value (23) -Investments written off (3) -

Market Value at 31 March 2003 3,592 146

Historical Cost at 31 March 2003 4,175 141

Analysed by: £000

Fixed Interest Securities 912Listed UK Securities 2,162Listed Overseas Securities 518

Market Value as at 31 March 2003 3,592

Geographical AnalysisUnited Kingdom Investments 3,074Overseas Investments 518

3,592

13 Financial Instruments

FRS 13 ‘Derivatives and other financial instruments’, requires disclosureof the role which financial instruments have had during the period, in creating or changing the risks the Library faces in undertaking itsactivities. As permitted by FRS 13, debtors and creditors, which mature or become payable within 12 months of the balance sheet, have beenomitted from this note.

Liquidity riskApart from Grant in Aid, the Library’s other major source of income isfrom Document Supply services. Remote document supply is demand- led and due to competition from other providers and an increase in theavailability of electronic media from publishers, the income from thisservice has been in decline. We now believe we have stabilised theservice and are well positioned to grow share and net contribution in the coming year. We are also actively exploring new income sources for the Library.

Interest rate riskThe Library has financial investments, which are identified in thefollowing table. In addition, the Library budgets conservatively forinvestment income and is therefore not exposed to significant interestrate risk.

Interest rate profileThe table on the following page shows the interest rate profile of theLibrary’s financial assets. As the Library has no finance leases or loans,financial liabilities have been omitted from this table.

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS


60

2002-03 2001-02

Floating Rate Fixed Rate Total Total

£000 £000 £000 £000

Sterling 19,208 912 20,120 12,444Dollar 318 - 318 166Euro 193 - 193 73

Total 19,719 912 20,631 12,683

14 Stocks

2002-03 2001-02

£000 £000

Stocks for resale 953 769

Total Stocks 953 769

Stocks balances comprise printed, microfiche and CD-ROM publications.

15 Debtors and Prepayments

2002-03 2001-02

Amounts falling due within one year £000 £000

Trade debtors 3,798 3,941Other debtors 2,236 751Prepayments and accrued income 5,014 5,890

11,048 10,582

16 Creditors

2002-03 2001-02

Amounts falling due within one year £000 £000

Trade creditors 7,278 8,498Other creditors 1,785 2,029Accruals 3,072 1,958Deferred income 369 -

12,504 12,485

Foreign currency riskThe British Library has an international customer base. Accordingly, the Library receives payment for its services in a number of foreigncurrencies. As part of the Library’s Treasury Management Strategy, therisk of fluctuations in currency values is minimised through a variety of

policies. Foreign currency balances are reviewed on a regular basis and these are either re-cycled to meet the Library’s immediate foreignpayment commitments, or they are translated into sterling and returned to the Library’s interest bearing sterling bank account.


61

17 Statement of Funds

As at Transfers Expenditure Incoming Realised and As at

1 April To / (From) Resources Unrealised 31 March

2002 Gains and Losses 2003

£000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000

Unrestricted funds:General Funds 456,784 - 103,110 112,825 - 466,499General Funds Donated Asset Reserve 20 - - - - 20

Total unrestricted funds 456,804 - 103,110 112,825 - 466,519

Restricted fundsShaw Fund 146 - - 3,159 - 3,305National Sound Archive 579 2,039 84 81 (500) 2,115Eccles Centre - 1,345 73 94 (300) 1,066Dingwall No. 2 - 806 22 24 (203) 605Chinese Central Asia Database 718 (1) 326 114 - 505Consolidated Endowment Account 471 - 140 95 (35) 391Workshop Gallery 307 10 54 20 - 283Treasures Gallery 173 - 15 52 - 210Sir Henry Thomas - 239 21 7 (60) 165Co-operation and Partnership 88 (3) 11 76 - 150Special Exhibitions 118 - - 5 - 123National Preservation Office 125 1 108 97 - 115Turning the Pages 97 - 42 42 - 97Pearson Gallery 74 14 10 19 - 97New York Public Library - - - 94 - 94Anthony Panizzi Foundation - 121 6 4 (31) 88T.S. Blakeney - 110 - 3 (26) 87European Co-operation Fund 49 31 28 32 - 84North American Collections 72 - 4 4 - 72Sir Adrian Boult - 61 - 1 (9) 53Malvine Project 51 4 18 13 - 50NOF – In Place - (14) 1,230 898 - (346)Others 844 219 1,585 1,453 (56) 875

