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«
^')IIS
Free PuBifc Libraries,
THEIE OEGANISATION, USES,
AND MANAGEMENT.
BY
THOMAS GEEENWOOD, F.E.G.S.,
AUTHOR OF
"Tour in the States and Canada," "Eminent Naturalists,"
Half Hour Papers," Ac.
ft ,
lEontron :
SIMPKIN, MAESHALL & CO.
Stationers' Hall Court, E.C.
1886.
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PEEFACE.
—-•<>♦-
Book-hunger presents a demand as clear, as definite, as the cry for good drainage and good water, but there is much yet to be done by towns and country districts in supplying this demand for books and wholesome literature to be accessible to the public. It is with an earnest desire to see the Free Libraries' Acts more universally adopted that the author has ventured to treat upon this subject, which is one, when rightly viewed, of national importance. The schoolmaster is at home now, never it is to be hoped to go abroad again, but the increased intelligence of the public has not brought forth a corresponding increase in Free PubUc Libraries. This is the more surprising as the time has now passed when an elaborate defence of these admirable institutions is required, their many uses having been recognized in towns where the Act has been already adopted.
VIU PREFACE.
Books are the legacies that genius leaves to mankind to be delivered down from generation to generation as presents to posterity of those yet unborn, and a town which has the welfare of its inhabitants at heart will seek to place these productions of genius in the varied fields of literature within easy reach of its inhabitants.
Public Libraries and News Rooms never can be wholly or entirely free any more than can water and gas, and it would appear a misnomer to call them " Free," but the term Free Library has a prepossessing sound, and this is why it continues to be used. Simple as is the process by which these Public Libraries can be built, stocked, and maintained, there is a considerable amount of perplexity and confusion as to how to set to work towards the adopting of the Act. The author has sought to clear away some of this doubt, and make the way plain for many other towns and rural districts establishing these admirable institutions.
I am indebted to many librarians for suggestions, but my little work does not seek to be a book of instruction to those in charge of Free Libraries. I hail with delight the growing importance of the Annual Conference of Librarians, for the clear and practical papers read at these gatherings are doing much to interest the public in the work of our Free Libraries. I heartily wish for these Conferences a wide and increasing usefulness.
PREFACE. IX
I acknowledge, with thanks, the kind permission for the use of extracts from Mr. Boose's paper on " Free Libraries in the Colonies," which recently appeared in the Library Chronicle, This paper is edited by Mr. Ernest C. Thomas, who has aided considerably to excite public interest in Free Libraries. Mr. Thomas, in conjimction with Mr. Tedder, has written a most useful article on the subject in the Encyclopcedia Britannica.
I also have pleasure in expressing my thanks to Mr. A. Cotgreave, London, librarian of the "Wandsworth Public Library, for the practical aid he has given me in the production of this work, particularly such chapters as deal with the inner working of Libraries. Mr. Cotgreave has had many years' experience in connection with Free Public Libraries, and has invented a number of appliances which have greatly facilitated the work in libraries. He has had to do with the commencing, stocking, cataloguing, and working of some four or more Public Libraries, and is a faithful and energetic servant in the cause of Free Libraries.
Lady John Manners has this subject of Free Libraries very much at heart, and her pamphlet on " Some of the Advantages of Easily Accessible Read- ing and Eecreation Rooms and Free Libraries," gives some practical advice on the subject.
I do very sincerely hope that there may be a general awakening of public interest in Free Libraries. Their
X PREFACE.
operations, as will be seen from these pages, are be- coming in some towns very much enlarged, which is the greatest evidence of their utility.
Our thoughts turn naturally to a large and com- prehensive scheme of Local Govemment Reform, which may do much in the extending and establishment of Free Libraries. As one who, as a youth, made use for years of the first Free Library established under Mr. William Ewart's Act of 1850, and who was for a short time librarian at a branch Free Library, and now engaged in the larger sphere of editorship and joint proprietorship of newspapers, I hope that my effort will be successful in leading some in towns where Free Libraries do not exist to commence a movement for the adoption of the Act.
LoEDSHip Paek,
Stoke Newington, London, N. February y 1886.
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CONTENTS.
IlTTHODUCnON
CHAPTER I.
• • • •
PAGE 1
CHAPTER II. Eaely Free Libbabies
16
CHAPTER III.
The Fibst Fbee Libbaby Established undeb Wil- liam EwABT*s Act
25
CHAPTER IV. Some Pbomixei^t Fbee Libbabies
38
CHAPTER V.
Fbee Libbabies becently Opened ob in Cotjbse of
constbuction . . . . 96
Xll CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VI.
PAGE
Uses of Fkee Libkaeies 132
CHAPTER VII.
The Educating of Public Opinion foe the Adoption
OF the Act 140
CHAPTER VIII. Formation, Funds, Building, &c. . . 154
CHAPTER IX. Library Fittings, Furniture, and Appliances . . 166
CHAPTER X. Selection, Purchase, and Classification of Books . . 175
CHAPTER XI. The Management of Free Libraries . . 184
CHAPTER XIL
What Private Munificence has done for Free
Libraries 187
CHAPTER XIII. Free Libraries in London 233
CONTENTS. XIU
CHAPTER XIV.
PAGE
Fkee Libsaeies in Rural Districts 260
CHAPTER XV. Free Libraries in Board Schools 277
CHAPTER XVI. Free Libraries in America and Canada . . . . 288
CHAPTER XVII. Free Libraries in Australasia 309
CHAPTER XVIII. Museums in Connection with Free Libraries . . 334
CHAPTER XIX. Free Library Lectures 358
CHAPTER XX.
Science and Art Classes in Connection with Free
Libraries . . . . . . . . . . 368
CHAPTER XXI. A Word to Free Library Committees 381
CHAPTER XXIL Statistics of Free Libraries 380
XIV CONTENTS.
APPENDICES.
PACK
I. The Fkee Librahlbs Acts and Amendments : —
1. "Public Librajujss Act [Ikela.nd], 1855". 401
2. "Public Libeabies Act [England], 1855 ". 40.)
3. "Public Libbabies Amendment Act [Eng-
land AND Scotland], 1866." 424
4. " Public Libbabies Act [Scotland], 1867 ". 428
5. "Public] Libbabies Act [Scotland, 1867],
Amendment Act, 1871" 438
6. "Public Libbabies Act [1855], Amendment
Act, 1871 " [England] 445
7. "Public Libbabies Act [1871] Amendment
Act, 1877" [England, Scotland, and Ibbland] 447
8. "Malicious Injubies to Pboperty Act,
1861 " [England and Ibeland] . . 449
9. " Public Libbabies Act, 1884 " 450
II. Rules, Regulations, and Fobms fob Fbek
Libbabies 454
III. Copt of Requisition Calling Meeting . . 461
IV. Copy of Resolutions Passed at Meeting . . 462
'^^MjKt:
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
-*0^
Opening of the Manchester Free Library in 1852
Reading-room, British Museum
Liverpool Free Library and Museum
Sir J. A. Picton, F.S.A
Birmingham Reference Library . .
