The British Library is one of the largest in the world and is among the five libraries of legal deposit in the UK. Its collections contain about 150 million items, with approximately 3 million new items added each year. The Russian collection receives around 7,000 volumes of monographs annually. The British Library is often associated with the British Museum Library, which is not surprising since they were founded simultaneously in 1753. This connection is still reflected in the title of British librarians, who are uniquely referred to as curators.

The round reading room of the British Museum, which has become a symbol of the library, is now used for hosting exhibitions. The modern National British Library was established in 1972 by merging several institutions that served as national libraries of the UK, including the national sound archive with recordings from the 19th century. The new library building was fully completed in 1996.

The history of the Russian collection at the British Library begins with the collection of Hans Sloane, the president of the Royal Society, who exchanged books with Russian scholars. In the 19th century, chief librarian Sir Antonio Panizzi contributed to the development of the collection, aiming to create the largest collection of foreign language books outside their countries of origin. To this end, he requested an annual grant of £10,000 from the government, which was maintained until World War I. The British Library remains the largest library of foreign publications in Europe, collecting monographs in the humanities in foreign languages.

The Russian emigration in London, both before and after the 1917 revolution, actively participated in enriching the library's Russian collections.

The National Library of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is among the largest libraries in the world, holding over 150 million sources in many languages. The foundations of its collection were laid 250 years ago. It includes books, newspapers, magazines, manuscripts, maps, prints, drawings, musical scores, and stamps.

Books in Russian and Church Slavonic appeared in the library thanks to the collections of physician and naturalist Hans Sloane. The acquisition of Russian collections began in the 1840s, and by the end of the 19th century, the library possessed the largest collection of Russian books outside of Russia.