The Bodleian Library in Oxford was opened in November 1602 and is one of the oldest in the world. It is mainly a reference library for the students of the Oxford Colleges. Worth a look on Wikipedia to learn more about it.

There are still twelve remaining chained libraries in the UK. These contain very ancient tomes which were chained to the bookcases hundreds of years ago. This allowed students to read them, while protecting the valuable books from theft. The most well known one in England today is at Hereford. It is housed in the 12th century cathedral, where one may also see the Mappa Mundi, the largest surviving map of the then known world, dating back to 1300.

The building behind that you noticed is the hotel attached to st pancras station. Railway architecture at its finest.

Lindsey's enthusiasm for libraries/books is infectious

In London's heart, where history breathes, The British Library, where knowledge wreathes. Americans arrive, a journey profound, In the hallowed halls, where wonders abound. A collective gasp, as the doors unfold, Americans react, in stories untold. To the grandeur of tomes, a library so vast, In the British embrace, a cultural contrast. Incredible, they murmur, as whispers traverse, A symphony of knowledge, a universe. Ancient manuscripts, in pages arrayed, Americans react, in awe displayed. Shakespeare's quill, in ink-stained grace, Americans ponder, in this sacred space. The Magna Carta's echo, in historical hue, In the British Library, where treasures accrue. Whispers of Dickens, in timeless repose, Americans wander, where literature flows. From Gutenberg's press, to the digital age, In the British Library, history turns the page. Americans react, to the manuscripts old, To the literary treasures, in scripts untold. In the hushed reverence, where culture unfurls, The British Library, a gem for the world. Incredible, they echo, in the library's embrace, A transatlantic journey, in knowledge and grace. Americans react, to London's treasure trove, In the British Library, where stories rove.

the british library in london, has over 170 million items also guys, as well as the library, all the museums are also free, art, natural history.

Being from Manchester I have to point you towards Chetham's Library, Manchester, which is the oldest free public reference library in the English-speaking world. It contains over forty medieval manuscripts including Flores Historiarum, or The Flowers of Histories. Two long chronicles of the history of England written first in 1235, and added to no later than 1259. The library has been in continuous use since 1653. The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, Manchester. An outstanding Neo-Gothic building which opened to the public in 1900. A Grade I listed building, it houses the Forme of Cury, which is the oldest surviving cookbook in the world, dating from the late 14th century. Originally made by the cooks of the court of Richard II, very few copies survive, but there is one at John Rylands. It also houses a copy of the first edition of 154 Sonnets by William Shakespeare published in 1609

Publishers are obliged to send one copy of each of their publications to the British Library, free of charge, within one month of the date of publication. This became law in 1662.

Not just every book, every newspaper and magazine and publication is deposited.

You mentioned wanting to see how the books are sorted and retrieved. I suggest watching Tom Scott's "This library has every book ever published." video. Released two months ago it shows you behind the scenes of the library and how the robotic shelves actually work! Also its not just books. They have every Newspaper, every leaflet, local magazine, journal. Literally every single thing published. Even children's comics with those cheap toys. An example of this would be s National Library of Scotland exhibition on the information given out at the start of the Aids pandemic using the informational leaflets that people received through their letterboxes. Essentially junk mail. Because they collect literally everything and reach out to educate self publishers etc that they also count, they really do have the ability to source anything.

My fourteen year old son won an essay competition and his contribution to crime writing will always be available in the British Library. Very proud Momma!

The British Library's collection of academic journals is kept at the site at Boston Spa in Yorkshire, which supplies copies of articles to researchers in universities etc. through the inter-library loan system. EDIT: Have a look at the quick video "Using the British Library at Boston Spa" which was made for people at the University of York.

I have a friend that is a medical librarian, it took her many years to fully qualify. One of her very important works was writing a chapter for a textbook to help teach medical students how to search medical databases for information and I got to proofread her work (unofficially) and give my feedback. She is quite proud of this as she should be. A large part of her work is digitising and cataloguing medical journals for the library system which is a never ending task as new papers are written every day. Personally I am a digital book reader these days and when I transitioned I sold off hundeds of books (thankfully still while second hand books had decent value), mostly sci fi and fantasy but I did keep some. I had to transition, much as it was a heartbreak, as I just couldn't safely store so many books. The funny part was I sold off a few hundred, then my father found out and sent me another few hundred I still had at his home from my younger days so I carefully sorted through those and sold most. You know you have a lot of books when you forget you have a few hundred sitting somewhere else lol

The library is older than the USA

I had the pleasure of visiting the John Rylands Library in Manchester. It was built in his honor by his wife, who also made it freely open to the public as a gift to the people. Great story for such a stunning building.