Birmingham Reference Library and Temporary Museum
Sheffield Central Free Library
Upperthorpe Branch Free Library, Sheffield
Newcastle-upon-Tyne Public Library and News-room
Blackburn Free Library
Wimbledon Free Library
Belfast Free Library
Hindley Free Library
HiNDLEY Free Library, Plan of Ground Floor
Elliot's Library" Indicator
Cotgreave's Library Indicator
Indicator Book
Harris Free Library and Muselti, Preston
page 33
42
56
59
64
65
79
81
86
91
97
9£
104
106
169
171
172
197
XVI
LIST OF ILLTTSTKATIONS.
PAGE
The Late Me. Joshua Nicholson 205
Nicholson Libraey, Leek 203, 209
Me. J. T. Beunnee, M.P 222
Cabnegie Free Libeaey, Dunfeemline 227
Reading-boom, Guildhall Libeaey 236
Wandswoeth Feee Libeaey.. 238
De. G. D. Longstaff 241
A Village Libeaey 275
Boston Public Libeaey 293
Deeby Feee Libeaey and Museum . . 347
The late Me. W. T. Bass, M.P 349
Ipswich Museum, Feee Libeaey, and School of Aet . , 356
FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
CHAPTER I.
INTEODUCTION".
KLYLE has said that "the true imivOTsity of thrae days is a col- lection of books," It would appear, however, that in by far the greater majority of towns and districts this fact had yet to be realized; for, notwithstanding the Public Libra- ries Act having been in operation since 1850, only 133 towns have yet availed themselves of these useful institutions. Even of this number, small as it is when compared with the very large number of populous towns Mid districts,
2 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
it has to be, when statistics are minutely examined, discounted, for some included in the number given are really not Free Libraries at all, but tax the borrowers of the books in a way never intended by the Act.
The age in which we live is an educational one ; and it cannot be considered creditable to us, as a nation, that the book-hunger which pervades so uni- versally the middle and lower classes especially, should have been met to so small an extent. It would be most unfair to state that there has been negligence on the part of town councils and the leading men in towns where the Act has not been adopted, but is, we think, to be more attributed to the want of general information as to the formation of Free Libraries, than from any other cause. Peculiar notions exist in the minds of the public respecting them ; and from a varied experience which the author has had, these erroneous ideas are not by any means confined to the rank and file of would-be borrowers, but exist in the minds of many prominent men. Some of the public think that they have to pay a penny for each loan of a book, and that only one book is lent to each family, and that many other difficulties have to be overcome before books can be taken out of Free Libraries. The aim of the author will be to remove very conclusively these wrong impressions, and to explain clearly how Free Public Libraries may be formed, their many uses, and management.
Our appeal is to all in towns and rural districts who care for the welfare of the community among which they dwell, to agitate and discuss the advisa-
INTRODUCTION. 6
bility as to the formation of these institutions where not abeady established. Clergymen and ministers of all denominations, and friends of the people of every shade of opinion, this is a question for you. Those with well-filled book-shelves of their own can and ought the more to sympathize with those who have not, and exert themselves to place within the reach of all, those of which Wordsworth has so beautifully said —
" Books> we know, - Are a substantial world, both pure and good ;
Eoiind which, with tendrils strong as flesh and blood. Our pastime and our happiness will grow."
This problem of providing books for the teeming masses has been solved, as we shall endeavour to show, in a very practical way, by the New England States of America and in Australia; and shall the great mother country remain sluggish and inactive in this important matter, concerning, as it does, the vital interests for good of districts where these Free Public Libraries are estabUshed ?
*> Free Libraries must not be confounded with Free Education, about which so much is just now being said, and about which there is naturally a great divergence of opinion. There is a wide difference between the two, and no opponent of Free Education could for the same reasons be an opponent of Free Libraries. Let it be said, with sorrow, that in not a few towns where an effort has been made to establish Free Libraries, that the chief and most influential opposition has come, not from the masses, but from the well-to-do classes,
4 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
with an unlimited command of books ; and yet they have sought to deny to their poorer brethren access to books which they could not afford to purchase.
How extensively these institutions are used, how genuinely they are appreciated, how light and trivial the very small rate levied for their maintenance is felt, can only be gained by an intimate acquaintance with the Free Libraries in some of our large towns.
Lancashire, Yorkshire, and the Midlands, from which counties have come so many of those movements which have throbbed the country, take the lead in these Free Libraries, and their buildings rank among the most prominent public structures in the town, and have become the pride and boast of the ratepayers. Were there now to be an attempt made to abolish them, there would come down on the heads of those so acting a public execration which would quickly cause them to desist.
There is no effort for the public good which could be commenced in any district which could be made to so effectually weld the sympathies and activities of those holding opposite views in politics and religion as this subject which we desire to bring before their earnest consideration and attention. Every town ought to have its Free Library and Public Eeading-room ; every rural district of over 5,000 inhabitants should have its Free Library ; and instead of a paltry 133 of these institutions in thirty-five years' time, the nimiber during the next ten years should be more than doubled.
The evidence of the towns where they have already
INTRODUCTION. O
been adopted should be conclusive, and this is unmis- takably on the side that they are a great boon to the masses, that they provide wholesome reading for aU, and that the only trade which appears in any way to suffer is that of the publican. Further, that their ten- dency is to diminish crime, and give healthy recreation and information wherever they exist and are properly managed.
The wonder respecting them is the small cost by which they are supported. The burden on those who contribute the most in their rates is so low, that if rightly viewed, it will be the most cheerfully paid of any item in the rate paper. Let us now emphasize the fact that all that the Act of Parliament permits is one penny in the pound per annum on the rateable value of the house in which the ratepayer dwells, and in some districts the limit of one penny in the pound is not reached. There are thousands of householders in our manufacturing towns whose rental is not more than £10 per year, and these would pay the enormous sum of tenpence per year in instalments towards the maintenance of the Free Library. The rateable value of other houses up to £50, £60, or whatever the amount may be, is taxed with the same penny or less, as the case may be, and no manipulation on the part of assessors, town councils, or others can make it more. True, poor's rates and education rates are high in some districts, but time will show that rates for the maintenance of gaols, police, lunatic asylums, and workhouses, will become appreci- ably lower as education and intelligence spread.
