As the National Lottery celebrates 30 years this month, we’re reflecting on all the incredible ways its Heritage Fund has supported us in that time.

For almost as long as the charity has existed, the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) has been a driving force in our ability to conserve and expand our collections for future generations.

Without the generous support of the NLHF, many of our major acquisitions – from the Mercator Atlas (1997) to the whole Olivier Archive (2001) – would not have been possible. In 2005 its funding enabled the construction of our Conservation Centre and contributed millions towards the preservation, cataloguing and accessibility of our collections. In 2017 its significant funding allowed us to lead on a project to preserve over 350,000 endangered sound recordings.

We asked a few of our collection areas to tell us about some of the ways the Heritage Fund has supported them.

Sound archive

The earliest items in the Sound archive date all the way back to 1888, the very first years of sound recording in the country, and include a set of wax cylinders sent over from America by Thomas Edison.

These were sent to Colonel Gouraud, his UK representative, who used them to showcase Edison’s state-of-the-art phonograph invention and record the voices of the rich and famous of the day to create a ‘library of immortal voices’. These provide an invaluable window into the past, capturing sounds and voices that would otherwise be lost to history.

These rare wax cylinders are now incredibly fragile and are prone to cracks and deformation. This makes handling and contact replay for preservation difficult, and sometimes impossible. However with the NLHF’s generous support, the Sound archive has recently acquired an Endpoint cylinder machine – a state-of-the-art device designed to preserve historical audio recordings stored on phonograph ‘wax’ cylinders, using non-contact optical reading of the cylinder surface.

Watch our Audio Engineer Karl Jenkins describe how this invaluable tool is helping to safeguard our cultural heritage and ensure that the sounds of the past can be enjoyed for future generations.

Raffles Family Collection

Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles (1781–1826) is best known today for his role in the founding of a British settlement at Singapore in 1819.  Through his service in the East India Company, Raffles also served as British governor of Java and of Bengkulu in Sumatra, and during his time in Southeast Asia he collected manuscripts and natural history specimens and drawings.

In 2007 we acquired the Raffles Family Collection, which consisted of an important collection of Malay letters to Raffles as well as correspondence of the Raffles family, and over 200 drawings of birds and plants from Sumatra and Penang – with significant support from the NLHF. Most of Raffles’ natural history drawings have been digitised and you can find a selection on display in our Treasures Gallery.

Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) archive

Founded in 1813, the RPS aims to champion the vital role that music plays in all our lives and has built up a substantial archive which we acquired in 2002, thanks in part to a grant from the NHLF, alongside generous donations from other individuals and trusts. The archive contains over 270 scores, together with numerous letters and administrative documents that detail the organisation’s operations, including concert planning, finances and commissioned works.

Amongst many treasures in the archive, you’ll find a record of the RPS’s 1822 commission of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, with £50 offered for its completion. This item was displayed in 2021 during our exhibition Beethoven: Idealist. Innovator. Icon, together with the manuscript copy of the symphony that Beethoven sent to the RPS, known as the ‘London manuscript’.

Papers of Edward Robert Bulwer-Lytton

In 2004 we acquired the papers of Lord Lytton as Viceroy of India, with assistance from the NLHF, The Friends of the British Library, The Friends of the National Libraries and The Lord Farringdon Charitable Trust.

Edward Robert Bulwer-Lytton (1831–1891), 1st Earl of Lytton, served as the Viceroy of India from 1876 to 1880. The collection covers the many aspects of his time in office, including Indian finances, new legislation and appointments to the Indian Civil Service. There are also papers on the more controversial aspects of this period, such as attempts to control Indian newspapers and the Government response to the great famine of 1876–1878.

Throughout the collection there is correspondence with a wide range of people in India and England, including British officials and politicians, and members of the British Royal family. The papers give a fascinating look into a crucial period in British and Indian history.

 

As a living library with over 170 million items, our collection is growing every day and this is something that has only been possible through the generosity of our funders such as NLHF.

