The British Library

Shut up.

'This elf has an attitude,' you sigh, 'I'll just click to the next blog.'

Noooooooooo! Waaaaaaaaait!

I assure you, avid readers, that I have a reason for such despicable rudeness.

I'm outside the British Library.

No, no, no, I'm not saying that if you're in the British Library you can be rude (oh, by the way, person with the double cream sodas, is your nose out of joint or were you just born that way?), just that you're meant to be quiet in a library, etc, etc.

Some people these days are just so sensitive.

This strange building, which kind of looks like an abandoned ski slope, is right next to King's Cross. That's right. Where Harry Potter gets the train to Hogwarts.

Isn't it fitting that a library should be right next to a setting for one of the greatest pieces of children's literature?

You could combine a visit to Platform 9 3/4 with a trip to the British Library - or, for the wizards amongst you, you could do your Muggle Studies homework before heading north for the new school term.

When you go in, don't be offended if someone asks you to open your bag. They're just checking in case you're bringing in things you really shouldn't be. Like large amounts of fake snow for the slopes.

Once you're in, there's a gift shop selling lots of lovely items for all the bookworms in your life, and usually a couple of exhibitions too. The one running until the 20th January 2015 is 'Terror and Wonder: the Gothic Imagination' which would be great for Halloween too. I'll even give you a link to their events page here.

'That's cute,' you say, 'but where are the books?'

The books, dear reader, are in the Reading Rooms. If you want to get into them, you've got to register for a pass, and then you can reference the collection (you can't take the books out).

And after a long day of studying, you can even go to their cafe, or play ping-pong (really) in the courtyard outside.

I'm going back inside for another dose of elf-literature.

See you soon,

Elf Dryadalis