Legal Deposit

Welsh Books Council

Legal Deposit

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