A Special Treasure Store - the NLS

I took part last Wednesday in a guided tour of the NLS (National Library of Scotland). Although I was already a member, a friend had mentioned that there was a lot more to the Library than meets the eye when entering at ground level. There are many floors below that and I opted for the lift to access the main store on a lower floor. As a former librarian I found it fascinating. And there was a certain voyeuristic pleasure in being allowed to see parts of the Library that are normally closed to the public. Usefully, the tour allowed me to make sense of the reading room arrangements. I had been in the section for consulting artists' books and manuscripts. However I had wondered about all the books on shelves around every wall space elsewhere - were readers allowed to access more recent publications directly from the shelves? Well no, that is another area of the storage facilities (at a guess certain journal runs). What readers are allowed to do though is to select any vacant reading table in the main reading rooms on two floors to work at. There is a generous supply of computers for readers to use. And interesting state-of-the-art microfilm readers and other such arcane electronic aids that weren't around in the days I studied and then worked in an academic library - it was a matter of cranking the film cassette round and trying to make what sense I could of the fuzzy images which became fuzzier over time as the film surface became increasingly scratched and worn. (I was editing a text using a microfilm of the mediaeval manuscript in which it was inscribed). The next step is to put in my book orders in advance and go in with plenty time to spare to search for any material on the NBRC Fountainbridge.