Check out chetham library Manchester, the oldest public library in the world.

The picton library in liverpool is amazing

You should look at the Library of Birmingham, which is the UK's largest public library. It's in a beautiful modern building with several garden terraces. It also contain's the UK's most important (and the world's 2nd most important) collection of material related to Shakespeare.

This year is the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's first folio being published. George III (Of American Independence fame) was an avid collector of books. He acquired so many that he had to build an extra wing of Buckingham Palace to store them all. He is a figure you should take a look at as I think you'd be surprised how differently Americans are taught about him compare to how he actually was. if you do ever visit Oxford you have to take a tour of the Bodleian Library. It's an amazing place. Manchester also has some really interesting libraries including Chetham Library, the oldest public library in England.

Haha my relative works there, she could probably check out the job situation for Lindsay. I totally understand, because I'm also a book lover. I'm a bit of a freak to my friends, they want to go clothes shopping and I'd rather go to a stationery shop.

Decades ago, as a university student, I had a summer job working in the British Library when it was still part of the British Museum. It now forms the entrance to the museum. I loved my time working in the British Library and it gave me the opportunity to do some research into the early days of non-Euclidean geometry (remember this was before the Internet!) and sitting at the desk where Karl Marx sat when he was in London.

An approximation is 100KM is about 60 miles, sso that's about 460 miles I doubt if Lindsay would 'work' there, she'll be too busy reading the books ;) I believe they are slowly digitising the contents, and making it available online

In 1598 Francis Trigge, Rector of Welbourn, near Leadenham in Lincolnshire, arranged for a library to be set up in the room over the south porch of St Wulfram's Church, Grantham for the use of the clergy and the inhabitants of the town.The borough was responsible for furnishing the porchroom and Trigge undertook to supply books to the value of "one hundred poundes or thereaboutes". The two vicars of North and South Grantham, together with the master of the local grammar school (now The King's School, Grantham) were to control the use of the library, and took an oath to abide by the rules. The original documents still exist and are deposited within the Lincolnshire Archives. The library was the first in England to be endowed for use outside an institution such as a school or college. It is perhaps slightly misleading to call it "the first public library" but nevertheless its use was not the prerogative of a private group. This is a 'Chained Library'.

Steve, I love your journey. But you and your wife together is just magical. More please. All the best to you and yours❤

Cambridge University library is interesting architecturally... I think it too is a Deposit/Reserve library, meaning everything published in the UK must provide a copy to the library, as is the Bodleian in Oxford and a few others.

They have retained a beautiful book written by St Bede , completed up here in approximately 731BC on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, Northumberland. It's seriously worth going out of your way to see, you won't believe the fantastic colours surrounding the script . Called Historia Gentis Anglorum ( An Ecclesiastical History of the English people)

Just think that ' 50 shades of gray' is in that collection as well as Shakespeare's works... Talk about from one extreme to the other lol

Hi Lindsay. Try the London library, the new library in Birmingham, the Bodleian Library in Oxford and Trinity library in Dublin -- just for starters!! I worked in libraries for nearly 20 years before i retired -- love them! 5:34

Right, this is what you are going to do. Steve flies to London and spends a few days at the Crossness sewage disposal engine helping the restorers. On the same day Lindsey flies to Paris ( you know "Paris, France") and has a lovely few days. Then Lindsey gets on the Eurostar train at Gare du Nord in Paris talking her through the French and English countryside at 187 mph, and through the tunnel under the English Channel. Steve makes his way to St Pancras International Station and admires the beautiful building he saw at the start of the video right next door to the British Library. Steve meets Lindsey as she gets off the Eurostar train and five minutes later they are both in the British Library. Then together they tour the UK for several months meeting up with all us "fans". And joined by Sophia of course. I think that plan is workable, don't you Lindsey?

