Since the cyber-attack in October 2023, we have been unable to provide access to the vast collection of material we receive via electronic (non-print) legal deposit.

We know this has really impacted those who need access to this material for their research. Although the collection itself is safe, the online platform we used to provide access to it is among the many systems damaged, and since then we have been working with the other members of the legal deposit library network to restore secure access.

Access restored

The National Libraries of Wales and Scotland, the Bodleian Libraries, Cambridge University Library and the Library of Trinity College Dublin are now providing access to this material via an interim platform, which can be used onsite in their reading rooms.

At this stage, access is available to electronic legal deposit content collected prior to October 2023.

The interim platform has limited functionality compared with the version available before the cyber-attack, but our priority has been to restore a basic level of access to electronic legal deposit collections, and then improve this through incremental changes and future iterations, informed by feedback and insight from those using the platform.

At the moment this doesn’t provide access to the UK Web Archive, for which a different solution is required.

User guides are available from each of the legal deposit libraries, and staff have been trained to support you accessing this content.

Access for British Library Readers

This solution is not initially available in the British Library’s Reading Rooms, because of ongoing work to restore a secure infrastructure for our Reading Room PCs for use by Readers.

We’re putting arrangements in place to enable British Library Readers to access the other legal deposit libraries to access this content and will provide full instructions once this is possible.

What’s currently available?

In the meantime, please see what’s currently available and find out how you can use the Library during this recovery period.

For the past seven years the British Library has published its gender pay gap figures on an annual basis, benchmarking our progress in this area and, over time, gradually closing the median pay gap.

In 2023 we eliminated the gender pay gap and this year’s median figure of 0.2% effectively maintains that position. We are proud of having closed the gap and remain conscious that it will require ongoing effort and vigilance to keep it so: we continue to proactively support gender equity, and you can read about specific measures in this year’s report, in the section headed ‘Our commitment’ (p.13).

In 2024, for the first time, we voluntarily published pay gap figures relating to ethnicity and disability. We will continue to publish these figures annually, with a commitment to eliminating these pay gaps by 2030, the end of our current Knowledge Matters strategy period.

Last year we published three separate pay gap reports (gender, ethnicity and disability) – this year, we have consolidated them into a single Pay Gap Report.

As publishing the ethnicity and disability pay gaps is currently voluntary, it is not straightforward to benchmark these either nationally or within our sector. However, the figures serve as a baseline for future progress, and in subsequent years we would hope to be able to chart progression over time for each of these figures (as we have been able to with the gender pay gap).

In this year’s consolidated report, the ethnicity pay gap figures show a median pay gap of 5.65% for Asian colleagues and 12.76% for Black colleagues, while the median pay gap for colleagues with disabilities was 11.47%.

These are, of course, unacceptable, and the Pay Gap Report reiterates our commitment to eliminating these disparities, along with an action plan of specific measures we are taking to address them. These include investing in career opportunities and leadership, and ensuring that tailored support and development are made available to staff at all levels.

From our experience of delivering sustained, year-on-year reductions in the gender pay gap we know the vital role of benchmarking of this kind in focusing our efforts and tracking progress. Through the measures in our action plan, and also by improving the data we gather on the different pay gaps, we are determined to deliver concrete and sustainable progress in making the Library a fair and fully inclusive place to work for everyone.

Richard Davies

Interim Director of People

Following the major cyber-attack in late 2023, 2024 saw us bring back interim versions of a number of our key services, including:

• an online version of our catalogue;
• remote ordering of print items to our Reading Rooms;
• our entire print collection – including newspapers – accessible to Readers
• the first 1,000 digitised manuscripts available to explore online.

The damage caused in the attack was extensive, and our recovery continues to be underpinned by the need to rebuild our infrastructure safely and securely.

We have also recently published more digitised manuscripts, this time items that recently appeared in our exhibition, Medieval Women: In Their Own Words, and have made the British Newspaper Archive available again in our Reading Rooms.

Over the next year we’ll continue to restore systems and services, and you can find a list of all of these and their status on our website. We’ll update this list on an ongoing basis with service improvements and restoration dates.

Planning a visit?

If you’re planning to visit us for your research, we recommend checking what’s available before you come. If you need any help, you can ask our Reference team via live chat, email or in person in our Reading Rooms. They can help you find collection items, place requests, and advise on the availability of the services you need.

We know this has been disruptive to our users, partners and supporters, and we really appreciate your understanding as we continue work to restore all our services.