British Library Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21

HC 427 British Library

Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Presented to Parliament pursuant to section 4(3) and 5(3) of the British Library Act 1972

Copies deposited with the Scottish Parliament, the Library for the Welsh Parliament, and presented to the Northern Ireland Assembly

Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed on 14 July 2021

HC 427

Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 1 © British Library (2021) The text of this document (this excludes, where present, the Royal Arms and all departmental or agency logos) may be reproduced free of charge in Contents any format or medium provided that it is reproduced accurately and not in a misleading context. Chair’s and Chief Executive’s introduction 04 The material must be acknowledged as British Library copyright and the document title specified. Where third party material has been identified, Annual Report 2020/21 permission from the respective copyright holder must be sought. Our purposes 07 Any enquiries related to this publication should be sent to us Our year in numbers 08 at [email protected] Custodianship 11 Research 15 This publication is available at gov.uk/official-documents Business 19 ISBN 978-1-5286-2695-8 Culture 23 Learning 27 CCS0521581042 International 31 Printed on paper containing 75% recycled fibre content minimum Public Lending Right 34 Enabling Living Knowledge 36 Printed in the UK by APS Group on behalf of the Controller of The year ahead 39 Her Majesty’s Stationery Office Key Performance Indicators 40 Grants and donations 42 Statement of the British Library Board’s and Accounting Officer’s Responsibilities 44 Financial review 45 Reference and administrative details 48 Sustainability report 49 Remuneration report 53 Governance statement 57 Other disclosures 63

Annual Accounts 2020/21 The Certificate and Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General to the Houses of Parliament and the Scottish Parliament 66 Statement of financial activities 69 Balance sheet 71 Cash flow statement 72 Notes to the accounts 73

2 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 3 micro-books at home through online creative activities Our Living Knowledge ambition remains undimmed Chair’s and Chief (with physical activity packs distributed to those at as we face a dramatically transformed decade risk of digital exclusion), and added new resources ahead. In October 2020, we published Living Executive’s introduction to our powerful online learning site which attracted Knowledge For Everyone, re-doubling our over 11.4m visits. We developed new ways to bring efforts in areas – business support, science and our content to those who could no longer physically innovation, regional impact, and inclusion and visit the Library, through podcasts, digital exhibition diversity – that have never been needed more. tours, Curators on Camera films and more. And we deposit responsibilities) and worked remotely where have also reached out across our global networks The urgent national task of renewal and recovery adds we could to catalogue as much of it as possible. The to share our collections and exchange skills and another potent driver for a genuinely transformational professionalism and dedication of staff who have expertise with peers via a range of digital tools. portfolio of major projects. In Yorkshire, our Boston continued to attend the site regularly throughout Spa Renewed programme will transform the historic lockdown, including security, estates, maintenance, Whenever the public health context enabled it, heart of our operations by expanding and improving cleaning and collection care, have been inspiring. we restored Covid-secure access to our buildings. our core infrastructure (including critical storage This task, with all the new systems, processes and capacity for the national collection) into at least Their work enabled teams working off-site to focus on safety measures required, entailed a huge effort the middle of this century. Momentum has been keeping the Library open throughout, even when this and no little ingenuity. The advice and support generated despite the impact of Covid-19. This year was only possible online. In response to the urgent provided by the Department for Digital, Culture, has seen us conduct public consultation on our plans, need to record these times for future research, the Media and Sport and other departments throughout submit a formal application for planning consents, Library established a programme to archive local, this period has been invaluable throughout. and begin the procurement of a Pre Construction Dame Carol Black, Chair and Roly Keating, Chief Executive. regional, and national broadcasts (TV and radio), Services Agreement (PCSA) partner. Alongside this, newspapers, oral histories, websites and other In St Pancras, we collaborated with our neighbours, we progressed our longer term project to establish ‘We need to capture the lives we are published material. It is already a rich trove of future the Francis Crick Institute (FCI) for biomedical an iconic and permanent public presence in Leeds living at this unprecedented time in insights for researchers and you can read more about research and University College London Hospitals city centre, supported by a further Government our history.’ the initiative on page 11. to establish a Covid-19 testing centre on-site, commitment of £25m through the West Yorkshire carrying out nearly 7,000 drive-through tests. devolution deal. Much of the focus this year has been Volunteer interviewer on the NHS Voices Our work over the last 25 years to develop In March 2021,this collaboration took on another to establish a business case for an initial drawdown of Covid-19 oral history project extraordinary digital resources alongside the physical dimension with around 60 Library staff volunteering from this fund to enable stabilisation works and collection enabled us to maintain and innovate new to support the UCLH vaccination centre based in the surveying of the city’s historic Temple Works building, The task of understanding and articulating our forms of access for our audiences. We collaborated Francis Crick Institute. the potential home for the Library in Leeds. experiences of this extraordinary year will fall to with publishers to expand remote access to licensed researchers, today and in future. It is a reminder of research material, provided online access to collection In July, we reached a vital deal with Transport the vital national memory role that institutions like the items that were used 5.5m times and maintained for London that enables us to proceed with our British Library will play in the wake of the pandemic. the British Library On Demand service throughout development plans in St Pancras, accommodating the pandemic. The latter service prioritised around the proposed Crossrail2 infrastructure. This enabled The pages that follow show how, even in the face 14,000 vital requests for content from the NHS, us to begin consulting with the local community on of extraordinary and unpredictable challenges, the Public Health England, and other medical and plans to create 100,000 square feet of new public Library continued to deliver valued services for pharmaceutical researchers working on Covid-19. spaces for cultural experiences, learning activities, people across the UK. It did so without slowing pace and business support and entrepreneurship. This is all on an ambitious portfolio of strategic programmes We supported over 26,000 entrepreneurs remotely made possible through the creation of a major new whose significance has only grown in the context of by shifting our high impact business support services commercial hub for industry, at the heart of London’s an urgent national task of recovery and renewal. online. To help businesses weather the pandemic, Knowledge Quarter (an area of global significance in we launched Reset. Restart, a dedicated programme fields such as life sciences, data science, and learning). We’ve advanced transformational capital projects to support entrepreneurs to transform, future- in Boston Spa, Leeds and St Pancras, and expanded proof and grow their businesses. We continued The transformation of our physical spaces will UK-wide collaborations with public libraries in to grow the National Network of Business & IP be supported by a programme of significant support of enterprise and innovation. Teams Centres in partnership with public libraries across decarbonisation works, including solar panels and across the Library adapted quickly to delivering the UK, backed by £13m of Treasury investment. a ground source heat pump. This is thanks to a grant our diverse services in a mostly online context, You can find out more about our plans to reach 20 from the Department for Business Energy, and Industrial benefitting from many years of hard work to digitise regional centres and 90 local centres by 2023 on Strategy’s Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme. and collect new digital content for our users. page 19. Our plans will enable more places than ever to benefit from a proven model, with every We also see our well-established collaboration with From the early part of the year, our immediate £1 spent returning £6.95 in economic benefit. UK public libraries as a key area where we can support priorities were to support the wider national public recovery – economically, socially and culturally. As health effort, protect the wellbeing of our staff, Through our culture and learning programmes, we well as growing the Business & IP Centre National and ensure the safety and security of the collection informed and delighted audiences through digital Network, we have continued to expand the Living that we care for. We continued to take receipt of events featuring Dolly Parton, David Olusoga, and Knowledge Network. Since 2016, the Network has new items where needed (including under our legal many more. We inspired young people to create brought together the UK’s national libraries and

4 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 5 public libraries to share cultural offers such as live For all this year’s efforts and achievements, the stream events and touring exhibitions, and participate pandemic has taken a very significant, and continuing, Our in a professional community sharing best practice toll on the Library’s income. In common with venues resources. This year, the Network has grown to 31 and businesses across the country, the impact of purposes partners, and we also took the decision to open lengthy periods of closure and social distancing up much of the Network’s resources to all public requirements has depressed footfall more than at libraries during the pandemic. 147 library services any other time in our history. Income from visitors The British Library’s six purposes accessed Network webinars, while over 15,300 fell by around £11m over the financial year, and define everything that we do and people across the country accessed digital events on we anticipate that the restoration of visitor volumes explain the enduring ways in which topics ranging from black British history to the lives of will be an uneven and gradual journey extending the funding we receive helps deliver nursing icons Mary Seacole and Elizabeth Anionwu. into future financial years. We are grateful to tangible public value. By fulfilling many for the financial support they have given to each of these purposes we aim The restrictions placed on traditional physical access the Library throughout the pandemic, particularly to achieve our wider objective of this year underscore the strategic potential of our DCMS and all our supporters, including Patrons, making our intellectual heritage ongoing work to scope a model of a shared digital Members, business partners and philanthropists. accessible to everyone, for research, presence for public libraries to showcase their inspiration and enjoyment. content and services. Throughout the pandemic, This has augmented hard work across the organisation libraries have responded with their characteristic to mitigate the steep and sudden loss of income. A creativity and passion to serve local audiences. package of measures including a recruitment freeze, 1 Custodianship We believe the case has now never been stronger travel bans and a reduction in acquisitions have We build, curate and preserve to go further and we have been grateful for the delivered hard-won savings. Our Commercial team the UK’s national collection of committed support for our work by sector partners. successfully increased the turnover of online retail published, written and digital by over 100% and innovated new sources of content These initiatives, under the banner of Living income through publishing and licensing. These Knowledge For Everyone, will play a critical part in efforts have enabled us to produce a three year 2 Research increasing access, engagement and diversity. The Financial Strategy that will undoubtedly require We support and stimulate Library has continued to redouble its efforts in this area. difficult decisions, but puts us in a reasonably research of all kinds This includes tackling vital questions of representation robust position as we face the uncertain years of at senior levels of our workforce, the inclusivity of our recovery ahead. We were additionally grateful for 3 Business spaces and services, and the way we explain the origins the efforts of DCMS and Parliamentary colleagues We help businesses to innovate and legacy of different parts of the collection. Over the in ensuring the safe passage of legislation enabling and grow summer of 2020, staff across the organisation engaged the Library to borrow money, in the same way in powerful and challenging conversations about the that many of our national museum peers can. 4 Culture change that is needed to improve the experience of We engage everyone with those working at, using and enjoying the Library. This year has given us new generational challenges memorable cultural experiences Following this process, we’ve created an Anti-Racism while intensifying existing ones: from sustaining a Project tasked with producing a three year plan of recovery across all corners of the UK to preventing 5 Learning practical action for the organisation, at every level, a climate disaster, and from the work of eliminating We inspire young people to implement. Our action plan will reflect our values discrimination to reshaping Britain’s place in the and learners of all ages as well as our belief that libraries can be powerful world outside of the European Union. Next year, sources of social cohesion in the post-pandemic period. we will begin the process of creating the successor 6 International to our current Living Knowledge vision (which We work with partners around The continuity of valued services and ambitious runs from 2015–23). Our ability to do so on a firm the world to advance knowledge projects, has only been possible through the steadfast footing is thanks to our staff, our partners, and and mutual understanding commitment and adaptability of our workforce. We particularly the community of funders and individuals transitioned to remote working as though it was a who have supported us during this turbulent year. natural thing for a national library to do, and worked In uncertain times this has enabled us to protect effectively in emergency planning mode throughout our hard-won and high impact programme of the year. Our technology team rose impressively to work as much as possible and provides a valuable the challenge of keeping us connected and productive platform to support renewal in the years ahead. while away from the Library’s iconic sites. Individuals and teams across the Library went far above and beyond their roles to keep delivering. We are now looking at how to make the best aspects of this year’s changes to our ways of working sustainable and Left: Keeping our users safe. Signage was permanent, and detailed work is underway on a new Dame Carol Black Roly Keating installed throughout our sites in time for People Strategy which will be agreed in 2021–22. Chair Chief Executive reopening to our Readers in July 2020. Photo by Sam Lane Photography.

6 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 7 Our year in numbers Custodianship Culture

7.1m still images newly digitised from Nearly 60,000 people watched our Library collections online cultural events from across the UK and the world Nearly 2,000 oral testimonies collected from NHS workers, patients, policymakers Over 18,000 people engaged with and the public our Leeds cultural programme We loaned 116 collection items to UK Nearly 40,000 visitors to exhibitions and international venues and events outside London (through loans and tours) Research Learning 5.57m collection items referenced online Nearly 68,000 physical activity packs sent out to teachers and families Nearly 21,000 visitors to our socially in Camden, Leeds and across the UK to distanced, Covid-secure Reading Rooms support remote learning Nearly 14,000 content on demand Almost 11.4m unique users of our online requests from NHS, PHE, and Covid-19 learning resources for teachers and students related researchers fulfilled 27 International Business Over 1 m new images of digitised material Over 26,000 people supported with made available from partners in over 30 their business (or business idea) online countries, through our Endangered Archives Programme Over 1,000 business support webinars delivered online to entrepreneurs across Jaipur Literature Festival London broadcast million the country on Facebook to over 400,000 people worldwide Other highlights visits to the 3,433 Nearly 27,000 authors and creators received a Public Lending Right payment entrepreneurs British Library 60 British Library staff volunteers on helped to weather University College London Hospital’s the pandemic through vaccination programme at the Francis new Reset. Restart Crick Institute different library services joined our website* online business support 147 Living Knowledge Network webinars *89% of these were from outside London

8 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 9 Custodianship We build, curate and preserve the UK’s national collection of published, written and digital content

The dramatic events of this year underscored the vital Under our legal deposit responsibilities, we continued significance of the Library’s role as a national memory to receive a large amount of material with nearly institution. We launched a Covid-19 collecting project 130,000 physical items (including 61,398 newspapers, designed to secure a comprehensive record of these 47,755 monographs, and 59,514 serials) and 1.13m times to aid society’s understanding – now and in digital items (excluding UK Web Archive objects but years to come. This incorporates an extraordinarily including 989,000 journal articles, 104,600 ebooks diverse range of content including newspapers, oral and 36,500 serial issues). The enforced absence of histories, radio broadcasts from around 70 stations, most of our staff from the physical site has inevitably broadcasts from 17 television channels (including created a significant backlog in cataloguing this daily briefings), podcasts, 6,500 websites, scientific new physical material. As we return to site, plans publications and more. Key partnerships included the are being put in place to tackle this alongside NHS Voices of Covid-19 project, delivered with the management of our continuous intake of material. University of Manchester’s ‘NHS at 70’ project and funded by UKRI. Nearly 2,000 personal testimonies The Library’s UK Web Archive takes an annual snapshot from NHS workers, patients, policymakers and the of the entire UK web domain, collecting millions of public are being collected to form a powerful new sites each year to fulfil its Non Print Legal Deposit national collection. We also partnered with BBC responsibilities. This year, this included 2bn objects from Radio 4 to archive a range of content, including over 10m websites (around 85Tb of data) and the team over 1,800 Covid Chronicles, which were 400 won an international Digital Preservation Award for word submissions from listeners for consideration ‘Safeguarding the Digital Legacy’ over the last 15 years. for broadcast in the daily news programming. Meanwhile, our work to add culturally significant Left: Visitors at the Hebrew Manuscripts: Journeys of the items to the collection alongside our statutory legal Written Word exhibition following the one way system and social distancing observed in all our galleries. Photo by David Jensen; deposit collecting continued this year. Acquisitions Below: A tape containing wedding songs recorded for posterity. this year included: Part of National Motor Museum Trust collection (UTK007/530). Digitised and preserved by the Unlocking Our Sound Heritage project at The Keep in Brighton. Photo by Esther Gill.

10 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 11 • The Kim Stallwood Archive, of the prominent UK We audited parts of the photographic collection and Even as the Library closed its physical spaces, this we completed the conservation and digitisation of animal rights campaigner, a valuable account of the uploaded 44,000 locations to facilitate ordering of work enabled us to maintain access by researchers 67 volumes of Zoroastrian manuscripts, thanks to the movement from the mid 1970s to the late 1980s and these items. Detailed planning for new projects to and the public to a large, vibrant and valuable digital generous support of Mrs Purviz Rusy Shroff, which will a powerful resource for contemporary debates around transcribe 20,000 index cards and for collection moves collection. This year, our portfolio created over 7.1m soon be available via the Library’s digital catalogue. humankind’s relationship with the natural world of around 20,000 microfilms and over 200,000 serials new still images of content, ranging from out of • Lewis of Caerleon manuscript, saved for the nation was undertaken in preparation for the return of more copyright books (in partnership with Google) to Tudor A virtual tour of the Library’s Hebrew Manuscripts: following a temporary export bar by Culture Minister staff to the Library. And critical procedures were and Stuart manuscripts. The British Newspaper Archive, Journeys of the Written Word exhibition was Caroline Dinenage, with support from the Friends of developed for our Reading Rooms to enable Readers to delivered in partnership with FindMyPast, successfully made possible through funding from The Polonsky the National Libraries, British Library Collections Trust use collection items safely, including quarantine periods reached an ambitious ten-year target to digitise 40m Foundation, complementing the physical exhibition, and the Breslauer Bequest. Imprisoned in the Tower between uses. newspapers. And a seven year philanthropically- whose run was severely curtailed by lockdown. Over of London until the defeat of King Richard III in 1485, funded project to digitise the Topographical Collection 9,000 people accessed the exhibition online. Lewis of Caerleon produced unparalleled studies of We continued to address the long term challenge of of King George III came to fruition, with 40,000 early astronomy and science, with this manuscript one of our growing collections. Following the transformational maps spanning four centuries (1500–1824) of world Meanwhile we worked with our International the most complete collections of his work that exists investment announced by the Chancellor in March history made available to view online via the Library’s Dunhuang Project (IDP) partners in China, Japan, • The Jenny Diski Archive, acquired from the author’s 2020. Boston Spa Renewed will extend the capacity Flickr Commons collection. The Library’s digital content France, Germany and Russia to upgrade and stabilise estate, the collection includes a wealth of notebooks of our available storage in West Yorkshire well into has powered a range of dynamic and innovative uses the IDP database. Thanks to the generous support relating to her novels and memoirs, along with travel the middle of the century, reinforcing its position as of the collection, outlined throughout the pages that of the Dunhuang Foundation, we also continued journals, diaries and correspondence, including some one of the world’s leading library and information follow on our research, business, culture, learning our collaboration with North American institutions fascinating papers relating to Diski’s relationship with management centres. In 2021 we began consulting and international purposes. to make their Silk Road collections available on the her friend and mentor, Doris Lessing. It was purchased with local people and organisations on our vision ahead IDP database. These efforts underpin access to over for £35,000. of submitting our formal planning application, an A major strand of our digital work is the Save our 534,000 images of heritage material relating to the exciting milestone in the project. Sounds programme. It addresses urgent risks to UK Eastern Silk Road, stored by participating institutions In both St Pancras and Boston Spa, a core complement sound heritage from degrading physical formats and around the world. of staff continued to attend in order to ensure the The Library first started digitising parts of the collection the loss of equipment capable of playing them, as security and safety of our buildings and tend to the around 25 years ago. Today we have a well-established well as the transition to digital in the audio industries. Our custodianship purpose reaches around the most urgent collection care tasks across both physical programme, Heritage Made Digital, which seeks to Despite the pandemic, the various Save our Sounds world (you can read more about our international and digital collections. In a uniquely disrupted year, we digitise under-represented or previously unavailable projects made progress. Unlocking Our Sound work on page 31) and beyond our own collection. carried out conservation treatment on 2,777 individual items in order to unlock greater value from the Heritage, a project largely funded by the National This perspective was all the more vital in a year of items and boxed over 1,000 newspapers and 8,000 collection for a diverse range of users including Lottery Heritage Fund with additional support from shared global experiences of the pandemic. Through photographic prints and negatives for secure storage. researchers, creative professionals, learners and others. individuals and charities including the Foyle Foundation our Endangered Archives Programme (generously and the Garfield Weston Foundation, continued to supported by the Arcadia Fund, a charitable fund of digitally preserve at risk audio recordings. Working in Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin), we have worked Below: Visual of a proposed Viewing Gallery, part of the redevelopment plans for Boston Spa Renewed. partnership with 10 organisations across the UK, 78,000 with partners around the world to preserve at-risk recordings were preserved over the past year, bringing archival material since 2004. This year we worked the total saved by the project to over 250,000. closely with our community of EAP partners, providing professional support and expertise to weather the This year, our National Radio Archive and Digital Audio impact of the pandemic, and helping 42 projects over Collection projects have collected over 110,000 digital 30 countries to complete their work. Over a million new radio programmes and over 65,000 digital music images of digitised material were made available online, recordings, spanning hundreds of genres and capturing adding to an overall collection of 9.5m digital images. a unique and vibrant insight into life in the UK. Our More people than ever visited the British Library’s EAP audiences have been able to engage with archived website, with an increasing number from the countries sound in new and exciting ways. This included our first in which the original archives are located, such as a Sound Artist-In-Residence, AWATE, premiering his new 230% increase in visitors from Peru after a Peruvian composition The Unearthed Odyssey online, as well as newspaper project went online. new sound-based learning resources, Youtube training videos, online memory boxes and more. Inevitably, there will be disruption to our digitisation initiatives for a little while longer. However, this has Digitisation activity also underpins many of our been a year that has underlined the potential of international collaborations. This year, projects adapted digitised content for unlocking value across collections in a number of ways, shifting focus toward maximising and countries: from uniting related items for research digital access to existing material. Our partnership with through initiatives such as the IDP to applying new Qatar National Library and Qatar Foundation was able digital tools such as Optical Character Recognition to make an additional 67,300 images available online through projects such as Two Centuries of Indian from collection items relating to the history of the Print (which is cataloguing vernacular Bengali and Gulf region. The Lotus Sutra Manuscripts Digitisation other language texts and supporting digital skills project (generously supported by the Bei Shan Tang sharing to support South Asian Studies). It has also Foundation) engaged users with the early 10,000 hi- underscored the extraordinary scope for increased resolution images already delivered in previous years public engagement with the collection online. through blogging, webinars, and social media. And

12 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 13 Research We support and stimulate research of all kinds

The British Library Act 1972 set out a requirement published in the UK) which continue to be the for a ‘comprehensive collection’, serving a national basis of our national collection, but it does mean centre for research into the sciences, technology targeted, judicious acquisition of content in areas and the humanities. This aim holds true today, but where our users need it, for example rapid-response in a very different context in terms of how research collecting on Covid-19, information to support online content is generated, shared, and used, and in how learning and research, business and intellectual we carry out our role in a networked information property information, and other subject priorities environment. In November, we published a new and areas of focus. strategy, Enabling Access for Everyone, for how we will continue to build the national collection This year we developed a new Science Strategy of contemporary (post 1945) published content with a vision to realise the full potential for the British (physical and digital). Our priority is to provide Library’s collections, staff expertise, infrastructure and access to content using the most cost-effective partnerships to advance science, to increase equality means to help everyone find the information they and diversity in science and to contribute to the global need, supporting individual researchers, efforts to solve challenges facing humanity today. The organisations, businesses, and wider society. implementation of the new Strategy has started with work on development of the Library’s climate change This does not mean collecting everything, with the activities, an increase of science programming in the notable exception of our legal deposit responsibilities Library’s public facing events and extending of our (under which we collect a copy of everything focus on data science. We expect the full programme to take shape in 2021, including new work on history Left: The British Library King’s Topographical Collection on Flickr: of science and public health communication. Hemisphaerium Coeli Australe (Boreale), in quo loca Stellarum fixarum secundum Æquatorem, per ascenciones ad annum 1730 completum, sistuntur, a J G Doppelmaie˙ ro; operâ J B Homanni; Below: Reopening of the Humanities Reading Room, July 2020. Photo by Sam Lane Photography.

