The National Post today has a great article about the history of the Reading Room in the Brisith Library.
It has spawned more revolutions, incited more passion and created more art than just about any other place in the modern world. And it is a library. No, it is the library. For the past 150 years, the way to access that library was through the Reading Room at the British Museum.
The article lists important historical figures who have used the Room, and gives lusty descriptions of the Room:
The Reading Room closed, but it was not abandoned. It was restored to its 1857 glory, using 25 km of 23.25-carat gold leaf and a couple of tons of paint. It sits in the centre of the British Museum complex, now more an exhibit itself than a place to spawn sedition or love.
The desks are still there and you can use them to consult the 12,000 or so reference books relating to the museum\’s collections. There are also 50 computers that let you access the COMPASS system (which you can also get online), describing the origins and the meaning of thousands of the museum\’s objects. There is even — gasp — a children\’s section.
Read the full story.
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