As regular users of the Library will know, our teams have been working since the cyber-attack to find ways to restore access to as much of our collection as possible, while ensuring that we do so in a way that is safe and resilient.  I am incredibly grateful to all of our users, on-site and remote, for the patience you have continued to show during this highly disrupted period for the Library.

Our recovery plan is now advancing, and I thought it would be helpful to share an indicative list of the improvements and restorations of service you’re likely to see between now and the middle of the year, by which time we hope to have restored the majority of our key services, even if the method of delivery may be unfamiliar in some cases.

Further improvements between now and Easter

• Increased ordering limits in our Reading Rooms
• Enhanced Reader Registration process
• Increased access to material stored in Boston Spa

Following on from the restoration last month of our main catalogue and increased access to special collections, this month we have raised the ordering limits in our Reading Rooms so that you can now order up to six collection items per day.

In March we intend to introduce an enhanced Reader Registration process to replace the current, paper-based workaround. This new process will be more secure and will enable access to Library content for new Readers who are currently only able to use the Reading Rooms as study spaces.  This improvement will remedy what I know has been a major source of frustration to new Readers wishing to access our collection.

Also in March, we plan to restore access to material that is held at our Boston Spa site in non-automated storage locations, from where items can be retrieved manually.  This will make some 224 linear kilometres of additional content available for the first time since the attack to users at St Pancras as well as at Boston Spa itself.

Looking further ahead – April to July

• Access to more collection items stored in Boston Spa
• Digital collections that we have acquired through non-print legal deposit (NPLD)
• More digital and digitised content

In the period between April and July we expect to restore access to the remainder of our collections held at Boston Spa, including items held in the automated storage facilities which were affected by the attack: the National Newspaper Building and our Additional Storage Building.

Another priority will be the restoration of on-site access to the digital collections that we have acquired through non-print legal deposit (NPLD), including e-books, e-journals and other digital published content. Lack of access to this collection has had an impact on the other legal deposit libraries (the National Libraries of Wales and Scotland, the Bodleian Libraries, Cambridge University Library and Trinity College Dublin) and the researchers that rely on them, and we are working closely with these partners to enable access to this content, in some form, by the middle of the year.

Like our physical holdings, this is a collection that continues to grow, year on year, and so we will aim to have a means to capture and store new NPLD content within a similar timescale. We expect that it will take longer to restore access to the UK Web Archive because of the scale and complexity of this collection, and we will provide further details on our plans for this as soon as we can.

Between April and July we will also be aiming to restore access to a wide range of other digital and digitised content, which are vital resources for researchers and learners across the UK and around the world.

As our recovery programme progresses we will be able to confirm more detailed dates and milestones, which we will share with you as and when they are scheduled. As I mentioned in my previous blog post, please make sure to check with our Reference Services team that the items you seek are available before making travel arrangements. You can do this by emailing [email protected]. You can also contact the Reference Services team to book one-to-one appointments online or in person, and to answer your questions and help find the information you need. 

PLR statements and payments

Irish Public Lending Right (PLR) statements were issued at the end of January, and we now expect to make payments to authors and others who receive Irish PLR next week, in line with the timetable we shared last month. UK PLR statements are due to be issued shortly and payments to UK authors and illustrators are on track to be made by the statutory deadline at the end of March.

Lessons learned and shared

I’ve mentioned previously that we are learning and noting many lessons from our experiences during the cyber-attack, as well as the challenges of recovering fully and restoring much-needed services in the aftermath. We will look to share these in the near future with everyone, including colleagues across the sector, in government and internationally.

Although the journey is a long and complex one, we are doing everything that we can to return to as full a service as possible, as soon as we safely can.

Once again I want to apologise for all the disruption that has resulted from the cyber-attack. With our recovery programme now well underway, we will have further progress to report on a regular basis in the coming months.

Sir Roly Keating

Chief Executive

Three weeks on from the restoration of our main catalogue and the improvements to access arrangements for our special collections, we’ve seen a substantial increase in people using our Reading Rooms at St Pancras, with more researchers able to consult books, journals and manuscripts held onsite.  

Although the various manual workarounds that we have had in place since 15 January may be different from normal, they’ve enabled us to resume our core responsibility of providing access to the collection. Our catalogue becoming visible and usable once again has been a key milestone on our road to recovery, and further improvements will continue to be made in the weeks and months to come. 

Next steps in restoring our services

As mentioned in my previous update, we are working to restore as many of our services as possible in the first half of this year, even though some of these solutions may be interim and more manual than you’re used to.   

Later this month we will share an indicative timeline for when some of these key services are likely to be restored, particularly access to collection items held at our Boston Spa site and to more of our digital collection. 

As with the interim arrangements for ordering material held at St Pancras, there may be more of a manual or hybrid element than would normally be the case, but our priority is to restore access to our collection to everyone who needs it. 

How we can help you 

Because of the current situation, we know that you may need more support in using the Library at the moment. We have created a short film to explain how to use our online catalogue, and we will be sharing more advice for researchers over the coming weeks.  

Full details of what’s currently available can be found on our interim website, which also includes links to a range of resources which may be helpful as alternatives to some of the material that remains unavailable for the time being.  

If you are making a special trip to visit our Reading Rooms please do, however, check in advance with our Reference Services team that the items you seek are available before making travel arrangements. You can do this by emailing [email protected]. You can also contact the Reference Services team to book one-to-one appointments online or in person, and to answer your questions and help find the information you need. 