To all in authority, to all with a voice in local affairs,
b FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
we would say, think seriously upon the advisability of establishing a Free Library in your district; agitate the subject, do not be daunted by opposition, and if you succeed, generations yet unborn will bless your memory ; and if you do not at first succeed, do not let the subject rest, but bring it forward again and again, until success crown your efforts. All students of history know with what struggles ahnost everything which has been for the good of the community at large has been won. To lovers of books — ^and their name is legion — ^it is unnecessary to appeal to do what they can to help to place within the reach of others books, as weU as increase the store to which they themselves may have access.
It is opportune for us to here place forward the opinions respecting Free Libraries of some of the prominent men of the day.
Sir E. N. Fowler, M.P., said; on October 1st, 1885, when declaring open the Wandsworth Free Library, the first, to the great discredit be it said, instituted under the PubKc Libraries Act in the Metropolis. The Lord Mayor, having accepted a morocco-boimd copy of the catalogue, congratulated the town on its adoption of the Act, and having been the first of the suburbs of London to take tbis step. He understood that every ratepayer of Wandsworth had the right to borrow a book from the library for seven days, and they would find that a lending, as well as a reference library, was a great advantage. Having inspected the library, he bore testimony to the admirable way in which it was fitted up, and adapted to the comfort of those who found their
INTRODUCTION. 7
way there. The proceeds of the rate were not suffi- cient to add to the library to the extent which could be desired. He was glad to hear that 7,000 volumes had been acoTunulated, but there was scope for addition, and for this purpose a surplus was wanted, which he hoped private subscriptions would furnish. The rate was sufficient for the administration of the library, but not more. As the population increased the rate would yield more. In 1851 the population of Wandsworth was 9,611; in 1861, 13,346; in 1871, 19,783; in the last census of 1881, 28,004; and the population was now estimated at 32,000. This was not so large an increase as had taken place in some parts of London, notably West Ham, where the population had risen from 10,000 in 1851, to 160,000; but it was a consider- able increase, which would no doubt go on. He advised people not to spend all their spare time in the study of current events, but to pursue also solid studies. Sir Robert Peel once said that the influence of the British i nstitutions upon the masses was an incentive to toil and a means of elevation, and what that statesman had said of British institutions he (the Lord Mayor) said of Free Libraries.
In connection with the opening of the Wandsworth Library, Sir Trevor Lawrence addressed the following letter to the librarian.
"Dear Sir, — I only returned home last night, and I regret ill-health prevents my being present to support my friend the Lord Mayor at the opening of the Public Library this evening.
"I need hardly say that nothing has been more satis-
8 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
factory to me than to support this institution. Now that new duties and responsibilities are devolving upon the masses of our population, it is essentially necessary that they should be provided — even better, that they should provide themselves, as in this case — ^with the means of informing themselves on public questions. This can only be done by some study of the past as well as of the present, and by looking at both sides of every important question.
" Public Libraries, moreover, supply, in the best form, an antidote or counter-attraction to the allurements of the public-house. Surely it is infinitely better and more reasonable, as well as of more lasting efficacy, to give people the means of comfortable and reasonable, as ^ell as pleasant occupation and recreation, than to punish the many for the faults and weaknesses of the few by attempts to do away with public-houses altogether.
"Looking back over the ten years I have had the honour of representing Mid-Surrey, nothing gives me greater satisfaction than the recollection that I have tried to do what little I could to help all legitimate attempts to increase the means and opportunities of my constituents for mental recreation and instruction, and that I have supported, to the best of my ability, all athletic games and sports, to which our people owe so much of their manly character.
" I am, yours faithfully,
" Trevor Lawrence."
The Right Hon. Lord Iddesleigh, writing on
INTRODUCTION. y
October 16th, 1885, says : — " I am glad to hear that you are interesting yourself in the promotion of Free libraries, and heartily wish you success. All that I have seen of these institutions is encouraging, except the smallness of their number."
Mr. Thomas Burt, M.P., writes : — " I quite agree with you in attaching the utmost importance to the Free Libraries movement. It is certainly amazing, and not at all creditable, that thirty years after the com- mencement of the Act so few towns have adopted it. In Newcastle-on-Tyne we had a long and rather severe fight. We won, and at present an excellent institution is established, and is doing valuable work. Wishing you success in your efforts to popularize the movement, Tours very truly, Thos. Burt."
Sir John Lubbock, M.P., a true lover of books, and one who has the welfare of the community sincerely at heart, says — " It is much to be regretted that so few towns have availed themselves of the Free Libraries Act." Speaking at Shrewsbury on April 9th, 1885, on the occasion of the opening of the Free Library and Museum, he, in the course of his speech, spoke as follows : — " The citizens of Shrewsbury are setting a good example in availing themselves of the admir- able Act for which we are indebted to Mr. Ewart. They will not, I am sure, regret it. Nor even from a pecimiary view do I believe that it will be in the long run an addition to your rates. What you will spend in one way you will save in others. More- over, how far better it is to spend our money on libraries and schools than on prisons. Already the
10 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
Act of 1870 is beginning to tell. To no other cause, I think, can we attribute the gratifjdng diminu- tion in crime which has taken place, and is taking place. Statistics are no doubt sometimes deceptive, as when the intelligent foreigner placed it to the credit of representative institutions, that when Parliament was sitting there se.emed to be so much fewer cases in the metropolitan police-courts. Still we may fairly find much encouragement in recent criminal statistics. I cannot doubt that the diminution in crime and in the number of criminals is greatly due to the improve- ments in education, and to the children being kept out of the streets. I am sometimes disposed to think that the great readers of the next generation will be, not our lawyers or doctors, shopkeepers or manufacturers, but the labourer and mechanic. Does not this seem natural? The former work mainly with their head. When their daily duties are over, the brain is often exhausted, and of their leisure time much must be devoted to air and exercise. The labourer and mechanic, on the contrary, besides being occupied often for much shorter hours, have in their work-time taken sufficient bodily exercise, and can therefore give any leisure they might have to reading and study. They have not done so as yet, it is true, but this has been for obvious reasons. Now, however, in the first place they receive an excellent education in om* elementary schools ; and in the second they often have in our Free Libraries the whole range of literature thrown open to them. We meet, indeed, appreciation of learning in many quarters where we might least expect it. There is, for instance, an
INTRODUCTION. 11