I was a member (Reader) of the British Library in the 80s 90s and 00s ........I used it for work reaearch purposes. It's a really a reference library for research not a lending library. I first starting using it in the old British Museum Building before the current building opened. You can go into the building without being a member but you're not allowed int the rooms where the books are ....... but you can go in the exhibitions, the shop, the restaurants, look at the art works etc in the open areas

People often don't realise but 'beneath' the main library, the London site has FIVE levels of basement where the 'majority' of the building's collection items are stored. Reaching 24 metres BELOW ground level - _(the equivalent of an 'eight-storey' building)_ - the basements run as deep as the 'Victoria Tube Line', which runs alongside them. This ensures that books, papers and parchments are kept at ideal temperatures and away from damaging light etc. but also from unexpected _(future)_ 'human' incidents _(such as war)._ If the building’s air condition system fails and any of the 'galleries' go above the required temperatures, a backup cooling device is deployed which uses nine buckets of ice stored down in the basements. NOT seen by the general public are the 'Plant Room' areas _(in the basement),_ which are the size of SIX international football pitches... The 'library' is to keep peoples thoughts, ideas and emotions for others to be able to review as needed... As mentioned the UK's national library of is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items. Also held in the 'library' are actual recordings of people i.e. An actual recording of Florence Nightingale’s voice. To clarify, the British Library receives a copy of every publication produced in the UK and Ireland through legal deposit. Each year they usually receive OVER 500,000 printed and digital items _(over 100 terabytes from the UK web domain alone)_ - which are stored, kept and available to anyone who wants to review them for any reason. The British Library is the "World's Largest Library" in terms of the NUMBER OF BOOKS and MANUSCRIPTS in its collection. _(Although the Guinness Book of Records say's that the 'American Library of Congress' is the "World's Largest Library" in terms of SHELF SPACE !)_ - But everyone knows SIZE doesn't matter when compared to actual knowledge... Just saying! LOL

All printed books published are supposed to be "deposited" to the British Library within one month of their publication by law. Part of the 1911 Copyright Act of Parliament. Repeated in the The Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003. Which replaced Common Law Copyright Law. Five other libraries may request a copy within 12 months of publication, and you are obliged to send it. However, the British Library is unlikely to chase you if you are a delinquent small self publisher.

Chetham’s Library in Manchester was founded in 1653 and is the oldest public library in the English-speaking world.

Hiya Steve and Lindsey, you MUST!!!,check out a library in Manchester here in the UK. The library is, The John Rylands Library. It was built as a gift for him by his wife. The architecture, masonry, carpentery and stained glass is unbelievable considering considering that this is a library. There are several videos you can watch but one of the best ones is 13mins 43 and filmed in 2022. You will both love it, thanks for all your videos, take care Tony.

Went there years ago and went to the front desk brandishing my local library card. She politely laughed and said “never heard that one before” She must have had that a million times.

5 miles is almost exactly 8 kilometres. 746 km is 463 miles. Divide by 8, multiply by 5 is a pretty accurate way to do it.

The British Library has just suffered a cyber attack, which has caused some chaos around the country, all Library's are connected to it and it has stopped a lot of book access around the country. This might not seem important, but I work for a Dr who is in development of a new therapy and cannot access research materials to finish the project xx

The John Ryland's Library in Manchester would be a good video to check out, It's like something out of Harry Potter , You'll be amazed.

You should look at Tom Scott’s video about the background of the British Library. Also the Library has videos of their own.

I worked on the building. it is bomb proof that is why it's a strange shape. the building behind is St Pancress station.

I still have my British Library library card, even though I'm across the channel and can only visit once a year :D It's really lovely

There are still King George III books in the original King's Library in the British museum. It's gallery 1, but is still known as the King's library. If you write to parliament you can be given access to the very special and old books from the King's collection that are actually owned by parliament and kept on show in the British museum for viewing

King George the Third's book collection, 80 thousand, thats a great many books, but then he was particularly interested in the Sciences as well as the Natural World and the latest technological advances in farming. A very well schooled man and also active and up to speed, and did meet with many of the great names in his time. He could certainly hold his own without a doubt. A pity he is more generally known only for his bouts of sickness (possibly Porphyria). He lived to a ripe old age (for those times) of 82 years but after 1810 was blind and deaf and suffering much pain from rheumatism, so sad an end to be trapped in his own (clever) mind.

