The British Library has issued a statement welcoming the Chancellor’s commitment to invest tens of millions of pounds to transform the Library’s site at Boston Spa, which houses over two-thirds of the Library’s collection of 170 million items.
Temple Works, designed by Joseph Bonomi in 1843, once housed the world’s largest single room
The plans will involve a ‘significant expansion and upgrade’ of the Library’s storage facilities, to ensure archival-standard storage until beyond the middle of this century. The Budget also included the announcement of a £25 million government project in partnership with the Library and Leeds City Council to create a new public space at Temple Works, a historic Grade I listed structure that was once part of a flax empire in the West Yorkshire city.