Arabic proverb that a * Wise man's day is worth a fool's Kfe,' and a Mohammedan (though it rather, perhaps, reflects the spirit of the Caliphs than of the Sultans), that ' the ink of science is more precious than the blood of a martyr.' Confucius is said to have described him- self as a man who ' in his eager pursuit of knowledge forgot his food; who, in the joy of its attainment forgot his sorrows, and did not even perceive that old age was coming on.' Yet if this could be said by the Chinese and the Arabs, what language can be strong enough to express the gratitude we ought to feel for the advantages we enjoy ? We sometimes talk of light and air and water as costing nothing. But in towns at least this is a cheerful delusion. Light is often cut off, air is smoke, and water is suggestive of rates rather than of freedom. Books, however, will now in Shrews- bury, as in many other cities, be open free of expense to all comers. And what a boon you are to-day confer- ring! Macaulay, who had all that wealth and fame, rank and talents, could give, yet we are told derived his greatest happiness from books. Mr. Trevelyan, in his charming biography, says that ' of the feelings which Macaulay entertained towards the great minds of by- gone ages it is not for anyone except himself to speak. He has told us how his debt to them was incalculable ; how they guided him to truth, how they filled his mind with noble and graceful images, how they stood by him in all vicissitudes — comforters in sorrow, nurses in sick- ness, companions in solitude, the old friends who are never seen with new faces ; who are the same in wealth and in poverty, in glory and in obscurity.' We must,
12 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
however, be careful what we read, and not, like the Bailors of Ulysses, take bags of wind for sacks of trea- sure— ^not only lest we should even now fall into the error of the Ghreeks, and suppose that language and definitions can be instruments of investigations as well as of thought, but lest, as too often happens, we should waste time over trash. It is wonderful indeed how much innocent happiness we thoughtlessly throw away. A Chinese proverb says that calamities sent by Heaven may be avoided, but from those we bring on ourselves there is no escape. Time is often said to be money. But it is more. It is life. Yet how many there are who would cling desperately to life, and yet think nothing of wasting time. ' For who knows most, him loss of time most grieves.' Chesterfield's letters to his son, with a great deal that is worldly and cynical, contain certainly much good advice. * Every moment, for instance,' he says, * which you now lose, is so much character and advantage lost; as, on the other hand, every moment you now employ usefully is so much time wisely laid out at prodigious interest.' * Do what you will,' he elsewhere observes, ' only do some- thing.' * Know the true value of time ; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it.' Is not happiness indeed a duty, as well as self-denial P It has been well said that some of our teachers err perhaps in that * they dwell on the duty of self-denial, but exhibit not the duty of delight.' We must, however, be un- grateful indeed if we cannot appreciate the wonderful and beautiful world in which we live. Moreover, how can we make others happy without trying to become so
INTRODUCTION. 13
ourselves ? Few indeed attain the philosophy of Hegel, who is said to have calmly finished his * Phaenomeno- logie des Greistes/ at Jena, on the 14th October, 1808, not knowing anjdiiing whatever of the battle that was raging round him. Most men, however, may at will make of this world either a palace or prison. When the untrained eye will see nothing but mire and dirt, science will often reveal exquisite possibilities. Take a beautiful illustration of Buskin's. The mud we tread under our feet in the street is a grimy mixture of clay and sand, soot and water. Separate the sand, however, let the atoms arrange themselves in place according to their nature, and you have the opal. Separate the clay, and it becomes a white earth fit for the finest porcelains ; or if it still further purifies itself, you have the sapphire. Take the soot, and if properly treated it will give you a diamond ; while lastly, the water, puri- fied and distilled, will become a dewdrop, or crystallize into a lovely star. Or to take another illustration from the same author, speaking of a gutter in a street, he well observes that at your own will you may see in it either the refuse of the street or the image of the sky. Nay, even if we imagine beauties and charms which do not exist, still if we err at all it is better to do so on the side of charity, like Nasmyth, who tells us in his delightful autobiography that he used to think one of his friends had a charming and kindly twinkle, till one day he discovered that he had a glass eye. Many, I believe, are deterred from attemptmg what are called stiff books for fear they should not understand them ; but, as Hobbes said, there are few who need complain
14 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
of the narrowness of their minds if mly they would do their best with them. In reading, however, it is most important to select subjects in which one is interested. This, indeed, applies to the work of life generally. I remember years ago consulting Mr. Darwin as to a selection of a course of study. He asked me what interested me mort, and advised me to choose that subject. The wise motto over your old schools, that * if you love learning you will be learned,' seems to contain the very essence of true education. I will con- clude by saying, in the words of Buskin, that anyone in future who will avail himself of the resources which you are now throwing open to the very poorest of your fellow citizens, may place himself on an eminence from which he may look back on the universe of God, and forward on the generations of men."
The private secretary of Lord Bandolph Churchill writes : — " Lord Randolph Churchill desires me to acknowledge with thanks the receipt of your letter. He has no doubt that your book will contain much useful information on the subject of Free Libraries, and that it will give considerable encouragement to the public to avail themselves of the educational advantages offered by the admirable institutions of which it treats."
" They manage these things better in France," has passed, as a current saying, into our language; and it would appear that with regard to Free Libra- ries, this is so ; for turning to a letter written from France a few years ago, it reads as follows: — "We have now in France more than 1,000 popular Free
INTRODUCTION. 15
Libranes. They possess more than 1,000,000 volumes. We have also 17,500 school Hbrariea; these, -which are for the use both of children and adults, possess about 2,000,000 volumes. Every school library, whether founded by the township, is allowed 100 volumes or more from the Trench Government. If in sub- sequent years the township votos additional funds, the Gtovemment makes a further donation. To these two sources of income must he added grants from the funds of the department."
Eobertaiffen,LL.D. (of the Boardof Trade), in his address as President of the Statistical Society, Novem- ber 20, 1883, on "The Progress of the Working Classes in the last Half Century," said {Joum. Statist. 8oc., vol. xlvi., p. 606) : — " To a great deal of this ex- penditure we may attach the highest value. It does not give bread or clothing to the working man, but it all helps to make life sweeter and better, and so open out careers even to the poorest. The value of the Free Library, for instance, in a large city, is simply incalcul- able.
CHAPTER n.
EARLY FREE LIBRARIES.
history of Libraries appears to
late in England at least from the
'ourteenth century. Monks, from
heir cloisters, hare left iis an evi-
lenoe of how they spent their timo
Detween maiins and evensong; and
whatever reasonahle doubt there
nay bo of the usefulness of their
work to- the age in which they
lived, boot-lovers imd collectors will ever owe them a
debt of '.gratitude for the illuminated boots they left
as legaoies to the generations following them.
A singidar assertion was made at the Plymouth Conference of last year, to the effect that there were more Free Libraries two or three hundred years ago than there were at the present time. This is an interesting point, especially to librarians ; and if the
EARLY FREE LIBRARIES. 17
statement can be substantiated, it proves the greater need for those using these institutions, and who are interested in their extension, to use every effort in the direction of their being established universally all over the United Kingdom.
Certain it is that during the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell, Public Libraries were established, and it is not a little to the credit of this wise and noble Englishman that he should at that early date have recognized that the truest republic for the people was the republic of letters.