14 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 15 Our content remained in demand, even in a hugely up analysis of massive datasets. We now have over Institutions).They worked on diverse topics including disrupted year. We worked hard to open up as much 2,800 users registered on LibCrowds, who have used the impact of the Library’s national business support content as possible remotely to our audiences, with this platform to complete well over 250,000 tasks. network, the publication and reception of BAME the help of publishers and within the legal framework. writing in Britain, Alexander the Great, caricatures of Collection items were accessed remotely just over In a year that has seen our digital collection becoming the Franco-Prussian war, the mediation of European 5.57m times and our Reference Enquiry Team vital to research as never before, we recognised a literature, oral history in the digital age and the handled 19,838 remote requests from people wide range of innovative projects at the BL Labs correlation between gender and research careers. exploring the collection. Awards Symposium 2020. The awards recognised outstanding use of the Library's digital content, In addition, each year we host visiting professionals And each time we reopened our physical reading with a special emphasis on projects investigating the from around the world through the Foreign, rooms, we were inspired by the enthusiasm with Covid-19 pandemic, anti-racism and the use of Jupyter Commonwealth and Development Office’s which Readers came back. Social distancing and Notebooks for computational research with data. The Chevening Fellowship scheme. This year, Chevening reduced opening hours required a system of pre- research award was won by Tim Sherratt, Associate Fellows Chantelle Richardson and Kó.lá Túbò.sún booking and around 98% of slots were booked. Professor at the University of Canberra with a project continued the second half of their tenure remotely Our Reading Rooms were physically open for demonstrating how specific historical questions can and completed their respective research projects on around four months of the year, and we welcomed be explored by analysing web archive data. The digitised archival material from Latin America and nearly 21,000 visits from readers who accessed artistic Award was won by Unlocking our Sound African-language printed books. They presented nearly 93,000 items from the collection. Heritage: The Unearthed Odyssey by AWATE (see their final insights from the High Commissions in page 13 for more on AWATE’s work with the Library). their home countries of Jamaica and Nigeria, via a Key to our approach is recognising that our collection Beyond the Rubric, a student project at the Australian well-attended online event in September 2020. forms just one part of the overall corpus of content National University, won the Education category, available to users, and the extraordinary discovery and Flickr Georeferencing, completed by numerous The Library was involved in 61 externally-funded opportunities from breaking down the barriers Library volunteers, won the Community Award. research projects this year, supported by a range of UK between UK cultural heritage collections. Last year and international funders. These involve collaborations saw the award of £19m by UKRI via the Arts and BL Labs also worked with the maps team to enrich with 36 universities and 10 cultural organisations and Humanities Research Council for Towards a National the Library’s popular Flickr collection with over research institutes in the UK and globally. As always Collection, a sector-wide collaboration to maximise 40,000 early maps and views from the Topographical the research portfolio covered has been hugely diverse those opportunities. Over the last year, the Library Collection of King George III. They received millions with topics ranging from the digitisation of Edward Above and below: Winning entry for the British Library x British has co-led three foundation projects exploring of views within a few days, and the Library’s combined Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius, to the legacies of historic Fashion Council student fashion competition 2020 by Adele Babinska. discoverability tools to cut across institutional Flickr collection has now been viewed in excess of catalogue descriptions, and oral history of the law boundaries such as globally unique identifiers, 1 billion times since 2008. centres movement. geospatial metadata, and image interoperability. These foundation projects delivered interim findings The Library is host to, and an active contributor to, a In response to the pandemic, the Library partnered in December 2020 with recommendations that will vibrant research community, and while the closure of on three new Covid-specific research projects. The directly feed into five large scale research partnership physical sites had an inescapable impact on in-person University of Leeds are exploring the impacts of projects which will be announced in late 2021. engagement, teams and projects adapted quickly to life Covid-19 on the cultural sector across the UK and online. Our annual programme of Doctoral Open Days highlighting the implications for policy. UCL are Our other major UKRI-funded collaboration (with the was re-developed as a series of 8 weekly webinars, and leading Play in the Pandemic, a project investigating Alan Turing Institute), Living With Machines, is now the online format (with live captioning and YouTube how children’s play and wellbeing have been affected, well-established since its creation in 2019. The project live stream), significantly increased accessibility and while NHS Voices of Covid-19, led by the University applies latest data science methods to the Library’s geographical reach. Over 1,600 students registered in of Manchester, is creating a national oral history of digitised collections, generating new insights on the total with almost 900 participants attending the first our societal response to the pandemic. interplay between society and technology during the introductory webinar alone. first Industrial Revolution and its relevance today. The Library engaged in several new international The lockdown posed a significant challenge to a The Library’s annual fashion competition, in collaborations this year, including via partnerships project that depends on the continuing digitisation partnership with the British Fashion Council, also between UK and international research councils. at scale of newspapers and maps. Despite the moved online. BA and MA Students from fashion We are investigating access and inclusion for cultural disruption, British Library teams finalised the digitisation educational institutions across the UK participated in heritage institutions, from crowdsourcing to digitally- of newspapers which will be used by the Living with two online masterclasses in the autumn, which were enabled participation, with the Library of Congress, Machines project, and are on course to complete attended by over 1,500 students. Students were the Adler Planetarium and Zooniverse as part of digitisation of in-scope maps in 2021. The team quickly invited to create a fashion portfolio inspired by the the Collective Wisdom project. We are also part grasped on to the unique opportunities presented Library’s collections that told an inspirational story on of a network led by Queen’s University Belfast and by a population confined at home and looking for the competition themes of Identity and Disruption. Maynooth University seeking to develop a digital stimulation, and launched a number of crowdsourcing The winner of the Judges Award was Adela Babinska, framework for the medieval Gaelic world. Another tasks to create valuable new datasets. Over 700 people a masters student at the London College of Fashion. highlight this year was the launch of the website for got involved with crowdsourcing questions, which asked the Leverhulme Trust and BEIS-funded project True users to read newspaper articles and record the way Throughout the year, British Library staff co-supervised Echoes, which reconnects Indigenous communities in which machines were described, creating a lexicon 36 collaborative doctoral students through a variety of with historic audio records of the sung and spoken of terms that data science researchers can use to scale partnership routes (including with 19 Higher Education cultures of Australia and Oceania.

16 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 17 Business We help businesses to innovate and grow

In the face of acute and extraordinary challenges people used these resources to weather the storm, for the UK and global economies, we redoubled accessing over 1,000 webinars, over 3,700 one-to- our ongoing efforts to support entrepreneurs and ones, and 90 networking events. Resources were small businesses, with a focus on building resilience, aimed at both aspiring entrepreneurs (including those maintaining wellbeing and mental health, and displaced from employment due to the pandemic) and supporting innovation to pivot businesses in a existing business owners looking to respond. As ever, radically transformed world. And, as ever, our services our services were powerful in reaching a diverse range helped new entrepreneurs to take their first steps in of entrepreneurs: 65% were women, 37% were from business and spot new opportunities for growth. a black, Asian and minority ethnic background, and 10% had a disability. Just as in previous years, libraries While libraries were unable to provide face-to-face proved to be able to reach parts of the community business support services throughout the year, the that other business support schemes cannot, even in Library’s Business & IP Centre team embraced a radical a largely virtual environment. pivot to full digital delivery. A Business Resilience Toolkit and dedicated Covid-19 support page were The preceding performance year ended with a quickly published to help businesses navigate a transformational investment by the Treasury in March difficult landscape. Our usual package of high impact 2020 for an expansion of our Business & IP Centre business support services, ranging from group sessions national network to 20 regional centres and 90 to one-to-one specialist advice and networking local centres by 2023. This year we began the task sessions adapted quickly. Over the year over 26,000 of delivering this bold vision, establishing pilots in

Left: Amanda Overs, founder of I Can Make Shoes and Innovating for Growth: Scale-ups alumna. © Elliott Wilcox; Below: Live scribed image from our Reset. Restart programme launch event, The Road to Renewal, by Innovating for Growth: Scale-ups alumna, Natalka Designs.

18 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 19 Worcestershire, Brighton and Hove and Kent, Our Start-ups in London Libraries programme and supporting existing city sites to establish hub continued to provide much-needed support on the and spoke models to reach more high streets, (then largely virtual) high streets of our ten partner rural, and coastal settings. Next year, we will be London boroughs (Bexley, Croydon, Greenwich, adding Tees Valley to the network, along with Haringey, Lambeth, Lewisham, Newham, Southwark, Bristol and Oxfordshire. Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest). This is effectively a ‘hub and spoke’ model that enables our St Pancras London Libraries supported over Business & IP Centre to reach parts of the wider 1,192 people and, of these, 71% community that it otherwise could not. have been women and 51% from The service has always been open to all Londoners black, Asian and minority ethnic but, with the removal of physical boundaries between background. boroughs, the project actually succeeded in reaching an even wider population. One of the great successes We were pleased to be able to work with DCMS and of the programme has been the ‘SME champion’ role the Treasury to use some of this funding to amplify in each borough who have acted as the ‘go to’ person our emergency response to the needs of entrepreneurs throughout the pandemic and this is a model that and small businesses. A key milestone in this was the we would like to adopt across our network. Over the launch of our national Reset. Restart programme, year, Start-ups in London Libraries supported over specifically designed to enable businesses to bounce 1,192 people and, of these, 71% have been women back from the Covid-19 crisis and futureproof their and 51% from black, Asian and minority ethnic businesses. It took the form of ten national webinars backgrounds. The project has been made possible supported by local follow-up sessions on subjects with funding from the European Regional ranging from product and service innovation to Development Fund, Arts Council England and JP marketing, finance, and business models. We were Morgan, and has been granted a 9-month extension grateful for the support of Minister for Digital and enabling delivery until December 2021. Culture, Caroline Dinenage, and Minister for Small Business, Paul Scully, in launching this new service By far our biggest event of the year was our fifth in October 2020, including a well-attended panel annual, but first virtual,National Start-up Day, event hosted by newly appointed BIPC ambassador supported by Santander. This took place on Thursday Alison Cork, founder of Alison at Home and Make It 19 November, during Global Entrepreneurship Week Your Business. This specific programme has supported and is available on our BIPCTV channel. Nearly 1,200 3,433 people from across the UK and, as a result, we people participated in 30 events, including local break- are planning to extend it into summer 2021. out events convened across the country from Glasgow to Exeter, and from Norwich to Hull. Topics ranged Our Innovating for Growth Scale-ups Programme from how to start up on a shoestring to how to make in London also pivoted online and brought on a social or environmental impact through business. four new cohorts per quarter, each one of around Speakers included our Entrepreneur in Residence, Julie 20 business owners and with a focus on building Deane, founder of the Cambridge Satchel Company, resilience, and unlocking growth. The programme as well as many of our alumni entrepreneurs from maintained its excellent reputation and was cited across the country. Global market research experts as best practice in the ScaleUp Institute Review in Mintel delivered a keynote which analysed the impact November. And an independent economic evaluation that the Coronavirus pandemic is having on consumer of the service, revealed positive results. Each of the behaviour and highlighted opportunities in the ‘new 249 businesses we supported as part of the scale-up normal’. Throughout the day there was a virtual programme over 2016–19 had created an average business skills ‘swap shop’ and a free headshot of 1.73 jobs and a return on public investment of editing service, both of which proved very popular. £4.99 for each £1 invested, which is higher than all comparable programmes.

Right: Mickela Hall-Ramsay, co-founder of HR Sports Academy. Former Innovating for Growth participant and current Start-ups in London Libraries ambassador. © Elliott Wilcox.

20 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 21 Culture We engage everyone with memorable cultural experiences

Just as with our work supporting researchers and exhibition – which has been generously supported by entrepreneurs, the pandemic demanded rapid Dr Michael and Anna Brynberg Charitable Foundation, innovation and experimentation in our plans to Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation, Shoresh Charitable expand the reach and inclusivity of our cultural Trust and The David Pearlman Charitable Foundation programme across the UK and beyond. – ventured back as far as the 10th century to explore the experience of Jews and their neighbours in The immediate impact of lockdown required significant communities spanning Europe and North Africa to the changes to our exhibition schedule and delays to the Middle East and China. And when the physical show opening of new and vibrant exhibitions due to the was disappointingly curtailed on 4 November, a 3D closure of our buildings to the public. When we were virtual tour was produced with generous support from able to open, social distancing reduced our overall The Polonsky Foundation which offered an alternative capacity and in common with other institutions we way to experience it, as well as a lasting legacy online. had to adapt our physical displays and capacity to Hebrew Manuscripts was extended to 6 June 2021 ensure the safety of our visitors. to provide a further opportunity for physical visits.

The warmly received Hebrew Manuscripts: Journeys Also delayed was the Library’s landmark Unfinished of the Written Word opened for British Library Business: The Fight for Women’s Rights exhibition, Members on 18 August 2020 for two weeks, ahead which finally opened on 23 October to an extremely of a full opening to the public on 1 September. The positive response including four star reviews from

Left: A visitor in Unfinished Business: The Fight for Women’s Rights exhibition in October 2020. Photo by David Jensen; Below: Food Season highlights included Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall: You, Food and the Planet, with Bee Wilson and Polly Russell. Many events were made available nationally through live screenings and the Living Knowledge Network.

22 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 23 exhibition has been extended to 7 October 2021 to opened from 30 July to 16 October, welcoming examples including Warwickshire Libraries digital give returning audiences the opportunity to engage 32,259 visitors. Other planned loans on the Treasures showcase of the experiences of women in the Land with these compelling works. In the meantime, a on Tour programme have been disrupted but we Army during WWII, as well as the life story of Dorothy short documentary film based on the exhibition was are looking forward to getting underway again from Adlington Cadbury. Norfolk Libraries produced a published online. autumn 2021. fascinating digital exploration of women who were at the forefront of the Women’s Liberation Movement We have continued our work to diversify our And looking further ahead, in March 2021 we were in the 1970s and ‘80s, showing how they connected permanent (and free-to-access) Treasures gallery, delighted to announce that the Lindisfarne Gospels to national and international feminist campaigns. The enhancing our displays to increase representation of will feature in a new 2022 exhibition at the Laing exhibition also unveiled the stories behind Rosie’s women and under-represented groups. New works Art Gallery, in partnership with North East Culture Plaques, the handmade unofficial blue plaques are now on display from Andrea Levy, Ignatius Partnership, Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums celebrating local women of historical importance. Sancho, Claudia Jones and others. Temporary displays and Newcastle City Library. The Gospels hold deep Others, such as Kirklees Libraries and Exeter Library (which provide an opportunity to showcase a rolling historic and spiritual significance in the region and held events with contemporary female writers. These programme of particular subjects or themes) have last toured in 2013 when they were hosted by Durham locally curated activities have been underpinned been paused for the past year due to social distancing University, attracting nearly 100,000 visitors. by the free national programming the Library has requirements. These will resume in June 2021 with produced and streamed via its public library platform, a display on Miniature Books, building on a dynamic Meanwhile, the Library’s Cats on the Page exhibition, including talks by Gloria Steinem and Dolly Parton. interactive lockdown campaign by our Learning team which the Library showed in 2018–19, went on tour to (you can read more about this on page 27). Alongside the Atkinson in Southport. It opened on 12 September These events formed part of our Cultural Events this work on content, we have also been developing and ran until 9 January, and despite being closed programme which this year underwent a major plans to redevelop the gallery itself as part of our during the second Covid-19 national lockdown in shift to online from September. By the end of the wider St Pancras Transformed programme (see page November, it drew nearly 8,000 visitors during its 73 performance year, events had reached nearly 60,000 5). Work to date has concentrated on establishing day run. A planned tour of our 2017–18 blockbuster people who watched and engaged from across creative principles (learning from other gallery exhibition, Harry Potter: A History of Magic, to Kyoto the UK and around the world. We developed new Above: Sothiou (Chewing-sticks/toothbrush) 2017 from Khadija developments across the country and sector) and and Tokyo has been postponed by a year with work digital broadcast capability, a new archive site of past Saye: In This Space We Breathe, an exhibition by the Gambian- understanding audience requirements. continuing to ensure the project can be safely delivered events (called British Library Player) and developed British artist. later in 2021. our capacity to produce increased and new forms of The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph. Since being The broad shift to digital across our programme has audio and video content for the British Library and disrupted by subsequent lockdowns, it has now been been accompanied by continued, targeted work to Public libraries across the UK have been at the heart our partners. Popular events this year have included extended to 1 August 2021, to enable as many people grow our reach geographically. One particular focus of efforts to reach wider audiences across the UK since David Olusoga’s Black History Matters conversation, as possible to visit. This major exhibition, supported by for the Library is the Leeds city region, where we are 2016, and this has remained the case this year despite An Evening with Agatha Christie, as well as a reflective Joanna and Graham Barker, takes in over 200 years of growing a vibrant culture and learning offer to support the impact of lockdown. The Living Knowledge talk by poet and children’s author Michael Rosen on protests and campaigns for women’s rights through the impact of the investment announced last year in Network brings together some of the UK’s most visited his experience of coronavirus, each one attended by a rich variety of British Library collections, loans and our Boston Spa site as well as a potential new site in public libraries with the national libraries of the UK. well over 3,000 attendees. We have continued our multimedia. As in previous years, thanks to support Leeds city centre. The year covered by this report is Members share cultural content (including through collaborations with a wide range of partners online, from The Helen Hamlyn Trust, we were able to target the first full year of our Leeds culture programme, live-streamed events and linked exhibitions) as well including the Jaipur Literature Festival and the Royal a UK-wide reach by creating a linked panel exhibition and despite challenging circumstances we delivered as providing a network for library professionals to Society of Literature. Our planning for our return to for partner sites in our Living Knowledge Network of a thriving programme of activity. Notable highlights share best practice and ideas. This year’s Unfinished the site is well underway with a programme offering city public libraries. Host libraries added in their own included Faint Signals, an online commission using Business exhibition has been a major theme with a hybrid of physical and digital experiences in future. locally curated displays and programming around the the Library’s environmental sounds archive, created Above: The David Olusoga in Conversation: Black History Matters themes of the exhibition, to bring them to life for by the Yorkshire-based studio Invisible Flock, for Light event was digitally broadcast and archived on the BL Player. people across the country. You can read more about Night Leeds 2020, and the Unfinished Business Leeds the network’s activities on page 25. During periods of Weekender, a series of online events in partnership no physical access to the exhibition, we have reached with Leeds Libraries. This attracted an audience of audiences through a range of engaging digital content over 800 and included a mentoring programme in that brings to life its core themes and debates. This advance for emerging spoken word artists in Yorkshire. includes an interactive UK map of locations linked Other online events developed with a variety of local to women’s activism, along with podcasts, digital partners covered topics including Hebrew Manuscripts, stakeholder events, video events, and articles. cookery book collections and the Andrea Levy archive, which the Library acquired last year. Overall, this A powerfully evocative, free-to-access exhibition of programme engaged over 18,000 people remotely Khadija Saye’s self-portraits, entitled In This Space throughout the year. We Breathe has yet to reach a large audience having opened on 3 December with the Library still under tier Our work across the whole of the UK continued restrictions. Gambian-British artist Saye was tragically in a number of ways. The Treasures on Tour killed in the Grenfell fire in 2017, and this display programme, funded by The Helen Hamlyn Trust, commemorates the personal and professional growth loaned the Armagh Gospels manuscript to Ulster of an artist fascinated with traditions of spirituality, Museum in Belfast. Originally intended for display alternative definitions of femininity, and the way from in the early part of 2020, the exhibition was ‘trauma is embodied in the black experience’. The delayed by the first Covid-19 lockdown and eventually

24 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 25 Learning We inspire young people and learners of all ages

During this year’s period of physical lockdown, from our Discovering Children’s Books website the Library was able to draw on the rich and varied resulting in submissions from all over the UK. online learning resources it has developed in recent As part of the project, Axel Scheffler illustrated years for educators and students. This year, these a National Miniature Library bookshelf. resources were accessed by almost 11.4m unique users, exploring themes ranging from Shakespeare to Following the success of the miniature books Sacred Texts. This included more than 410,000 users campaign, in the autumn a second campaign of our Discovering Children’s Books resource (which asked primary schools to Create a Classroom launched in the previous performance year shortly of Poets, inspired by archival material and new before lockdown began in March 2020). resources created with poets including Joseph Coelho and Caroline Bird. And in spring 2021, our This content provided the foundation for a range third campaign invited children to Step Inside Your of exciting innovation, both digital and physical, in Story, celebrating ethnic diversity in children’s books providing support for learners in lockdown. In May and demonstrating that anyone can be the author, 2020 we launched the first of three nationwide or the star, of a story. More than 700 teachers have campaigns, asking children to contribute their own taken part in associated training events, providing handmade volumes to a virtual National Library of them with content to engage their combined classes Miniature Books. This was inspired by the tiny books of more than 23,000 children. made by the Brontë siblings, and drew on resources

Left: Rita ‘loving colouring in her special activity pack from the Library’. Photo courtesy of The Sandy Family; Below: The Hood family enjoying our live online ‘Treasure Hunters!’ workshop with artist Luke Saydon. Photo courtesy of The Hood Family.

26 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 27 of the exhibition within their communities and to Access and Outreach programme, we delivered two deliver a series of virtual workshops for young people projects funded through the Library’s Unlocking and community groups to explore the key themes of Our Sound Heritage project (see page 13). Seeing Khadija Saye’s work. You can read more about this Sound was a partnership with the Free Space Project exhibition on page 24. (London) and The Brain Charity (Liverpool). Working with people living with brain injuries, a local group For adult learners, we launched a new programme in each location have explored sounds from our of online courses in September 2020 in place of our unique Wildlife and Environmental Sounds collection usual diverse offer of physical courses. These have culminating in the creation of an artwork that visually proved hugely popular with learners during lockdown brings sounds to life. In addition, we worked with Joy enabling us to both sustain our existing audience and of Sound, an organisation that run participatory music extend our reach to new participants from across the sessions and combined arts projects for adults with UK. Over the last six months, 1,000 participants have physical and learning disabilities. joined 37 courses on an eclectic range of topics from African Women Writers, Memoir Writing and Old Online, we created a new series of multi-sensory films English to Drawing and Mindfulness, Zine-Making, and activities inspired by the British Library Sound and Activist Embroidery. Archive. Designed to be used by adults and young people with special educational needs, participants As well as seeking to engage audiences with broader can listen and respond, as well as explore materials geographical, socio-economic and age range diversity, and textures to create their own sound pieces. We we created new projects to engage people with also continued our work with CareVision in order Above: Final pieces from the online adult learning course Craft Live: Activist Embroidery in March 2021. Photo © British Library. different accessibility requirements. Through our to create dementia-therapy films.

In order to reach and include learners in areas of socio- and weekly story sessions to families of care- economic disadvantage across the UK, we augmented experienced children, who said the project has been Below: Children across the country contributed to the National these digital activities with physical support in “a highlight of our weeks during lockdown” and Library of Miniature Books, displayed on bookshelves illustrated particular areas. For each of the three campaigns, we provided “more books than I could have afforded to by Axel Scheffler. produced a physical printed resources pack which buy at the moment and far more high quality ones”. included everything a teacher needed to deliver the Alongside our digital campaigns, we also developed campaign, from craft materials to teacher information activity packs for families at risk of digital exclusion. booklets and inspirational books for class libraries. Over 17,000 packs were sent to families in Camden Thanks to support from The Tuixen Foundation, Old and Leeds, via community organisations, charities, Possum’s Practical Trust, The Truemark Trust and temporary accommodation for homeless families and The Corcoran Foundation, over 2,300 packs were food banks. A further 48,500 packs were distributed distributed, building new relationships with schools via 215 schools across the UK identified on the basis of and enabling us to understand the value of our work. percentage of students qualifying for pupil premium.

‘An amazing outcome is the number In addition to our three campaigns, we have continued to respond to the ever-changing needs of schools of boys who beg to do poetry each over the last year. We have developed a range of new day. One of the boys refused to write formats including live, interactive workshops; webinars for the first two weeks in September! aimed at a larger, multi-schools audience; short form You wouldn't believe it by what he teaching videos enabling schools to use materials flexibly either in classroom settings or for remote can produce now.’ learning; as well as virtual Continuing Professional A teacher accessing our campaign materials Development events for teachers. We’ve worked with a large number of university PGCE providers including As part of our integrated Culture and Learning Manchester, Birmingham City, Leeds Trinity and UCL programme in Leeds, we ensured that 47 Leeds Institute of Education to pilot and shape the new offer. primary schools were able to take part in these digital 4,000 students, teachers and trainee teachers have campaigns. In addition to this, we worked with the engaged with the programme. Leeds for Learning school improvement team, to deliver training to primary and secondary school To support the impact of the powerful exhibition, teachers of history, English language and literature. In This Space We Breathe by the Gambian-British Together with Leeds Museum Service, we started artist Khadija Saye, who was tragically killed in creating learning resources for the MyLearning the Grenfell fire in 2017, the Library engaged key website, the first set of which, about the history community groups in the Grenfell area. This included of children’s books, will launch later in 2021. Our IntoUniversity, the Clement James Centre, and Reading With Your Child project provided books Grenfell United, who helped us to raise awareness

28 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 29 International We work with partners around the world to advance knowledge and mutual understanding

Since introducing its Living Knowledge vision in international funders and partners to sustain long- 2015, the Library has established and nurtured a wide term projects such as the Qatar Digital Library and ranging network of thriving international partnerships the International Dunhuang Project during this and collaboration in support of global knowledge challenging period. This has been built on relationships and understanding. The immediate impact of the of mutual commitment, trust and ambition. pandemic in almost entirely curtailing global travel and locking down borders represented a severe threat to The Library continued to provide the secretariat the continued flow and exchange of knowledge. And for and chair the Conference of European National it seems clear that the global experience of Covid-19 Librarians (CENL), the network for the national and its effects will endure in communities for many libraries of the member states of the Council of years to come. Europe. Key interventions this year included the creation of a Covid-19 Support Fund offering small Just as with every one of the Library’s purposes, grants to help CENL members respond to immediate the progress and achievements of recent years’ challenges and adapt their ways of working. Five international work provided a platform for a rapid European national libraries received grants, including and innovative response to this crisis. This was the National Library of Romania to purchase book particularly true of our portfolio of digitisation sterilisation equipment to disinfect library materials activities, outlined in the Custodianship section and reduce quarantine time between users, and of this report (page 13). We were grateful for the National Library of Moldova to purchase digital the continuing strength of support shown by equipment needed to produce and broadcast online events to improve community engagement. Left: A project team member working on the Sanskrit and Malayalam manuscripts from the Thrissur monastic complex project, viewing a manuscript (Project: EAP1039); Below: Leaders’ Conversations Group organised by the National Library Board of Singapore. Photo © NLB Singapore.

