New chapter for revamped library

Published on Friday 11 September 2009 10:57

JUST six hours before she was beheaded, Mary Queen of Scots sat down to pen what would be her last letter.

She wrote to Henri III, King of France, that she was dying a religious martyr and asked him to ensure that her servants' wages were paid after her death.

While its author may have had a swift demise, the letter has been carefully preserved for generations, and now the Scottish public will have a rare chance to see it on display – for just seven days.

The precious letter is usually kept behind closed doors in the National Library of Scotland to protect it from heat, light and humidity, but is going on display on Tuesday to mark the official opening of its new visitor centre.

It marks the culmination of a quiet revolution which has been sweeping the library in recent years. It may be the repository of some of Scotland's greatest treasures, but it has long had an image as something of a fortress, impregnable only by the most determined of scholars.

Now, however, it is keen to entice the wider public through its doors.

The ground floor of the building on George IV Bridge has been transformed into a welcoming, airy public space with a cafe and shop alongside the expanded exhibition area. Even the pavement outside now bears cafe tables.

The library receives 15 million a year from the public purse, and it is hoped that, even if curious new visitors never make it into the hushed halls of the reading rooms, they will at least get some idea of what the library is holding on their behalf.

Bruce Blacklaw, the officer for public relations and external affairs, says: "The library as a whole has been much more outward looking for the last five to ten years, and looking to bring people in because it's paid for, in effect, by the people of Scotland.

"While part of the remit is to preserve its collections for future generations and be a leading research resource for academics and scholars, it's more than that. The visitor centre is a chance for people to engage with the collections."

To pull in larger audiences after Monday night's official opening ceremony, the library is pulling out the big guns.

Alongside Mary's letter, the "Treasures" cabinet will hold a copy of the Gutenberg Bible – one of the first books ever printed with moveable type, of which only 20 copies exist, and thought to be worth about 20 million. There will be a manuscript and printed copy of David Hume's autobiography, a first edition of Pride & Prejudice, and more.

In the corner is a "book fountain" – a towering, animated display of some of the books from the library, shown cascading through the air. On the opposite wall, a series of display boards demonstrate the breadth of the collections. Comics, manuscripts, maps and films are among the staggering 14 million items gathered for posterity.

Also collected are items that have not been officially published, such as fanzines, self-published poetry and theatrical ephemera – "We're probably the only people who go out and enthusiastically collect flyers during the Festival," Bruce says.

The library is also beginning to grapple with the question of how it can preserve modern-day ephemera – the contents of ever-changing websites, blogs and the workings of modern writers, which tend to be stored on their hard drive rather than on paper.

The ground floor also includes a space for talks and events, which are set to feature Christopher Brookmyre, Peter Tatchell and Henry McLeish. A permanent display on the work of influential publisher John Murray is under renovation.

Currently in the larger exhibition space is The Original Export – Stories of Scottish Emigration, relating the experiences of emigrants who have left Scotland for new lives around the globe.

Retired university administrator John Pickles, 64, thoroughly approves of the changes.

"Something like the cafe is obviously an additional attraction because I can think of very few big libraries where it's so accessible. I come from Cambridge and you have to get past the guard and into the library before you get near the coffee room. They couldn't have done it better."

The grand staircase, once hidden behind an internal wall, is now visible from the entrance, with light flooding in through a wall of windows at the rear, while plasma screens show footage from the Scottish Screen archives.

From the outside, the building may have great presence, but the design has proved imposing rather than inviting. Bruce says: "It was quite deliberately designed in the 30s as having that great big wall and one small door and, until a couple of years ago, the first thing when you came in that door was a pulpit with the security guard.

"That barrier still exists in terms of the reading room. Our staff need to do certain things – to get in there you must have a reader's card and prove who you are, you can't take bags in, you can't take pens in – but that's because that's about looking after the collections."

Elena Fresco, who issues reader's cards, says she has noticed the difference in recent years. Where once getting a card could be a feat of endurance, she says it now takes just five minutes, and more people are coming through the door.

She says: "You're getting a lot of retired people or people wanting to do research on family history, students, academics – it's pretty varied. It's definitely changed, I think over the past five years, it used to be pretty much just academics."

The collections themselves are stored in miles and miles of shelving – anyone entering from George IV Bridge is actually on the 11th floor, with about six million books beneath them, the rest stored at a second building in Causewayside.

Elaine Brown, one of the inquiry staff, says: "You never know what's going to walk through the door. It's a case of thinking on your feet."

The visitor centre opens officially to the public on 15 September.

NUMBERS BY THE BOOK

The National Library...

&#149 Receives about 6,000 items every week.

&#149 Holds 14 million print items.

&#149 Has 2 million maps, of which 20,000 are available online.

&#149 Has 5km of manuscript shelving.

&#149 Keeps the Scottish Screen Archive, which recently digitally restored one million feet of film.

&#149 Has "book fetchers" who walk about ten miles a day and receive an annual allowance of two free pairs of shoes.

&#149 Was founded in 1925 with a donation of 100,000 from Sir Alexander Grant, Baronet of Forres, matched by funding from parliament.

&#149 Welcomes about 100,000 visitors through the door and more than 3,000,000 online.