Public Lending Right statements and payments 

I’m very pleased to be able to confirm that workaround arrangements are now in place to ensure that Public Lending Right (PLR) statements and payments can be made in advance of the statutory deadline at the end of March.  

Last month we shared timings for statements and payments to authors, illustrators and others who are entitled to PLR, in both Ireland and the UK, and last week we issued Irish PLR statements, in line with this revised timetable. Although we usually issue both statements and payments a few weeks ahead of the current timeline, I hope this confirmation provides some reassurance to those who may have been concerned about the potential impact of the cyber-attack on their PLR payments. 

Thank you for your continued understanding 

We’re very aware that this remains a difficult and sometimes frustrating situation for you, and I’d like to apologise again for the disruption you have experienced since the cyber-attackers first struck. Our efforts to rebuild securely will take time, but we hope you will continue to notice positive improvements to our key services through our growing range of adaptations to connect more people with more of our collection. Thank you for your continued patience and understanding.   

Sir Roly Keating 
Chief Executive

We have a wonderfully varied line-up of fascinating exhibitions and programmes coming to St Pancras, and your local libraries as well, this year. Here’s a glimpse at what you can expect to see coming up at the Library in 2024. 

 

Beyond the Bassline (26 April – 26 August 2024) 

Beyond the Bassline is the first major exhibition to document 500 years of Black music in Britain, from Tudor musician John Blanke and 19th century composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor through to Pauline Black, the founding member and lead singer of Two-Tone band The Selecter, roots reggae band Steel Pulse and award-winning contemporary record producer and DJ, Nia Archives. 

Spotlighting The Reno in Manchester, Bristol’s Bamboo Club, Scottish club night The Reggae Klub and The Four Aces in London, as well as carnivals, community centres and record shops across the country, the exhibition draws on different places that have cultivated creative expression and inspired a number of Black British music genres. Journeying through jazz, reggae, jungle and afroswing, it also examines the role the internet and new technologies play in creating, listening to and sharing music. 

On display will be a range of sound recording formats, instruments and audio equipment alongside posters, costumes and photographs celebrating music as a form of entertainment, vehicle for community, and as a source of liberation, protest and education. 

Tickets will be on sale soon.

 

Medieval Women: In Their Own Words (25 October 2024 – 2 March 2025) 

Later this year, our exhibition on Medieval Women will explore the challenges, achievements and daily lives of women in Europe from 1100-1500. It will tell the history of medieval women through their own words and uncover their lives through original documents and artefacts.  

Women’s lives during the Middle Ages were rich and varied. The exhibition will reveal that women exerted great influence across private, public and spiritual realms. It will delve into the lived experiences of medieval women, including their beauty regimes and healthcare, their personal relationships and the running of their homes. It will shed light on their work in a wide variety of trades and professions, their role in medieval politics, the power and influence they wielded as spiritual visionaries or nuns, and the art, music and literature that they created. 

Visitors will discover objects related to inspiring figures such as: Joan of Arc, the religious visionary and military leader; Christine de Pizan, the first professional woman author in Europe; and Shajar Al-Durr, the female ruler of Egypt who defeated Louis IX of France in the Seventh Crusade. 

The exhibition will take visitors on a journey through the lives of medieval women across cultures, religions and class. Exploring both their struggles and successes, the exhibition prompts visitors to discover how medieval women’s voices still resonate across the centuries and speak powerfully to our world today. 

This exhibition is made possible with support from Joanna and Graham Barker and Unwin Charitable Trust.

 

The Silk Road at Dunhuang (27 September 2024 – 23 February 2025) 

Featuring items from the so-called ‘Library Cave’ in the Buddhist caves complex of Mogao, this exhibition explores the stories of the people who inhabited or passed through the town of Dunhuang in northwest China, a vital resting point along the trading routes known as the Silk Roads.   

Sealed in the early 11th century and only rediscovered in 1900, the contents of the ‘Library Cave’ span the 4th to the 11th centuries. From the Diamond Sutra, the world’s earliest dated, printed book, to the Dunhuang star chart, the earliest known manuscript atlas of the night sky, the documents are an astonishing time capsule detailing life in and around the medieval metropolis of Dunhuang. 

This exhibition is made possible with support from The Klein Foundation and the Dunhuang Foundation.

 

Get Creative in Leeds 

We’re continuing to share stories in Yorkshire - expect oral history, Shakespeare and spooky fun later this year. In February, young people in south Leeds will continue to make their mark in our community programme, Get Creative. Our free weekly art sessions help young people aged 10–14 engage with the Library collection and find their voice. This is the second year of the project and it’s just one of the ways we’re getting to know the people of Leeds, where we hope to build a new home in years to come. 

 

Luminous: A thousand years of Hebrew manuscripts (in Melbourne, Australia until 14 April 2024)

We've partnered with State Library Victoria in Melbourne, Australia to create Luminous: A thousand years of Hebrew manuscripts. This exhibition explores the significance of the written word as a foundation for contemporary Jewish practice, showing ancient manuscripts as part of a dynamic and diverse living culture.

Spanning a millennium of history, Luminous illustrates the beauty and importance of Hebrew texts through items about Jewish life, culture, science, religion, philosophy, music and magic.

The exhibition provides access to rare and significant manuscripts that explore the significance of the written word as a foundation of Jewish culture and tradition, centering the lived experience of Australian Jews here and now.

Find out more