JUNE, 2020
WHEN A MUSEUM IS MORE THAN A MUSEUM
By: Liese Sherwood-Fabré
From its opening,
the Reading Room of
the British Museum
attracted many notables,
and over the
years, patrons could
find the likes of Karl
Marx, Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle, Oscar Wilde, Sylvia Pankhurst,
Bram Stoker, Joseph Conrad,
Vladimir Lenin, and George Orwell perusing
its content. Today, these notables‘
applications and signatures can be viewed
in the library‘s central archives. (1)
Merriam-Webster‘s definition of a
museum is ―an institution devoted to the
procurement, care, study, and display of
objects of lasting interest or value.‖ (2)
While the common concept of the
―objects‖ in a museum involve paintings,
sculptures, or items of historical or scientific
interest, the origins of the British
Museum involved books and manuscripts
as well as antiquities and natural
history specimens, making it a ―universal
museum.‖ (3)
Three private collections formed the
museum‘s original catalogue, willed to
the king, and through him, the British
nation in the 1700s. In 1753, Parliament
established the British Museum from
these estates, adding to them the British
monarchs‘ Royal Library in 1757. The
collection continued to grow, adding objects
from the James Cooks‘ travels to
the South Seas, antiquities from Egypt,
Rome, and Greece, and the excavations
from Asia Minor. (4) Additional space
was added in the 1800s, but the facility
was continually short of room.
One of the most famous adjustments
was the cast-iron circular Reading Room
built in an originally empty quadrangle.
The room opened on May 2, 1857 and
for one week (May 8 - 17), the public was
allowed to inspect the structure. Sixtytwo
thousand visitors passed through
during that time. Those actually interested
in using the room to consult the
written materials had to apply to the
Principal Librarian for a reader‘s ticket.
(5)
In 1973, the library collection was
moved to help create the British Library
(6), but in 2000, the original Reading
Room reopened to the general public
after undergoing reconstruction and restoration.
More than 25,000 books and
other written materials, primarily about
the cultures on display at the museum,
are available for review. (7) It is still the
most visited attraction in the United
Kingdom with more than 6.5 million
visitors each year. (8)
A visit to the library offers a window
and journey into Britain‘s literary past
that no other institution can offer and is
well worth the visit.
Continued on Page 25
24