LETTERS : London's new shop front for statistics

From Mr Alan Gomersall and Mr Andrew Phillips Sir: Bill McLennan, head of the Government Statistical Service, calls for support for the establishment of a statistical shop front in London to house a national library of all published statistics ("Statistics chief says job count is not believed", 19

D ecember). The British Library, the national library of the United Kingdom, holds all UK official statistics as well as non-official and international statistics.

During 1995 we are creating a National Statistics Collection based in the Official Publications and Social Sciences Library in central London. This will offer a complete library and information service embracing national and international statistics, cu r rent books and periodicals on the applied social sciences, and will have back-up from our loan collections in Yorkshire.

Co-operation rather than duplication of effort is desirable and the British Library would welcome the opportunity of working with the Central Statistical Office and the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys to provide the finest shop-front possible, accessible to users both at home and around the world.

Yours sincerely, ALAN GOMERSALL Director, Science Reference and Information Service ANDREW PHILLIPS Director, Humanities and Social Sciences British Library London, WC2

20 December