National library reforms passed by MSPs

New laws to cut the size of the board which runs the National Library of Scotland have been passed by MSPs, as part of wider reforms.

Future board appointments made by ministers would be "based on merit and selection", under the bill.

As Scotland's only legal deposit library, the National Library of Scotland offers free access to more than 14 million items.

The reforms were passed unanimously by the Scottish Parliament.

They were brought forward under the National Library of Scotland Bill, which also aims to make collections more accessible to the public.

With 70,000 visits a year to the reading room and about 2.5 million calls on the digital library, Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop said it was time to update the regulations under which the library operates, brought in during 1925.

Its collection includes the last letter written by Mary Queen of Scots and the first printed book, the Gutenberg Bible of 1455.