Libraries of the World: The British Library automates the National heritage storage facilities

The British Library’s huge new automated storage centre has been now opened. Much of the sorting and carrying at the futuristic building at Boston Spa, in West Yorkshire, is done by robots. The building will eventually house seven million items from the national collection, in 140,000 barcoded containers. The building will keep low-use material including patent specifications, books and newspapers. The seven robots take the containers to a retrieval area for the staff to take out requested documents.

The building, which has been funded by a £26 million grant from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, was officially opened by the Minister for Yorkshire and the Humber, Rosie Winterton.

The new facility is to house material that has been stored in leased properties in London that are being vacated by the library. High-use material is being transferred to the library’s headquarters at St Pancras, Central London, and low-use items to Boston Spa.

Steve Morris, the library’s director of finance and corporate services, said: “These collection items form a substantial part of the memory of the nation and we are delighted to be able to store them in environmental conditions that will ensure their long-term survival.”