Thread by @natlibscot

If you need more reasons to follow us @natlibscot (and explore our collections) we give you this – a little thread of shiny facts about our Library.

#NLSgems

First up: our collections. We have more than 30 million physical and digital items in our collections. When you add subscription items that registered readers can view (many of which can be viewed at home), this jumps to over 76 million items.

Which is a lot.

#NLSgems

Search our catalogue if you don't believe us > search.nls.uk

#NLSgems

The oldest #Scottish books in our collections are those printed by Walter Chepman and Androw Myllar in 1508 > digital.nls.uk/firstscottishb…

#NLSgems

In contrast, our newest item came in about two minutes ago*

#NLSgems

*On average we get a new item every two minutes, which works out as about 5,000 new items every week 😍

The smallest book in our collections is this 1985 edition of 'Old King Cole', which measures a tiny 1mm x 1mm. At the time it was printed it was the world's smallest litho-printed book.

(It's that yellow speck inside the black circle, in case you were wondering)

#NLSgems

At the other end of the scale the largest printed item we hold measures 5ft x 7ft when open and weighs 133lbs (9½ stone or 60kg!). It’s called 'Bhutan, a visual odyssey across the last Himalayan kingdom' and is printed only on demand.

#NLSgems

Now let's talk about shelves... we have nearly 200 kilometres (120 miles) of shelving in our buildings – that’s longer than the distance from #Edinburgh to #Inverness.

#NLSgems

We're a Legal Deposit Library – which means we can request a copy of any publication (including websites!) published in the UK and Ireland. This is quite an amazing thing.

#NLSgems

Our sister Legal Deposit libraries are @britishlibrary @bodleianlibs, @NLWales, @theUL & @tcdlibrary (which is in Ireland but also has the right to request anything published in the UK). They are all fab (but don't tell them we said that 😉)

#NLSgems

By virtue of the amount of items we continually ingest, we are #Scotland's largest library for many different types of items. (e.g. we are Scotland’s largest collection of cookery books – and will be for some thyme yet).

#NLSgems

And we also have more than 800 books on #quilting. Yes - quilting.

#NLSgems

We received over 2.5 million collection items during the 1980s alone. We Just. Can't. Get. Enough.

#NLSgems

Our collections span every conceivable topic and thought, from Mesopotamia to peaceful uses for outer space.

#NLSgems

The National Library building at George IV Bridge sits on the site of the former Edinburgh Sheriff Court House. So we really ARE the law. Remember that, readers.

#NLSgems @nls_reading @lostedinburgh

Our George IV Bridge building was designed by the architect Reginald Fairlie, but Fairlie never saw it completed – he died in 1952. Alexander Ritchie Conlon, a partner in Fairlie’s architectural practice, oversaw the final stages to opening in 1956.

#NLSgems

Our Causewayside building is home to @natlibscotmaps and the majority of our physical collections. It was built on the site of the old Middlemass Biscuit Factory and we actually used the factory building for a while after they ceased biscuit production.

#NLSgems

Indeed, our history is intrinsically linked with biscuits. The Library was established in 1925 by an Act of Parliament and a generous benefaction from Sir Alexander Grant, managing director of McVities Biscuits.

#NLSgems

So we basically owe our existence to biscuits.

#NLSgems

And we opened our fabulous new(ish) home in #Glasgow in 2016. Based at @KelvinHall16, our @nlskelvinhall facility is an awesome digital library which also houses our @scotsonscreen collections - check it out at nls.uk/using-the-libr…

#NLSgems

Take a look at our departmental accounts, which regularly post about our wonderful collections and services > @natlibscotmaps @NLSlearn @nlsarchives @nlsrarebooks @nlskelvinhall @scotsonscreen @NLSColl_Care @nlsmodern @nls_reading and @NLS_Business

#NLSgems

And we have a very busy events and workshops programme, with over 112 events held last year. The *vast* majority are completely free and bookable online. Which is good.

Find out more > nls.uk/whats-on

#NLSgems

Plus regular major exhibitions and pop-up displays, like the Gutenberg Bible display in November 2018 (pictured) and our current exhibition 'A Better World?' > nls.uk/exhibitions

(These are also completely *free*. Good, eh?)

#NLSgems

Finally - if you ever urgently need to read up on aqueous solubility data, we have just the book*

#NLSgems

* It's actually sitting on our General Reading Room shelves - just by the main stair on the first floor 😀

Thanks for reading our #NLSgems thread, everyone - we hope this has convinced you to at take a wee peek at our collections (and even better, to come say hello) > nls.uk

Unroll @threadreaderapp