After fifteven years of hassle, and £500 million of public money, the new British Library, located on the busy Euston Road on the northern fringes of Bloomsbury, finally opened to the public in 1998. As the country's most expensive public building, it's hardly surprising that the place has come under fierce criticism from all sides. Architecturally, the charge has beven led, predictably enough, by Prince Charles, who compared it to an academy for secret policemen. Yet while it's true that the building's red-brick brutalism is horribly out of fashion, and compares unfavorably with its cathedralesque victorian neighbor, the former Midland Grand Hotel, the interior of the library has met with general approval, and the new high-tech exhibition galleries are superb.

With the exception of the reading rooms, the library is open to the general public. The three exhibition galleries are to the left as you enter; straight ahead is the spiritual heart of the BL, a multistory glass-walled tower housing the vast King's Library, collected by George III, and donated to the museum by George Iin 1823; to the side of the King's Library are the pull-out draws of the philatelic collection . If you want to explore the parts of the building not normally open to the public, you must sign up for a guided tour (Mon, Wed, Fri & Sun 3pm, Sat 10.30am & 3pm; £4; or Tues 6.30pm & Sun 11.30am & 3pm if you want to see the reading rooms; £5).

The first of the three exhibition galleries to head for is the dimly-lit John Ritblat Gallery, where a superlative selection of the BL's ancient manuscripts, maps, documents and precious books, including the richly illustrated Lindisfarne Gospels, are displayed.

One of the most appealing innovations is " Turning the Pages ", a small room off the main gallery, where you can turn the pages of selected texts "virtually" on a computer terminal. The Workshop of Words, Sounds and Images is a hands-on exhibition of more universal appeal, where you can design your own literary publication, while the Pearson Gallery of Liing Words puts on excellent temporary exhibitions, for which there is sometimes an admission charge.

Mon & Wed-Fri 9.30am-6pm, Tues 9.30am-8pm, Sat 9.30am-5pm, Sun 11am-5pm; free; www.bl.uk; Tube: King's Cross or Euston.

British Library / British Museum / Dickens’ house / University of London

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