John Rylands Manchester. Some Harry Potter was inspired there. London's museums & libraries are amazing.

I worked at the British Library from before the opening to 1999 and met my second husband there. The books are stored over 4 floors below the library. The library also has rare manuscripts,maps and music. It was a wonderful place to work.

The building in the background is St Pancras station, it’s a beautiful building!

Check out the John Rylands library in Manchester

You guys have to check out Chetham Library. It's absolutely stunning and you will both love it!

Hi Steve most of our towns if not all have Libraries I have fond memories of going into the town on a Saturday afternoon with my father as a child to change his books, over here you were able to take up to 6 books out at a time free of charge and return them within 7 days, if you was late you had a small fine. Not sure if you are still able to do that now I am talking 65 years ago.

I went on day out to the original British Library when I was at school in the'80s, WOW that is some building I hope it is still open to the public.

Guys, they dont just have books, all library's have the old newspapers on film, going back centuries, where i mentioned before, back in the day, it used to be in the paper, births, deaths marrigaes, where alot of your ancestors can be found, should you want to trace your family back, as i said before, my mother got our family history and the family tree to the 1460, it does so much more than books

the building in the background is St Pancras railway station on the Euston Road in Kings Cross. It's a really busy part of London and a major East/West route.

Hello again. The National Library of Wales at Aberystwyth is great too!

The British library really does collect every book published here, you can even submit self published books to be added. My Dad & his history group did research into our local war memorial and collected as much information as they could about every single soldier who was memorialised on there. They self published the book for members of their group and other interested locals but there is also a copy of it somewhere in the British Library’s collection which is pretty cool

The John Rylands library in Manchester is awesome and worth checking out

I love hearing about kids lovinh books , my son reads a lot and its stood him in good stead for his literacy and creative writing , so well done you guys for ecouraging her to be a reader 😊

The Reading Room of the British Museum (which was originally the Reading Room and main building of the British Library) is open to the public. Built in 1857 as a rotunda, the area around it was enclosed by a huge glass ceiling in 2000. The building has featured in several films, notably including "The Ipcress File" (1965).

Take a look at the Picton Library in Liverpool-stunning. And for fun,have a look at the fabulous library on the Queen Mary 2 ship..a marvellous place to read and watch the sea roll by.

I ADORE books. I'm a natural speed reader (a novel 350 pages takes me 3ish hours to read). I put this down to reading as a child. I loved all the Enid Blyton (fav Faraway Tree). The books that have stayed with me as a child were - My Friend Flicka trilogy, Born Free trilogy, Pilgrims Progress (my mum was religious!) and Lord of the Rings, first read at 11. All of these I read😂 repeatedly as we were a poor family. Reading is such a gift and I totally agree with your wife. You get sooo much from reading 1. Information - I am a mine of useless 😊 2. Vocabulary - expansive, wide, enormous etc etc 😂 3. Imagination - your imagination is let loose with a book. The story looks like how YOU imagine it, no one else. You create the world that book is inhabiting. 4. Don't stick to a genre. I read everything from autobiographies to sci fi to thrillers to historical to romance. New books to classics. I'm just finishing Blood and Sugar and looking to read about Napoleon as I don't know an awful lot about him. Go where your fancy takes you!

Another brilliant video with you both, can't wait for your next one..😀

Dear lady, do not give up on your dream of being a professional librarian. I went to grad school at almost 50 to get my MLIS after my son was grown. I would encourage you to also put the Bodleian at Cambridge and the York Minster library on your visit to the UK

Thank you so much for this, I'm in England, but have not yet investigated this. Brilliant find!

I appreciate the food in the cafe there and that my little brother was able to use it as a refuge to study for his MBA in a tough time.

There is The John Rylands library in Manchester which is open to the public, but also part of the University of Manchester. It was built in the 1890's and is designed to a Victorian Neo-gothic style. It is reported that the producers of the Harry Potter franchise visited the library before filming began and used some of what they saw when they returned to the studios in their designs of the sets, and to be honest when you walk around it you do get the vibe of Harry Potter. It is a stunning and beautiful building. Also in Manchester you have the main Manchester Central Library which is run by the council in St Peters Square. This was built in the early 20th Century and although the interior was modernised in the 2010's the outside of the building is a stunning rotunda shaped building with pillars and roof over the entrance to the building. Finally, there is what I think of as a quirky library above a pub in Manchester called The Portico Library, one that I do not think many people know about and houses 25,000 books under a lovely domed ceiling.