30 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 31 The Library’s content has always reached around the Fellows contribute to the Summer Scholars talks at world; research last year showed our online presence the British Library but for 2020 nine Fellows wrote (use of the digital collection, platforms and services) in blogs about their research with topics ranging from every recognised country. But the shift of the Library’s breadfruit in the Caribbean to Black dance, to nuclear wider programming from physical to digital opened up testing in the Pacific to indigenous art and craft in Library content to international audiences on a scale Northern Ontario. previously impossible. This global reach was evident in the increased volume and the geographical spread Our collaboration with the National Institute of of audiences for services that were shifted online; Japanese Literature (NIJL) in Tokyo continued for example 25% of users of our entrepreneurship with key collaborative projects including resources were non-UK resident and a similar trend sharing around 4,000 images from the Library’s was seen in our cultural events audience. digitised collection for inclusion in the NIJL’s Database of Pre-Modern Japanese Works, and And as teams working on collections-based projects further collaborative digitisation and metadata turned to digital channels to engage during lockdown, improvements to aid discovery by researchers. events such as the South Asia Series of seminars delivered by our Two Centuries of Indian Print team, We continued to grow our digital audience in China, reached larger audiences than ever before in over reaching around 2.5m people on social media platform 10 countries. The Eccles Centre, which promotes the Weibo through content ranging from the archive Library’s North American collections and supports of feminist magazine Spare Rib (to celebrate the creative research and lifelong learning about North reopening of our Unfinished Business exhibition) Above: Bonnie Greer (right) and Cecile Communal recording the America, was able to continue its programme online. to a sound recording of James Joyce reading from CENL Webinar on Diversity and Inclusion in National Libraries on 14 Dec 2020. Photo: Marcie Hopkins. The Centre’s Campus to Congress Programme, which Ulysses, and video of Stephen Fry in conversation usually involves two members of the United States with Shappi Khorsandi. A separate Hidden Stories Fund was also launched insights on the future of libraries in a post-Covid world Congress travelling across the UK to give talks to to support projects from national libraries to at the IFLA’s conference ‘Reflecting Back and Thinking school and university politics students, was delivered For all these positives in the form of new and growing collect, preserve, research and highlight stories Forward’. virtually this year and reached an audience of over audiences, it is clear that disruption to global networks relating to under-represented communities. Other 2,000. Other successes in digital formats included of knowledge are likely to persist for some time yet, activities shifted to digital delivery including the In November, we held an online reunion to public events like the Centre’s annual Bryant Lecture despite some projects beginning to return to planned annual conference in October 2020. This was commemorate the anniversary of our successful given by the cartoonist and author Alison Bechdel or adapted activities. The Library’s international attended by 66 delegates from 35 countries which International Library Leaders Programme (ILLP), to an audience of over 1,200 viewers drawn from purpose, founded in the remarkable breadth of its featured discussions on the impact, challenges and which ran for the first time in the autumn of 2019. Europe, America and Africa. In normal years Eccles collection, can play a leading role in reinforcing those opportunities of Covid-19 for National Libraries and Spanning 16 time-zones, 16 alumni gathered to networks by supporting peers around the world to the collaboration between CENL and Europeana. In share stories of how their respective institutions had Below: Digitally broadcast from London’s beautiful Union Chapel adapt in the face of extraordinary challenges. November, a series of webinars began on the theme been coping during the pandemic, and to reflect on venue and reaching audiences in China on Weibo, Stephen Fry talking to Shappi Khorsandi about the importance of writing. of diversity and inclusion with a keynote from author the knowledge shared and connections made during and playwright Bonnie Greer. their week at the British Library. Unfortunately the constraints of the lockdown and necessary Covid-19 CENL is just one network through which the Library safety measures coupled with insecurity around seeks to offer leadership and support to peer international travel have led to the cancellation of institutions around the world. This year, we placed a the 2020 and 2021 iterations of the programme strong emphasis on sharing information and advice in but we are hopeful that ILLP 2022 will go ahead. dealing with the immediate effects of the pandemic, as well as contributing to longer term debate One of our immediate priorities was to ensure around how libraries will need to respond to a world the continuity of work, as far as possible, on the transformed. Chief Executive Roly Keating spoke in a protection of cultural heritage around the world. range of online events including a Leader’s Dialogue Our Endangered Archives Programme was a key hosted by the National Library Board Singapore and mechanism for this, through which we supported in-conversation events with the National Library of current and previous programme partners in over 90 Israel and the Library of Trinity College Dublin. These countries with professional support and expertise to and others were broadcast to a global audience of weather the impact of the pandemic (you can read library professionals seeking to understand the long more about the programme on page 13). Elsewhere, term changes that have been unleashed over the our partnership with the Palestinian Museum, funded past year. We continued to play an active role in the by the British Council’s Cultural Protection Fund, International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) was able to continue by shifting skills training on with representation in the Public Libraries Section and conservation treatment for digitisation to an online the Document Delivery and Resource Sharing Section format. And we also participated in the UNESCO to contribute to international developments in making Virtual Dialogue on the preservation of documentary information in all formats available equally throughout heritage in October 2020. the world. Our Chief Librarian Liz Jolly also shared her

32 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 33 Public Lending Right

The British Library administers Public Lending Right Illustrator list, topped by Tony Ross and followed (PLR), the scheme through which authors are by Nick Sharatt, Axel Scheffler, Georgie Rippon remunerated by the government for loans made by and Quentin Blake. public libraries. In its distribution of the fund, the scheme recognises the value of such loans to the In contrast, the Most Borrowed E-book title was reading public and the right of authors and other debut novel Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine contributors to receive payments for them. Authors, by Gail Honeyman. illustrators, translators, narrators and all others who have contributed to books subsequently benefit and Also featuring in the top ten were Normal People are hugely supportive of it. The Library also administers by Sally Rooney (which became a BBC television Irish PLR on behalf of the Irish Government. lockdown hit), Circe by Madeleine Miller, and This is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay. PLR data to calculate remuneration is collected on a timetable that, for this report, runs from 1 July Welcoming the new figures in August 2020, Tom 2019 to 30 June 2020. Data on 27.84 million total Holland, Chair of the PLR Advisory Committee, loans was collected from the 29 library authorities said: “If PLR is to stay the same – to paraphrase nominated to be part of this year’s sample. These loans Lampedusa’s famous quip – then it has to change. comprise 25.4 million print and audio book loans and The fact that the first payments for the remote loans 2.44 million e-book/e-audio loans. The PLR sample of e-books were made this year demonstrate that loans data of registered titles was converted to a PLR is swimming with the fast moving currents of the national estimated figure for the UK, from which an times. An unchanging mission, fuelled by a readiness annual Rate Per Loan of 9.55 pence was calculated to change.” Culture Minister, Caroline Dinenage, and recommended to government (9.03 pence for added “It is brilliant that, thanks to digital services, so 2018/19). many people can still engage with their local library and enjoy the nation’s most popular titles. E-books are Over £6 million was distributed to 20,911 authors. a fantastic way to entertain and educate, especially as The maximum payment threshold a rightsholder can we spend more time at home.” receive is £6,600 and the minimum payment is £1, ensuring an equitable distribution of the fund across a The PLR team’s work this year has been conducted large community of creators. In February 2021 the PLR in parallel with a major update of its underpinning Advisory Committee agreed to maintain the thresholds technology infrastructure. This year we have delivered at the current rates for another year. a streamlined registration process for authors and other rights holders, and a simpler system for registering In addition, in May 2020, we revealed more of the titles. The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated a shift detail behind the overall 2018/19 PLR loans figures, of people using PLR toward registering, accessing which had seen James Patterson heading the list of and maintaining their accounts online, and we are Most Borrowed Authors. This additional detail showed continuing to work on service improvements to familiar names also dominating the Most Borrowed support this.

Right: Illustration by Donough O’Malley. 34 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 35 the pandemic. A range of mental standards despite being unable to on diversity data, introduction of Enabling Living Knowledge health, mindfulness, and personal attend our sites. anonymous recruitment processes, resilience resources have been shared equality and diversity training as part Delivery of our Living Knowledge purposes is underpinned throughout to support staff. We Our annual all-staff survey planned of recruitment training. However, by a range of enabling activities which ensure that we maximise have enabled flexible working and for 2021 is postponed until 2022 we know there is still a lot to do in provided paid special leave to help because of the pandemic, however this space. the resources at our disposal and continue to deliver a cost-effective staff manage caring responsibilities we have launched quarterly all service to world-class standards. during lockdown. Where staff have staff surveys that look at Engagement, In June 2020, we made a been required to attend our sites Leadership, Communication, Bullying commitment to our staff and our Finance and planning further hard choices, and some focus and we successfully increased in person, this has been supported and Harassment as well as support users that we will become an actively Our Strategic Leadership Team difficult judgements about which turnover by 100%. We launched a by robust risk assessments and through the pandemic. The survey is anti-racist organisation and will take engaged in the sixth year of a investments are likely to contribute new print on demand partnership Covid-secure procedures in the delivered online and open to all staff. all the necessary steps required to comprehensive corporate planning the greatest impact in making our through our Online Shop, and workplace. New communications make this promise a reality. The process, which continues to apply intellectual heritage accessible to adapted our book retailing to and networking tools, including We have seen a positive increase in new anti-racism working group tight scrutiny to budgets. This led everyone, for research, inspiration support cultural events that had Microsoft Teams and virtual ‘Open staff reporting they are coping well established this year will help define to the renewal and refresh of the and enjoyment. moved online. Our publishing Houses’ (delivered by Chief Officers (69%, up by 10%) and an increase what actions the organisation needs Financial Strategy originally approved and licensing teams continued to and colleagues and open to all), in good mental health (57%, an to take to ensure long term change. by the British Library Board in Our overriding objective throughout innovate, launching new series have enabled the workforce to stay increase of 12%). The majority of Our People Strategy for 2021–2023 2015/16. this year has continued to be to of works including British Library connected and engaged. our people are proud to work for will build upon the work of the anti- balance our Living Knowledge For Women Writers, Tales of the Weird, the Library and would recommend racism working group, committing However, due to the expected Everyone ambitions, our commercial and posters in association with our As well as responding to the the British Library as a good place to actions that relate to our people financial impact of the pandemic, and fundraising plans as well as look Unfinished Business exhibition immediate challenge of the to work. practices, particularly around policies during the summer 2020, the Library at where we can make savings. (under a profit share arrangement pandemic, the Library continued and processes. The People Team will made a number of budget changes to with charity partners featured to make progress with longer term Staff turnover has fallen from continue to work closely with the mitigate the impact of the commercial The Library welcomes the legislation in the exhibition). We’ve also strategic plans. A new Head of 14.37% last year to 6,35%. Last working sub-groups in the project income losses. This amounted to a passed shortly after the conclusion of increased our commercial activity People, Jas Rai, was appointed year’s figure was high in comparison team and will support and build in net £11m of actions including an this performance year which enables to offer bespoke merchandising in August 2020 to lead the next because it included leavers under the recommendations. additional call on our general reserves, the Library to borrow in future, in to consumers in China. phase of the Library’s People a voluntary exit scheme. recruitment freezes, business rate common with DCMS-sponsored Strategy (which will be published In July 2020, we joined the Stonewall relief and travel bans. museums and galleries. This provides Our people later in 2021). Key elements have A pay and grading project is Diversity Champions programme another financial tool for the Library Alongside the safety and security included the launch of a Bullying currently underway which is and in February 2021 we renewed However, throughout the autumn to achieve its strategic aims in future. of our users and the national and Harassment working group currently reviewing all job profiles our Disability Confident Employer and winter months, we were able collection, the wellbeing of our tasked with addressing issues across the organisation to ensure certification. These recommendations to revise our financial forecasts as Commercial strategy staff has been a top priority for identified in previous rounds of staff there is pay equality and fairness and actions and collaborations will we gained more certainty around The closure of our physical spaces the organisation throughout our engagement, including developing (known as job levelling). This work drive and embed culture change, the continuity of some external for large parts of the year had a response to the pandemic. The a new behaviours framework to will feed into our reform of the pay ensuring we are diverse, fair and funding. We also began to over dramatic impact on our commercial impact on our ways of working has support all staff to understand how and grading structures to enable inclusive by initiating a culture reset, achieve some of our savings targets income, which fell to £7.1m from been transformative and addressing our organisational values should better progression through a grading not a tick-the-box programme. that included a recruitment freeze, last year’s income of £14.9m. The the longer term implications of be upheld. We are beginning structure, enabling us to retain our To realise the ambitions of Living and reductions to acquisitions and pandemic, as it did for large parts of this will be a major focus for to upgrade some of our core key talent, develop people through Knowledge For Everyone, we commercial income margins, as well the economy, simply stopped many the organisation in the years to technology underpinning our career paths that span all grades need our people to value diversity, as better than expected returns on of our major income streams from come. The support and challenge Human Resources function, and also attracting people to the enabling us to learn through our our investments in the stock market flowing, from exhibitions and events, offered by our staff networks and beginning with a competitive organisation. In summer of 2021 differences and grow through our (though these are unrealised). This to venue hire and catering. In the trade union colleagues has been tender process for a new we will be publishing our next individual strengths. has allowed us to protect and face of the crisis, our Commercial invaluable in helping us navigate HR/Payroll system. Gender Pay Gap, as well as for the increase our reserve levels in the teams worked hard to implement the challenges of the pandemic. first time ethnicity and disability pay Our technology short term, rather than making the required Covid controls to ensure We operated a recruitment freeze gap reports, alongside action plans This year, the Technology team the planned call. However this is safe public access whenever our A key focus has been supporting between May and October 2020, to address disparities. has established and stabilised the primarily due to spend being delayed buildings could open. This included staff from a really diverse range as part of the organisation’s efforts capability needed to support the due to slippage of plans, rather than vital Box Office capacity to manage of functions to adapt to a largely to mitigate the financial impact of Diversity and inclusion Library through multiple lockdowns, cancellation of expenditure. distancing in our Reading Rooms and remote-based model. The Library closing our sites to the public. This work on pay gap reporting following the rapid emergency galleries and the provision of a safe made an early decision not to (see above) supports our ongoing shift to a predominantly remote- The Library’s core public funding catering offer to users, whenever furlough any of its staff, and so an Despite this we have continued efforts to promote equality and working model towards the end for the next few years is dependent allowed by regulations. immediate priority was to ensure to commit to our apprenticeship inclusion in our workplace. We of the previous performance year. on the outcome of a forthcoming staff had access to meaningful work programme and virtually on-boarded continued to work with our now This has been a huge task resulting UK Government Comprehensive Despite these challenges, the and development opportunities, 18 new apprentices between April well established BAME, LGBTQ+, in 1,300 colleagues becoming Spending Review, which will not Library responded by maximising even if their roles were typically site- and November 2020. We also Gender Equality, and Disability enabled to work remotely and able be concluded until Autumn 2021. commercial income from sources based. An expanded programme of extended contracts for our previous staff networks to make progress. to access core internal systems, The financial strategy for the years that could continue in lockdown. remote training and development cohort of apprentices, to ensure they Key achievements have included including via personal devices where ahead will inevitably require some Our online retail offer became a has been promoted throughout had the ability to complete their improved capture and reporting necessary using Secure VPN. Over

36 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 37 400 laptops have been bought and and contribute to the nation’s supported us to create a digital tour allocated, and core software such as economic renewal. Our Business & of this exhibition, the first time the Microsoft Teams has been rolled out IP Centre pivoted quickly to offer a Library has undertaken this and a The year ahead to facilitate better remote working digital-only service for the first time. vital step for us as we sought to practices. The Technology team also National Start-Up Day in partnership adapt our offer to the digital realm. The global Covid-19 pandemic required a radical departure from maintained technology support to with Santander delivered over 30 We are also grateful to The Sir John our usual rhythm of corporate business planning during 2020–21. those teams working on site, both virtual events for entrepreneurs Ritblat Family Foundation, John S during lockdown and during those nationwide, whilst our Start Up in Cohen Foundation and others for Looking ahead, our plans for the year will focus on supporting the periods where larger numbers of London Libraries pilot supported their support of our forthcoming UK’s recovery as well as evolving our business model for the post- staff were able to return. by JP Morgan helped 1,192 SME exhibition, Elizabeth and Mary: pandemic period. leaders from ten boroughs across Royal Cousins, Rival Queens, now Outside of enabling this new the capital. Our digital collections due to open in Autumn 2021. We model of hybrid working, systems and learning resources have been are also delighted to have been supporting customer access were particularly appreciated and we are selected to host a Weston Jerwood Deliver our purposes, on-site and online Progress our strategic ambitions prioritised. Remote services such very grateful to have received further Creative Fellow and look forward to • Implement the physical reoccupation of the Library, • Submit our Planning Application for the St Pancras as a new ‘Available Online (Beta)’ support this year to create new welcoming a Fellow to the Library to in line with the Government’s roadmap Transformed programme, which aims to deliver tab helped users to navigate to content, including from the Garfield bring new perspectives and ideas to • As people return, maintain the safety and security 100,000 square feet of new spaces for the Library and digital content available in our huge Weston Foundation to kickstart a our cultural events programming. of our collection, estates, and of all people on site a major new international hub for knowledge industry catalogues, and a reconfiguration new learning resource on British • Assess backlogs in processing of Legal Deposit in the capital of the Library’s Box Office function History. We are also delighted to During the year we were material and put in place robust plans to recover • Everyone Engaged: launch a new major phase of our enabled Covid-secure pre-booking have launched a five-year project to delighted to announce several them over a period of several years public libraries collaborations, working with partners of slots in our Reading Rooms. The digitise items of great international major acquisitions, including the • Support economic recovery through the next phase to increase our reach and impact across the UK Library faces sizable technology significance in the Library’s visual archive of writer, artist and of Business & IP Centre National Network expansion: • Achieve planning permission for the Boston Spa changes simply in responding to collection, including Javanese paper illustrator Mervyn Peake, following reaching 18 regional centres and 60 local centres Renewed programme and appoint Stage 1 contractor the growth in digital collecting and manuscripts and early Singaporean our acquisition of his literary archive • Publish a Science Strategy and deliver a diverse public • Leeds Presence: Complete Strategic Outline Case changing user behaviours. As the printed books, thanks to the in 2010; The Lucas Psalter, an engagement programme around climate change in with Leeds City Council and West Yorkshire Combined longer term implications of the incredibly generous support of important and hitherto unknown advance of COP26 Authority to enable stabilisation and exploratory pandemic on our future ways of William and Judith Bollinger. copy of the Psalms dating from the • Deliver major new cultural exhibitions on Paddington works at Temple Works. working start to take shape, we second half of the 15th century; and and Elizabeth and Mary: Royal Cousins, Rival Queens are resolved to continue investing Beyond the digital, we were able the Melford Hall manuscript, a rare and embed a new hybrid model of events that Enabling strategies substantially in our technology to turn to some of our most loyal 17th-century volume of poetry by combines physical and digital engagement • Publish a new People Strategy that supports and infrastructure in the years to come. supporters including the Tuixen John Donne. Our thanks go to the • Deliver a range of learning programmes for learners enables our people to thrive in a changing world Foundation, Old Possums Practical National Heritage Memorial Fund, of all ages, on-site and online of work Fundraising Trust, the Truemark Trust and the Art Fund with a contribution • Publish a new International Strategy to set out • Continued improvements to our Technology After such a challenging year, we are The Corcoran Foundation to fund from the Wolfson Foundation and a the Library’s priorities for engagement. capability, embedding a secure platform for incredibly grateful to our supporters learning packs that were distributed contribution in memory of Miranda collaborative working across sites and remotely and business partners who have around the country to over 50,000 Stonor, the Friends of the National • Continued stabilisation of the Library’s financial maintained their loyal support in families without digital access, many Libraries, Paul Chrzanowski, Patrick position, and delivery of a balanced budget the face of changes and delays to of whom also lacked reading or Donovan, the Bernard H. Breslauer for 21/22 projects they are supporting; and writing materials at home, providing Fund and the American Trust for • Begin recovery of commercial income toward to the many members of the public opportunities for children to continue the British Library for making these pre-pandemic levels and refresh our Commercial who have generously donated developing literacy skills and to find acquisitions possible. Strategy for the years ahead the value of their exhibition or a creative release whilst schools • Continue seeking fundraising income to support event ticket or responded to digital were closed. Despite the challenging year, we delivery of key Living Knowledge priority projects communications asking for support. were incredibly grateful to welcome • Deliver initial phase of Public Sector Decarbonisation Though much delayed from their a number of new supporters during works, significantly reducing the Library’s climate With the year starting in lockdown, planned Spring slots, we were the year, including Lenore England impact we swiftly switched to a new delighted to open our Unfinished whose exceptional generosity has • Deliver improvements to the Library’s web estate, programme of digital events and Business exhibition thanks to enabled us to establish the Patricia including major accessibility improvements and activities, delivering curator talks generous support from Joanna G. and Jonathan S. England – British content optimisation. and online events to our Patrons, and Graham Barker and the Library Innovation Fund, a number business members and other Hebrew Manuscripts: Journeys of generous individuals and all those supporters. Record numbers of of the Written Word exhibition, who have pledged to leave a gift in audiences across the UK and generously supported by the their will. overseas viewed two digital Food Dr Michael and Anna Brynberg Seasons delivered with our long- Charitable Foundation, the Harold In total, the Library received term supporter, KitchenAid. We are Hyam Wingate Foundation, the donations and sponsorship of just grateful to our business partners for Shoresh Charitable Trust and over £5.47m, at a rate of around the support they’ve given to our The David Pearlman Charitable 5.1% to Grant in Aid received. SME programmes this past year, Foundation. We are also grateful to help create more entrepreneurs to The Polonsky Foundation, who

38 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 39 Key Performance Indicators

Target Actual Actual Actual Target Actual Actual Actual 2020/21 2020/21 2019/20 2018/19 2020/21 2020/21 2019/20 2018/19 000s 000s 000s 000s 000s 000s 000s 000s VISITORS CUSTODIANSHIP British Library on-site visits 0 48 1,597 1,636 We build, curate and preserve the UK’s national British Library website visits 1 27,000 27,002 26,677 27,718 collection of published, written and digital content Printed items added to the collection through legal deposit 0 271 269 290 CUSTOMER SERVICE Digital items added to the collection through legal deposit 0 186 194 242 Satisfaction with Reading Room services 96% N/A3 96% 96% RESEARCH Satisfaction with ease of finding information on the Library’s website 90% 90% 90% 90% We support and stimulate research of all kinds Satisfaction with our exhibitions (customer enjoyment rating) 85% N/A3 90% 91% Items consulted in Reading Rooms 1 0 93 1,337 1,472 British Library website items consulted 1 5,450 5,571 4,746 5,104 OUR PEOPLE Visits to the Reading Rooms 0 22 358 418 Employee engagement (rating out of 5) 4.00 4.02 4.00 3.88 BUSINESS FINANCE AND ECONOMIC We help businesses to innovate and grow People supported by the network of Business & IP Centres 1 17 26 22 24 Commercial income generated £000s 1 6,300 7,082 14,956 17,107 Charitable giving: donations and sponsorship £000s 1, 2 0 5,475 6,699 7,795 Rate of charitable giving i.e. donations and CULTURE sponsorships to Grant in Aid 1 0 5.1% 6.9% 8.3% We engage everyone with memorable cultural experiences Visitors to exhibitions in St Pancras 0 21 928 1,095 1 These measures are included in the British Library’s Management Agreement with DCMS for the period 2016–2020. Visitors to events and exhibitions outside London (UK) 1 0 40 736 267 2 This measure includes donated assets of £nil (2019–20: £101k and 2018–19 £1,210k), but excludes pledged future gifts and Items lent to other institutions for grants from publicly-funded institutions. 3 events and exhibitions (not 000s) 1 0 77 209 375 No customer satisfaction surveys for on-site services have taken place in 2020-21 because of the Covid pandemic. 4 Although only 18 on-site learning sessions were delivered during 2020–21, there were 8k attendees at on-line sessions and a LEARNING further 67k digital learning packs provided. We inspire young people and learners of all ages Under-18 learners (and teachers) attending In March 2020 the Library was still in the process of finalising and agreeing targets for the 2020–21 financial year when on-site learning sessions 1 0 04 18 39 the first lockdown came into effect in the UK. As a result pre-Covid targets for the year were never fully agreed and work Visitors to British Library Learning website 1 11,100 11,400 10,360 10,616 then commenced to form new targets in light of the crisis. In light of the uncertainty about how long the pandemic and associated restrictions would last, targets of zero were set for measures relating to activities which take place on-site and to fundraising for donations and sponsorship. INTERNATIONAL We work with partners around the world to Performance in most areas was detrimentally affected by the impacts of the Coronavirus outbreak and the closure of the advance knowledge and mutual understanding Library’s buildings and on-site services during lockdowns throughout the year. International engagements hosted (not 000s) 1 240 193 379 523 The number of items actually received through legal deposit was broadly as expected but temporary difficulties in processing delayed some of them being added to the collection for access. The backlog will be addressed during the coming year, when staff are able to return on site after the lockdown.

Context for other KPIs is provided in the corresponding sections of the Annual Report which precede this table.