Total restricted funds 3,912 4,982 3,777 6,387 (1,220) 10,284

Total funds 460,716 4,982 106,887 119,212 (1,220) 476,803

Restricted funds are given to the Library for specific purchases for the collection or projects, which are related to the aims and objectives of the Library. All the funds with balances of over £50,000 are listed above, with a brief description as to the aims of the fund shown opposite. “Other” restricted funds comprise individual amounts less than £50,000.

13 Financial Instruments (continued)



62

17 Statement of Funds (continued)

Shaw FundEstablished by a Charity Commission order dated 13 September 2000, with the income being available for the general purpose ofthe British Library.

National Sound ArchiveFor the promotion of and assistance in the study, understanding,communication and recording of sound.

The David and Mary Eccles Centre for American StudiesFounded by Lord and Lady Eccles to further the establishment of acentre for American studies.

Dingwall No. 2Founded by Dr Eric John Dingwall, for the purchase of fine editions orthe subscription of foreign periodicals.

Chinese Central Asia DatabaseContributions to support the ‘International Dunhuang Project’ in its aim to catalogue, digitise and facilitate scholarly research on theDunhuang manuscripts held by the Library and other institutions in Europe, Asia and USA.

Consolidated Endowment AccountFounded in 1975, the fund is to be used for any purpose approved bythe Board where there has not been adequate provision made throughgovernment Grant in Aid.

Workshop GallerySponsorship from commercial companies, utilised to assist the runningand maintenance of the gallery.

Treasures Gallery A donation from Mr John Henry Ritblat for the updating of displays in the Treasures Gallery.

Sir Henry ThomasFounded in 1981 by Miss Amy Thomas, for the purchase of booksrelating to the culture and literature of Spain.

Co-operation and PartnershipUsed for fees in respect of advice given by British Library staff on library related lottery applications

Special ExhibitionsUnderwriting future exhibitions, interest from other funds and netproceeds from corporate membership scheme.

National Preservation OfficeContributions to the cost of running the National Preservation Office,with the aim of progressing a national Preservation Policy.

Turning the PagesTo fund the development of the Turning the Page electronic facsimileand licence to Northumberland County Council.

Pearson GallerySponsorship from commercial companies, utilised to assist the runningand maintenance of the gallery.

New York Public LibraryA grant from the ‘Mellon Foundation’ to fund a joint project between the Library and the New York Public Library to develop newmodels for assisting scholars and for managing and disseminatingscholarly information.

Anthony Panizzi FoundationFounded in 1982 by an anonymous donor, for the advancement ofpublic education by funding a lecture or series of lectures on the subject of advanced bibliography.

TS BlakeneyFounded in 1977 by Thomas Sydney Blakeney, for the purchase ofwestern manuscripts.

European Co-operation FundEU funded project to establish a relationship between nationalbibliographic agencies and publishers of electronic material, so as to create authoritative bibliographic information.

North American CollectionsA fund to enable the strengthening of the resources for American Studies in the British Library.

Sir Adrian BoultFounded through a public appeal, for the use on commissioning andproduction of recordings of musical lectures or similar functions.

Malvine ProjectA partnership with the Malvine Project, whereby the British Librarycontributes data and expertise to the development of an online accesssystem to the modern manuscript holdings of European Libraries.

NOF – In PlaceFunding from the New Opportunities Fund, administered by theDepartment for Culture, Media and Sport, which aims to provide a richvariety of images, sound and texts in a virtual library of collections forthe lifelong learner, consisting of materials relating to specific localities or regions across and beyond Britain.

During 2002/03 the remaining British Library Endowment and Trust Fund balances, which are controlled by the British Library Board, were re-classified as restricted funds and have been reported as part of the British Library’s Annual Accounts. The re-classification was approved by the British Library Board and covers 17 funds which were previously included in the British Library’s Endowment and Trust Fund accounts, for which a summary of the previous financial year is shown in Note 22.