As to which part of this country can claim to have established the first Free Library, is a question which has been considerably discussed ; but a paper, read last year by Mr. John Taylor, City Librarian, Bristol, on this subject, has for the present set this matter at rest. *' It should be remembered," said Mr. Taylor, in the course of this paper, " that our present mental illu- mination was of no sudden kindling, but had developed from the spark that was kept alive in the cloistered shades of old. It was possible that in the waste of the Monastic Libraries at the dissolution, works may have perished which, had they been spared, would have shown that the Bristol monk or friar was, as else- where, sometimes a man of intelligence, or even of genius. Notwithstanding the implied prejudice of the monks and secular clergy against profane learning, they might look back to both these classes of church- men with feelings of thankfulness for what they had done for the commonwealth of letters, if not by original productions, at least by the preservation of the works
18 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
of the great mind of antiquity. There was an anoient Kbrary .that once flourished in Bristol, for which they claimed the distinction of being the first Free Library accessible to the public. It might be found, by refer- ence to the article 'libraries,' in the new edition of the * Encyclopsedia Britannioa,' that the first Free Library Act was passed in 1850, and that the Man- chester Free Library, which was opened in the same year, was the first to be established under Parlia- mentary authority. In that article it was stated that the fine old library instituted by Himiphrey Cheetham, in Manchester, in 1653, and which was still * housed in the old collegiate buildings where Ealeigh was once entertained by Dr. Dee,' might be said to be the first Free Library. The purport of the present paper was to controvert that statement, and to show that Bristol might claim the honour of having founded a Free Library in her midst two centuries earlier than the date of Cheetham's Library, and also that a second Public Library was established in Bristol in 1613,- or forty years previous to that of Manchester. Close to the Exchange, Bristol, is a church, which, judging from the Italian campanile, might have been built in the last century, though the windows of the north aisle against the streets, would indicate a date as far back as the fifteenth century. An examination of the interior, however, would discover that masses must have been sung within^its precincts as early as the twelfth century ; for immediately within the western entrance is a group of four circular piers, with Norman capitals, and of low elevation, having been dwarfed to support a house or
EAKLY FREE LIBRARIES. 19
chamber erected over that end of either aisle of the church, to serve for the abode of the vicar. A corre- sponding structure over the north aisle was destroyed in the last century. This apartment, or upper room, which extended the length of the nave, served as the cottage and library of a fraternity of semi-monastics, to whom was committed the custody of the civic archives, and whose oflBlce it was to keep a register of local and public events and acts. This body were termed kalen- dars, and by a re-establishment of the ordinances, in 1464, by John, Bishop of Worcester, it was instructed that the prior should constantly reside in the house of the kalendars, and take custody of a certain library, newly erected, at the bishop's expense, in the same house ; so that every festival day — ^by which, of course, was then meant all days which were not fasts, at two hours before nine, and for two hours after, free access should be granted to all willing to enter, for the sake of instruction, the prior undertaking to explain diflBlcult passages of Holy Scripture, to the best of his know- ledge, and to give a public lecture in the library every week. Lest through negligence the books should be lost or alienated, it was ordered that three catalogues of fliem should be kept ; one to remain with the Dean of Antiquarian Canons, another with the mayor for the time being, and the third with the prior himself. The bishop also ordered that once every year there should be a due collating of all the books, with the inventories, or catalogues, by the dean, prior, and another appointed by the mayor, between the feast of St. Michael and All Saints; and if it should happen that some book.
20 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
through the neglect of the prior, should be carried out of the library, and stolen, the prior was to restore the book to the library, under a penalty of 40s. above its true value ; and if he could not restore it again, then he was to pay the value of the book and 40s., besides 20s. to the mayor, and the rest for the benefit of the library. They ventured, therefore, to conclude that as early as 1464 a reference library was instituted in Bristol ; but the kalendars were recorded to have lost most of their books and charters early in the fourteenth century, by an a>ccidental fire. The Kalendars' Library had long ago vanished, but there was yet another Free Library existing in Bristol. Mr. Charles Tovey, a member of the Town Council, was an early advocate for the adoption of the Free Library Act in Bristol, and in 1853 issued a work, entitled 'The Bristol City Library; its Founders and Benefactors.' Mr. Tovey was still living, and took an earnest endeavour as hereto- fore in the Library of that place. In 1615, Dr. Toby Matthews and Mr. Robert Redwood, of St. Leonard, Bristol, were instrumental in founding a library, and Rev. Richard Williams was appointed the first keeper. In 1628, Tobias Matthews, who had himself found the benefit of learning, in having through its means been elevated from a draper's stool in a shop on Bristol Bridge to the Throne of York Minster, left to his native city many of his books, that, like himself, mer- chants and shopkeepers might not confine their studies to their ledgers and account books. In consequence of the increasing number of books, an extension of the buildings became necessary, and in 1634, the Common
EARLY FREE LIBRARIES.
21
Council ordered that ' out of a love for learning, and a desire to preserve the books,' £25 should be expended, which amount was afterwards increased to £35. Op- posite the old Church of the Kalendars formerly stood f Jie sacred edifice of St. Ewen, a structure that about a century ago was taken down to provide the present site of the Common Council. There being a great want of a library for the propagation of learning, this building was ordered to be converted into a librajy for the use of the city. According to the order then issued, the place was to be used as a Public Library. An earlier instance of the Free Library Act, he opined, was not to be found within the annals of English legislation. The library in question was, however, not established. There were strong arguments to show that the Free Library had, during its century and a half of existence, been a vast literary advantage to the city.
Bristol has now several Free Libraries; but we could wish for this enterprising and busy city a more com- modious and inviting home for its parent library than the building in which it is now situated. Probably a better evidence of the unwisdom of attempting to adapt an old building for the purposes of a Free Library- could not be named than the King Street building in Bristol. The street is in a thickly populated district, and the library and reading-room are well patronized by those living near; but the structure is altogether too small, and is, moreover, badly lighted and badly ventilated, and for the city claiming to have had the first Free Library in England it does not do credit. There is a lack of brightness and attractiveness about
22 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
the plaoe, and it is rather to be regretted that the Committee have not decided upon a new home for this Hbraiy in the improved and very handsome thorough- fare close by its present location.
The work of Mr. William Ewart, in connection with his Bill of 1849, was no light struggle, and it provides one of the many examples of how often the House of Commons has, to the bitter end, opposed measures to which, after they have been passed, they have given no stinted praise for the beneficial results in the nation, through the advantages conferred by those Acts they so strenuously opposed. When Mr. Ewart proposed that British municipalities should be empowered to build libraries, as well as make sewers and supply gas and water, and to levy a local rate for bringing books into the parlour of the tradesman, or the kitchen of the working man, he found, as all reformers have found, that his only prospect of success lay in dealing piecemeal with the subject.
