I think there is a fundamental principle here: should publicly-funded libraries exclude any citizens? It might help if applicants for readers passes were interviewed and referred elsewhere if the materials they needed to consult were easily available in public or university libraries.

The threat to the British Library of budget cuts after the spending review is mentioned both in a news article and a comment piece by the BL's Chief Executive, Lynne Brindley. The effect is spoiled a little by a typo in the headline of the latter piece, 'we cannot allow the British Library's peerless collection to be put at risk by potential ...