British Library, The

Intelligent Giving profile [0]
Vital stats explained [0]
How to help [0]
Understanding this profile [0]

LIBRARIANS KEEP QUIET ABOUT FINANCES

2005/6 was apparently a successful year for this, the second-largest library in the world and custodian of over 13 million volumes. It advised the government on changes to intellectual-property rules, gave advice to small-business people and was at the forefront of efforts to preserve delicate digital information. But an otherwise confidence-inspiring annual report provides only scant detail of how the Library is doing financially.

Are you from this charity? Have your say [0].

QUALITY OF REPORTING What is this?	72%
How much info does the charity want to share? This score, taken from our search for 43 key points in the annual report, gives the answer. Top mark is 100%. Anything over 70% is a good effort.
SIZE OF CHARITY... What is this?	Super size
We only profile the largest charities in England & Wales, and our sizes are relative to the largest and smallest among them. So where we describe a charity as 'Small', it is still much larger than the national average.
HIGHEST SALARY What is this?	Over £150k
Taken from the vague bandings given in annual reports; note that 'Under £60k' could be £9k or £59k. Nonetheless the number of bars should roughly correlate with the 'Size of charity' bars.
RESERVES WOULD LAST... What is this?	57 months
If income dried up, how long could work continue? 3-12 months is normal. Less may be precarious. 12+ months may be over-cautious (or if very high, may represent the value of the charity's property).
ETHICAL INVESTMENT POLICY What is this?	Unknown
We asked the charity if it has an ethical investment policy. If yes, it gets an angel. Those with no policy but which don't invest in tobacco/arms get a halo. Those without investments, or who didn't respond, appear neutral. Those with stakes in arms/tobacco get a fallen angel.

But don't take our word for it...

The charity's website [1]
GuideStar summary
Charity Commission link to annual report [2]

We take no cut
visit the charity's donation page [3]

Reviewed: 2007-08-15 Accounts ending: 2007-03-31

Email this page [3]

Print this page

A thought: do you really need this whole page (and do you need it on paper)?
If so, click again for printer-friendly version. [3]

IN SHORT

Who/what it helps

Everyone

Where

London
Nationwide

Providing

Libraries
Document delivery
Exhibitions
Bibliographic research
Book conservation

VITAL STATISTICS

ANNUAL EXPENDITURE

£119,826,000

What is this?

Of all the charities we profile...
- Less than £1m is tiny
- £1m to £5m is small
- £6m to £10m is medium
- £11m to £50m is large
- Above that is very rare

SPENT ON CHARITABLE WORK

99%

The rest usually goes into raising more income. A little covers legal requirements.