British Library Act 1972

11 (1) It shall be within the capacity of the Board as a statutory corporation to do all such things, and enter into all such transactions, as are incidental or conducive to the discharge of its functions; but the Board shall not have power to borrow money.

(2) The Board may frame, and vary and revoke from time to time, rules relating to the exercise by them of any power or the manner of entering into any transaction; and the rules may, with the approval of the Secretary of State, provide for the imposition of charges for any services provided by the Board or for the loan or use of any item from their collections.

(3) Without prejudice to the foregoing, the powers of the Board shall include power to acquire or dispose of any property, whether or not for the purposes of their collections, but subject to the following sub-paragraphs.

(4) The power of the Board to dispose of an article transferred to them by section 3(1)(a) of this Act shall be exercisable only if—

(a) it is a duplicate of another article in the Board’s collections (whether or not so transferred), or

(b) it appears to the Board to have been printed not earlier than the year 1850, and a copy of that article made by photography or a process akin to photography is held by the Board, or

(c) in the opinion of the Board it is unfit to be retained in their collections and can be disposed of without detriment to the interests of students;

but the Board may transfer such an article to the trustees of the British Museum (Natural History) where they are satisfied that it would be more appropriately held with the collections of that Museum.

(5) Where any property in the hands of the Board (whether or not transferred to them under section 3(1)(a) of this Act) is subject to any trust or condition—

(a) they shall not dispose of or deal with it in any manner inconsistent with the trust or condition; and

(b) it shall be subject to the same trust or condition in the hands of any person acquiring it from the Board.

(6) Any movable property vested in the trustees of the British Museum (Natural History) may under section 9 of the M1 British Museum Act 1963 be transferred by them to the Board, where the trustees and the Board are satisfied that it would be more appropriately held in the British Library.

Marginal Citations

M1 1963 c. 24.