I totally understand your love of libraries and books as a child i went to my local library every week and spent hours there a few times a week

Occasionally my husband would take me with him when he had to work in London. He would drop me off at a famous museum or gallery but one of my favourite places to be dropped off was the British Library. I have had some facinating discussions whilst sharing tables in the cafeteria.... its always so crowded at lunch time. People come from all over the world to access information for their studies. Reccomend the beautiful illuminated bibles. I can not help imagining the monks in their scriptorium writing and illustrating the exquisite bibles, applying the gold leaf.

The British Library also holds a Newspaper Archive in Boston, in the North of England. There they hold nearly all of the copies of the newspapers of the UK. The building in which they are held has been designed that there is not enough oxygen to light a match! This ensures there will be no fires. Secondly, the building is kept in total darkness. All the newspapers are kept in racks with automated machines going up and down the racks pulling out the papers or putting them back. I believe they are building another one at the moment. The conservation centre attached to the British Library is my favourite!

I am absolutely gobsmacked. I will be trying to wrap my mind around what I have just learned, all day. Thank you so much for sharing this Steve and Lindsay. Peace

Liverpool Central Library is worth a look. Looks like it has been modernised since my visit 30 years ago when my father took me. I remember walking into the wooden oval room which looked full of old and wonderful books…

Rylands Library / Cheetams School of Music / Manchester University all in Manchester U.K. Well worth a look .

That fancy building you saw behind the British Library is St Pancras Railway station. It has 6 star hotel and both UK railway terminals and the HS-1 Eurostar international terminal for London to Paris/ Brussels/ Amsterdam train routes. Via the channel tunnel

2:15 That's the St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel across the street from the library. It forms the front of the St. Pancras International railway station, with King's Cross station across the street from that.

The building behind the British Library is London's St Pancras railway station. Its where the Eurostar services to Paris and Brussels leave from.

This was so interesing I hope you find some more videos

The building behind is St Pancras Station one the best stations in the world.

Well done for not crying lindsay. Another great one guys. Love it

Great to see your reaction. I worked at the Yorkshire site (Boston Spa) for 14 years and it was definitely an interesting place with a vast amount of material in addition to what is held in London.

Many stately homes have large book collections. We live a short drive from Castle Howard, near York. I believe their collection amounts to around 20,000 volumes. The Howard family still owns the property, which is open to the public, including 1,000 acres of their estate. Chatsworth House in Derbyshire also has a large library. There are many more, but know these because they are within a short driving distance.

The Library of Trinity College, Dublin (Leabharlann Choláiste na Tríonóide) is not only a stunning library but houses several important Irish artifacts, like the Brian Boru Harp - the national symbol of Ireland.

the British patent library is fascinating, and is a beautiful building in its own right - I was lucky enough to spend some time studying there while I was working towards my Chemistry BSc in the Royal College of Science at Imperial College, London University back at the beginning of the 80's, My sister did her MA at Oxford and loved studying in the Bodleian - also well worth a visit.

Bodleian library, Oxford (where my wife's uncle was keeper of the manuscripts). Cheetham library, Manchester, Trinity College Library, Dublin. The Literary & Phiosophic Library, Newcastle upon Tyne. All worthy of a look.

"Made of glass and PRAWNS..."? Now that IS innovative ;-)

You should check out Hay-On-Wye, Lindsay would love it. It has a book festival every year, and even when that’s not on , there are so many book shops in the town.

Must be something about the name, Lindsay..as a book loving Lindsay myself. Bookshops and libraries are like catnip to me❤❤❤

I am a lover of language writen and spoken, books and libraries. I have studied Calligraphy since i was 9, i totally get your passion and love for them

For a quick and dirty conversion of Km to Miles, multiply the distance in Km by 6 and knock off the last digit. Example, 15 Km X 6 = 90, knock off the last digit, 9 miles. It's not exact but near enough for most everyday use. The building you like near the start of the video is the St Pancras railway hotel. St Pancras railway station is a gorgeous building worth a visit for its own sake.

