I’ll admit to only having done the special exhibits at the British Library; I’ve not needed to do any research there in the main collections. But the special items are certainly worth a visit, not least because it’s free to do so.

I’ve gone a few times, and I’ve always been wowed by their Magna Carta, a Gutenberg Bible, the Sinaiticus Codex, original lyrics from The Beatles, and the last written words of Captain Robert Falcon Scott. Not everyone is fascinated by wandering around a large, dimly-lit room staring at scraps of ancient papyrus through glass, but I am.

Last year’s temporary exhibit, Sacred, was incredibly good. It was a really informative and inspiring presentation of religious texts from Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Keep an eye out for special events like this, because they really go all out.

The British Library may not be on your visiting friends’ must-see list, but you owe it to them to suggest it.

Right, the review written by dmj1962 says a lot about the exhibitions, décor and history, than what you can actually do in the British Library, so let me try and fill you in. As a former graduate, I spent a lot of time doing research in the British Library’s reading rooms, which I reckon is civilised and spacious. It is the perfect environment to study in especially if you like silence for concentration. In these exquisite reading rooms, you have access to almost all books published in the UK and Ireland. If not, you have to order them and wait a few days since some books are stored in Bath and various parts of the UK. You also receive access to wireless internet, which you have to pay for, and exclusive online journals and articles, which you can print off. However, before you can access these rooms, you have to register as a member, which can take up to 20 minutes of waiting time. Also the reading rooms have a pen, jacket and bag-free policy, so you have to put your things into a locker.

Another thing I loved was the café area where I had Japanese-English language exchanges and it was also very orderly. They have pastries and sandwiches that can be made for you on the spot. There is also a restaurant upstairs, which is just as delightful. What I do suggest is coming around 12pm as the lockers and reading rooms get taken up very fast, but its definitely worth waking up early for as you're guaranteed to get a lot of work done.

The building that houses the British Library of magnificent. You can get anything published in the UK and Ireland there. There are guided tours round the library. If you are only here for a shot time it might be the best thing to do unless you want to walk around the library at your own pace looking at things that you want to see. Besides recent items there are also many historical publications held in there eg Shakespeare's First Folio. It also has the earliest printed book that is dated. It is a fantastic place. Most of the exhibition galleries are free. There is also the special exhibitions, events, peotry readings and many other things going on there.

Located on the Euston Road, the modern building of the British Library is somewhat overshadowed by the splendour of St Pancras station next door. Conceived in 1975 to replace the hopelessly inadequate facilities located at the British Museum site in Bloomsbury, it wasn't until 1997 that the building was completed.

The building itself is a curious architectural mix: red-brick facades, sloping grey roofs and groups of projecting balconies give it a curiously retiring appearance for such a major public building: the overall effect is a bit like a fortified Tesco. But there's no denying the quality of its execution, and if the outside disappoints, the inside impresses, with a generous scale - open spaces, wide staircases, spacious reading rooms - that works rather better.

Of course, it's the collection you're likely to want to see. As one of the world's largest libraries, together with its other sites, it holds some 150 million items and 25 million books, as well as manuscripts, theses, stamps - you name it. All on a staggering 625km of shelves. (Technically, this makes it the second largest in the world after the Library of Congress in the USA, although it actually has more items).

The galleries have a mixture of permanent collections and temporary exhibitions: highlights of the former have to include Magna Carter (they actually have two copies dated 1215) and the magnificent illuminated Lindisfarne Gospels, dating from the turn of the 7th century. Items from abroad include the Diamond Sutra, (the world's oldest dated printed book - 868AD), two Gutenberg Bibles and manscripts by Mozart, Mahler and JS Bach, among others.

The library is a good place to visit as, despite its treaures, it is not much visited by tourists compared with other museums, so you can take your time without being jostled. Of course, its major use is for research, and whatever your interest, its online collections are worth looking at. The web-site isn't that user-friendly, but persevere and the range of collections you can view is staggering (tens of millions of items).