The record in Hansard of the debate on the question is very interesting, if not profitable, reading. The appear- ance of the " talking shop,'' as Carlyle irreverently called it, on the second reading of the Bill by which it was proposed to create for the first time in England perman- ent Free Libraries, was somewhat striking. The house was not by any means a full one, but the benches were well occupied by those who had previously expressed themselves against the measure. Had there been some trumpery " personal explanation " to be made, and a " scene " expected, every seat would have been occupied, but because the feeding of the intelligence of the nation
EARLY FREE LIBRARIES. 23
WQA concerned, the majority of the members lingered over their dinner, and their places were vacant. Consti- tuencies now watch very closely the attendance of their members at divisions, and it is well for the nation that it should be so.
It must be confessed that the house looked bored with the subject. The immediate proposal before them was limited to the procuring of sites and the erecting or adapting of buildings for Free Libraries, and the provision from time to time of the expenses of maintenance by means of a library rate ; and it was entirely a permissive measure, leaving every town to decide for itself. The provision of books was to be a matter for future legisla- tion. Looking at the question as it rested before the House, one naturally wonders that so simple a measure should have met with any opposition, but the division showed 101 tioes against 118 a^es. In later stages the small measure of practicability which the Bill contained was, by the persistent wilfulness of its opponents, lessened in committee. When it was returned to the Commons it had yet another trial to pass, and altogether it went through a dozen discussions and six formal divisions before the opposition ceased. Ultimately, when it reached the Lords, to the credit of that hereditary cham- ber be it said, it was carried without any opposition whatever, and in fact, what was said in the gilded chamber was rather on the side of furthering than of hindering it.
"When it received the Royal assent on August 14th, 1850, its chief provisions stood as follows: —
1. Town Councils were permitted, if they thought it
24 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
well to do BO, to put to their burgesses the question — "Will you have a library rat« levied for providing a Free library," and to poll them ou that question. The pro- posal was, however, limited to a popidation of not less than 10,000 within the municipal limits.
2. In the event of the ratepayers deciding that question in the affiimative, the rate so levied waa limited to a halfpenny in the pound on the rateable property.
3. The product of any rate so levied was to be applied (1) to the erection or adaptation of buildings, together with contingent expenses, if any, for the site; (2) to current charges of management and maintenance.
4. Town Councils were then empowered to borrow money on the security of the rates of any city or borough which shall have adopted the Act.
Other legislation followed, as will be seen on reference to the Appendix, in which the various Acts will be found . The main alterations were, in the later Bills, to reduce the number to 5,000, and to permit a rate of a penny in the pound to be levied.
From this begiiming, some hundred and thirty have been established ; but how great the need is for their ex- tension on all sides, I hope to prove in the course of these pages, at least to all unprejudiced minds.
OHAPTEB ni.
THE FIRST FREE LIBRARY
ESTABLISHED UNDER WILLIAM
EWART'S ACT.
influenoe of Maochester od oom- neroe, polities, and education has- ong been a recognized faot, and to ;he everlasting credit of Manchester >e it said that it was the first »wn to avail itself of the Public Libraries Act of 1850. Cottonopolis nay reasonably be proud of this, tact, and the author of this workf a native of that district, looks back with pride toid pleasure to the time when, as a lad in his teens, he went baekwards and forwards to the old Gampfield Library as a borrower. All honotir to Manchester for what she has done towards the advancement of know- ledge, of social progress in its various forms.
26 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
It is full of interest to look back upon the opening of the first Free library under William Ewart's Act, and that can only be done by quoting the language of the time, and this we do, taken from the Hlm" t rated London News of September 11th, 1852. The ' heading to the article is " Free libraries or Free Literature": —
^^ Manchester is ambitious, and wishes to excel in other things than in the acquisition of wealth. She is not contented with being great, populous, enter- prising, industrious, and thriving ; but desires to be known for her love of literature and the arts, and her generous encouragement of them. Her wealthy citi- zens, engrossed as they are in trade and manufactures, are anxious to set a good example. They have shown that the pursuits of worldly gain do not necessarily shut the mind against elegant accomplishments and refined tastes. If cotton and gold be good, books are as good as either. If it be right that the multitude should toil not alone for their daily bread, but for present wealth or future independence, it is right that in the hours of their leisure and relaxation they should cultivate and improve their understandings by the wisdom and the wit, the history and the philosophy, the poetry and the science of the past and of the present. So say the people of Manchester, and when an idea takes possession of them, these shrewd and hard-headed men generally work it out to a successful issue. This has been testified before now by the debates of our Senate, and in the history of our time, and has been testified again by the establishment of
THE FIRST FREE LIBRARY. 27
the great Free library — ^the first, but most certainly not the last institution of its kind.
" The public inauguration of that library, graced as it was by the presence and co-operation of some of the most eminent authors of our day, is an event which may well excite reflection, both among those who love, and those who live by, literature ; the first class reckoned by millions, the second by hundreds, if not by thousands. Upon that interesting occasion the readers and makers of books were both represented. They stood face to face, and shook hands with each other. Manchester, the great and wealthy city, de- clared, with pomp, circumstance, and emphasis, that she fully appreciated the uses and the blessings of good books, and desired to extend them to all classes of her people. She acknowledged literature to be a power in the commonwealth, although the commonwealth practically denies it, and the wielders of that power stood by and applauded the sentiment. Among those men, representing in the most effective and brilliant manner the literary genius of our time, were several, and these among the most distinguished, who went to Manchester, not to aid in the establishment of a Man- chester Library, but to gather money for the support and endowment of an institution of a very different class. Sir John Potter and the men of Manchester had succeeded in their object. Their institution was formed. The building was built, the books were bought, and the city of Manchester had voluntarily taxed itself to sup- port it. But the object to be attained by Sir Edward Lytton, Mr. Charles Dickens, and the other friends of
28 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
the Guild of literature and Art had not arrived at the same happy culmination. Their institution is to do for literary men what Manchester, with all its patronage, were it a thousand times greater, cannot perform ; it is to elevate the position, not in the first place, of the readers, hut of the makers of books; and by thus improving the character and extending the usefulness of the literature of the present age, to include the work of Manchester in its own.
" If we are to judge, however, by the speeches made on this occasion, Manchester intends to do little or nothing in this sense. The object of Manchester is the books, and not the authors. She has got her library, and taxed herself to support it as it stands; but, by a strange omission in the Act of Parliament under which the Free. Library has become the public property of the district, Manchester has no power except by voluntary contribution to increase, by the purchase of new books, the library which she has established. In so far the living authors of Ghreat Britain will receive but a bar- ren tribute of applause from the commercial city. The object of those who desire to establish the Ghiild of Literature, and who gave the powerful support of their presence, their sympathy, and their speeches to the Free Library, gains nothing from Manchester. Yet Manchester and its people desire, we cannot doubt, not simply to do honour to the literary character, but to make the profession of literature as self-supporting, as honourable, and as certain as any other pursuit or calling to which able and conscientious men can devote themselves. But how, it may be asked, can Man-
THE FIRST FREE LIBRARY. 29
cheater do this? What prevents literature from taking its rank as a profession equal to Law, to Medicine, and to Divinity ? and why should Manchester or any other place be called upon to aid in so establishing it?
