Our guided tour began in the main entrance hall where we learnt about the construction and design of the building. We were surprised to find that when walking across the Piazza on our way in we had actually walked over the collection of books held at the London site. There are purpose built basements that go down nearly 23 metres, enabling the books to be kept in controlled conditions for preservation.

There are several notable works of art in the main entrance. The most obvious as you enter is a bronze seat in the shape of an open book with a ball and chain, titled "Sitting on History" by Bill Woodrow. The ball and chain symbolising the days of chained libraries. There are apparently a couple of these chairs in existence, with one reportedly for sale in the Kings Road. The British Library would very much like another to make a pair, so if anyone feels generous after winning the lottery they'd be delighted to hear from you!

James Joyce features twice in works of art in the entrance. Firstly there is a painted wood relief which displays the word "Yes" 169 times. Molly Bloom's soliloquy in the final chapter of "Ulysses" was the inspiration for this. Joyce is also depicted in the vast tapestry hanging on the left hand wall. This is called "If not, not" and is based on the painting by Kitaj. At 7 metres square it is the largest tapestry woven in Britain in the 20th century. As well as artistic value it serves the practical purpose of preventing noise echoing round the entrance hall.

We moved on to the jewel in the crown. In the centre of the building there is a glass tower which rises up six storeys and houses the library collected by George III. Row upon row of beautiful leather bound books fill every side of the tower. The tower was originally designed to house the library's card catalogue but as the building took so long to complete computer technology over took and the cards became obsolete.

Another awe-inspiring part of the general display is the Turning the Pages room. This houses state of the art touch screen computers that enable you to flick through the pages of world-renowned titles such as the Lindisfarne Gospels & Da Vinci's notebook. Parts of these books have been scanned and digitised to enable visitors to look at more of the books than ordinary cabinet display allows. It brings the books alive and is well worth a visit on its own merit.

We were shown where the reading rooms are and how the book request system works with readers having to identify what material they need from the catalogue - no browsing opportunities here! We were also taken behind the scenes to see the system used for delivering books to the reading rooms. Items are placed in plastic crates and then travel along motorised roller conveyors and lifts to reach their destination.

The afternoon tour was very worthwhile and I would like to convey thanks to the British Library Staff who guided us and CLIG for organising the event.

For anyone wanting more facts and figures about the British Library visit their website at http://www.bl.uk/about/didyou.html or http://www.education.bl.uk/lib/building.html.