40 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 41 Grants and Donations The British Library would like to thank all those who have given their support, including:

Donors and Supporters Peter and Krystyna Holland British Library Patrons Benefactor Members American Trust for Mr William Buice III The American Trust for The Idlewild Trust Chairman’s Circle Stephen Barnham the British Library Ms Angela Emmerson the British Library Professor Heather Jackson Joanna and Graham Barker Dame Carol Black Chairman’s Council Mr Richard P Henke The Andor Charitable Trust Jerwood Arts Sir Trevor and Lady Susan Chinn Julia Boyd Ms Katherine Ashton and Mr Arthur Holzheimer Mr Brian D Young Arcadia – a charitable fund Michael G Katakis Anthony Diamond Ms Cheryl Hurley of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin Mr R Dyke Benjamin The Kirby Laing Foundation Curators’ Circle Jane Gilbert Ms Patricia Klingenstein Art Fund Elizabeth A R and Ralph S Brown Jr The Leverhulme Trust Lord and Lady Egremont Amritpal Gill Ms Paula Krebs Arts Council England Paul Chrzanowski The Michael Marks Charitable Trust Mark Redman John Harding Ms Carol Mon Lee The BAND Trust Lauren B Cramer Brian Mitchell Charitable Settlement Ms Louise Service OBE Lord Janvrin Mr Michael Leslie The Barakat Trust Mr Simon Eccles Akshata Murty S and C Westwell Helen Potts Dr Andrew T Nadell and Mrs Joanna and Graham Barker Dr Peter N Heydon National Heritage Lottery Fund Andrew G White Maria Pringipa Eleanore Ramsey Nadell John Clive Blake Ms Evalyn Lee The National Heritage Mr and Mrs. Bernard Picchi The Bluston Charitable Settlement Robert McCarthy Memorial Fund Patrons Adopt a Book Dr Caroline Rubinstein and William and Judith Bollinger Dr Eugenia M Palmegiano The National Library of Israel The BAND Trust Patricia Everitt Mr Phillip Winegar Breslauer Bequest and the Friedberg Jewish Mr Howard Phipps Jr Sir Nicholas and Lady Bacon And many others. Ms Mary Coxe Schlosser British Academy Manuscript Society Mr David N Redden David and Kate Barclay Mr and Mrs Stanley Scott The British Library Collections Trust National Central Library, Taipei Ms Ruth E Robinson Esther Baroudy We are very grateful to everyone Mr David Solo Dr Michael and Anna Brynberg Old Possum’s Practical Trust Ms Jane Gregory Rubin Philip ten Bosch and Catja de Haas who has pledged and given a Ms Szilvia Szmuk-Tanenbaum Charitable Foundation The David Pearlman legacy to the British Library. Dr Barbara A Shailor Mr Winston Tabb Charitable Foundation Jonathan and Hilary Callaway The Clore Duffield Foundation Ms Felicia Shapiro Mark Pigott KBE, KStJ Lord Charles Cecil The Clothworkers’ Foundation Companies Ms Merle Shapiro James and Victoria Corcoran Foundations and Matching Gifts The John S Cohen Foundation The Polonsky Foundation Bloomberg LLP Mr James B Sitrick The Gladys Krieble Delmas PRS Foundation Chris and Eddie Dapré The Corcoran Foundation JP Morgan Chase Foundation Mr James P Spica Foundation Qatar Foundation Michael Diamond The CPF Trust KitchenAid Maryanne Tagney and David Jones The Seattle Foundation Research Councils UK Elinor Evans The Dorset Foundation Mintel Ms Susan Jaffe Tane The Philip and Irene Toll Gage The Sir John Ritblat Patrick Fleming Dunhuang Foundation RELX Group Ms Gwendolyn van Paasschen Foundation Family Foundation Sam Fogg The Eccles Centre for Santander UK plc Ms Christine Zuromskis Michael Rooze Richard Godden American Studies Governmental Funders Patricia G. and Jonathan S. England Stuart Rossiter Trust Edward and Victoria Harley Patrons and Benefactors President’s Circle Department for Digital, Culture, – British Library Innovation Fund The Ruddock Foundation Lesley and Brian Knox Media and Sport of National Life Stories Ms Davida Deutsch The Exilarch’s Foundation and for the Arts Professor Michael Lapidge (Core Grant in Aid) Dame Jenny Abramsky Mr Jon A Lindseth Dangoor Education The Basil Samuel Charitable Trust Sir Michael Palin European Regional Development Arcadia – a charitable fund Shouky and Doris Shaheen Ms Judith Ogden Thomson Fund (deployed by Greater Belinda Fairthorne Mark Robbins of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin Shandong University London Authority) Friends of the National Libraries Stephen and Roberta Rosefield Cartier UK Shoresh Charitable Trust Benefactors Dr Michael Frohlich Sarah Smith Goldman Sachs Gives Mrs Purviz Rusy Shroff Ms Virginia Barbato And others who wish to The Goldhammer Foundation Francesca Valli Sir Nicholas Goodison Sino-British Fellowship Trust Mr Stephen J Bury remain anonymous. The Goldsmiths’ Company Charity Mark Vogel and William Denebeim Christopher and Gilda Haskins Bei Shan Tang Foundation Ms Dana Clay Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation John C Walton Jocelyn Herbert Foundation The Steel Charitable Trust Ms Joan M Friedman The Helen Hamlyn Trust The Duke and Duchess of Bill Knight The Truemark Trust Wellington Charitable Trust Ms Tessa Smith The Hintze Family Charitable Lesley Knox Foundation The Tuixen Foundation Mr & Mrs Michael Wilson Ruth & Stuart Lipton The Robert H N Ho Family The Garfield Weston Foundation Patrons Hodson and Luanne Thornber Foundation Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation Mr Robert S Birch Yale Center for British Art The Hobson Charity Dr Martine Brownley

42 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 43 STATEMENT OF THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD’S FINANCIAL REVIEW AND ACCOUNTING OFFICER’S RESPONSIBILITIES

Under the British Library Act 1972, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has Overview of financial position Donations and legacy income was the pandemic on incoming funds directed the British Library to prepare for each financial year a statement of accounts in the The overall financial performance £9.5m, (£8.6m in 2019/20). The including a recruitment freeze, form and on the basis set out in the accounts direction. The accounts are prepared on an for the year was severely affected contributions from philanthropic senior pay restraint, travel ban and accruals basis and must give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Library and of its by the impacts of the Covid donations, research grants and applying for receiving rates relief for net incoming resources, recognised gains and losses, and cash flows for the financial year. pandemic with significant periods funding for major projects, which its St Pancras site. There was also In preparing the accounts, the Accounting Officer is required to comply with during which both the public and included a National Lottery Heritage slippage in most major programmes the requirements of the Government Financial Reporting Manual and, in particular, to: staff were unable to access the Fund grant towards the Save our during the year resulting from buildings to provide services to Sounds project and funding for the the situation, with the associated • observe the accounts direction issued by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and visitors or access the collections in Endangered Archives Programme, funding being held in reserves. Sport, including the relevant accounting and disclosure requirements, and apply suitable support of many other activities. alongside generous pledges and accounting policies on a consistent basis The year-on-year comparisons donations from private individuals Revenue expenditure on acquisitions • make judgements and estimates on a reasonable basis therefore need to be considered and trusts, continue to provide for the collections was £7.1m • state whether applicable accounting standards as set out in the Government Financial against this context. critical funding in support of the (£8.4m in 2019/20). The reduction Reporting Manual have been followed, and disclose and explain any material departures in Library’s purposes. in revenue expenditure reflects the the financial statements The British Library’s income for impact of the pandemic on both the • prepare the financial statements on a going concern basis 2020/21 was £125.9m, (£121.1m Income from the provision of supply chain and the pace at which • confirm that, so far as they are aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the in 2019/20), of which £108.2m charitable and other trading we have been able to develop our British Library’s auditors are unaware and that they have taken all the steps that they ought or 86% was Grant in Aid (£96.9m activities was £8.0m, (£15.2m in purchased collections. In November to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish or 80% in 2019/20). Grant in 2019/20), a decrease of 50% on 2020 we published Enabling access that the Library’s auditors are aware of that information Aid is the Library’s primary source last year. Income from onsite retail, for everyone, a new document • confirm that the Annual Report and Accounts as a whole is fair, balanced and understandable of funding, received from the publishing and exhibition ticket sales that sets out the British Library’s and that they take personal responsibility for the Annual Report and Accounts and the Department for Digital, Culture, was down on last year reflecting strategy for contemporary content judgements required for determining that the Annual Report and Accounts are fair, balanced Media and Sport (DCMS). the lower visitor numbers resulting for the period 2020–2023. Capital and understandable. from the closure of the buildings expenditure was £0.5m (£1.3m in In November 2019, the Secretary at the start and end of the year 2019/20), with the acquisition of a The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has appointed the Chief Executive as of State announced the Library’s and limited access during the rest number of heritage items supported Accounting Officer of the Library. The responsibilities of an Accounting Officer, including Grant in Aid for 2020/21. This of the year due to the pandemic by just over £0.1m in donations and responsibility for the propriety and regularity of the public finances for which the Accounting included a 1.84% inflationary situation whilst the online shop grants. Reduced levels of capital Officer is answerable, for keeping proper records and for safeguarding the Library’s assets, are increase to the baseline resource saw sales increase by over 100%. expenditure in 2020/21 reflected set out in Managing Public Money published by HM Treasury. budget and an additional £3m Income from Document Supply and the impact of the pandemic on the required to compensate for an other services reliant on physical amount of material coming onto the There is a clear division of responsibility between the Chair and the Chief Executive. The increase in employer pension access to the collections were also market place during this uniquely Chair is responsible for the leadership of the British Library Board, ensuring its effectiveness contributions payable as part of the severely impacted. Income from disrupted year. There were no on all aspects of its role. They facilitate both the contribution of Board members and also Government review of the scheme’s leasing out office space in our St donated collections during the year. constructive relations between the Board and the Executive. They represent the Library to its funding. It was confirmed Capital Pancras building was in line with external stakeholders at the highest levels. The Chief Executive has responsibility for the overall budgets would be in line with those last year whilst sales of commercial The Public Lending Right (PLR) organisation, management and staffing of the Library, for the formulation of strategy and for agreed at Spending Review 2015. and cultural events and membership Grant in Aid allocation for the year the successful delivery of results. As Accounting Officer, they are responsible for its procedures During the year, additional Grant also declined due to the pandemic was £6.6m (£6.6m in 2019/20). and controls in financial and other matters. in Aid of £8.4m was provided, of situation. Total PLR payments made in which £1.8m is in relation to urgent 2020/21 were £6m, paid to 21,077 capital improvements to the estate Investment income was £0.2m authors (£6m paid to 21,697 under the Museums Infrastructure (£0.4m in 2019/20). Interest rates authors in 2019/20). The rate per Fund project, £3.6m for the dropped to record lows during the loan approved for 2020 was 9.55 expansion of the Business and year leading to a big reduction in pence (9.03 pence in 2019). PLR Intellectual Property Centres and an the ability to generate previous expenditure included £12,778 advance of £3.4m in relation to the levels of return. unpaid at the year end because Dame Carol Black Roly Keating Boston Spa Renewed Business Case. some authors’ addresses and/or Chair Chief Executive In addition, £1.65m was received Resources expended were decreased bank details are unknown to PLR, and Accounting Officer from the DCMS Covid Emergency to £128.6m in the year (£136.1m or because authors’ assignees have 12 July 2021 12 July 2021 Fund although it was agreed this in 2019/20). Following the onset not made probate claims (£14,994 would be repaid in 2021/22. The of the pandemic an emergency last year). Library did not make use of the financial plan was prepared and Government’s Coronavirus Job approved by the Board in July. The Library has established Retention Scheme. A number of measures were procedures to ensure that the cost introduced to offset the impact of allocation and charging requirements

44 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 45 FINANCIAL REVIEW (CONTINUED) set out in HM Treasury and Office Endowments, restricted and other • £2.5m restructuring reserve The Library’s goals are firstly to ended 31 March 2021, 94% of of Public Sector Information designated funds are set aside • £1.7m GIA overpayment to preserve at least the real purchasing invoices were paid within the guidance are met. for defined purposes and include be offset in 2021/22 power of its investment portfolio agreed 30-day period (91% in £4.0m in permanent endowment • £12.9m in relation to earmarked over time whilst secondly setting 2019/20), against a target of 90%. The Library is included in a funds which cannot be used to fund funds for the major Portfolios spending policies at a level that Government scheme which gives current expenditure. and Programmes maximises sustainable spend Related party transactions exemption from certain spending • £4.2m for expenditure carried without prejudicing the first goal. Details of related party transactions controls to organisations in the The fixed asset, revaluation and over from the current year The overall investment objective are disclosed on page 93 at note 22. Museums and Galleries sector. donated asset reserves are fully • £2.1m financial planning is to achieve a total return on Under these ‘Museum freedoms’, employed in the operation of the commitment in relation to investments of RPI plus 3% per Code of best practice on the Library is exempt from some Library and are not available for technology refresh annum over a rolling 5 year period. corporate governance of the Government rules in relation other purposes. • £7.0m for future planning Performance is monitored annually In accordance with HM Treasury to pay awards, procurement and commitments in response to against target and the investment Code of Good Practice and Chapter property spend. The Library is also As part of the annual planning and the Covid pandemic policy and strategy is reviewed 3 of Managing Public Money,the permitted to keep reserves and to budget setting process, the British • £8.2m general provision, which every three years. Annual Governance Statement is use them in a more flexible way, Library Board reviews and approves is 6.8% of the year’s unrestricted included on pages 57 to 64 of this subject to informing DCMS of the level of readily available reserves expenditure and within the At the start of the year, fund values report. any requirement as part of HM appropriate to the scale, complexity Library’s target level. stood at £21.9m. During the year, Treasury’s supplementary review and risk profile of the Library. there were disposals of £1.8m So far as the Accounting Officer estimate. The reserves policy has been to fund management fees and and the British Library Board are The overall objective of the Library’s developed and approved in light of expenditure on the Trust Funds and aware, there is no relevant audit Over the year, there was a net Reserves Policy is to provide the pandemic and, in line with HM additions of £0.4m. The positive information of which the Library’s increase in funds before revaluation continuing assurance that the Treasury guidance, is being utilised performance on the global financial auditors are unaware, and the and transfers of £1.9m, which was solvency of the Library will not be to help deliver a balanced three markets resulted in a £4.7m gain Accounting Officer and British comprised of a £17.8m increase in put at risk by short-term variations year financial plan for the period during the year, of which £0.2m Library Board have taken all the general funds, a £21.5m decrease in in income or expenditure levels 2021/22 to 2023/24. was realised and at the end of the steps that they ought to have taken fixed asset funds, mainly as a result of and to create an appropriate level year investments stood at £25.0m. to make themselves aware of any the in-year depreciation charge and of resource capability to allow the Investments and financial risks relevant audit information and to impairments, and a £5.6m increase in Library to respond to unforeseen The Library holds a number of Investments held as fixed assets establish that the Library’s auditors restricted and designated funds. challenges and opportunities arising Trust and Restricted funds which, are included at market value at are aware of that information. within a financial year. Levels of although each is self-contained, are the year-end. The Statement Revaluations, including desk unrestricted funds, both current pooled under the title of a Common of Financial Activities (SOFA) top exercises for both the St and forecast, are kept under close Investment Fund for investment includes any realised and unrealised Pancras and Boston Spa sites (a scrutiny to ensure that they do not purposes. The Board determines the investment gains and losses arising full revaluation of St Pancras was fall below the levels necessary to overall investment return objectives on revaluation and disposals undertaken last year), resulted provide an adequate level of cover, and acceptable risk tolerances for throughout the year. in a £19.4m revaluation gain on and are reported on as part of the Common Investment Fund. Dame Carol Black Fixed Asset Funds in the year. the quarterly financial monitoring Payment of creditors Chair Both exercises were undertaken by process. The Reserves Policy, and The Board recognises the risk of The Library observes the principles 12 July 2021 professional property advisors. the financial provision to be made short term volatility or longer term of the Better Payment Practice within it, is reviewed annually by depression in values associated with Code, and it is the policy of the Reserves the British Library Board within the investing in equities and other asset British Library Board to pay all At 31 March 2021 the British context of the assessed financial classes and maintains a relatively creditors within 30 days of the Library’s reserves were as follows: and business planning environments conservative attitude to risk. The invoice receipt unless separate £m and taking account of assessed Library’s investments are held in two arrangements have been agreed Permanent endowment 4.0 levels of risk. Diversified Growth Funds (DGF), with the supplier. For the year Roly Keating managed by Baillie Gifford and Chief Executive Expendable endowment 14.4 The target level of general provision Ninety One plc (formerly known and Accounting Officer Restricted funds 9.0 2% to 10% of annual unrestricted as Investec), having different but 12 July 2021 Unrestricted funds fund expenditure. In total, General complementary market outlooks to Fixed asset reserve 459.2 Reserves at 31 March 2021 were manage this risk. Investment returns £41.7m of which £3.1m relates to for the year exceeded expectations Revaluation reserve 478.5 non-cash prepayment adjustments and recovered the losses witnessed Donated asset reserve 30.3 in relation to serials. Taking account at the end of last financial year as Other designated funds 6.9 of the current level of risk, the the pandemic shocked the financial following reserve levels were agreed markets with the overall portfolios General Funds 41.7 by the British Library Board: increasing by 15% over the year. Total funds 1,044.0

46 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 47 REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS SUSTAINABILITY REPORT

The following organisations were the Library’s principal The Library recognises that its collection storage while seeking estate and business-related transport. suppliers of professional financial, legal and investment activities impact on society and the to minimise the impact that its This target has now been extended services during 2020/21: environment at local, regional and buildings and operations have on to cut emissions by 57% by 2020. global levels through the resources the environment. The Library has exceeded this target, it consumes, the waste it produces, achieving a 62% reduction on the Lloyds Bank plc Ninety One Plc the travel and work patterns it The Library adopted the ‘Greening 2009/10 baseline, partly due to the 25 Gresham Street (Formerly Investec Asset encourages amongst its staff and Government’ target to reduce its effect of Covid-19 as described in London EC2V 7HN Management Limited) the products it buys. The Library greenhouse gas emissions by 25% more detail later. 55 Gresham Street needs to provide stable and reliable from a 2009/10 baseline, for our Barclays Bank London EC2V 7EL 49 High Street Progress in 2020/21 towards Greening Government commitment targets for 2020/21 Stockton-on-Tees TS18 1AH Mills and Reeve (against a 2009/10 baseline) 24 King William Street Requirement 2009/10 baseline 2020/21 % change Status Government Banking Service London EC4R 9AT Premier Place 20,602 6,303 69% Target Devonshire Square Farrer & Co Reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions by 57% by 2019/20 tonnes tonnes achieved CO CO London EC2M 4BA 66 Lincoln’s Inn Fields 2 2 London WC2A 3LH Santander Corporate Banking Reduce the number of domestic business flights by 30% 132 0 100% Target 2 Triton Square Veale Wasbrough Vizards achieved Regent’s Place Narrow Quay House London NW1 3AN Narrow Quay Increase the proportion of waste recycled 71% 67% -4% See below1 Bristol BS1 4QA Comptroller and Auditor General National Audit Office Mazars LLP Reduce waste sent to landfill to less than 10% of overall waste 0% 0% 0% Target 157–197 Buckingham Palace Road Tower Bridge House achieved London SW1W 9SP St Katharine’s Way, London E1W 1DD Continue to reduce water consumption 87,682 m3 27,377 m3 69% Target Baillie Gifford & Co Edinburgh achived 1 Calton Square PwC 26,655 514 98% Target Greenside Row Central Square Reduce paper consumption by 50% A4 reams A4 reams achieved Edinburgh EH1 3AN 29 Wellington Street equivalent equivalent Leeds LS1 4DL 1 Our success in other areas of waste reduction, such as reducing the overall amount of waste produced and the decrease in paper consumption have adversely affected the percentage of recycled waste. We continue to improve our waste handling systems to capture recyclable materials wherever possible and are actively pursuing innovations to improve the percentage of waste recycled. Carter Jonas 1 Chapel Place London W1G 0BG Greenhouse gas emissions energy saving measures, including plant replacement at Boston Spa. The main direct causes of carbon increasing the rate of LED lighting In addition, the closure of the emissions from the Library are replacement. The reductions in Library’s buildings to the public as a electricity and gas consumption. energy consumed and related result of Covid-19 has significantly An energy saving action plan is in carbon emissions are significantly contributed to the reduction in place and significant progress has better than our 2020/21 target. An electricity and gas use for the whole been made as opportunities and on-target result was expected as a of this year. budgets allow for investment in result of a ‘spend to save’ nitrogen

Tonnes 25,000

CO2

20,000

15,000

10,000

Scope 3 Scope 1 5,000 Scope 2 2009/10 Baseline Target 0 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21

48 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 49 Energy consumption Waste, excluding construction waste, by disposal route (MWh) MWh 50 Tonnes 800

700 40 600

30 500

400 20 300 Hazardous Other Incinerated with energy recovery 200 10 Fuel Oil Reused/Recycled 100 Gas 2009/10 Baseline Electricity non-renewable 0 Target 0 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21

Greenhouse gas emissions 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 Waste (excluding construction) 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21

Scope 1 Gas 2,183 2,208 2,718 2,450 2,506 Hazardous Total – – – – – Fuel oil 8 0 0 0 0 Non-hazardous Reused/recycled 301 302 265 298 60 Owned fleet 5 5 5 8 0 Incinerated 172 155 146 138 29 Fugative emissions1 N/A 92 240 156 183

Non-financial indicators (tonnes) Total waste 473 457 411 436 89

Total scope 1 2,196 2,305 2,963 2,614 2,689

Scope 2 Electricity 9,028 7,821 6,281 5,148 3,734 Costs of waste disposal are embedded within service contracts. The actual element that Total scope 2 9,028 7,821 6,281 5,148 3,734 relates to removal of waste is not identified separately. Financial indicators (£000) )

2 Scope 3 Official travel 408 234 393 222 7 Delivery and distribution 92 104 104 101 57 Total Scope 3 500 338 497 323 64 Water consumption Office benchmarks for water consumption and reduction are not suitable for St Pancras as approximately 60% of

Non-financial indicators (tonnes CO Total scope 1,2,3 11,734 10,464 9,741 8,805 6,487 water used is for cooling of reading rooms, collection storage areas, public exhibition spaces and the Knowledge Centre. Replacement of our cooling towers resulted in higher than usual water consumption in 2018/19. The closure Electricity: non-renewable 21,907 22,247 22,188 20,142 16,017 of the Library’s buildings to the public as a result of Covid-19 has significantly reduced water consumption during the Gas 11,868 11,988 14,774 13,325 13,623 whole of this year. Fuel oil 3,048 70 167 21 270 Water consumed 100,000 Other 28 27 27 30 1 (M3)

Related energy consumption (MWh) Total energy consumption 36,851 34,332 37,156 33,518 29,911 80,000

Expenditure on energy 2,574 2,513 2,830 2,810 2,453 60,000 CRC allowances expenditure 189 188 168 – – Expenditure on official travel 635 526 678 498 18 Financial indicators (£000) 40,000 1 Data on fugitive emissions has only been collected since 2018.

Scope 1 reflects direct emissions from fuel combustion and fugitive emissions from air conditioning. Data for fuel combustion are based 20,000 on supplier invoices and for fugitive emissions are provided by the facility services provider responsible for maintaining the systems. Water usage 2009/10 Baseline Scope 2 reflects indirect emissions and includes purchased electricity. The data are based on invoices received from the energy suppliers. Target 0 Scope 3 emissions relate to official business travel directly paid for by the Library and the contracted van link between St Pancras and 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 Boston Spa sites. The data is estimated on the basis of information from the service providers.

Waste management Finite resource consumption 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21

We employ a waste management hierarchy promoting preventing, re-use, recycling, energy recovery and Water Supplied 59,600 50,699 70,014 60,198 27,377 lastly treatment/disposal. No waste is sent direct to landfill. All non-recyclable waste is incinerated to provide consumption

) energy. Food waste is sent to anaerobic digestion, creating both fertiliser and gas for energy generation. The 3

closure of the Library’s buildings to the public as a result of Covid-19 has significantly reduced waste material Non- financial indicators (M for this period. This has meant our Greening Government waste reduction target has been met and exceeded in Water supply 138 114 165 139 76 2020/21. and disposal costs

Financial indicators (£000) 50 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 51 Sustainable procurement in an area of flood risk. It has good Procurement of food and REMUNERATION REPORT The Library complies with DCMS/ groundwater drainage including catering services CCS sustainable procurement underground water attenuation The British Library’s agreements for Remuneration policy Service contracts No benefits in kind were received policies, but our existing contracts and a sustainable drainage system the provision of food and catering The remuneration policy for the Although members of Library by the Executive Team or Chair. do not yet contain requirements for to manage storm events. The services across both public and British Library’s senior managers is staff are not civil servants, supply chain reporting. Our supply new storage buildings constructed staff facilities currently meet the set by the Remuneration Committee, appointments are made in Reporting bodies are required to chain management policy states in the past 10 years are highly majority of the Government buying a standing committee of the British accordance with the Civil Service disclose the relationship between the our commitment to responsible insulated, air conditioned and standards. These include compliance Library Board which fulfils the principle that requires appointments remuneration of the highest-paid procurement including promotion airtight. The older buildings dating with the key impact areas such as following responsibilities: to be on merit and on the basis of director in their organisation and of continuous improvement in from the 1940s to 1980s are not Production Standards, Traceability, fair and open competition. the median remuneration of the the reduction and efficient use of well insulated and have suffered Authenticity, Origin of Meat and • to keep under regular review organisation’s workforce. energy, water and raw materials and from rainwater ingress in extreme Dairy and Animal Welfare. In other the terms and conditions of the The Library’s senior managers to verify suppliers’ environmental weather (c. 1 event per 3 years). areas the British Library will continue Chief Executive covered by this report hold The banded remuneration of policies and procedures, working A master plan has been developed to engage with all contractors • to undertake an annual review appointments which are open- the highest-paid director in the towards continuous improvements for the site to upgrade and replace and their supply chains and work of the Chief Executive’s salary ended until they choose to retire. organisation in the financial year in sustainability. these buildings by 2025, subject towards achieving all minimum and to determine their performance However, those in post prior to 1 2020/21 was £170–175k (£170– to confirmation of Government standards. bonus and inform the Board October 2006 have a contractual 175k in 2019/20). This was 5.98 Climate change adaptation funding • to consider the recommendations right to retire at age 60, should they times (6.17 times in 2019/20) Our St Pancras site is not located in Sustainable construction of the Chief Executive in relation so choose. The Chief Executive has the median remuneration of the an area of flood risk. Nevertheless, Biodiversity action Building projects for the Boston Spa to the annual review of the salary a six-month notice period; other workforce, which was £28,760 the building design incorporates planning Renewed, Leeds Presence and St and performance bonuses of the senior managers have a three-month (£28,121 in 2019/20). extensive flood defence measures Our St Pancras building has Pancras Transformed programmes Executive Team and similarly notice period. All are members of to protect its deep basements. some designed-in climate change are in RIBA stages 2-3 of design and for any other equivalent paid the Principal Civil Service Pension In 2020/21, no-one received There are other measures adaptations. Our Boston Spa will incorporate the highest possible senior staff Scheme and, as such, early remuneration in excess of the including substantial solar shading, site has biodiversity and natural standards of sustainability and • to represent the Board in termination of their contract would highest-paid director. Remuneration landscaping and planting and some environment features. We seek to construction for their type. considerations relating to the terms result in the individual receiving for the workforce at the reporting rainwater harvesting. The building achieve appropriate BREEAM ratings and conditions of all other Library compensation as set out in the Civil date, excluding the highest paid is well insulated and able to adapt for new buildings; the British Library employees and in approving the Service Compensation Scheme. director, ranged from £18k to to increased external temperatures. Centre for Conservation building at annual pay remit £158k (2019–20: £17k to £157k). Heating plant has been reduced and St Pancras is rated ‘Excellent’ and • to carry out any other review Remuneration and pension Total remuneration includes salary, cooling plant resilience increased. the Newspaper Storage Building and make any other entitlements (audited) non-consolidated performance- An energy reduction plan is in at Boston Spa, which incorporates recommendations which, in its Remuneration includes: gross related pay and benefits in kind. progress as described previously. a small Tri-Generation plant, has a opinion or at the request of the salary; overtime; reserved rights It does not include employer Our Boston Spa site is not located ‘Very Good’ rating. Chief Executive, it believes to be to London weighting or London pension contributions and the cash relevant to the Board’s statutory allowances; recruitment and equivalent transfer of pensions. responsibilities in relation to retention allowances; private office the terms and conditions of the allowances and any other allowance The following tables show the Library’s employees. to the extent that it is subject to pension entitlements of, and the UK taxation. Performance pay or salary paid during the year to, The Remuneration Committee bonuses are disclosed separately. the Chair and Board Members is informed in its decisions by and the Executive Team. external benchmarking and Bonuses are based on performance through the Library’s performance levels attained and are made as part management process. of the appraisal process. They relate to performance in the previous year.

