British Library collection goes online

20 June 2011 Last updated at 11:02 GMT The British Library receives more than one million visitors a year Thousands of pages from one of the world's biggest collections of historic books, pamphlets and periodicals are to be made available on the internet.

The British Library has reached a deal with search engine Google about 250,000 texts dating back to the 18th Century.

It will allow readers to view, search and copy the out-of-copyright works at no charge on both the library and Google books websites.

The library gets more than a million visitors a year.

The works selected to be digitised date from between 1700 and 1870, and the project will take some years to complete, with Google covering the costs of digitising.

Among the first works to go online are a pamphlet about French Queen Marie Antoinette and Spanish inventor Narciso Monturiol's 1858 plans for one of the world's first submarines.

Google has similar partnerships with about 40 libraries around the world.

Library chief executive Dame Lynne Brindley said the scheme was an extension of the ambition of the library's predecessors in the 19th Century to provide access to knowledge to everyone.

"The way of doing it then was to buy books from the entire world and to make them available in reading rooms.

"We... believe that we are building on this proud tradition of giving access to anyone, anywhere and at any time.

"Our aim is to provide perpetual access to this historical material, and we hope that our collections coupled with Google's know-how will enable us to achieve this aim."

Director of external relations at Google Peter Barron said: "What's powerful about the technology available to us today isn't just its ability to preserve history and culture for posterity, but also its ability to bring it to life in new ways."

Google's plan to digitise copyrighted texts has run into serious legal problems in the US. Among critics were the Authors Guild of America and the Association of American Publishers.

The digitised works are just a small fraction of the library's collection which totals more than 150 million items representing every age of written civilisation, including books, journals, manuscripts, maps, stamps, music, patents, photographs, newspapers and sound recordings in all written and spoken languages.

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Authors slam school library cuts

20 May 2011 Last updated at 09:33 GMT Philip Pullman said the closures were an 'absolute disgrace' Top children's authors have condemned increasing cuts to school library services in England.

Services providing books to up to 600,000 pupils have been axed in the past year, research by the Times Educational Supplement (TES) suggests.

Author Philip Pullman said schools were not properly funded and were choosing between paying for building maintenance and using a library service.

The government said head teachers knew what was best for their pupils.

Mr Pullman condemned the cuts as an "absolute disgrace".

Tough choices

"The government doesn't fund schools properly, so schools have to make the choice between repairing the toilet roof and having a school library service," the best-selling author told the TES.

Former children's laureate Michael Rosen said: "School library services have been decimated, but they are central to education.

"I cannot think of anything more important in education than to fill classrooms full of books that children can browse through."

The services not only provide fresh stocks of books to schools, they also offer a range of resources and help organise visits from authors.

But local authorities are not obliged to run a school library service. Currently, just 85 councils out of more than 150 with responsibility for schools run their own dedicated service.

The TES asked 66 of the surviving services about the future. Some 46 said they were not making any changes, but 10 said falling demand had led to changes including cutting what they offer or increasing charges.

A further 10 authorities said the situation was unclear.

In the past 12 months alone, services have been scrapped in large local authorities including Kent and Birmingham.

'Crystal clear'

They have also been axed in Gateshead, Cambridgeshire and Sutton. Greenwich, which suspended its service in 2009, confirmed this week that it would not be re-opening.

General secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, Russell Hobby, said: "A library has more effect on reading than a phonics check.

"Being able to have a wide range of books that appeal to different interests will do more to drive literacy than some of the government's strategies."

A spokesman for the Department for Education said: "Ministers have been crystal clear about the centrality of literacy.

"Teachers and heads need no reminding of the importance of school libraries - they know what's best for their pupils and so there are no plans to make it a statutory requirement.

"We are targeting as much funding as possible directly into heads' hands so they can make the right choices about school library provision and book resourcing."

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