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<p>The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO)'s historical library collection was transferred to King’s College London in 2007 under the terms of a Trust Deed. A departmental minute laid before both Houses of Parliament noted the value of the collection at £4.5 million. Following the closure of the physical</p><p><?notus-xml column=543?></p><p>library in 2008, some items were selected by the National Archives and then most of the remaining collection was also transferred to King’s College. The last few remaining items of the working library collection were offered to other institutions, or disposed of, The remainder of unwanted items were sold for £2,500.</p><p>Except for a few items retained by the National Archives, no other elements of the FCO's former Library reside within other Government institutions.</p><p>Upon taking up office in 2010, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), personally committed to undertaking work to address the consequences of breaking up the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) historic library. This has included re-opening the old Home Office library in the main building, opening the legal library and setting up a language library within the new language school which was opened in September 2013, and approving plans to establish a new diplomatic academy. Alongside the work to improve standards through diplomatic excellence and learning from history, these steps take us towards our goal of having the best diplomatic service in the world.</p><p>The FCO library spaces have now been restored. The books within them mainly comprise the historians' and legal directorate's working collections.</p><p>There are no plans to restore the other material to the FCO. The FCO is confident that all unique and valuable items were carefully handled, and that King's College London is proving to be an excellent custodian for its unique historical library collection. This collection is also accessible to staff from across Whitehall, via the information management department in the FCO.</p><p>Staff across Whitehall benefit from information services managed locally through departmental libraries. These services are co-ordinated through a Committee of Departmental Librarians, with reciprocal agreements in place to access each other's collections. Pre-posting reading for our diplomats is further complemented by relationships with other academic and public libraries.</p><p>The library at the FCO did not provide information to foreign governments in the settlement of boundary disputes, prior to its closure.</p> |