We join the diverse range of organisations and charities also being supported by the Heritage Fund in wishing the National Lottery a wonderful 30th anniversary and thank them for the incredible impact they have allowed us to make.

We’re drawing a breath here at the Library, after a busy time taking part in Green Libraries Week (7–13 October).

What took place across the UK?

During a packed week there were over 270 events held in libraries across the UK. They stretched from Orkney’s Public Library, which held a Halloween costume swap to encourage reuse rather than buying new ones, to Falmouth Library in Cornwall, which hosted a range of events covering biodiversity, recycling, energy and the environment.

Green Libraries Week spread across the Irish Channel with events in Northern Ireland and Eire, and to different types of libraries, with university and health trusts taking part as well as lots of local public libraries.

CILIP map showing all the Green Library Week events

Looking for something to read? Take a look at these green reading lists shared by Hampshire and Jersey Libraries.

Want to get informed while you’re on the move? Why not listen to the Green Libraries Week podcast created by CILIPS Scotland?

What took place at the British Library?

During Green Libraries Week we had 11 events, plus blogs and social media. We launched our new sustainability strategy and shared information about our own journey.

On Tuesday our Chief Executive, Sir Roly Keating, chaired a panel event, asking “What is the role of libraries in the face of the climate crisis?”. The panel was made up of Amina Shah, Chief Executive of the National Library of Scotland, Claire Pickering, Library Manager from Wakefield Public Libraries, and Maja Maricevic, who is both our Director of Science and Innovation and also Chair of the Green Libraries Campaign, the sector-wide campaign with the vision of Every library, a green library.

Our Chief Executive, Roly Keating, launching our sustainability strategy at the panel event on the role of libraries in the face of the climate crisis.

Our other events included:

• a sustainable coffee tasting
• a sustainable catering roadshow with our chef Simon and Slow Food UK
• a Green Start-up Stars panel, showcasing four businesses we have helped support who put sustainability at the heart of their business model
• an international webinar on how libraries can collaborate with writers to tell climate stories
• a consultation event with 50 school pupils, to help our Learning team develop a new programme for schools on sustainability and climate change
• sessions for our staff, including a new sustainability induction session, raising awareness.

What is the impact of Green Libraries Week?

Green Libraries Week is all about raising awareness of climate action in really practical ways, while showcasing the very best that libraries have to offer. It shows a whole sector working together to make change.

Being part of Green Libraries Week helps us continue the conversation on climate change with staff and visitors at the Library, and gives us the opportunity to use our voice to amplify the work of others in the sector.

Celebrating our impact, supporters and partners

Every autumn we publish highlights from across the Library that show the reach of our services and the positive impact they have on people and communities – across the country and around the world. It also celebrates the role philanthropy and sponsorship plays in bringing about this change.

To read our report please visit support.bl.uk.

The stories featured this year include:

• our conservation appeal, supported by hundreds of individual donations, which helped us conserve some extraordinary documents. It includes a precious medieval manuscript that annulled Henry VIII’s marriage to Anne of Cleves
• British Library on Tour, which supports local institutions and provides major items from the collection for display nationwide
• our expanding programme of schools, family and cultural work across Leeds, building on our decades-long commitment to Yorkshire.

Many of the stories featured would not have been possible without individual donors, charitable grants and corporate partners. Thank you. You helped strengthen people’s skills, increase knowledge and light the spark of inspiration. We're excited to discover where it will all lead.

Why not join us?

The projects and stories we featured this year are just a snapshot of our wider programmes and services. Every year this includes:

• working with thousands of school children to help develop their skills through moments of wonder and discovery
• major exhibitions and live events that shine a spotlight on fascinating people and stories
• collaborations with libraries and other cultural spaces nationwide, helping to deliver a rich and accessible programme for the communities they serve
• support for business and innovation so that anyone can turn their great ideas into a successful business
• vital conservation work to preserve and protect our precious collection so that it can be enjoyed and inspire even more people, for generations to come.

If you’d like to discover more – or perhaps you’d like to help us achieve even greater reach and impact in 2025 and beyond – then please visit support.bl.uk and get in touch.