Publishers in the UK are required by law to supply one copy of each of their publications to The British Library, free of charge, within one month of publication. They are also required to supply a copy to five other libraries (see list below) within twelve months of the date of publication if requested to do so by The Agency for the Legal Deposit Libraries. In practice, most publishers supply these copies as a matter of course.

With a few exceptions (e.g. publications circulated only to members of a society), all printed publications come within the scope of legal deposit. Electronic publications (offline and online) will also come within the scope of legal deposit as regulations are introduced to implement the Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003. Offline items (e.g. CD-ROMs) will be affected first. For full details of the Act, and exemptions, go to www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/en2003/2003en28.htm

• Copies for The British Library should be sent to:
  
  Legal Deposit Office
  The British Library
  Boston Spa
  Wetherby
  West Yorkshire
  LS23 7BY
  
  Enquiries about books:
  
  Tel. 019 375 46268
  legal-deposit-books@bl.uk
  
  Enquiries about serials:
  
  Tel. 019 37 5 46267
   legal-deposit-serials@bl.uk  
  
  
• The other Legal Deposit Libraries are:
  
  The National Library of Wales
  The Bodleian Library, Oxford
  The University Library, Cambridge
  The National Library of Scotland
  The Library of Trinity College, Dublin
   
  From 2 March 2009 copies for these libraries should be sent to:
  
  The Agent
  Agency for the Legal Deposit Libraries
  161 Causewayside 
  Edinburgh 
  Scotland
  EH9 1PH
  Tel: 0131 623 4680
  publisher.enquiries@legaldeposit.org.uk

Further information about the agency, including practical information on delivery arrangements, is available from www.legaldeposit.org.uk/ and at  www.llgc.org.uk/aldl



• Alternatively, publishers who use the distribution services of the Welsh Books Council may forward copies for all six libraries through the Council’s Distribution Centre. Enquiries about this service should be directed to:
  
  The Manager
  Welsh Books Council Distribution Centre
  Glanyrafon Enterprise Park
  Aberystwyth
  Ceredigion
  SY23 3AQ
  Tel. 01970 624455
  Fax 01970 625506
  distribution.centre@wbc.org.uk  

Date last updated: 16 Nov 2011