British Museum

===Libraries and archives===
This department covers all levels of education, from casual visitors, schools, degree level and beyond. The museum's various libraries hold in excess of 350,000 books, journals and pamphlets covering all areas of the museum's collection. Also the general museum archives which date from its foundation in 1753 are overseen by this department; the individual departments have their own separate archives and libraries covering their various areas of responsibility, which can be consulted by the public on application.  The [[Anthropology]] Library is especially large, with 120,000 volumes.<ref>See the "Facilities and Services" tab on the home page for each department for details on each library; not all are kept at Bloomsbury. [https://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/departments/africa,_oceania,_americas/facilities_and_services.aspx Anthropology Library] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120202233334/http://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/departments/africa,_oceania,_americas/facilities_and_services.aspx |date=2 February 2012 }}</ref> However, the [[Paul Hamlyn]] Library, which had become the central reference library of the British Museum and the only library there freely open to the general public, closed permanently in August 2011.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/news_and_press/statements/paul_hamlyn_library.aspx |title=Paul Hamlyn Library |publisher=British Museum |access-date=22 October 2011 |archive-date=14 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111014234621/http://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/news_and_press/statements/paul_hamlyn_library.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref> The website and online database of the collection also provide increasing amounts of information.