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But it has now been overtaken by frappuccino drinking students giggling with their friends, playing on laptops and texting their mates.

Prominent authors including Lady Antonia Fraser and Claire Tomalin complained today that two years since the Reading Room was opened to undergraduates and anyone working on research it has become woefully oversubscribed, with long queues, and a lack of chairs and rooms because of overcrowding.

Ms Tomalin said: "It is absurd. It's access gone mad. Access has many good points, but making the British Library, which was for specialist readers, into something for general readers, seems to me terrible."

Fellow historian Tristram Hunt said: "It's a 'groovy place' to meet for a frappuccino. It's noisy and it's undermining both the British Library's function, as books take longer to get."

Phil Spence, the British Library's director of operations and services, said: "We understand that busy periods can be frustrating for readers but we are dedicated to delivering excellent services and carefully managing the increase in reader numbers during vacation periods."

Lady Antonia Fraser said: "I had to queue for 20 minutes to get in, in freezing weather. Then I queued to leave my coat for 20 minutes. Then half an hour to get my books and another 15 minutes to get my coat.

"I'm told it's due to students having access now. Why can't they go to their university libraries? It's become a social gathering."