From digitisation to public exhibitions to heritage acquisitions, there are many activities that the British Library undertakes that simply would not be possible without the backing of corporate partnerships.

This support is essential: not just as a means of funding our programmes but also in terms of developing our services and products through partnerships with the potential to bring much broader benefits than could be achieved working alone.

We have been fortunate recently to work with some fantastic corporate partners who don’t just help us fund our work, but bring much additional value too.

Magna Carta unification: the four original Magna Carta manuscripts - two from the British Library and one each from Salisbury Cathedral and Lincoln Cathedral -  being prepared for display at the British Library. Photo by Clare Kendall

For example, we are currently working in partnership with global law firm Linklaters on our 2015 Magna Carta Programme. Given Magna Carta was a landmark in establishing the concept of the rule of law, there are obvious synergies with their business. In addition to sponsoring our historic Magna Carta unification event and our Magna Carta: Law, Liberty, Legacy exhibition, we are collaborating with Linklaters in other ways too.

Linklaters are supporting our Learning programme, which we hope will attract over 5,000 students and teachers to the Magna Carta exhibition, and the firm will also promote the programme to primary and secondary schools in Hackney with whom they work closely.

Linklaters will host a Magna Carta photography exhibition for students, which we are also supporting, as well as a special visit to the Library for their partner school, Clapton Girls’ Academy.

We’ve also seen benefits through Linklaters’ social media and online activity including:

• a Magna Carta interactive viewer that makes it possible to read and understand more fully the 800-year-old document,
• tweeting a Magna Carta fact a day,
• creating a dedicated sponsorship section on their website,
• a Tumblr page collating photos, quotes, and articles related to their support of the exhibition.

Robert Elliott, Linklaters Chairman and Senior Partner, says: ‘We are proud to be associated with the British Library and to commend all that it is doing through its exhibition and its wider public programme to mark the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta in a way which fully reflects the enduring importance of the events of 1215’.

We are also working closely with White & Case, another international law firm, who are sponsoring the US loans to the exhibition, making accessible the Declaration of Independence, hand written by Thomas Jefferson, and the Bill of Rights, both displayed in the UK for the first time.

Partnerships of this nature are not just of great value and importance to the British Library, but also to our sponsors, whom we have worked closely with to deliver unique partnerships which truly work for both parties.

Alex Michaels

Corporate Relations Manager