52 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 53 Remuneration for non-pensionable Board and Committee members (audited): Accrued pension Real increase in 2020/21 2019/20 Term Term at pension age pension and as at 31/3/21 related lump sum CETV at CETV at Real increase £000 £000 Started Ends at pension age 31/3/21 31/3/20 in CETV Dame Carol Black 35.2 35.2 01.09.18 31.08.22 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 Ms Jana Bennett OBE 9.1 8.1 13.05.19 12.05.23 Roly Keating, 30–35 2.5–5 486 418 41 Mr Delroy Beverley 9.1 9.9 13.05.19 12.05.23 Chief Executive Dr Robert Black CBE 9.1 11.0 20.06.12 30.07.21 Liz Jolly, 5–10 2.5–5 101 59 30 Chief Librarian Ms Tracy Chevalier 9.1 9.1 01.04.15 31.03.23 Philip Spence, 40–45 2.5–5 689 619 40 Lord Janvrin GCB GCVO PC 9.1 9.1 01.01.17 31.12.24 Chief Operating Officer Ms Laela Pakpour Tabrizi 9.1 8.1 13.05.19 12.05.23 Mr Patrick Plant 9.1 9.1 15.05.12 14.05.21 Library staff are eligible to become Because the Government plans to each year of service. Unlike classic, Dr Venki Ramakrishnan 7.3 – 15.06.20 14.06.24 a member of one of the Principal remove discrimination identified there is no automatic lump sum. Civil Service Pension Schemes by the courts in the way that Classic plus is essentially a hybrid Mr Jeremy Silver 9.1 8.1 13.05.19 12.05.23 (PCSPS) that provide retirement- the 2015 pension reforms were with benefits for service before Dr Simon Thurley CBE 9.1 9.1 01.04.15 31.03.23 related benefits to all eligible introduced for some members, it 1 October 2002 calculated broadly Dr Wei Yang 9.1 8.1 13.05.19 12.05.23 employees. Pension benefits are is expected that, in due course, as per classic and benefits for service provided through the Civil Service eligible members with relevant from October 2002 worked out as Total Board Members remuneration 133.5 124.9 pension arrangements. From 1 April service between April 2015 and in premium. Ms Lynn Brown 3.0 3.4 01.04.18 30.09.22 2015, a new pension scheme for 31 March 2022 may be entitled to Mr Nicholas Deyes 3.1 3.3 01.04.18 30.09.22 civil servants was introduced – the different pension benefits in relation In nuvos a member builds up a Civil Servants and Others Pension to that period (and this may affect pension based on their pensionable Total Committee Members remuneration 6.1 6.7 Scheme or alpha, which provides the Cash Equivalent Transfer Values earnings during their period of Total Board and Committee Members remuneration 139.6 131.6 benefits on a career average basis shown in this report – see below). scheme membership. At the end with a normal pension age equal All members who switch to alpha of the scheme year (31 March) the No pension contributions were made on behalf of the above Board Members in the year. The Board Members’ to the member’s State Pension Age have their PCSPS benefits ‘banked’, member’s earned pension account remuneration is in accordance with the British Library Act 1972. (or 65 if higher). From that date, with those with earlier benefits in is credited with 2.3% of their all newly appointed Library staff one of the final salary sections of pensionable earnings in that scheme During 2020/21 no travel expenses were reimbursed to or paid on behalf of Board members. In 2019/20 and the majority of those already the PCSPS having those benefits year and the accrued pension £4,079 of travel expenses were reimbursed to or paid on behalf of ten Board members and £3,469 of tax and in service joined alpha. Prior to based on their final salary when is uprated in line with Pensions National Insurance was paid on behalf of five Board Members in respect of travel expenses reimbursed or paid that date, staff participated in they leave alpha. (The pension Increase legislation. Benefits in on their behalf in 2018/19. This is not included in the remuneration figures above. the Principal Civil Service Pension figures quoted for officials show alpha build up in a similar way to Scheme (PCSPS). pension earned in PCSPS or alpha nuvos, except that the accrual rate – as appropriate. Where the official is 2.32%. In all cases, members may Remuneration and pension details for the Executive Team (audited): The PCSPS has four sections: three has benefits in both the PCSPS opt to give up (commute) pension Salary £000 Bonus payments £000 Benefits in kind Pension benefits £000 Total £000 providing benefits on a final salary and alpha the figure quoted is the for a lump sum up to the limits set (to nearest £100) basis (classic, premium or classic combined value of their benefits by the Finance Act 2004. 2020/21 2019/20 2020/21 2019/20 2020/21 2019/20 2020/21 2019/20 2020/21 2019/20 plus) with a normal pension age in the two schemes). Members Roly Keating, of 60; and one providing benefits joining from October 2002 may The accrued pension quoted is Chief Executive 155–160 155–160 15-20 15–20 100 100 60 61 230–235 235–240 on a whole career basis (nuvos) opt for either the appropriate the pension the member is entitled Liz Jolly, with a normal pension age of 65. defined benefit arrangement to receive when they reach pension Chief Librarian 125–130 125–130 – – 100 100 50 50 175–180 175–180 or a defined contribution age, or immediately on ceasing to be Philip Spence, Chief These statutory arrangements are (money purchase) pension an active member of the scheme if Operating Officer 140–145 140–145 10–15 10–15 100 100 62 54 215–220 210–215 unfunded with the cost of benefits with an employer contribution they are already at or over pension met by monies voted by Parliament (partnership pension account). age. Pension age is 60 for members The value of pension benefits accrued during the year is calculated as (the real increase in pension multiplied by 20) each year. Pensions payable under of classic, premium and classic plus, plus (the real increase in any lump sum) less (the contributions made by the individual). The real increase excludes classic, premium, classic plus, nuvos Employee contributions are salary- 65 for members of nuvos, and the increases due to inflation or any increase or decrease due to a transfer of pension rights. and alpha are increased annually related and range between 4.6% higher of 65 or State Pension Age in line with Pensions Increase and 8.05% of pensionable earnings for members of alpha. (The pension The Chief Executive and members of the Executive Team are eligible for contractual non-consolidated bonus legislation. Existing members of the for members of classic, premium, figures quoted for officials show payments of up to 10% of basic salary. Payments recorded under each year in the table above reflect performance PCSPS who were within 10 years classic plus, nuvos and alpha. pension earned in PCSPS or alpha and remuneration for the previous year. One member of the Executive Team waived their bonus in both the years of their normal pension age on 1 Benefits in classic accrue at the – as appropriate. Where the official listed here. April 2012 remained in the PCSPS rate of 1/80th of final pensionable has benefits in both the PCSPS after 1 April 2015. Those who were earnings for each year of service. In and alpha the figure quoted is the The Chief Executive took a temporary, voluntary pay reduction in November 2020 to below the £150k threshold between 10 years and 13 years and addition, a lump sum equivalent to combined value of their benefits in until the end of the financial year. 5 months from their normal pension three years initial pension is payable the two schemes, but note that part age on 1 April 2012 will switch on retirement. For premium, of that pension may be payable from The monetary value of benefits in kind covers any benefits provided by the Library and treated by HM Revenue and into alpha sometime between 1 benefits accrue at the rate of 1/60th different ages). Customs as a taxable emolument. The executives each had a health cash plan provided by the Library. June 2015 and 1 February 2022. of final pensionable earnings for

54 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 55 The partnership pension account (CETV) is the actuarially-assessed, benefit accrued to the member GOVERNANCE STATEMENT is an occupational defined capitalised value of the pension as a result of their purchasing contribution pension arrangement scheme benefits accrued by a additional pension benefits at their Governance framework premises, available in connection of the Board are all appointed by which is part of Legal and General member at a particular point in own cost. CETVs are worked out in with events of an educational, the Secretary of State, with the Mastertrust. The employer makes a time. The benefits valued are the accordance with The Occupational The British Library literary or cultural nature. Under exception of one member who is basic contribution of between 8% member’s accrued benefits and any Pension Schemes (Transfer Values) The British Library is the national Section 2, the Schedule to the Act appointed by HM The Queen. One and 14.75% (depending on the contingent spouse’s pension payable (Amendment) Regulations 2008 library of the United Kingdom, empowers the Board to impose member of the Board is appointed age of the member). The employee from the scheme. A CETV is a and do not take account of any formed in 1973 under Section 1(1) charges for any services provided, after consultation with Scottish does not have to contribute, but payment made by a pension scheme actual or potential reduction to of the British Library Act 1972 or for the loan or use of any item Ministers. Members are normally where they do make contributions, or arrangement to secure pension benefits resulting from Lifetime (‘the Act’). It is an arm’s-length, from its collections, subject to the appointed for four-year terms, with the employer will match these up benefits in another pension scheme Allowance Tax which may be due non-departmental public body approval of the Secretary of State. consecutive appointments restricted to a limit of 3% of pensionable or arrangement when the member when pension benefits are drawn. funded by a combination of Grant to two terms. The Chief Executive is salary (in addition to the employer’s leaves a scheme and chooses to in Aid allocated by the Department Living Knowledge sets out the the only full-time, executive member basic contribution). Employers transfer the benefits accrued in Real increase in CETV for Digital, Culture, Media and Library’s vision for its future of the Board. The Chair and Board also contribute a further 0.5% of their former scheme. The pension This reflects the increase in CETV Sport (DCMS) and income secured development as it looks ahead select one of their members to be pensionable salary to cover the cost figures shown relate to the benefits effectively funded by the employer. through commercial, fundraising, to 2023, the year of its 50th Deputy Chair. of centrally-provided risk benefit that the individual has accrued It does not include the increase sponsored and charging activities. anniversary as the national cover (death in service and ill health as a consequence of their total due to inflation, contributions pad A management agreement letter library of the UK. Members of the Board have retirement). membership of the pension scheme, by the employee (including the from the Secretary of State sets out corporate responsibility for ensuring not just their service in a senior value of any benefits transferred the Library’s Grant in Aid allocation Living Knowledge sets out six that the Library complies with Further details about the Civil capacity to which disclosure applies. from another pension scheme or and conditions. core statements of purpose covering all statutory or administrative Service pension arrangements The figures include the value of any arrangement) and uses common custodianship, research, business, requirements for the use of public can be found at the website: pension benefit in another scheme market valuation factors for the The British Library is an exempt culture, learning and international funds and for ensuring that high civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk or arrangement which the individual start and end of the period. charity under the Charities Act 2011 activities, and explains how the standards of corporate governance has transferred to the Civil Service and complies with the duty under Library contributes to research, are observed at all times. The Board Cash equivalent transfer values pension arrangements. They also section 17 to have due regard to culture, education and economic establishes the overall strategic A Cash Equivalent Transfer Value include any additional pension public benefit guidance published by prosperity, for the benefit not just direction of the organisation. It the Charities Commission. of the UK but of users and partners approves the Library’s annual around the world. The Library’s corporate business plan and annual Civil Service compensation scheme exit packages (audited) Objectives and activities mission is to ‘make our intellectual budget and oversees the delivery The numbers of exit packages agreed during the year are shown by cost band in the table below: Section 1(2) of the Act placed the heritage accessible to everyone, of planned results by monitoring Library under the control and for research, inspiration and performance against agreed strategic Exit package cost band Number of Number of Total number of management of the British Library enjoyment’. objectives and targets. non–compulsory compulsory exit packages Board (‘the Board’), the duty of departures agreed redundancies agreed by cost band which is to manage the Library Living Knowledge for everyone The responsibilities of the Chair and 2020/21 2019/20 2020/21 2019/20 2020/21 2019/20 as a national centre for reference, published in October 2020, overlaid the Chief Executive are set out in £0–£10,000 – 9 6 – 6 9 study and bibliographical and other Living Knowledge with the task of the Statement of the British Library £10,001–£25,000 – 21 1 – 1 21 information services in relation ensuring that even as the Library Board’s and Accounting Officer’s both to scientific and technological rebuilds its own spaces and services Responsibilities on page 44. £25,001–£50,000 – 26 – – – 26 matters and to the humanities. in the face of the pandemic, it plays £50,001–£100,000 – 13 – – – 13 The objectives of the Library are set the fullest possible role, alongside The Board usually meets five times a Total number of exit packages – 69 7 – 7 69 out under Sections 1(3) and 1(4) our many partners, in the urgent and year, with one of those meetings of the Act. The Library is required vital responses that are needed. We substantially devoted to the review Total cost £000 – 2,241 41 – 41 2,241 to make its services available have committed further effort and and development of strategy. The to the public and, in particular, resource over the next two years Chief Operating Officer, Chief Redundancy and other departure costs are payable in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Service to institutions of education and to economic growth and innovation Librarian Head of Finance and Head Compensation Scheme, a statutory scheme made under the Superannuation Act 1972, for individuals learning, other libraries and industry. and social and cultural renewal. of People are also present during employed by the Library. Where the Library has agreed early retirements, the additional costs are met by It may carry out and sponsor Board meetings. the Library and not the Civil Service pension scheme research, contribute to the expenses The Board of library authorities or other persons The constitution and further providing library facilities, and make provisions of the Board are set out any part of its collections, or of its in the Act. The Chair and members

Dame Carol Black Roly Keating Chair Chief Executive and Accounting Officer 12 July 2021 12 July 2021

56 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 57 Board committees Board performance • The Library’s new Content to build a digital platform as part Board and Committee Business strategy for determining what of a wider project of the digital The Board has delegated certain responsibilities to committees of the Board, as follows. The Board received annual reports contemporary published content transformation of public libraries and minutes from the Chairs of the we acquire, why, how and from • Approval of the Technology Committee Key responsibilities Audit Committee and Remuneration whom was approved. The strategy Strategy for 2021–2023 to Audit Committee A standing committee which supports the Board and the Accounting Officer in their Committee. The Board received forms a framework the Library enable the delivery of Living responsibilities for issues of finance, risk, control and governance by reviewing the quarterly reports on financial, uses to reflect and respond to Knowledge. It would enable key comprehensiveness, reliability and integrity of assurances provided to them. business performance, risk developments in the external business priorities to be delivered management, fundraising and the environment, most notably the efficiently and effectively; it delivery of strategic change initiatives. Covid-19 pandemic identified future potential projects Remuneration Committee A standing committee which makes determinations on behalf of the Board with regard to the performance, pay and employment terms and conditions of the Chief Executive, and which The Board also approved financial • Since approval of the Fundraising requiring technology support; and considers the recommendations of the Chief Executive in relation to the Chief Librarian, the and business plans for the next Strategy in 2018, the Covid-19 provided for funded technology Chief Operating Officer and other staff. year and members participated in a pandemic changed the landscape improvements to be made which thorough review of strategic risks. and impacted the Development would improve the resilience and team’s work. Whilst overall effectiveness of core technology. A limited-life committee whose primary responsibility is to assist the Board in overseeing Capital Projects In addition to regular business, ambitions remained largely achievement of the objectives of the St Pancras Transformed, Boston Spa Renewed and British Committee significant issues that were unchanged – the Library seeks to The Audit Committee kept the Library North (Leeds) programmes. considered by the Board during proceeded with the major capital management of risk, and the 2020/21 included: programmes and to increase access Library’s top strategic risks, Board and Committee membership 2020/21 • Continued and ongoing oversight to all through a rich culture and under review throughout the year. of the pandemic on the Library learning offer, as well as business The Committee reviewed reports Current term Expires Board Audit Remun. Cap Pr. and its staff, and the impact of support and collections access, from KPMG, the Library’s internal Chair the pandemic on the Library’s however,there will be delays auditors, including progress Dame Carol Black 1st 31.08.2022 Chair – Member – performance in many of these programmes, reports on the implementation Deputy Chairman • Key areas to prioritise in the requiring a reprofiling of income of recommendations and agreed delivery of Living Knowledge for targets accordingly, and possibly – a suitable programme of work Lord Janvrin GCB GCVO PC 2nd 31.12.2024 Member – Chair – Everyone over the next three years, in the next couple of years at least for 2021/22. Members of internal Chief Executive and some potential visions of the – an inevitable lowering of targets and external audit attended Mr Roly Keating 2nd 11.09.2026 Member – – Member Library in 2040 as individuals, trusts and companies each meeting of the Audit Non-Executive Board Members • Key areas associated with EU exit recover financially. This reprofiling Committee and their work was were reviewed including noting the will need to be undertaken once we considered by the Committee. Ms Jana Bennett 1st 12.05.2023 Member – – Member loss of the following rights from have a clearer picture of the impact See further detail on page 61. Mr Delroy Beverley 1st 12.05.2023 Member Member – – 1 January 2021: an EU copyright of the pandemic on the timings of Dr Robert Black CBE 2nd 30.07.2021 Member Chair – – exception which permitted the each programme The Remuneration Committee Ms Tracy Chevalier 2nd 31.03.2023 Member Member – – publication of orphan works by • Approval of Science strategy to met once and approved, on cultural institutions such as the realise the full potential for the behalf of the Board, annual bonus Ms Laela Pakpour Tabrizi 1st 12.05.2023 Member Member Member – Library; the protection of sui British Library’s collections, staff recommendations for the Chief Mr Patrick Plant* 3rd 14.05.2021 Member – Member Chair generis database rights; and a expertise, infrastructure and Executive, Chief Librarian and Dr Venki Ramakrishnan 1st 14.06.2024 Member – – – copyright exception covering the partnerships to advance science, Chief Operating Officer in relation Dr Jeremy Silver 1st 12.05.2023 Member – – – cross-border transfer of accessible to increase equality and diversity to their performance in 2019/20, format copies of copyright works in science and to contribute to the and the annual pay remit for staff Dr Simon Thurley CBE 2nd 31.03.2023 Member – Member Member (for blind/deaf/disabled users) global efforts to solve challenges in 2020/21. Dr Wei Yang 1st 12.05.2023 Member – – Member • The Board also reviewed the facing humanity today Committee Members with relevant professional experience: potential issues arising from the • The Board reviewed an update The Capital Projects Committee EU Exit on transportation of on policy context of Public Libraries met twice to receive updates on Ms Lynn Brown 1st 30.09.2022 – Member – – goods across borders; staff and across the UK, and the Library’s the progress being made on the Mr Nicholas Deyes 1st 30.09.2022 – Member – – recruitment and access to data. current engagement with the sector. three capital projects: St. Pancras Mr Patrick Plant 1st 15.06.2021 – – – Member Following the exit on 31 December The Board agreed to apply for Transformed, Boston Spa Renewed 2020, the Board has continued funding from Arts Council England and the continued discussions with The Secretary of State has extended the term of Dr Robert Black by six weeks, until 30 July 2021. Dr Venkatraman to review the effects of the to accelerate the support of the Leeds CC and partners regarding ‘Venki’ Ramakrishnan was appointed by the Secretary of State on 14 June 2020, and is the British Museum nominee withdrawal agreement Single Digital Presence initiative the proposed British Library North. member of the Board. *Patrick Plant’s term expired on 14 May 2021. He has since been appointed as member with relevant professional experience to the Capital Projects Committee to continue to support the three capital projects with his expert knowledge. Ms Lynn Brown resigned her position as Committee member with relevant professional experience on 4 May 20201.

Current Board members’ biographies are available under: bl.uk/about-us/governance/british-library-board/

A register of Board Members’ interests is maintained by the Head of Governance and is available at: bl.uk/british- library/~/media/bl/global/about%20us/board/register%20of%20interests.pdf. Details of related party transactions are disclosed in note 22 to the accounts.

58 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 59 Board and Committee Attendance

Meetings attended/eligible to attend

British Audit Remuneration Capital Chief Executive Library Committee Committee Projects Roly Keating Board Committee Dame Carol Black 5 / 5 – 2/2 –

Ms Jana Bennett 4 / 5 – – 2 / 2 Chief Librarian Chief Operating Officer Mr Delroy Beverley 5 / 5 5 / 5 – – Liz Jolly Philip Spence Dr Robert Black CBE 5 / 5 5 / 5 – – Ms Tracy Chevalier 5 / 5 5 / 5 – – Lord Janvrin GCB GCVO PC 5 / 5 – 2 / 2 – Responsibilities include: Responsibilities include: Responsibilities include: Mr Roly Keating 5 / 5 – – 2 / 2 Business audiences Development (fundraising) Commercial services Ms Laela Pakpour Tabrizi 5 / 5 5 / 5 2 / 2 – Collection care and metadata Governance Estates and facilities Collections and curation Marketing Finance, legal services Mr Patrick Plant 5 / 5 – 2 / 2 2 / 2 Culture and learning Public policy and procurement Digital scholarship Strategy development Human resources Dr Venki Ramakrishnan 3 / 4 – – – International engagement Operations Dr Jeremy Silver 5 / 5 – – – Public libraries engagement Reader and reference services Research and HE Risk management and assurance Dr Simon Thurley CBE 5 / 5 – 2 / 2 2 / 2 Security and safety management Dr Wei Yang 5 / 5 – – 2 / 2 Technology Committee Members with relevant professional experience: Ms Lynn Brown – 4 / 4 – – Mr Nicholas Deyes – 4 / 4 – –

The meetings of the British Library Board and its sub-committees all took place via video conference during the period 1 April 2020 – 31 March 2021.

