The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) is the world’s largest open access digital library for biodiversity literature and archives. A global consortium of over 660 contributors, BHL has made more than 63 million pages of biodiversity knowledge freely accessible online. As a cornerstone of biodiversity data infrastructure, it contains the foundation of our understanding of the natural world.
For the past 20 years, the Smithsonian Institution – one of BHL’s 10 founding members – has played the vital role of hosting both the administrative and technical components of BHL. On January 1, 2026, the Smithsonian will no longer host the administrative functions of BHL. This change presents both a new challenge and a new opportunity.
What does this mean if you are a BHL user?
BHL is not going away. The content, data, and persistent identifiers (including DOIs) will remain secure, discoverable, and openly accessible.
What does this mean if you contribute content to BHL?
Your content and contributions are safe. All data and DOIs will remain secure within BHL.
What happens next?
This transition opens the door to a reimagined and more sustainable future for BHL. The consortium is currently exploring a range of options, including (but not limited to) identifying a new administrative host (or hosts) and refining potential organizational models. A more detailed summary of these possibilities will be released in the coming weeks. We welcome your ideas, feedback, inquiries, and support as we plan for the next chapter of BHL.
What can you do?
- Contact us with your inquiries, expressions of interest, and support.
- Donate to BHL
- Share the hashtag: #ILOVEBHL
About BHL
BHL is a global consortium of member organizations that contribute annual membership fees, in-kind contributions, and – most importantly – content. The consortium is currently run by a small secretariat (~3.25 full time positions) and a technical team (~1.25 full time positions). Its working data (~250 GB) and software is hosted on 7 servers (4 physical, 3 virtual) at the Smithsonian Institution. BHL’s 40 terabytes of digitized images, data, and OCR text are generously hosted free of charge by the Internet Archive and the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Open Data Sponsorship Program.
David Iggulden is Head of Data and Digital in the Library, Art and Archives at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and serves as Chair of BHL's Executive Committee (EC). He is responsible for leading all digital initiatives and activities within Kew’s Library, Art & Archives and also those delivered in collaboration with external partners including BHL. David provides leadership in coordination with fellow EC members and the BHL Secretariat on behalf of the BHL Members' Council.
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