" We shall endeavour briefly to answer these ques- tions, and to show what Manchester, which has done so much, can yet do — ^not alone for books, but for those who make them — ^not alone for literature in the abstract, but for the literary men, without whom we should have no literature except the literature of the past.
** We say nothing more at present of the * Ghiild of Literature,' because most of the objects in view of its promoters are objects which are to be achieved more by literary men themselves than by the public, but shall confine ourselves to those objects which the Kterary men who support the Ghiild, as well as literary men generally, have some right to demand public assistance in obtaining. The resolution which was proposed at Manchester by Mr. Charles Dickens, expressed a hope that the books made available to the people by means of a Free Library, would * prove a source of pleasure and improvement in the cottages, the garrets, and the cellars of the poorest of our people.' No doubt they will ; but if so, it surely becomes a matter of import- ance to Manchester and other large cities, and to the State and the Grovemment, that the class of men with- out whom contemporary literature could not exist, should have fair play in the exercise of their calling. If they are public benefactors, the public ought not to impede them in their vocation. If they render the State a service, by educating the popular mind, and by keeping
30 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
aliye the saored flame of patriotism and virtue, the State, even if it did not recognize, honour, and reward them, should at least refrain from taxing their indusby. Many persons are of opinion that the State should not only honour, when living, the great authors, whose names in foreign nations are synonymous with the literary glories of their country — ^but that it should honour them substantially by employment, or by pro- vision for their old age. On the lower ground of commercial justice, the State, if wise, should, we think, treat them with as much consideration as the pro- ducers of any other kind of commodities which help to make up the sum of national wealth. And here it is that the aid of Manchester, and of the lovers and readers of books generally, could be of such service to them. A book, though it treats of mental and spiritual things, is a physical substance. It exists, and can be felt and handled, and weighed, and packed like any other article of merchandise. It is true that there may be an evil in excessive trade; and Lord Shaftesbury calls excessive trade a 'whirlpool.' The State has taken good care that in this ' whirlpool,' if such it be, no author shall be overwhelmed. Lest he should trade to excess, the Gbvemment that does not tax the material upon which a painter paints, or a sculptor chisels, or a violinist performs, taxes the paper, with- out which his book could not exist ; — ^unless, perchance, some revolution in taste and in manufacture should enable him to print upon thin sheets of metal, or some other commodity, as yet unknown to the exciseman. If, under the present system, an author be wiser than
THE FIRST FREE LIBRARY. 31
his age, and publishes a book too great and good for popular appreciation or comprehension, and sells but one copy, he must pay to the Government a tax upon the one copy that he does, and upon the 999 that he does not, sell. As every book must be made known to the world, before the world will purchase or encourage it, the author is taxed for publicity, and is impeded in advertising it. We would ask the clear-sighted folk of Manchester how the production of cotton goods would answer if such a system were in operation with themP and, as sensible men of business, how long they would endure it?
" In an age when Free Libraries have become neces- sary, when the love of books is daily spreading wider and wider in society, the business of literature is as much a legitimate business as any other. It, indeed, becomes a question whether, instead of going to a Free Library to borrow, the working-man and the cottager, as well as the poorer portions of the middle-classes, would not purchase books, if justice were in this respect done to their producers. With an international copyright, and untaxed paper and advertisements, the literary genius of this age would find its money reward from the public of its own and other states. It would cease, to a great extent, to be in distress and in difficulties, and would be as well paid by the sale of its commodities as the manuf a>cturers of Manchester in the production and sale of theirs. Expensive books do not suit the multitude of readers. Books must be made cheap ere they can be made accessible to the cottage or the workshop. By all means let our towns
32 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
and cities have their Free libraries ; but, at the same time, let us have Free literature. The two objects are so far from being incompatible, that the second in reality includes all the advantages of the first, with many others of its own.
'' The ' million ' require cheap books as well as cheap bread. If they cannot get cheap good books they will have cheap bad ones. If publishers cannot produce new books at a cheap rate, and to pay the authors a copyright, which would not amount to more than the paper duty, they will pay the paper duty upon old books, on which there is no copyright, and leaving the living author to starve, or to change his vocation for the ' diggings,' or the street-crossings, wiU carry on a trade in reprints, or in that inferior literature, unworthy of the name, which degrades instead of elevates the people. To this result neither Manchester nor any other great city can be indifferent."
The ceremony of opening the library took place on Thursday, the 2nd September, 1862. Nearly 1,000 persons, a great portion of whom were ladies, were present. Sir J. Potter presided, and was supported on either side of the chair by the Earls of Shaftesbury and Wilton, the Bishop of Manchester, Sir E. Bulwer- Lytton, Sir J. Stephen, Messrs. Charles Dickens, W. M. Thackeray, C. Knight, J. Bright, M.P. ; M. Milnes, M.P.; W. Brown, M.P.; J. Kershaw, M.P. ; J. Brotherton, M.P. ; and Mr. Felkin, Mayor of Man- chester. Amongst the ladies were the Countess of Wilton and the Hon. Miss Egerton.
The chairman read the report, which stated that
34 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
the sums expended, including the necessary law charges, amounted to £2,147. The total of all suhscriptioiis received was £9,325, which was increased to £10,125 by the working men's subscriptions. The expenditui-e in repairs, shelves, fittings, &c., was £4,816; giving the total cost of the buildings, fittings, furniture, &c., of £6,963. The number of volimies at present con- tained in the library is 16,013. Books of equal value have rarely, if ever, been collected on terms so moderate. The entire cost of the libi'ary was £4,282, independently of the large portion of the Library which was con- tributed gratuitously. This is believed to be the only gratuitous lending Library now existing on such a scale. An Act, 13 and 14 Vict., c. 65, known as the Public Libraries Act of 1850, provides the power of levying rates for the purpose of supporting this and other similar establishments, and on the poll for adopting a rate in favour of this institution there were 3,962 for, and only 40 against it. It will be for the Town Council to determine on the necessary expenditure, and on the rules imder which the institution will be definitively constituted. But the Act of Parliament requires much amendment, as it only provides power to purchase land and buildings, but makes no provision for the purchase of books. The chairman having read the report, stated that Prince Albert had presented a number of hand- somely-bound books to the institution, and read a letter from Colonel Phipps, which accompanied them.
