Library upgrades storage
The British Library has opened a storage facility at its Boston Spa site in West Yorkshire that it describes as the most advanced in the world. More than seven million items will be housed across 262km of space. The building will house books and newspapers in temperature- and humidity-controlled conditions.
Glasgow fundraising plan
An online public fundraising appeal is to be launched to raise the remaining £2m for Glasgow’s Riverside Museum (pictured above), which is set to open in spring 2011. Glasgow City Council has contributed £51m to the £74m project, with £18.1m provided by the Heritage Lottery Fund and £2.8m from companies and trusts.
Scottish online initiative
Nine Scottish universities have launched a project that will open up the nation’s university collections to a worldwide audience. Revealing the Hidden Collections will involve items being electronically recorded and photographed. The details will then be uploaded to the Culture Grid – a database run by the Collections Trust, Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) and the European Commission. Only 7.5 per cent of the collections can currently be viewed online.
MLA strengthens board
Subnum Hariff, partnership and access manager for Bolton’s Libraries, Museums, Archives and Arts, and Atul Shah, chief executive of the social enterprise Diverse Ethics, have joined the MLA board for a year as part of a new board secondment scheme aiming “to promote diversity among decision-makers”. Appointments will be made every six months.
