Building of the library commences. British Museum Newspaper Library is opened. All newspapers are transferred from Bloomsbury to Colindale, except for the pre-1801 London newspapers in the Burney Collection , and newspapers in oriental scripts . A Luftwaffe bomb destroys the 1903 building. 10,000 volumes of newspapers are also destroyed and a further 15,000 volumes are damaged.
Temporary buildings are full.
Microfilming of the foreign newspaper collection begins. Middle Reading Room, staff canteen, and the public cafeteria are built on the site of the old microfilm annexe. All library departments of the British Museum are formed into the new national library of the United Kingdom. Study into the future policy of the Newspaper Library by Andrew Phillips is published. A consultation paper, The Newspaper Collections and the Future , is published.