[waqf]

You're saying that it's okay that the British Library doesn't have adequate infrastructure to support people trying to work and access information?

The equivalent would be if Starbucks, the coffee shop, only served inferior quality coffee at a ridiculously high price … wait a minute …

[grey-area]

It's not really that kind of library, it's a central store for valuable (or just old) physical objects. They didn't even previously give out membership unless you had a request for a specific title that they hold which wasn't available elsewhere. Accessing all information is not their central purpose, accessing specific information on paper is.