The image above was taken from within the British Library’s just-about-done Newspaper Storage Building at Boston Spa, West Yorkshire, England.
This massively sized building will serve as the central repository for the library’s collection of newspapers dating back to the 16th century (an estimated 750 million pages). While a 64 x 24 x 24-m space is impressive, what’s really worth noting here is the fact that nearly 160 km of shelves will be accessible by robots only; that is, no humans will ever have to go inside. You see, the facility will be kept dark to maintain paper quality, and the space airtight with lower-than-normal levels of oxygen to mitigate chances of fire. A bevy of sensors, ranging from temperature and humidity to light and oxygen, outfit the building to ensure quality is kept consistent.
The exterior of the building was completed at the end of November 2012. The subsequent installation of the 20-m-high automated racking will be worked on until late March, early April 2013. Once that’s complete, it will go through a couple of months of testing, after which the first round of newspapers will be delivered to the building (ETA autumn 2013).
When the building is officially opened, readers will be able to order items from the facility to read. The robots will be tasked with retrieving the content and delivering it to the customer.
Recommended ordering time, for now at least, is 48 hours in advance.
Additional photos of the facility below:
Culture Minister Ed Vaizey and British Library Chief Executive Roly Keating in the Newspaper Storage Building.
Inside the British Library's Newspaper Storage Building at Boston Spa.
Story and images via: bl.uk
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