Board effectiveness The Library complies with the Risk Management and controls The Library draws a clear distinction commentary from the specific ‘first line of defence’). Senior New board appointees’ induction requirements of Corporate Risk is a key component in Board between the Library’s principal, risk owner. Operational risks are leaders and internal management includes interviews with key staff governance in central government and Executive decision making and, strategic risks and operational risks. managed and reviewed regularly groups provide oversight, using about strategic issues and the departments: code of good during the year, we focussed on Each risk has a named owner who by the management team and are management information and key services of the Library, briefing practice, 2017 as adapted to the understanding and managing the is responsible for reviewing the risk escalated to the Audit & Risk Group performance indicators to monitor material on the Library’s risk and circumstances of the Library as impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on a regular basis and for identifying for more in depth scrutiny, and their effectiveness (second line of governance frameworks, background an arm’s-length body. and other external factors such as and ensuring the implementation shared with Strategic Leadership defence). Our outsourced Internal legislation and conventions, plus the the changing landscape of cultural of actions to manage or mitigate Team whenever they score outside Audit service and other external offer of training on board members’ Management heritage. Risk management is it. Strategic risks are defined as the risk appetite set by the Board. experts or comparators provide responsibilities and requirements or Responsibility for managing the increasingly integrated in business ‘those business risks that, if realised, an independent assessment of the expectations relevant to the Library Library is delegated to the Chief planning decisions, whether big or could fundamentally affect the way Our internal control activities effectiveness of our controls at all as a public body. Meetings of the Executive who, as Accounting small, rather than being a separate in which the organisation exists aim to ensure that policies and levels (third line of defence). Board are held in both London and Officer, is personally responsible management activity. We seek to or provides services in the next procedures across the organisation Boston Spa. to Parliament for the stewardship mitigate risks where it is reasonably one to five years. These risks will and our governance arrangements In line with Public Sector Internal of public money and the Library’s practical and cost effective to do have a detrimental effect on the are efficient and effective. Overall Audit Standards, the Head of Board members have annual assets, and for ensuring that the so. However, as resources are organisation’s achievement of its assurance in the effectiveness of our Internal Audit provides an annual appraisals with the Chair and resources allocated to the Library finite, we recognise that some risk key business objectives. The risk internal controls is achieved through opinion on the overall adequacy the Board undertakes an annual under the authority of Parliament taking will always be necessary and realisation will lead to failure, loss a combination of: process controls and effectiveness of the Library’s assessment of its own effectiveness are used for the purposes intended sometimes healthy, especially if we or lost opportunity’. within workflows; clear roles and risk management, control and on the basis of a self-evaluation by Parliament. are to exploit opportunities as they responsibilities; management level governance processes. For questionnaire. In September 2020 present themselves. The Board has In addition to management reviews, monitoring; active risk management; 2020/21, 12 internal audit reviews members noted that succession Management of the Library is led by established a framework in which, each year the Board and the Board’s use of management information were carried out. Based on the planning needed more focus. the Chief Executive, Chief Librarian for different categories such as Audit Committee both review and exception reporting; and areas considered within their Board members also identified and Chief Operating Officer, and compliance, reputation, stakeholders the strategic risks register. In an accountability for decision-making. scope of work for the year, and the need to engage more with includes the areas of responsibility or infrastructure, the Board is annual cycle, the Audit Committee management’s implementation of stakeholders and potential donors. indicated in the diagram opposite. prepared to accept risk at one of the receives an in-depth review of the Day-to-day activities and controls their recommendations, the Head Diversity on the Board had following levels: Averse, Minimal, controls and assurances for each are managed at a local level of Internal Audit’s opinion was that improved with recent appointments. Cautious, Open or Hungry. strategic risk, including a personal (sometimes referred to as the

60 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 61 there is ‘significant assurance with • Digital security: the risk that the Each year’s internal audit plan is minor improvements required’, Library’s online and digital data developed by reference to the risks OTHER DISCLOSURES confirming that there is generally and information are not kept secure and their assessment as part of an a sound system of internal control and safe (Appetite: Minimal) open process of full engagement Public benefit • maintaining our data protection Business Continuity Management which is designed to meet the British •  Physical security and safety: the with the Strategic Leadership Team. The British Library Board believes compliance and security during an Business Continuity Management is Library’s objectives and that controls risk that the Library’s physical that the British Library meets the unprecedented increase in home an established part of the Library’s in place are being consistently collection, physical infrastructure While the Library had previously public benefit requirements, and and mobile working preparations for managing risk, applied in all key areas reviewed. and people are not kept secure considered and planned for the they confirm that they have taken • ongoing work to stabilise and whether from internal system failures and safe (Appetite: Minimal) potential impacts of a major ‘flu’ or into account the guidance contained modernise our online payment and or from external emergencies. The Principal risks •  Technology capability: the risk that similar outbreak, it had not identified in the Charity Commission’s eCommerce systems British Library bases its business During the year, the Board and the Library’s current technology the risk of Government ordered general guidance on public • designing security and compliance continuity management on the Audit Committee approved platforms and future strategy are closure of the buildings and all on- benefit where applicable. for the replacement of ageing framework guidance laid out in ISO several revisions to the Library’s not effective (Appetite: Minimal) site services in response to a major customer facing systems, including 22301 Societal Security – Business register of strategic risks, including •  Financial sustainability: the risk pandemic such as the Coronavirus Fundraising and development our CRM system (launched), PLR Continuity Management systems. the closure of one risk, EU that the Library cannot balance Covid-19 disease which broke out Development activity within the systems (under construction), and Effectiveness is confirmed by Exit: the risk that the Library is its budget and achieve financial in February 2020. As a result of Library is directed by the Library’s HR and Payroll system (under completion of crisis management unprepared for the potential sustainability in pursuit of this emergency, the strategic risks Head of Development, who procurement) exercises which test our business opportunities and threats arising delivering its strategic priorities for physical security and safety and manages a team directly employed • ongoing work to stabilise our web continuity arrangements at both from Britain’s exit from the EU. (Appetite: Cautious). financial sustainability were re-scored by the Library. estate and improve the accessibility tactical and strategic levels. The register of strategic risks at outside of appetite during the year, of our services to users. Fundraising by the Library’s The Covid-19 outbreak was the end of 2020/21 contains the Each of these strategic risks is owned in addition to the organisational Development team is undertaken During 2020/21, the Library monitored by the Library’s Business following eight overarching themes. by one of the Chief Executive, Chief overstretch and technology capability in line with the Code of Fundraising processed 113 statutory data subject Continuity Management. The Library •  Institutional relevance: the risk Librarian or Chief Operating Officer risks which were already scored Practice (the Library is also registered rights requests (72 in 2019/20). brought its Gold and Silver crisis that the Library fails to maintain its and managed under their oversight outside of appetite. Mitigating actions with the Fundraising Regulator), the Two complaints were made to management teams into action relevance and support as a national by a member of the Strategic and strategies are being implemented General Data Protection Regulation, the external regulator (none in during this period. In line with institution (Appetite: Minimal) Leadership Team. The potential to address these risks, for example: and the Fundraising Ethics policy 2019/20), but in both cases the Government advice, the Library •  Organisational overstretch: the causes and effects of each risk health and well being of our staff; approved by the British Library Library was found to have acted closed its buildings and onsite risk that the Library does not ‘right are analysed; the effectiveness of training; improved health and safety Board. The Library’s fundraising properly in all respects. services to the public and asked all size’ its ambitions and does not controls are assessed; and actions are measures. Representatives of the activity is also governed by the but a small number of staff required appropriately align and manage its agreed which will focus on affecting Health and Safety Executive recently Library’s Code of Conduct and The Library has suffered no to perform essential onsite functions resources and capacity to deliver the likelihood or impact of the risk conducted a spot check on the other policies including those for significant losses or thefts of to work from home. The Library its services and transformational occurring. The likelihood of the Library’s Covid-19 measures, who Complaints, Anti-Fraud and Anti- personal or other protected data has followed the Government change programmes (Appetite: risk materialising and the potential raised no issues on the approach Bribery, and the Library’s Finance during 2020/21. regulations during this period. Minimal) impacts on the Library, both inherent taken. We will continue to plan in Code. All fundraising staff have Where possible the majority of staff • Staff capability and diversity: and if realised, are scored. detail how we manage our return to the risk that the Library cannot site for staff and users to ensure it regular one to one meetings with Modern Slavery Act worked from home and were able to attract, recruit, retain and develop Each risk is managed through a remains safe. We are also continuing their line managers and their Respecting the rights of the people continue critical functions. Measures a diverse workforce with the set of risk controls which typically to work with the People team to approaches are monitored regularly that we interact with has always were brought in to support staff with capabilities required to deliver include: internal and external ensure our staff can work safely to ensure their activity is professional been integral to the British Library, equipment and wellbeing during this the Library’s purposes and future monitoring; management policies, whether this is remotely or on site. and appropriate at all times. These and addressing modern slavery is period. strategy (Appetite: Cautious) processes, systems and controls; the measures ensure that donors’ rights a core part of our human rights •  Third party reliance: the risk that development of relevant strategies are protected; no complaints were and responsible sourcing strategy. Health and safety the Library is adversely affected and plans; plus, other specific actions received in the last financial year The Library’s trading turnover is The British Library Board has by its partner and supplier for implementation, which are concerning the Library’s fundraising not sufficient for the provisions of ultimate responsibility for the health relationships (Appetite: Minimal) reported and reviewed corporately. activities. the Modern Slavery Act to apply. and safety of all people on site at the Nevertheless, in line with our British Library or while undertaking Managing information corporate social responsibilities, we business on behalf of the Library. The Senior Information Risk Owner have taken steps within HR and The Board has approved policies (SIRO) of the Library is supported by Procurement to update policies, for health and safety management the statutory Data Protection Officer standards and procedures, including and safeguarding, both of which are (DPO) and a Corporate Information contract management training and available on the Library’s website Governance Group covering have implemented Social Value as from bl.uk/about-us/governance/ information compliance, information part of our procurement processes. policies. management and information security. During 2020/21 the main The Board delegates management of activities of this group were: health and safety to the Executive.

62 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 63 The Chief Operating Officer supporting our re-opening strategies Percentage of time spent on chairs a Health and Safety board, and the safe re-occupation of facility time comprising senior managers and our premises, as well as providing Percentage Number trade union representatives, which support to ensure that colleagues of time o f e m p l o y e e s meets quarterly to review activities working from home were supported 0% 3 and potential issues, helping ensure to do this safely. Informed by that the Library’s legal and moral Government guidance, we have 1–50% 34 obligations to safeguard the health, adjusted onsite working processes 51–99% 0 safety and mental welfare of staff and provided appropriate physical 100% 0 and visitors are met in full. Regular interventions in our public areas. training is provided on different This work has been underpinned Percentage of pay bill spent aspects of health and safety and by a comprehensive risk assessment on facility time safeguarding, including policies, review, taking into account and manual handling, working at mitigating the unique risks that the Total cost of height, first aid, fire suppression pandemic continues to present facility time £44,560.06 BRITISH LIBRARY and evacuation and refuge systems. Total pay bill £64,320,723 Overall, in 2020/21 there were 62 The average sickness absence for Percentage of the ANNUAL ACCOUNTS 2020/21 staff attendances at training in five staff during the year, excluding total pay bill spent relevant topics. The Library adheres unpaid absence and maternity leave, on facility time 0.07% to all salient points within the British was 3.18 days per employee (8.22 Standards Institute’s BS OHSAS days in 2019/20). 18001 guidance. Paid trade union activities Whistleblowing Time spent by relevant Regular health and safety inspections The Library has received no employees on paid trade of areas or functions in the Library whistleblowing reports during union activities as a are undertaken in the company of the period. percentage of total paid a trade union representative and facility time 2.17% an independent member of the Trade Union facility time Library’s senior management. The The following information is Board’s Audit Committee receives published under the Trade annual assurance of the Library’s Union (Facility Time Publication management of physical security Requirements) Regulations 2017. and safety risks. Dame Carol Black Relevant union officials and Chair The steps on the piazza outside percentage of working hours 12 July 2021 the front entrance to our building spent on facility time in St Pancras have been the site of Number of employees who were several slips, trips and falls over the relevant union officials during years, and works to remodel them 2020/21 (headcount) 37 in mitigation of this risk are due to Number of employees who were complete in June 2021. Covid-19 relevant union officials during has also seen significant Health 2020/21 (full time equivalent) 36 Roly Keating and Safety resources devoted to Chief Executive and Accounting Officer 12 July 2021

64 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 65 CERTIFICATE AND REPORT OF THE COMPTROLLER AND AUDITOR GENERAL TO THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT AND THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT

Opinion on financial statements of Financial Statements of Public The going concern basis of properly prepared in accordance determine is necessary to enable audit and those charged with I certify that I have audited the Sector Entities in the United accounting for the British Library with Secretary of State directions the preparation of financial governance, including obtaining financial statements of the British Kingdom’. My responsibilities is adopted in consideration of the made under the British Library Act statement to be free from material and reviewing supporting Library for the year ended 31 under those standards are requirements set out in Government 1972; and misstatement, whether due to documentation relating to the March 2021 under the British further described in the Auditor’s Financial Reporting Manual, which • the information given in the fraud or error; and British Library’s policies and Library Act 1972. The financial responsibilities for the audit of the require entities to adopt the going Annual Report for the financial • assessing the British Library’s procedures relating to: statements comprise: the Statement financial statements section of my concern basis of accounting in year for which the financial ability to continue as a going • identifying, evaluating and of Financial Activities, the Balance certificate. the preparation of the financial statements are prepared is concern, disclosing, as applicable, complying with laws and Sheet, the Cash Flow Statement statements where it anticipated that consistent with the financial matters related to going concern regulations and whether they and the related notes, including Those standards require me and the services which they provide will statements. and using the going concern were aware of any instances of the significant accounting policies. my staff to comply with the continue into the future, basis of accounting unless the non-compliance; The financial reporting framework Financial Reporting Council’s Matters on which I report by Board and the Accounting Officer • detecting and responding to the that has been applied in their Revised Ethical Standard 2019. Other Information exception anticipate that the services risks of fraud and whether they preparation is applicable law I have also elected to apply the The other information comprises In the light of the knowledge and provided by the British Library will have knowledge of any actual, and United Kingdom accounting ethical standards relevant to listed information included in the Annual understanding of the British Library not continue to be provided in the suspected or alleged fraud; and standards including the Charities entities. I am independent of the Report, but does not include and its environment obtained in future. • the internal controls established SORP and FRS 102, the Financial British Library. in accordance with the financial statements and my the course of the audit, I have not to mitigate risks related to fraud Reporting Standard applicable in the ethical requirements that are auditor’s certificate thereon. The identified material misstatements in Auditor’s responsibilities for the or non-compliance with laws and the UK and Republic of Ireland relevant to my audit of the financial Board and Accounting Officer the Annual Report. audit of the financial statements regulations including the British (United Kingdom Generally statements in the UK. My staff and are responsible for the other My responsibility is to audit, Library’s controls relating to the Accepted Accounting Practice). I have fulfilled our other ethical information. My opinion on the I have nothing to report in respect certify and report on the financial British Library Act 1972 and the responsibilities in accordance with financial statements does not cover of the following matters which I statements in accordance with the Public Lending Right Act 1979. I have also audited the information these requirements. the other information and except report to you if, in my opinion: British Library Act 1972. • discussing among the in the Remuneration Report that is to the extent otherwise explicitly • adequate accounting records have engagement team regarding how described in that report as having I believe that the audit evidence stated in my certificate, I do not not been kept or returns adequate My objectives are to obtain and where fraud might occur in been audited. I have obtained is sufficient and express any form of assurance for my audit have not been reasonable assurance about the financial statements and any appropriate to provide a basis for conclusion thereon. In connection received from branches not visited whether the financial statements potential indicators of fraud. As In my opinion: my opinion. with my audit of the financial by my staff; or as a whole are free from material part of this discussion, I identified • the financial statements give a statements, my responsibility is to • he financial statements and misstatement, whether due potential for fraud in the following true and fair view of the state of Conclusions relating to going read the other information and, the parts of the Remuneration to fraud or error, and to issue areas: revenue recognition, the the British Library’s affairs as at 31 concern in doing so, consider whether the Report to be audited are not in a certificate that includes my posting of unusual journals, March 2021 and of its net income In auditing the financial statements, other information is materially agreement with the accounting opinion. Reasonable assurance the calculation of accounting for the year then ended; and I have concluded that the inconsistent with the financial records and returns; or is a high level of assurance but estimates, and the use of • the financial statements have British Library’s use of the going statements or my knowledge • I have not received all of the is not a guarantee that an audit restricted funds; and been properly prepared in concern basis of accounting in obtained in the audit or otherwise information and explanations I conducted in accordance with ISAs • obtaining an understanding of accordance with the British the preparation of the financial appears to be materially misstated. require for my audit; or (UK) will always detect a material the British Library’s framework Library Act 1972 and Secretary of statements is appropriate. If I identify such material • the Governance Statement does misstatement when it exists. of authority as well as other State directions issued thereunder. inconsistencies or apparent material not reflect compliance with HM Misstatements can arise from fraud legal and regulatory frameworks Based on the work I have misstatements, I am required to Treasury’s guidance. or error and are considered material that the British Library operates Opinion on regularity performed, I have not identified determine whether this gives rise if, individually or in the aggregate, in, focusing on those laws and In my opinion, in all material any material uncertainties relating to a material misstatement in the Responsibilities of the Board and they could reasonably be expected regulations that had a direct effect respects the income and to events or conditions that, financial statements themselves. Accounting Officer to influence the economic decisions on the financial statements or that expenditure recorded in the individually or collectively, may If, based on the work I have As explained more fully in the of users taken on the basis of these had a fundamental effect on the financial statements have been cast significant doubt on the British performed, I conclude that there Statement of the British Library financial statements. operations of the British Library. applied to the purposes intended Library’s ability to continue as a is a material misstatement of this Board’s and Accounting Officer’s The key laws and regulations by Parliament and the financial going concern for a period of at other information, I am required to Responsibilities, the Board and the I design procedures in line with my I considered in this context transactions recorded in the least twelve months from when the report that fact. Accounting Officer are responsible responsibilities, outlined above, to included the British Library Act financial statements conform to the financial statements are authorised for: detect material misstatements in 1972, the Public Lending Right authorities which govern them. for issue. I have nothing to report in this • the preparation of the financial respect of non-compliance with Act 1979, Managing Public regard. statements in accordance with laws and regulation, including fraud. Money, employment law and tax Basis of opinions My responsibilities and the the applicable financial reporting legislation. I conducted my audit in accordance responsibilities of the Board and Opinion on other matters framework and for being satisfied My procedures included the with International Standards on Accounting Officer with respect to In my opinion: that they give a true and fair view; following: In addition to the above, my Auditing (ISAs) (UK), applicable going concern are described in the • the parts of the Remuneration • internal controls as the Board • Inquiring of management, the procedures to respond to identified law and Practice Note 10 ‘Audit relevant sections of this certificate. Report to be audited have been and the Accounting Officer British Library’s head of internal risks included the following:

66 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 67 • reviewing the financial statement A further description of my ANNUAL ACCOUNTS disclosures and testing to responsibilities for the audit The British Library Board supporting documentation to of the financial statements is Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 March 2021 assess compliance with relevant located on the Financial Reporting laws and regulations discussed Council’s website at: frc.org. above; uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This Notes Unrestricted Funds EndowedE Fundsndonds • enquiring of management and description forms part of my Restricted Total the Audit Committee concerning certificate. funds 2020/21 actual and potential litigation and General Designated Fixed Asset Permanent Expendable Funds Funds Funds claims; In addition, I am required to • reading minutes of meetings of obtain evidence sufficient to £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 those charged with governance give reasonable assurance that Income and endowments from: and the Board; the income and expenditure Grant in Aid 2 108,226 – – – – – 108,226 • in addressing the risk of reported in the financial statements Donations and legacies 3 665 36 – 8,794 – 29 9,524 fraud through management have been applied to the purposes override of controls, testing the intended by Parliament and the Charitable activities 4 6,578 30 – 976 – – 7,584 appropriateness of journal entries financial transactions conform to Other trading activities 383 – – – – – 383 and other adjustments; assessing the authorities which govern them. Investment income 5 196 – – – – – 196 whether the judgements made in Total income and endowments 116,048 66 – 9,770 – 29 125,913 making accounting estimates are I communicate with those charged indicative of a potential bias; and with governance regarding, Expenditure on: evaluating the business rationale among other matters, the planned Raising funds of any significant transactions that scope and timing of the audit and Raising donations and legacies (1,595) – – – – – (1,595) are unusual or outside the normal significant audit findings, including Other trading activities (953) – – – – – (953) course of business; and any significant deficiencies in • testing the appropriateness of internal control that I identify during Investment management costs – (28) – (5) (18) (66) (117) transfers between funds and my audit. Charitable activities (95,649) (170) (21,526) (8,267) (39) (328) (125,979) reviewing the allocation of income Total expenditure 7 (98,197) (198) (21,526) (8,272) (57) (394) (128,644) and expenditure to funds, to Report ensure that restricted funds are I have no observations to make on Net gains/(losses) used for the purposes they were these financial statements. on investments 11 – 1,075 – 188 709 2,687 4,659 acquired. Net income/(expenditure) 6 17,851 943 (21,526) 1,686 652 2,322 1,928 Gareth Davies Transfer between funds 18 (7,831) (649) 8,379 180 (30) (49) – I also communicated relevant Comptroller and Auditor General identified laws and regulations Other recognised gains/(losses) and potential fraud risks to all 13 July 2021 Gains/(losses) on revaluation engagement team members of fixed assets 9 – – 19,411 – – – 19,411 including internal specialists National Audit Office Net movement in funds 10,020 294 6,264 1,866 622 2,273 21,339 and significant component 157-197 Buckingham Palace Road Reconciliation of funds: audit teams and remained alert Victoria to any indications of fraud or London Total funds brought forward non-compliance with laws and SW1W 9SP at 1 April 2020 31,644 6,614 961,788 7,189 3,393 12,088 1,022,716 regulations throughout the audit. Total funds carried forward at 31 March 2021 41,664 6,908 968,052 9,055 4,015 14,361 1,044,055

68 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 69 The British Library Board The British Library Board Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 March 2020 Balance Sheet as at 31 March 2021

Notes Unrestricted Funds EndowedE ndowed Funds Funds Notes 2020/21 2019/20 Restricted Total £000 £000 funds 2019/20 General Designated Fixed asset Permanent Expendable Fixed assets Funds Funds Funds Intangible assets 8 5,511 3,864 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 Tangible assets 9 886,683 882,517 Income and endowments from: Heritage assets 10 75,858 75,407 Grant in Aid 2 96,899 – – – – – 96,899 Investments 11 25,034 21,854 Donations and legacies 3 315 58 101 8,140 – 12 8,626 Total fixed assets 993,086 983,642 Charitable activities 4 11,659 28 – 1,556 – 6 13,249 Other trading activities 1,925 – – – – – 1,925 Current assets Investment income 5 426 – – – – – 426 Stocks 12 964 891 Total income and endowments 111,224 86 101 9,696 – 18 121,125 Debtors and prepayments 13 12,700 10,913 Investments 14 – 17,000 Expenditure on: Cash at bank and in hand 15 58,403 28,274 Raising funds Total current assets 72,067 57,078 Raising donations and legacies (2,123) – – – – – (2,123) Other trading activities (2,075) – – – – – (2,075) Current liabilities Investment management costs – (27) – (5) (18) (68) (118) Creditors: amounts falling due within one year 16 (20,103) (17,320) Charitable activities (102,061) (182) (18,975) (9,987) (52) (495) (131,752) Provisions: amounts falling due Total expenditure 7 (106,259) (209) (18,975) (9,992) (70) (563) (136,068) within one year 17 (689) (684) Net gains/(losses) Total current liabilities (20,792) (18,004) on investments 11 – (500) – (87) (330) (1,245) (2,162) Net current assets 51,275 39,074 Net income/(expenditure) 6 4,965 (623) (18,874) (383) (400) (1,790) (17,105) Total assets less current liabilities 1,044,361 1,022,716 Transfer between funds 18 (3,958) (227) 5,868 (1,625) (40) (18) – Creditors: amounts falling due Other recognised gains/(losses) after more than one year 16 (306) – Gains/(losses) on revaluation Total net assets 1,044,055 1,022,716 of fixed assets 9 – – 26,171 – – – 26,171 Net movement in funds 1,007 (850) 13,165 (2,008) (440) (1,808) 9,066 Funds of the charity: Permanent endowments 4,015 3,393 Reconciliation of funds: Expendable endowments 14,361 12,088 Total funds brought forward at 1 April 2019 30,637 7,464 948,623 9,197 3,833 13,896 1,013,650 Restricted funds 9,055 7,189 Total funds carried forward Unrestricted funds at 31 March 2020 31,644 6,614 961,788 7,189 3,393 12,088 1,022,716 Designated funds Fixed asset reserves 459,182 447,237 All recognised gains and losses are included within the Statement of Financial Activities and all the Library’s Revaluation reserve 478,546 484,227 activities are classed as continuing. The notes on pages 73 to 96 form part of these accounts. Donated asset reserve 30,324 30,324 Other designated funds 6,908 6,614 General funds 41,664 31,644 Total funds 1,044,055 1,022,716 The notes on pages 73 to 96 form part of these accounts. The financial statements on pages 69 to 72 and accompanying notes were approved by the Board/ Trustees on 12 July 2021, and were signed on their behalf by:

Dame Carol Black Roly Keating Chair Chief Executive and Accounting Officer 12 July 2021 12 July 2021

70 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 71 The British Library Board NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS Cash Flow Statement for the year ended 31 March 2021

Notes 2020/21 2019/20 £000 £000 1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES i. Income Expenditure is classified in the a) Accounting convention In general, income is accounted for SOFA under the principal categories Cash flows from operating activities: The accounts comply with the when a transaction or other event of expenditure on raising funds, Net cash provided by Statement of Recommended results in an increase in the Library’s expenditure on charitable activities operating activities 15 19,862 5,105 Practice (SORP) applicable to assets or a reduction in its liabilities. and other trading activities. Cash flows from investing activities: charities preparing their accounts Dividends, interest and rents from Investments 5 196 426 in accordance with the Financial Grant in Aid is taken to the SOFA in Where costs cannot be directly Purchase of intangible assets 8 (1,913) (1,799) Reporting Standard applicable in the year in which it is received. attributed, they are allocated to the UK and the Republic of Ireland activities according to the method Purchase of property, plant and machinery 9 (6,045) (2,788) (effective 1 January 2019), FRS 102, Income from grants and donations is described in note 7. Expenditure Purchase of heritage assets 10 (451) (1,287) the Government Financial Reporting recognised in the SOFA when there on other trading activities relates to Donated assets 10 – (101) Manual (FReM), the British Library is evidence of entitlement, receipt those trading activities chargeable Disposal of Investments at cost 11 1,831 118 Act 1972 and the Accounts Direction is probable and its amount can be to corporation tax, sponsorship and Purchase of investments 11 (351) – issued by the Secretary of State for reliably measured. membership including direct and Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. A allocated support costs. Expenditure Net cash used in copy of the Direction is available from Legacies are recognised as income on charitable activities comprises investing activities (6,733) (5,431) the Department for Digital, Culture, when there has been grant of resources applied to meet the Change in cash and cash equivalents 13,129 (326) Media and Sport. Where there is a probate, there are sufficient assets in charitable purposes of the Library, Cash and cash equivalents brought forward 45,274 45,600 conflict between the requirements of the estate, evidence of entitlement namely Custodianship, Research, the SORP and the FReM, the SORP has been received from the executor, Business, Culture, Learning, Cash and cash equivalents carried forward 58,403 45,274 has been followed with additional and the amount receivable can be International and Public Lending Analysis of cash and cash Equivalents: disclosure provided to comply with measured with sufficient accuracy. Right payments to Authors. Cash at bank and in hand 58,403 28,274 the FReM. Grants are recognised when the Governance costs are those Notice deposits – 17,000 The Accounts have been prepared formal offer of funding is received costs incurred in connection with Total cash and cash equivalents 58,403 45,274 under the historical cost convention unless there are terms and conditions the general governance of the as modified by the revaluation of related to performance, timing or Library including compliance The notes on pages 73 to 96 form part of these accounts. land and buildings and the treatment raising of matched funding which with constitutional and statutory of investments which have been must be met before entitlement, in requirements. included at fair value. which case income is recognised as those conditions are met. The British Library is able to recover The Board have considered the VAT relating to the expenditure implications of the impact of the Contractual and trading income is for primary purpose activities. Any Coronavirus pandemic on the British recognised, net of VAT, as income irrecoverable VAT is treated as Library’s finances. The Library has to the extent that the Library has a support cost and apportioned prepared a balanced budget for provided the associated goods or over the activities of the Library as the next three years, taking into services. Where income is received described in note 7. account its balance sheet as at in advance and the Library does not 31 March 2021, and carried out have entitlement to these resources c) Intangible Assets a range of “stress” test scenarios until the goods or services have been Intangible assets with an economic to model options for mitigation of provided, the income is deferred. life of more than one year and value any unexpected financial impacts. greater than £20,000 are capitalised. After management review of these Investment income relates to interest All intangible assets are measured at forecasts and projections, the Board received on daily bank balances. This cost, incorporating all costs that can have a reasonable expectation that is recorded on an accruals basis. be directly attributed to individual the Library has adequate resources assets. to continue its operations for the ii. Expenditure foreseeable future. The Accounts Expenditure is recognised in the The cost of creating digitised have therefore been prepared on the financial statements when a present images is usually below the £20,000 going-concern basis. legal or constructive obligation threshold. exists, it is more likely than not that b) Statement of Financial a transfer of economic benefits will Any costs associated with the Activities (SOFA) be required in settlement and the development of internal systems, This statement discloses the totality amount of the obligation can be including web redevelopment, are of the resources receivable by the measured or estimated reliably. capitalised in accordance with the British Library during the year and requirements of FRS102. their disposition.