The Charity Commissioners have endorsed the treatment of incorporating the funds into the British Library Annual Accounts for 2002/03, although formal approval is yet to be sanctioned, with this planned to be completed by the end of the calendar year.


63

18 Commitments Under Operating Leases

Land & Buildings Equipment

2002-03 2001-02 2002-03 2001-02

£000 £000 £000 £000

Operating Leases which expire:Within one year - - 26 38Two to five years 182 140 40 105More than five years 1,171 1,189 - -

1,353 1,329 66 143

19 Analysis of Net Assets Between Funds

Unrestricted Funds Restricted Funds Total

£000 £000 £000

Fund balances at 31 March 2003 are represented by:Intangible fixed assets 777 - 777Tangible fixed assets 455,898 - 455,898Investments - 3,592 3,592Current assets 22,305 6,735 29,040Current liabilities (12,461) (43) (12,504)

Total net assets 466,519 10,284 476,803

20 Surrender of Superannuation Net Transfer Values to the Civil Service Superannuation Vote

In the year only payments in respect of Superannuation net transfer values were surrendered to the Civil Service Superannuation Vote.

2002-03 2001-02

£000 £000

Superannuation net transfer values - 667

21 Capital Commitments

2002-03 2001-02

£000 £000

Contracted and not provided for 486 241

Authorised, but not contracted for 188 331



64

22 Endowment Fund and Trust Funds

The British Library has an endowment fund and a number of trust funds, which in accordance with FRS2 were not consolidated into accounts in 2001/02. The British Library Board act as trustees for these except for the Panizzi, Gilson and Saga Trusts. The trusts have at least one British Library board member. The aggregated results of the funds are as follows:

2001-02 2000-01

£000 £000

Income 232 637Sale of Exhibition Road - 2,342Expenditure (417) (657)Unrealised losses on investments (99) (649)

Surplus / (deficit) for the year (284) 1,673

Investments 4,479 4,908Special Deposits 409 628Net Creditors (41) (4)Cash at Bank 412 534

Net Assets 5,259 6,066

23 Related Party Transactions

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

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is regarded as a relatedparty. During the year the Library has had a number of transactions inthe normal course of business and at full arm’s length with theDepartment. The Library has also had a number of transactions in thenormal course of business and at full arm’s length with most of theDCMS sponsored bodies.

The Library received grants from the National Heritage Memorial Fundand the New Opportunities Fund for which the DCMS are the parent Department.

During the financial year 2002-2003, the Library loaned material to the National Gallery, the National Gallery of Scotland, the Historic Royal Palaces, the British Museum, the Imperial War Museum and the Tate Gallery. The Library borrowed material from the Victoria and AlbertMuseum, the National Maritime Museum, the Science Museum, theNational Army Museum and the British Museum. The parent Departmentof these organisations is the DCMS.

During the year a number of Board Members have contributed to theAdopt a Book appeal. In addition Mr Ritblat made a donation to theTreasures Gallery restricted fund.

24 Key Performance Indicators

Performance against Funding Agreement targets 2002/03

Measure Target Actual Target Actual Target Actual Target Actual

2002-03 2002-03 2001-02 2001-02 2000-01 2000-01 1999-00 1999-00

Expenditure on acquisition of digital material £1.24m £1.36m £1.01m £1.11m £0.91m £1.01m £0.79m £0.93m

The performance target for acquisitions relate to cash expenditure, correspondingly, the actual expenditure on acquisitions continues to be reportedon a cash and not an accruals basis.

25 Post Balance Sheet Events

The voluntary redundancy programme is dependent on agreement by the Executive team at a meeting to be held on 30 June. Letters detailing theterms of redundancy were communicated to individuals on 2 June 2003, making it clear that the terms could be withdrawn. Letters confirming thearrangements will be sent to individuals after the meeting on 30 June. There will also be a communication to all staff confirming the arrangements.Thus conditions warranting disclosure of voluntary redundancies as a provision were not existent at the Balance Sheet date.

The net assets at 31 March 2002 reflect a transfer of £523,000 from the Endowment and Trust Funds into the British Library accounts during thesame financial year.

Printed in the UK for The Stationery Office Limited on behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office ID 145000 07/03


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