There is closed-circuit television and alarmed doors throughout the building. For emergency preparedness, in the basements there are freezers and vacuum packing machines, as well as salvage trolleys and salvage materials throughout the building. 1.2 Environmental parameters One of the main reasons for building a new library was to improve the storage conditions of the collections. The majority had previously been housed in the British Museum which did not have air conditioning. Particulate filtration levels are specified at 5 micron in the new building and atmospheric pollutant levels are monitored.
Natural lighting is used extensively in the reading rooms augmented by artificial light.
UV is excluded whenever possible. The Conservation Department has instigated weekly environmental monitoring using dataloggers to verify the BEMS system and check non-monitored areas. There are inevitable teething problems with the environmental control of the building for a number of reasons, ranging from non-exhaustive testing before occupation, to local plant being too powerful, to naturally evolving changes in use of parts of the building as its 1200 occupants moved in. A conservator is responsible for monitoring the environment on all the BL sites. A weekly report is compiled, detailing which areas are within specification or if not, if they are within specified outer bounds, or if they are outside even the outer bounds.