Trinity library in dublin is being refurbished at the moment and actually they are no books there at all now .the books are actually being cleaned and the refurbishment will take 3 years but the book of kells will be on display in the courtyard.So unfortunately for 3 years the library will be closed,but they are alternatives like the chester beatty library and marshes library when you visit dublin.

All the major Towns & Cities of the UK (not just England) have very high standard City 'Central' Libraries. I'd suggest you check out the ones in Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool. Liverpool's Central Library (incorporating the Picton Library) was the first Public Library in Great Britain.

Lyndsey. The British Library receives a copy of every book published in the UK and Ireland. They are not all in London. They have a depository in Yorkshire. If you venture to Oxford there is the Bodleian Library, a reference library for Oxfords students and staff, it is open to the public 7 days a week. Wales has a similar library in Aberystwyth, a university town on the mid Wales coast, I’m not sure if the Welsh one is open to the public. Nearly every town and village has a library and free to enter and run by the local education authority. Most have computers and internet access. P.S. the British Library is next door to London International (St Pancras) railway station where you can get a train to Paris, France.

I am a regular user of the British Library, mostly researching technical information. Not all the books are at the building in St Pancras. There are just far too many. So there are storage facilities outside London. If you want a book that is not kept in London, you request it and it is trucked down to London on a specific day for you to use. They not only keep books, but periodicals, including scientific publications, although these are increasingly accessed on-line. You still need to access them on computers in the reading rooms of the British Library, as the publishers are paranoid about allowing people who haven't paid to access their journals. So I tend to travel to London for a planned day of reading and research, ordering up any books I want to consult and working out which on-line resources I want to consult. The whole catalogue is on-line so it is easy to make a plan. The British Library is digitising many of its important documents and you can normally access these on-line from anywhere. Medieval manuscripts and all sorts of historical resources. They also have regular special exhibitions on specific themes, using items from the collection. [Note: the British Library was subjected to a cyber attack in late November 2023. As of today (12 December 2023) the website is still down, and their IT systems not working] Both of my parents and my wife have books shelved in the British Library, so I still have some work to do! It is an astonishing resource, that I am delighted to be able to use. However, most countries have some sort of national library, and each will contain special gems. Your own Library of Congress is the largest in the world with something like 176 million catalogued items. It also has a venerable history as it was started in 1800 (although we - the Brits - burned it down with its contents in 1814).

You should check out the Museum British and the Library of Trinity College Dublin ( the model for The Hogwarts library and many other films and TV)

The building behind it you liked at the front of the clip is St Pancras train Station which is amazing.

The University of Cambridge has a number of important libraries - I spent several years living opposite the largest of them all. My favourite though was the Sedgwick history library, whose building is designed to look like an unfolding book. Very good to hear about your daughter experiencing so many books, I teach university students and it's really noticeable (and sad) how people get held back from learning later when they're not exposed to reading at an early age by their parents.

My way to do the conversion is that a kilometre is 5/8ths of a mile.

Not really about a library as such but concerning the National Archives - there was an episode of a TV series called "Cold Case: Stirling Man" where a group of experts were trying to identify the skeletal remains of a man buried in Stirling Castle in the 1340's. The National Archive had the original document listing the men of the English garrison of Stirling Castle in 1340/1341 - from this document they found the name of an English knight who had died at the castle - Sir John de Strickley. It doesn't prove he was the individual they found but it's strong evidence that he might well have been. Imagine being able to consult a 680 year old document and apply it's information to solve a modern mystery! Libraries are not just about books but about knowledge in myriad forms

Great video as always guys, love seeing your reactions to British places 👍

It's a requirement of ALL UK publishers to 'deposit' four copies of each publication (otherwise it's not formally copyrighted). In addition to the British Library you must send a copy to the Bodeleian library in Oxford, The National library of Wales and Trinity College Dublin. (from memory) Publishers have been legally obligated, and doing this habitually for ages, since it's much cheaper than having to demonstrate copyright and date in court one title at a time!

The British Library is equivalent to the Library of Congress in DC. The London Library might also be of interest to you - it's a famous private library founded in the mid nineteenth century.

You want to check out the famous Bodleian library in Oxford, and by the way,by law every book published in the UK is exactly what they mean, a copy of every book published must go to the library

Look up the Maughan Library in London. It was my university library! It is an old building with an old-fashioned reading room that is said to have inspired Dumbledore's Office in Harry Potter.