72 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 73 Amortisation is provided on all Plant and machinery and furniture, to 1 April 2001. This is because Any stocks of consumables held are for the financial asset, or data an asset and a liability at the lower intangible assets as follows: fittings and equipment comprehensive valuation, as considered written-off at the time of indicating that there is a measurable of the fair value of the asset and the 3 to 25 years illustrated below, would not provide purchase. decrease in the estimated future cash present value of the minimum lease Licences a meaningful figure for users of the flows from a group of financial assets payments discounted at the interest Over the contractual period Computer equipment financial statements and the cost of g) Financial Instruments since the initial recognition. Where rate implicit in the lease. Finance 3 to 5 years doing so is not commensurate with The Library only has financial there is objective evidence that a lease payments are apportioned Websites and developed software the benefits to users of the financial assets and financial liabilities of a financial instrument is impaired, its between the finance charge and the 3 years Motor vehicles statements. kind that qualify as basic financial loss is reflected in the SOFA. reduction of the outstanding liability 4 years instruments. All fall due within one so as to produce a constant periodic d) Tangible Assets Historic cost – while it may be year. These have been accounted for h) Cash at bank and in hand rate of interest. Assets with an economic life of more Assets in the course of construction possible to assign a cost to items in accordance with FRS102. Cash at bank and in hand is held to than one year and value greater than No depreciation is charged until the purchased within a financial year, meet short-term cash commitments l) Pensions £20,000 are capitalised. asset is operational and supporting historic cost quickly becomes A financial instrument is any contract as they fall due rather than for Past and present employees are the activities of the Library obsolete and meaningless, not only that gives rise to a financial asset of investment purposes and includes covered by the provisions of the The Library’s land, buildings and because of general price movements one entity and a financial liability or all cash equivalents held in the Principal Civil Service Pension structural plant and machinery at St where markets for similar items do equity instrument of another entity. form of shrt-term highly liquid Scheme (PCSPS) and the Civil Pancras and Boston Spa are revalued e) Heritage Assets exist, but also because of changing Financial instruments are recognised investments. Cash equivalents are Servant and Other Pension Scheme for accounting purposes every The Library accounts for the objects opinions about attribution and on the Library’s balance sheet when short-term highly liquid investments (CSOPS) – known as “alpha”. five years by external chartered in its collection as non-operational authenticity, subsequent research the Library becomes a party to that are readily convertible to known These are unfunded multi-employer surveyors. The sites are valued on a heritage assets, in accordance with into objects that reveals new value, the contractual provisions of the amounts of cash and that are subject defined benefit schemes but the depreciated replacement cost basis. SORP Module 18 Accounting for the emergence of new information instrument. Assets are derecognised to insignificant risk of changes in Library is unable to identify its Between the quinquennial valuations Heritage Assets. A heritage asset is about the provenance of an item or when the rights to receive cash value. These comprise deposits in call share of the underlying assets the Boston Spa site is either subject defined as ‘a tangible or intangible changes in taste. flows from the financial assets have accounts with a duration of 1 year and liabilities. The scheme actuary to an interim desktop valuation or asset with historical, artistic, expired or where the Library has or less. published the results of the revalued annually using relevant scientific, technological, geophysical Valuation – attempting to value transferred substantially all risks and revaluation as at 31 March 2016 indices. The St Pancras site is subject or environmental qualities that is heritage assets acquired historically rewards of ownership. Liabilities are i) Provisions in summer 2018. Increases to the to interim desk top revaluations held and maintained principally for raises a number of further derecognised when all obligations The Library provides for legal or contribution rates arising from that because general indices available do its contribution to knowledge and conceptual concerns. Valuation of in respect of them have been constructive obligations which are valuation have been implemented not accurately reflect changes in the culture.’ heritage assets is complicated by the discharged. Where material, assets of uncertain timing or amount on in April 2019. You can find details value of such a specialist site. nature of many such assets. They are and liabilities falling due after more the balance sheet date on the basis in the resource accounts of the Capitalised heritage assets are rarely sold and often have a value than one year are discounted to their of best estimate of the expenditure Cabinet Office: Civil Superannuation Expenditure on building digital not depreciated because they are enhanced above the intrinsic through present value. required to settle the obligation. (civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk). infrastructure is capitalised on deemed to have indefinite lives, but their association with a person, event Provisions are recognised where an annual basis. Any directly are subject to impairment reviews or collection, there are a very limited The Library’s investments comprise there is a present obligation as a The expected cost of these elements attributable costs for the digital where damage or deterioration is number of buyers, no homogeneous restricted funds that have been result of a past event, it is probable is recognised on a systematic and programmes are capitalised and reported. population of assets on the market, invested in unit trusts traded on that a transfer of economic benefits rational basis over the period during depreciated in line with other and imperfect information about the an active market. These have been will be required to settle the which the Library benefits from computer equipment. i. Heritage assets acquired since items for sale. In contrast with many classified as available for sale and obligation and a reliable estimate employees’ services by payment 1 April 2001 commercial assets, therefore, there is recognised at fair value, with any of the amount can be made. to the PCSPS/alpha of amounts Impairment reviews are carried out The Library includes donated or seldom an active market to provide gains or losses reflected in the calculated on an accruing basis. at the end of each reporting period purchased heritage assets acquired indicative values of similar objects. SOFA in the period in which they j) Foreign currencies Liability for payment of future in accordance with FRS102 to ensure since 1 April 2001 on the balance This makes materially accurate arise. Other financial instruments Transactions denominated in foreign benefits is a charge on the PCSPS/ that the carrying values of the assets sheet at cost or valuation at the valuations impossible to achieve (notably trade debtors, current currencies are translated at the alpha. do not exceed their recoverable time of acquisition. Valuations for many heritage assets. Individual asset investments, cash at bank exchange rate at the date of the amount. are performed during the year of expert valuation would therefore be and in hand, and trade creditors) transaction. Monetary assets and In respect of the defined contribution acquisition by internal curatorial required, the cost of which would are initially recognised at fair value liabilities denominated in foreign schemes, we recognise the Depreciation is provided on all experts based on their expert be prohibitive. (i.e. cost) plus or minus material currencies at the balance sheet contributions payable for the year. tangible fixed assets other than knowledge and, where appropriate, transaction costs directly attributable date are translated at the exchange Further details can be found in note freehold land. Depreciation rates with reference to recent sales of f) Stocks to their acquisition or issue; and rate at that date. Foreign exchange 7(d) to the accounts. are calculated to write-off the cost similar objects. The cost or valuation Stocks for re-sale are stated at the subsequently measured at cost, differences arising on translation are or valuation of each asset, less is not subject to revaluation because lower of cost and net realisable less impairment where material. reflected in the SOFA. m) Taxation estimated residual value, evenly over such information cannot be obtained value. Provision is made against The Library is exempt from its expected useful life, as follows: at a cost commensurate with the slow-moving and obsolete stock. An assessment of whether there is k) Leases corporation tax on its charitable benefit to users of the financial Stocks held in respect of book- objective evidence of impairment Costs relating to operating leases are activities under the provisions of statements. binding activities are recorded is carried out for material financial charged to the SOFA over the life of the Corporation Taxes Act 2010. Freehold buildings at cost. As this stock is not of a assets at the balance sheet date. the lease. The Library currently has Income from non-charitable activities Over the remaining useful life as at ii. Heritage assets acquired before general nature it would not be cost- Objective evidence includes, for no finance leases. is subject to corporation tax at the the valuation date, up to a maximum 1 April 2001 effective to test the realisable value example, significant financial prevailing rate. of 75 years. The Library has not capitalised in determining which provides the difficulty of the issuer or debtor, At the commencement of the lease heritage assets acquired prior lower valuation. disappearance of an active market term, finance leases are recorded as

74 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 75 n) Fund accounting o) Estimation Techniques p) Contingent liabilities 3. DONATIONS AND LEGACIES The Library has the following In preparation of the accounts a Contingent liabilities are disclosed categories of funds: number of estimation techniques in line with FRS 102 SORP. 2020/21 2019/20 are used: Contingent liabilities are recognised £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 i. General funds are available for • In the interim years between when there is either: a possible but Unrestricted Restricted Total Unrestricted Restricted Total use at the discretion of the Board in professional revaluations, the uncertain obligation, or a present Donated Assets – – – 101 – 101 furtherance of the general objectives Library’s land, buildings and plant obligation that is not recognised Other Donations and Grants 701 8,823 9,524 373 8,152 8,525 of the Library. and machinery are subject to either because a transfer of economic 701 8,823 9,524 474 8,152 8,626 a desktop re-valuation or to index benefit to settle the possible ii. Designated funds comprise linked re-valuation. Where index- obligation is not probable; or the Included in donations and grants is £223k received in EU grants relating to three projects (2019/20: £119k funds which have been set aside linked revaluation is applied land amount of the obligation cannot relating to two projects). The Library is not the lead partner in any of these projects. In 2019/20 the library was at the discretion of the Board for and buildings are re-valued using be estimated reliably. lead partner in no projects. In the year the Library made no payments to other EU partners (2019/2020: nil). specific purposes. Board approval is an appropriate index provided by required for any allocation to / from the Royal Institute of Chartered q) New reporting standards designated funds. Surveyors. Plant and Machinery not yet adopted assets are re-valued using an 4. INCOME FROM CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES Because the Charities SORP (FRS iii. Restricted funds are resources appropriate index provided by the 102) is followed, the following subject to specific restrictions Office for National Statistics. reporting standards, which have 2020/21 2019/20 £000 £000 imposed by donors or by the • To establish that the correct costs been published and come into effect, purpose of the appeal. are included in the correct period, have not been applied in these Custodianship 295 988 it is assumed that, as over 96% financial statements. Research 2,259 5,168 Transfer between funds will occur of the Library’s serial subscriptions • IFRS9 ‘Financial Instruments’ Business 461 440 when Library or Restricted funds operate on a calendar year • IFRS 15 ‘Revenue from contracts services are utilised by an opposite renewal, the same allocation is with customers’ Culture 2,034 4,516 category of fund. Transfers may applied to all serial expenditure. • IFRS16 ‘Leases’ also occur during the purchase of • The financial statements include Learning 23 215 International 166 381 tangible and heritage assets if a an accrual for outstanding holiday The Library does not believe the restricted fund is to contribute to pay due to employees as at 31 adoption of these standards would Enabling activities 2,346 1,541 the purchase. These transfers are March. The accrual is calculated by have a material effect on the SOFA 7,584 13,249 reflected in the transfer column in pro-rating annual salary over the or financial position of the Library. note 18 on page 89. number of days leave outstanding Income from Charitable Activities includes Document Supply and at 31 March for each employee. other information services, sponsorship income, licensing and royalties, • Donated heritage assets are valued by internal curatorial experts based publication sales, exhibition entrance fees, retail income, income for on their knowledge and, where performing Public Lending Right facilities for the Irish Government appropriate, with reference to and income from performance related grants. recent sales of similar objects.

5. INVESTMENT INCOME 2. GRANT IN AID Total Grant in Aid drawdown by the British Library Board in 2020/21 was £108.2m, with £8.6m allocated for capital 2020/21 2019/20 projects, improvements and heritage asset acquisitions (£96.9m received in 2019/20, £4.1m for capital). The Library’s £000 £000 Grant in Aid also included £6.6m for Public Lending Right of which £6m was for distribution to authors. Interest from UK bank deposits 196 426 196 426 The Grant in Aid total above includes additional allocations for capital and development projects as described in the Financial Review on page 45. Also included is £1.65m received from the DCMS Covid Emergency Fund which it has been agreed will be repaid in 2021–22 by reducing the amount of Grant in Aid drawn down next financial year. This has been reported this year in line with accounting policy which is to take Grant in Aid to the SOFA in the year in 6. NET EXPENDITURE which it is received. Net expenditure is stated after charging: 2020/21 2019/20 £000 £000 External audit fee 72 76 Operating lease rentals: land and buildings – 46 Operating lease rentals: other – 71 Loss on disposal of fixed assets 30 22 Movement on bad debt provision 40 (7) Movement on stock provision (6) 57

There were no non-audit services provided by the external auditors during 2020/21 (2019/20: nil). During the year, the Library took advice on taxation matters totalling £43k (2019/20 £17k).

76 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 77 7. ANALYSIS OF EXPENDITURE a) Cost by activity Estates Human Finance IT and other Total Direct Depreciation Allocated Total and Security Resources Central Costs 2020/21 Costs and Support 2020/21 £000s £000s £000s £000s £000s Impairment Costs £000 £000 £000 £000 Charitable activities Custodianship 8,060 963 1,338 6,219 16,580 Charitable activities Research 2,702 914 1,166 5,806 10,588 Custodianship 25,458 8,136 16,580 50,174 Business 272 87 469 1,613 2,441 Research 23,767 7,596 10,588 41,951 Culture 1,551 186 313 1,312 3,362 Business 6,604 2,110 2,441 11,155 Learning 56 42 44 226 368 Culture 5,369 1,716 3,362 10,447 International 167 124 152 653 1,096 Learning 925 296 368 1,589 Public Lending Right – payment to authors – – – – – International 2,673 854 1,096 4,623 Total charitable activities 12,808 2,316 3,482 15,829 34,435 Public Lending Right – payment to authors 6,040 – – 6,040 Raising donation and legacies 43 32 37 232 344 Total charitable activities 70,836 20,708 34,435 125,979 Investment management costs – – – – – Raising donations and legacies 948 303 344 1,595 Other trading activities 6 5 28 62 101 Investment management costs 117 – – 117 12,857 2,353 3,547 16,123 34,880 Other trading activities 771 81 101 953 72,672 21,092 34,880 128,644 Estates Human Finance IT and other Total and Security Resources Central Costs 2019/20 £000s £000s £000s £000s £000s Direct Depreciation Allocated Total Costs and Support 2019/20 Charitable activities Impairment Costs Custodianship 9,235 983 710 7,230 18,158 £000 £000 £000 £000 Research 3,350 899 681 6,404 11,334 Charitable activities Business 302 77 115 866 1,360 Custodianship 28,581 8,310 18,158 55,049 Culture 1,888 181 324 1,961 4,354 Research 25,316 7,362 11,334 44,012 Learning 54 34 28 283 399 Business 3,425 996 1,360 5,781 International 164 104 129 705 1,102 Culture 7,752 2,254 4,354 14,360 Public Lending Right – payment to authors – – – – – Learning 1,116 324 399 1,839 Total charitable activities 14,993 2,278 1,987 17,449 36,707 International 2,789 811 1,102 4,702 Raising donation and legacies 56 36 28 328 448 Public Lending Right – payment to authors 6,009 – – 6,009 Other trading activities 7 4 26 117 154 Total charitable activities 74,988 20,057 36,707 131,752 15,056 2,318 2,041 17,984 37,309

Raising donations and legacies 1,298 377 448 2,123

Investment management costs 118 – – 118 c) Governance costs Other trading activities 1,786 135 154 2,075 2020/21 2019/20

78,190 20,569 37,309 136,068 £000 £000 Board members’ fees 144 136 b) Cost allocation Board members’ reimbursed expenses – 9 Cost of Board and Committee meetings 7 16 Costs that cannot be directly proportion of direct expenditure each activity. Information Systems attributed to one of the Library’s and, where applicable direct income, costs and other corporate costs are British Library Advisory Council expenses – 1 charitable purposes are allocated to spent and received for each of allocated using the proportion of Auditors’ remuneration 72 70 purposes on a basis consistent with the objectives. Human resources direct expenditure of each purpose. Internal audit costs 126 161 the use of resources. costs are allocated based on staff Annual Report and Accounts production 3 4 numbers. Estates and security 352 397 Finance costs, including irrecoverable costs are allocated based on the VAT are allocated using the proportion of space occupied by

78 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 79 d) Staff costs e) Full time equivalents by activity 2020/21 2019/20 The average number of full time equivalent employees analysed by activity was: £000 £000 Wages and salaries 47,267 47,891 2020/21 2019/20 Social security costs 4,531 4,725 Staff Agency Total Staff Agency Total and contract and contract Employer pension costs 12,082 12,271 Charitable activities Agency staff costs 2,167 2,410 Custodianship 457 – 457 490 4 494 Early retirement, voluntary exit 58 116 and redundancy costs Research 434 27 461 448 24 472 66,105 67,413 Business 41 – 41 38 – 38 Culture 89 1 90 90 3 93 Board Members’ remuneration Learning 20 – 20 17 – 17 Fees and salaries (including CEO) 312 306 International 59 – 59 52 – 52 Social security costs 27 28 Total charitable activities 1,100 28 1,128 1,135 31 1,166 Other emoluments – – 339 334 Raising donations and legacies 15 – 15 18 – 18 Other trading activities 2 – 2 2 – 2 66,444 67,747 Enabling activities 323 14 337 330 13 343 During the year £242,987 (2019/20: £506,212) of staff costs have been capitalised in relation to IT systems 1,440 42 1,482 1,485 44 1,529 development. The average headcount during the year excluding agency and contract staff was 1,565 (2019/20: 1,620). The Board Members’ remuneration shown on page 54 of the Remuneration Report covers all Board members, including the Chair, apart from the Chief Executive. f) Off-payroll engagements

For 2020/21 employers’ Employees can opt to open a In addition, employer contributions Following the Review of Tax Arrangements of Public Sector Appointees published by the Chief Secretary contributions of £11,905,671 were partnership pension account which of between 0.5% and 0.8% of to the Treasury on 23 May 2012 and implemented on 23 August 2012, departments and their arm’s- payable to the PCSPS (2019/20: is a stakeholder pension with an pensionable pay, were payable length bodies must publish information on their highly paid and/or senior off-payroll engagements. £12,096,822) at one of four rates employer contribution. Employers’ to the PCSPS to cover the cost in the range 26.6% to 30.3% of contributions of £175,990 of the future provision of lump- i. Temporary off-payroll worker engagements as at 31 March 2021 pensionable pay, based on salary (2019/20: £178,091) were paid to sum benefits on death in service bands. The scheme’s actuary one or more of the four appointed and ill-health retirement of these reviews employer contributions stakeholder pension providers. employees. 2020/21 every four years following a full Employer contributions are age- Number of existing engagements at 31 March 2021 3 scheme valuation. The contribution related and ranged from 8% to Of which: rates reflect benefits as they are 14.75%. Employers also match accrued, not when the costs are employee contributions up to 3 Number that have existed for less than one year at time of reporting – actually incurred, and reflect past per cent of pensionable pay. Number that have existed for between one and two years at time of reporting 2 experience of the scheme. Number that have existed for between two and three years at time of reporting – Number that have existed for between three and four years at time of reporting – The number of employees, (excluding the Executive Team for whom details of remuneration are contained in the Number that have existed for four or more years at time of reporting 1 Remuneration Report) whose full time equivalent emoluments as defined for taxation purposes amounted to over £60,000 in the year was as follows: All existing off-payroll engagements, outlines above, have at some point been subkect to a risk based 2020/21 2019/20 assessment as to whether assurance is required that the individual is paying the right amount of tax and, £60,001 – £70,000 23 33 where necessary, that assurance has been sought. The required evidence and declarations were obtained for all off-payroll engagements. £70,001 – £80,000 7 11

£80,001 – £90,000 9 5 £90,001 – £100,000 1 5 £100,001 – £110,000 1 5 £110,001 – £120,000 – 1 £120,001 – £130,000 – 1 £130,001 – £140,000 – 1 £140,001 – £150,000 – 1

All of the above employees are members of the PCSPS pension scheme. These remuneration figures include the value of compensation packages. A number of individuals left on voluntary exit during the last financial year resulting in a higher than usual number of individuals with emoluments over £60,000, and higher than usual bandings.

80 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 81 ii. All temporary off-payroll workers engaged at any point during the year ended 31 March 2021 9. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS a) Movements – Restated 2020/21 Number of off-payroll workers engaged during the year ended 31 March 2021 – Land Buildings Fit Out Plant Furniture, Motor Computer Assets in the Total & Machinery Fittings & Vehicles Equipment Course of Of which: Equipment Construction Number assessed as caught by IR35 – £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 Number assessed as not caught by IR35 – Cost or Valuation Number of engagements reassessed for compliance or assurance purposes during the year – At 1 April 2020 226,512 424,017 228,511 10,894 20 26,112 1,400 917,466 Of which: Number of engagements that saw a change to IR35 status following the review – Additions – – 1,401 33 – 83 4,528 6,045 Transfers – 2,802 (2,148) 340 – (52) (942) – Revaluation (10,868) 18,499 (8,216) – – – – (585) iii. For any off-payroll engagements of board members, and/or, senior officials with significant financial Impairment – (1) (432) – – – – (433) responsibility, between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021 Disposals – – – (276) – (1,579) – (1,855) 2020/21 At 31 March 2021 215,644 445,317 219,116 10,991 20 24,564 4,986 920,638 Number of off–payroll engagements of board members and/or senior officials with significant financial responsibility during the financial year – Depreciation Total number of individuals on payroll and off-payroll that have been deemed At 1 April 2020 – – – 10,442 – 24,507 – 34,949 “board members, and/or, senior officials with significant financial responsibility”, Charge for year – 6,221 13,774 142 5 684 – 20,826 during the financial year 16 Revaluation – (6,221) (13,774) – – – – (19,995) Disposals – – – (246) – (1,579) – (1,825) At 31 March 2021 – – – 10,338 5 23,612 – 33,955 8. INTANGIBLE ASSETS NBV at 31 March 2021 215,644 445,317 219,116 653 15 952 4,986 886,683 IT Systems Assets in the Total NBV 31 March 2020 226,512 424,017 228,511 452 20 1,605 1,400 882,517 Course of Construction Assets in the Course of Construction (AICC) represent work on building enhancements. Cost £000 £000 £000 At 1 April 2020 4,686 2,362 7,048 b) Valuations Additions 46 1,867 1,913 The St Pancras site is considered to be ‘specialised’ in nature. It was revalued using the Depreciated Replacement Cost Disposals – – – basis by Carter Jonas Chartered Surveyors as at 31 March 2020. The next full revaluation is due on 31 March 2025. Transfers 92 (92) – An interim desktop valuation has been obtained from Carter Jonas Chartered Surveyors to update the value of land, buildings and fit out plant and machinery at 31 March 2021. At 31 March 2021 4,824 4,137 8,961

Amortisation The buildings on the Boston Spa site have no directly comparable alternatives. The site is therefore considered to be At 1 April 2020 3,184 – 3,184 ‘specialised’ in nature and, in accordance with HM Government Financial Reporting Manual (‘FReM’), was revalued using the Depreciated Replacement Cost method by Carter Jonas Chartered Surveyors as at 31 March 2019. The Charge for year 266 – 266 next full revaluation is due on 31 March 2024. An interim desktop valuation has been obtained from Carter Jonas Disposals – – – Chartered Surveyors to update the values of land, buildings and fit out plant and machinery at 31 March 2021. All At 31 March 2021 3,450 – 3,450 land and buildings are freehold. Net book value at 31 March 2021 1,374 4,137 5,511 The historic cost of the land, buildings and structural plant and machinery is £557m. Net book value at 31 March 2020 1,502 2,362 3,864

Assets in the Course of Construction (AICC) represent work on the development of internal computer systems.

