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West End Extra - LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published: 1 August 2008

Reading Room ‘realism’

• IT is sad that there seems to be no real further use for the Round Reading Room as a library, but the British Museum is at least now showing some realism in admitting this (Hidden: historic Reading Room buried under blockbuster shows, July 25).
The Camden Civic Society realised that this would be the case in 1995 when we commented on the plans for the Lord Foster’s Great Court development.
At that point we recommended that the cast iron frame of the Reading Room be taken apart and re-erected on the new British Library site.
Our current view is that it is still not too late to take the fixtures and fittings to St Pancras.
Perhaps it would be possible to re-establish them within another type of cast iron architecture, namely one of the two magnificent round gas holders dismantled for the Eurotunnel development and waiting for new use.
We know that the British Library is desperately short of seats for readers, and even if this new space were not included in the book delivery system it would at least provide a calm interior for the many people wanting to write away from home.
We agree with the museum that the Round Reading Room is unsuitable as an exhibition space, and would recommend that it houses a spacious and quiet café (allowing visitors to admire the beautiful dome) together with the book shop.
We suggest that the space under the glass roof of the Great Court is cleared of clutter and used to display large pieces of ancient sculpture.
MARTIN MORTON
Chairman, Camden Civic Society, N6

Send your letters to: The Letters Editor, West End Extra, 40 Camden Road, London, NW1 9DR or email to letters@westendextra.co.uk. The deadline for letters is midday Wednesday. The editor regrets that anonymous letters cannot be published, although names and addresses can be withheld.
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Letters may be edited for reasons of space.

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