82 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 83 10. HERITAGE ASSETS cover over 2000 years of printed, item. Access to a small part of the documentation is archived as due All activities are underpinned by iii. Disposal a) Nature and scale of manuscript and archival resources heritage collection is restricted for diligence documentation. the Library’s core preservation The Library exists to preserve and the Collection from around Britain and the wider legal reasons, the main cause being principle of risk management and make available the national printed The British Library is the national world in a wide array of formats and data protection issues, for instance ii. Preservation and management mitigation. The general public can archive of the UK together with library of the United Kingdom and also includes the Library’s collections in contemporary archives of authors The Preservation Department’s role learn more about this by reading the purchased and donated material. one of the world’s greatest research of manuscript, printed and digitally or politicians. is to safeguard the collections from Conservation Policy at bl.uk/about- It does not normally dispose of libraries. It is one of the six legal published music. harm while enabling continued and us/freedom-of-information/5-our- material in its collections and deposit libraries of the United b) Policies on acquisitions, appropriate access to them. policies-and-procedures. never disposes of items from the Kingdom and it receives copies of The British Library records its preservation, management collection accepted under legal all publications produced in the collection in publicly accessible and disposal A dedicated Collection The Library has a duty to catalogue deposit. Disposal is governed by United Kingdom and the Republic catalogues. The main catalogues All items within the British Library Management division manages items in the collection and for this the British Library Act and by the of Ireland. The Library’s collection are digital and accessible through collection contribute to the both digital and physical collections there is a planned programme of Deaccessioning Policy of the British is one of the largest in the world, the Library’s website. The Library development of knowledge and with constituent departments work. All catalogues are listed on Library Board which can be found holding over 170 million items, but continuously upgrades its digital culture. The collection is carefully undertaking selection, acquisition, the website and can be accessed by at bl.uk/about-us/freedom-of- in the absence of a consensus about catalogues and includes items developed and managed through ingest/metadata capture, members of the public. information/5-our-policies-and- what constitutes a single item it is previously described only in printed a series of policies governing all preservation and discovery procedures. not possible to reach a definitive or other analogue catalogues. aspects of acquisitions, preservation and access functions. statement of the size of the and access. A summary of the collection. The collection includes The Library actively seeks to main policies can be found at material from across the world, make its collections accessible in bl.uk/about-us/freedom-of- c) Heritage assets capitalised covering a wide range of languages, digital form and currently above information/5-our-policies-and- formats and materials including 147,000,000 pages of the collection procedures. Heritage assets purchased books, journals, newspapers, are accessible digitally either 2020/21 2019/20 2018/19 2017/18 2016/17 magazines, sound and music through the Library’s own systems i. Acquisitions Cost No. of Cost No. of Cost No. of Cost No. of Cost No. of recordings, patents, databases, or via commercial partners who give Within the Library’s acquisition £000 Items £000 Items £000 Items £000 Items £000 Items maps, manuscripts, stamps, prints, access to the materials through time policies, there is a distinction made At 1 April 45,083 340 43,839 343 40,535 324 39,151 314 37,760 305 drawings and much more. It is limited licence agreements. The vast between unique heritage items Additions 451 5 1,287 8 3,304 19 1,384 10 1,391 9 unique in its breadth, depth and majority of these digital images are and contemporary, research-level scope. Many items are priceless and of items which one would classify as academic publications. Heritage Adjustments – – – (10) – – – – – – irreplaceable. heritage items. items are defined as items acquired Disposals – – (43) (1) – – – – – – to be used preponderantly as At 31 March 45,534 345 45,083 340 43,839 343 40,535 324 39,151 314 The Library’s collections constitute The Library does not segregate primary sources for research, a unity, although they are its information on items which forming part of the Library’s Heritage assets donated managed through four curatorial may be classified as heritage items collection of unique materials. departments: from other collection items, but it Under this definition, all heritage 2020/21 2019/20 2018/19 2017/18 2016/17 affords higher degrees of protection items are major acquisitions, Cost No. of Cost No. of Cost No. of Cost No. of Cost No. of £000 Items £000 Items £000 Items £000 Items £000 Items • Asian and African Collections to categories of materials. This whether purchased or donated. comprise collections in all stratified approach to protection At 1 April 30,324 47 30,223 44 29,013 44 28,958 42 28,088 39 languages from Asia and Africa is managed through a system of The Library continues to develop its Additions – – 101 3 1,210 2 55 2 870 3 and also includes the Visual reading categories which assigns heritage collection for the benefit Impairments – – – – – (2) – – – – Arts section which has special various levels of protection to the of current and future generations Disposals – – – – – – – – – – responsibility for the Library’s items of the collection, restricting of researchers. Heritage acquisitions At 31 March 30,324 47 30,324 47 29,013 44 28,958 42 28,088 39 public art collection as well as their use to higher security Reading are made in accordance with the photography and art from the Rooms etc. Library’s Ethical Acquisitions Policy India Office which can be found at bl.uk/about- Total At 31 March 75,858 392 75,407 387 74,062 387 69,548 368 68,109 356 • Contemporary British Collections The collection is accessible to us/freedom-of-information/5- cover collections of material of a registered Readers in our reading our-policies-and-procedures. A The number of purchased heritage assets was adjusted in 2019/20 to remove duplication where collection items relatively recent (post 1999 for rooms. The overwhelming majority Due Diligence Policy and a Due purchased by multiple payments had historically been counted as multiple items. published works, post 1949 for of the collection can be consulted Diligence Process are followed to manuscripts and archives) British by registered readers without any ensure legal and ethical concerns origin including digital and printed specific permission. A small number surrounding acquisitions have been publications, manuscripts, archives of highly valuable or vulnerable identified and addressed. To ensure and sound recordings heritage items are restricted in order accountability these acquisitions • European and American to protect them from deterioration are managed through the Library’s Collections include collections in through excessive use. Probably Heritage Acquisitions Policy: the all languages from continental amounting to less than one per Library’s Heritage Acquisitions Europe, the Americas, the cent of the collection, they can be Group assess and score each Caribbean, Australia, the Pacific consulted upon application which proposed acquisition according and also English language Asian will be assessed on the basis of to established criteria and also material the research needs and the need challenge valuations. The decisions • Western Heritage Collections for responsible protection of the are minuted and the associated

84 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 85 11. INVESTMENTS 15. CASH AT BANK AND IN HAND

2020/21 2019/20 2020/21 2019/20 £000 £000 General Restricted Customer Total General Restricted Customer Total Market Value at 1 April 21,854 24,134 deposits deposits £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 Additions 351 – Cash at bank 46,794 9,115 2,484 58,393 17,337 8,819 2,112 28,268 Disposals (1,714) _ Cash in hand 10 – – 10 6 – – 6 Management fee (117) (118) 46,804 9,115 2,484 58,403 17,343 8,819 2,112 28,274 Unrealised Gain / (Loss) 4,413 (2,162) Realised Gain on Disposal 247 – Customer deposit account balances represent payments from customers in advance of supply of goods/services. Market value at 31 March 25,034 21,854

Fixed asset investments are held for the purpose of generating income and/ or capital growth appropriate to the Library’s restricted and designated a) Analysis of change in net funds funds. All investments are held in Diversified Growth Funds managed by As at Cash As at 1 Cash As at 31 Baillie Gifford and Ninety One plc. Detail of the Library’s investment policy 1 April 2019 Flows April 2020 Flows March 2021 can be found in the investments and financial risks section of the financial £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 review on page 46. Short term deposits 18,000 (1,000) 17,000 (17,000) – Government Banking Services cash at bank 5 – 5 (1) 4 Commercial cash at bank 27,589 674 28,263 30,126 58,389 12. STOCKS Cash in hand 6 – 6 4 10 45,600 (326) 45,274 13,129 58,403 2020/21 2019/20 £000 £000 Maturing short term deposits have been placed in call accounts this year to provide increased Stocks for resale 807 735 liquidity to manage uncertainty arising from the Covid 19 pandemic. Raw materials 157 156 964 891 b) Cash flow information Stocks for resale comprise printed, microfiche, CD-ROM publications Reconciliation of net income / (expenditure) to net cash flow from operating and exhibition-related merchandise, and are available from the British activities Library Shop and Library website. Raw materials stocks are items for the conservation of books including leathers, hides and papers. 2020/21 2019/20 £000 £000 Net income / (expenditure) for the year 1,928 (17,105) Depreciation charges 20,826 20,308 13. DEBTORS AND PREPAYMENTS Amortisation charges 266 261

2020/21 2019/20 Impairment / (reversal) 433 (1,610) £000 £000 (Gains) / losses on investments (4,659) 2,162 Amounts falling due within one year Investment income (196) (426) Trade debtors 1,152 1,300 Loss on the sale of Fixed Assets 30 22 Other debtors 32 306 (Increase) in stocks (73) (27) Taxation and social security 2,147 1,727 (Increase) / decrease in debtors (1,787) 1,446 Prepayments 4,550 4,742 Increase in creditors 3,089 2,258 Accrued income 4,819 2,838 Increase / (decrease) in provisions 5 (2,184) 12,700 10,913 Net Cash provided by operating activities 19,862 5,105

Included in accrued income above is £1,927k due after more than one year.

14. CURRENT ASSET INVESTMENTS

2020/21 2019/20 £000 £000 Short term deposits – 17,000

86 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 87 16. CREDITORS 18. STATEMENT OF FUNDS a) 2020/21 2019/20 At 1 April Income Expenditure Capital Net movement Transfers At 31 £000 £000 2020 Transfers on investments March and revaluation 2021 Amounts falling due within one year £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 Trade creditors 3,725 1,766 Permanent endowment funds 3,393 – (57) (30) 709 – 4,015 Monies held on deposit for customers 2,492 2,112 Expendable endowment funds 12,088 29 (394) (5) 2,687 (44) 14,361 Other creditors 1,617 1,685 Lease creditors 90 – Restricted funds by purpose Taxation and social security 1,157 1,231 Custodianship 4,590 5,896 (3,881) (159) 151 96 6,693 Accruals 5,805 7,056 Research 912 861 (473) – 37 (637) 700 Deferred income 5,217 3,470 Business 254 1,129 (1,056) – – – 327 20,103 17,320 Culture 403 171 (94) – – (125) 355 Learning 170 184 (104) – – (2) 248 The movement on the deferred income account is as follows: International 673 1,210 (2,390) – – 1,075 568 PLR 41 – – – – 15 56 2020/21 2019/20 Overheads and support 146 319 (274) (76) – (7) 108 £000 £000 Total restricted funds 7,189 9,770 (8,272) (235) 188 415 9,055 Deferred income brought forward 3,470 3,350 Unrestricted funds Release from previous year (1,975) (2,887) Revaluation reserve 484,227 – – – 19,411 (25,092) 478,546 Income deferred in the current year 3,722 3,007 Fixed asset reserve 447,237 – (21,526) 370 – 33,101 459,182 Deferred income carried forward 5,217 3,470 Donated asset reserve 30,324 – – – – – 30,324 Deferred income relates to grants received and voluntary income recognised Shaw fund 5,127 21 (28) (100) 1,075 35 6,130 against project milestones and progress, and membership and subscription fees Other designated funds 1,487 45 (170) – – (584) 778 which are recognised over the period of the contract. Total designated funds 968,402 66 (21,724) 270 20,486 7,460 974,960

General funds 31,644 116,048 (98,197) – – (7,831) 41,664

2020/21 2019/20 Total unrestricted funds 1,000,046 116,114 (119,921) 270 20,486 (371) 1,016,624 £000 £000 Amounts falling due after more than one year Total funds 1,022,716 125,913 (128,644) – 24,070 – 1,044,055 Lease creditors 306 – The transfers relate to internal charges or income applied to the restricted funds for the use of Library facilities and 306 – services. Capital transfers relate to the use of restricted funds for the purchase of fixed assets.

Permanent endowment funds 17. PROVISION FOR LIABILITIES AND CHARGES These comprise funds donated on the condition that the capital value of the donation is held in perpetuity. The income alone can be used for the following purposes: 2020/21 2019/20 Early Other Early Other Endowment – sponsorship for the sponsorship of programmes and projects in the area of Scholarship Retirement Liabilities Retirement Liabilities and Collections /Severance and /Severance and Bridgewater Fund 292636–1 for the purchase of manuscripts for addition to the Bridgewater collection Provision Charges Total Provision Charges Total Hazlitt Fund 292636–6 for the purchase of early English books printed before 1650 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 Dingwall Fund 292636–3 for the advancement of public education in literature by purchasing for the At 1 April 2020 – 684 684 2,100 768 2,868 benefit of bona fide scholars or students of literature those works of an obscene Additional Provision – 73 73 – 65 65 or erotic nature which the trustees shall consider to be of educational worth Release of Provision – – – – (91) (91) T S Blakeney 291711 for the purchase of Western manuscripts which meet collection strategy Utilisation of Provision – (68) (68) (2,100) (58) (2,158) Sir Anthony Panizzi 286081 for the advancement of public education by funding a lecture or series of lectures At 31 March – 689 689 – 684 684 in the subject of bibliography Sir Henry Thomas Trust 292636–10 for the purchase of books relating to the culture and literature of Spain Less provisions falling due within one year – 689 689 (2,100) (684) (684) Dingwall No 2 Fund 292636–11 to buy fine editions or to subscribe to foreign periodicals Amounts falling due after one year – – – – – – Ginsberg Legacy to fund a full time curatorial post for Thai, Lao and Cambodian collections

The other provisions relate to £689k unclaimed balances owed to authors and customers with credit balances on their accounts (2019/20 £684k).

88 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 89 Expendable endowment funds c) Fair value reserves These comprise funds donated on condition that the capital value of the donation is held for the long term. The Funds include investments stated at fair value. The fair value reserves included within the funds stated above are: Board have discretionary power to use the funds as income for the following purposes:

As at 1 Unrealised Gains As at 31 Reserve / Fund Reserve / Fund HLF/DCMS Catalyst Endowment Fund to provide a sustainable annual income stream that will be used to enhance the April /Losses under Fair March net of Fair (including Fair Library’s collections, increasing access and engagement to them. 2020 Value 2021 Value as at 31 Value) as at 31 restated March 2021 March 2021 HLF/DCMS Catalyst Endowment Fund for the purchase of musical manuscripts, printed editions and documents of £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 – Neighbour musical interest Eccles (26) 2,086 2,060 9,663 11,723 Consolidated Endowment Account for any purpose approved by the British Library Board where there has not been Shaw Fund (222) 1,048 826 5,305 6,131 adequate provision made through government Grant in Aid Catalyst Endowment (98) 430 332 2,487 2,819 David and Mary Eccles Centre for for the establishment of a Centre for American Studies within the British Library American Studies Dingwall No 2 (6) 318 312 1,553 1,865 Ginsburg Legacy (34) 144 110 632 742 Restricted funds Sir Henry Thomas (2) 94 92 463 555 These are funds where the donors have specified the uses to which they may be put. The Medd Fund (18) 83 65 446 511 Anthony Panizzi Foundation (1) 43 42 196 238 Unrestricted designated funds Coleridge (22) 31 9 211 220 These are unrestricted funds which the Board have set aside for a specific purpose. T S.Blakeney – 31 31 155 186 Bridgewater – 24 24 112 136 Collection Care Restoration Fund to be used to cover the costs of repair/replacement of damaged Collection items Sir Adrian Boult – 16 16 112 128 Shaw fund to be applied as an addition to other sources of funding, for the benefit of the Spratt-Bigot Bequest (4) 20 16 110 126 readership of the British Library Fitzgerald – 17 17 83 100 Membership and general donations for the general purpose of the British Library, as decided upon by the Others – 27 27 137 164 Executive Team Restricted Fair Value Reserve (433) 4,412 3,978 21,665 25,644 Revaluation reserve funds representing the revaluation of fixed assets Fixed asset reserve funds relating to capital assets The fair value represents the difference between historic cost and market valuation at the Balance Sheet date. Donated asset reserve funds relating to donated assets The 1 April 2020 balances have been restated to adjust for accumulated rounding differences.

Unrestricted general funds 19. REVALUATION RESERVE MOVEMENT These are expendable unrestricted funds. £000 At 1 April 2020 484,227 b) Analysis of net assets between funds Arising in year (585) Realised (5,096) Fund balance at 31 March are represented by: Backlog depreciation – Disposals – Permanent Expendable Unrestricted Restricted Total Total Endowments Endowments Funds Funds Funds Funds At 31 March 2021 478,546 2020/21 2019/20 Restated £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 Intangible fixed assets – – 5,511 – 5,511 3,864 Tangible fixed assets – – 886,683 – 886,683 882,517 Heritage assets – – 75,858 – 75,858 75,407 Investments 3,831 14,312 5,905 986 25,034 21,854 Current assets 184 49 59,482 12,352 72,067 57,078 Current liabilities – – (16,509) (4,283) (20,792) (18,004) Non–current liabilities – – (306) – (306) – Total net assets 4,015 14,361 1,016,624 9,055 1,044,055 1,022,716

90 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 91 20. LEASE COMMITMENTS For the year ended As at 31 March 2021 31 March 2021 Operating leases which expire: Equipment Related Party Relationship Nature of Income Expenditure Debtor Creditor Transaction balance balance 2020/21 2019/20 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 Within one year 57 71 American Trust Mr Roly Keating, Chief Executive of the British Donations 239 – – – for the British Library is a trustee of the related party Two to five years 119 12 Library More than five years – – British Library Dr Jeremy Silver, a member of the British Library Funding – – – 20 Collections Trust Board, is a trustee of the related party contribution Total 176 82 Conference Mr Roly Keating, Chief Executive of the British Membership 71 – – – The leased assets comprise 136 printer/copier devices and of European Library is the Chair of the related party National Libraries associated networking software. David Higham Dr Simon Thurley , a member of the British Library Royalty – (8) – – Finance leases which expire: Equipment Associates Board, is an author with contracts signed through payments the related party 2020/21 2019/20 Friends of the Mr Roly Keating, Chief Executive of the British Donations 15 – – – £000 £000 National Libraries Library is a trustee of the related party Within one year 97 – Home Office Professor Dame Carol Black, Chair of the British Document – – – 2 Two to five years 317 – Library Board, is leading and independent review of Supply More than five years – – drugs policy for the related party transactions Total 414 – House of Lords Lord Janvrin, Deputy Chair of the British Library Document 1 – – – Board, is a member of the related party Supply The leased asset comprises fit out plant and machinery in a storage transactions building at Boston Spa. Institue of Dr Simon Thurley, a member of the British Library Document 2 – – – Historical Board, is a Senior Research Fellow of the related party Supply Research London transactions London School Mr Nicholas Deyes, committee member with relevant Document 2 2 2 – 21. CAPITAL COMMITMENTS of Economics professional experience, provides consultancy services Supply and Political to the related party transactions, 2020/21 2019/20 Science work-shop £000 £000 National Lottery Dr Simon Thurley, a member of the British Library Grant income 1,933 – – – Contracted and not provided for 1,666 1,270 Heritage Fund Board, is the Chair of the related party Authorised but not contracted for 2,221 280 National Portrait Lord Janvrin, a member of the British Library Board, is Royalties – 1 – – Gallery an Trustee of the related party. The contracted capital commitment figure relates to the Public Health Professor Dame Carol Black, Chair of the British Document 1 2 – – development of software systems, works related to the renewal England Library Board, is an expert adviser to the related party Supply transactions, of the Boston Spa site, purchase of a heritage collection item, sub-scription upgrade of the access control systems and other building works. Royal College Mr Patrick Plant, a member of the British Library Curatorial 6 – 3 -– of Art Board, is a council member of the related party services The authorised but not contracted commitment figure relates to Society of Ms Tracy Chevalier, a member of the British Library Royalty 22 5 - - works related to the renewal of the Boston Spa site. Authors Board, is member of the Advisory Council of the payments related party Stirling University Dr Robert Black, a member of the British Library Document 4 – - 2 Board, is a member of Court of the related party Supply 22. RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS transactions University of Dr Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, a member of the Document 187 – – 3 The British Library is a Non- example: Arts Council England, the The Library sets aside office space Cambridge British Library Board, is emeritus fellow of the related Supply Departmental Public Body, BBC–PSG group, the British Film and equipment for the British Library party transactions sponsored by the Department for Institute, the British Museum, the Collections Trust to undertake some University of Mr Delroy Beverley, a member of the British Library Document 11 – – 5 Huddersfield Board, is a Council member of the related party Supply Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. National Lottery Heritage Fund, the of their duties. transactions The Department for Digital, Culture, Natural History Museum, the Science University of Mr Patrick Plant, a member of the British Library Document 5 – – 9 Media and Sport is regarded as a Museums Group, and Tate Britain. The Library also entered into material Manchester Board, is an honorary lecturer at the related party Supply related party. During the year the related party transactions with other transactions Library has had a number of material During the year a number of Board related parties during the year, as set University of Lord Janvrin, a member of the British Library Board, Document 196 – 1 – transactions with the Department members contributed to the Library’s out opposite: Oxford is an honorary fellow at the related party. Supply Transactions and other entities for which the Membership Scheme. Department is the sponsor, for University of St Lynn Brown, committee member with relevant Document 5 – – 4 Andrews professional expertise, is a non-executive member of Supply the Audit and Risk Committee at the related party transactions York Teaching Mr Delroy Beverley, a member of the British Library Document – – – 1 Hospital Board, is Managing Director of the related party Supply transactions

92 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 93 23. FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS Market Risk – interest rate risk Risks relating to interest rates are managed by budgeting conservatively for investment income. FRS102 ‘Financial Instruments: Disclosures’ requires entities to provide disclosures which allow users The table below shows the interest rate profile of the Library’s financial assets. of the accounts to evaluate the significance of financial instruments for the entity’s financial position and performance and the nature and extent of risks arising from financial instruments during the period. 2020/21 2019/20 Floating Rate Fixed rate Non-interest Total Total Financial assets and liabilities at 31 March 2021 are set out by category below: £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 Sterling 57,801 – 450 58,251 45,191 US Dollar – – 142 142 53 Financial Assets At Amortised At Fair Value Total Cost through profit Euro – – 10 10 30 or loss Total 57,801 – 602 58,403 45,274 £000 £000 £000 Investments – 25,034 25,034 The benchmark for the Library’s floating rate investments is 0.0%, 15 basis points below the Bank of Trade and Other Debtors 1,184 – 1,184 England base rate. The weighted average interest rate on fixed rate financial assets was 0.971% and the weighted average period of deposit was 299 days. No fixed rate financial assets are currently held. Short Term Deposits – – – Investment income for the year was 0.002% (2019/20: 0.004%) of the Library’s income. Cash at Bank and in Hand 58,403 – 58,403 59,587 25,034 84,621

Financial Liabilities At Amortised At Fair Value Total Market Risk – foreign currency risk Cost through profit The Library has an international customer and supplier base and so is subject to a degree of foreign or loss currency risk. As part of the Library’s treasury management strategy, the risk of fluctuations is managed £000 £000 £000 through a variety of policies, including holding bank accounts in foreign currencies, to enable us to Trade and Other Creditors 5,738 – 5,738 match our foreign currency purchases and sales as a means of mitigating our currency risk. Monies held on deposit 2,492 – 2,492 The amount considered to be exposed to currency risk as 31 March was:

8,230 – 8,230 2020/21 2019/20 Debtors Cash at Short term Creditors Total Total Information on the Library’s approach to financial risk management is disclosed bank and deposits in the “Reserves” and “Investments and Financial Risks” sections of the in hand Financial Review and in the Governance Statement. £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 US Dollars 120 142 – (704) (442) (170) Euro 49 10 – (424) (365) (642) Credit risk Yen – – – (21) (21) – The Library is exposed to credit risk of £1.2m from trade and other debtors. This risk is not considered significant New Zealand Dollars – – – (11) (11) – because most major customers are familiar to the Library. The Library has recovered over 99% of trade debtors over the last two years. Bad and doubtful debts are provided for on an individual basis. Write-offs in the year for Canadian Dollars – – – (1) (1) (1) bad debts amounted to less than £1k (less than £1k in 2019/20).

Term deposits and cash holdings are placed with approved UK banks with at least A-1, P-1or F-1 rating. Holdings In 2020/21, net foreign currency exchange gains of £33k were recognised (£111k losses in are spread across several institutions. The Library has not suffered any loss in relation to cash held by banks. 2019/20).

Liquidity risk Market Risk – other price risk Approximately 86% (2019/20: 80%) of the Library’s income is provided by Grant in Aid from the Department for The Library is subject to risks associated with market fluctuations on its investments. The Library’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport which is drawn down according to need. The remaining income is self-generated investments are held in two Diversified Growth Bonds having different but complementary and is volatile. Remote Document Supply is still the major source of self-generated income. As the majority of the market outlooks to manage this risk. Further details of the investment policy and risk Library’s cash requirements are met through Grant in Aid, financial instruments have less potential for creating risk management are disclosed in the “investment and financial risks” section of the Financial Review than would be the case for a non-public-sector body of similar size. on page 46.

An unrealised gain of £4,413k has been recorded this year (2019/20: £2,162k loss). For non- investment transactions, exposure to wider market price risks is reduced by competitive tendering and securing multi-year fixed price contracts where possible.

Additional information on the Library’s investment policy is given in the Financial Review.

94 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 95 24. CONTINGENT LIABILITIES The British Library extends thanks to everyone who has contributed to the development of the Annual Report British Library Newspaper Digitisation Project and Accounts 2020/21. The British Library has undertaken the digitisation of millions of pages from the archive using a commercial partner to take on the costs of digitisation in return for being able to exploit the Produced in-house. © British Library Board 2021. digitisations commercially.

The supplier has warranted in its contract with the Library that use of the digitisations will not infringe copyright, or give rise to any possible action for defamation and has undertaken to British Library cover any liability falling on the Library as a result of any such claims (in addition to the cost of 96 Euston Road defending the action) up to £5m. London NW1 2DB DCMS has agreed to underwrite any liability which arises beyond that, for the duration that such claims might arise. It is considered that a claim in excess of £5m would be extremely unlikely but in the event that the liability is called, provision for any payment will be sought through the British Library normal Supply procedure. Boston Spa Wetherby West Yorkshire Legal Dispute LS23 7BQ The British Library is aware of two personal injury claims which are currently being investigated. It is not yet possible to say with certainty what any liability and legal fees may be so no provision has been made in the accounts. Public Lending Right Boston Spa A claim for copyright infringement has been received in respect of a book held within our Wetherby collection under legal deposit. It is not yet possible to say with certainty what any liability and West Yorkshire legal fees may be so no provision has been made in the accounts. LS23 7BQ

A cultural restitution claim has been made for surrender of a collection item. It is not yet possible to say with certainty what any liability and legal fees may be, so no provision has been made in T +44 (0)330 333 1144 the accounts. @britishlibrary

Whilst the costs of these disputes cannot be determined with sufficient certainty to make a /britishlibrary provision, it is considered unlikely that the worst case outcomes would result in material costs to the Library. bl.uk

25. POST BALANCE SHEET EVENTS

There were no reportable events between 31 March 2021 and the date the accounts were authorised for issue.

The accounts were authorised for issue by the Accounting Officer and Board of Trustees on the date the C&AG certified the accounts.

96 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 97 Cover image: Welcoming back our first onsite visitors on 22 July 2020 Photo by Sam Lane Photography. bl.uk

ISBN 978-1-5286-2695-8 CCS CCS0521581042