The Earl' of Shaftesbury then rose, and moved the resolution expressing confidence — " That the institution will effect great and lasting good in generations to
THE FIRST FREE LIBRARY. 35
come." He said that, amidst the whirl of business there was a homage to mind and truth. They might have founded an attractive reading-room, with journals and periodicals, and have added the allurements of a smoking-room and billiard-table, but that would not have satisfied the requirements of the age or the aspira- tions of Manchester.
Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton said that this Library would form an endearing and conservative link between their wealth and their labour, and between the manu- facturer and the operative: The other day the Minister of the United States told him, in reply to his question of what was the heaviest rate in the United States, that in some towns the poor-rate was almost as heavy as in this country, but that the largest rate was for the purpose of education, at which no one grumbles, as in education they find the principle of their safety.
Lord Shaftesbury's resolution was carried amidst loud applause.
Mr. Charles Dickens moved the next resolution — "That as this institution provides specially for the working-classes a Free Lending Library, the meeting earnestly hopes that the books will produce pleasure and improvement in the cottages, the garrets, and the cellars of the poorest of the people." Mr. Dickens, in the course of his address, characterized the Manchester School as " a great free-school, bent on carrying instruc- tion to the poorest hearths. It is this great free school, inviting the humblest workman to come in and to be a student — ^this great free school, ipoiunificently endowed by voluntary subscriptions, in an incredibly short space
36 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
of time — etarting upon its glorious career with 20,000 volumes of books — ^knowing no sect, no party, and no distinction; nothing but the public want and the public good. Henceforth, ladies and gentlemen, this building shall represent to me the Manchester School. And I pray to heaven, moreover, that many great towns and cities, and many high authorities, may go to school a little in the Manchester seminary, and profit by the noble lesson that it teaches."
Mr. W. M. Thackeray seconded the resolution, and said that education is much -changed from what it was one hundred years ago. Then Hogarth represented the idle mechanic as reading '^Moll Flanders," and the good mechanic as reading the history of that good apprentice who was made Lord Mayor of London. Now mechanics have got their Carlyles, their Dickenses, and their Bulwers to read. Such works as he (Mr. Thackeray) was in the habit of writing would occupy but a small space in such a library as this. " I know," said Mr. Thackeray, " that our novels are but what we may call tarts for the people, whereas history is bread, and his- torical and spiritual truths are that upon which they must be fed."
The resolution was passed. Several other resolu- tions were also passed, and the meeting having been addressed by Sir J. Stephens (Professor of Modem History at Cambridge), the Earl of Milton, Messrs. M. Milnes, M.P., John Bright, M.P., Brown, M.P., Felkin, C. Knight, Doctor Vaughan, and the Mayor, thanks were voted to the chairman, and the proceedings terminated.
THE FIRST FKEE LIBRARY. 37
Truly this woa a page in the history of Free Libraries, Charles Diokeiu, Tfaaokeifty, Bulwer-Ljtton, and others have gone to their rest, and, to complete the list, the very week this hook was oommenoed the noble lord, Earl ShafteBbmy, whose name is bo worthily assooiated with the English progress of half a century, who waa present and took an active part at the opening of the first Free Library under the 1850 Act, at the ripe age of eighty-four, left earth-life for the life beyond.
Early workers in the cause are " gone before," but the wise and practical words spoken on that auspicious ocoEudon have more than come true ; and we venture to predict that !Pree Libraries will be scattered throughout the length and breadth of the United Kingdom during the next quarter of a century.
CHAPTEK IV. SOME PROMINENT FREE LIBRARIES.
finest library in the world, without
!xeeption, is the one at the British
Uuseura. Poor as Londou is in
Free Libraries, the collection of
jooks in the Museum is not only
he largest of any known, but it is
mique in its arrangeraents. It ia
lot a lending library, simply a
reference library, as oiu' readers
will scarcely require to be told. This is the workshop
of some of our most prominent and well-known authors.
Carlyle once applied to the authorities to allow him the
use of one of the many small rooms in the Museum in
which to write, but they no doubt wisely declined.
Had they done so, perhaps poor Mrs. Cariyle would hai-e
been saved many a heart-burning. The following
description, taken from the " Guide to the Museum," is
SOME PROMINENT FREE LIBRARIES. 39
SO complete and to the point, that we may he pardoned for quoting it here.
" On crossing the threshold of the reading-room, the visitor finds himself in a large circular apartment crowned with a dome of the most magnificent dimensions, 140 feet in diameter, and 106 feet high. It is the largest dome in the world, with one exception, the Pantheon at Eome. The cylinder or drum which sustains the dome presents a continuous circular wall of books, which are accessible from the floor, or from low galleries running round the apartment ; it comprises in the part open to the " readers " about 20,000 volumes of books of reference and standard works, and in the part round the galleries more than 50,000 volumes of the principal sets of periodical pubKcations, old and new, and in various languages. In the decoration of the interior dome, light colours and the purest gilding have been used. The great room, therefore, has an illuminated and elegant aspect. The decorative work may be shortly described. The inner surface of the dome is divided into twenty compartments by moiJded ribs, which are gilded with leaf prepared from unalloyed gold, the soffites being in ornamental patterns, and the edges touching the adjoining margins fringed with a leaf-pattern scalloped edge. Each compartment contains a large circular- headed window, with three panels above, the central one being medallion-shaped, the whole bordered with gilt mquldings and lines, and the field of the panels finished in encaustic azure blue, the surrounding margins being of a warm cream-colour. The details of the
40 FREE PlBl.IC LI1IKARIE.S.
windows are treated in like manner — ^tbe spandril panels being blue ; the enriched column and pilaster caps, the central flowers, the border moulding and lines being all gilded ; the margins cream-colour throughout. The moulded rim of the lantern light, which is painted and gilded to correspond, is forty feet diameter. The sash is formed of gilt moulded ribs radiating from a central medallion, in which the royal monogram is alternated with the imperial crown. The cornice, from which the dome springs, is massive and almost wholly gilded, the frisze being formed into panels bounded by lines terminating at the ends vnih a gilt fret orna- ment."
The floor of the room is occupied with nineteen large and sixteen smaller tables, fitted up with ample accommodation for more than 300 readers ; two of these are reserved for the exclusive use of ladies, who have been admitted as " readers " since about the year 1854 ; ladies, however, are always at liberty to take a seat at any other table which they prefer. By the simple expedient of raising the partition down the middle of each of the larger tables so high that a reader cannot see his opposite neighbour, privacy is secured to the literary working bees, and on entering the room when it is quite full, a stranger might at first suppose that it was nearly empty. The tables are all arranged so as to converge towards the centre of the room, as will be seen from the page engraving, near which are two circular ranges of stands for the gigantic Catalogue, the entries of which — all in manuscript — fill upwards of 300 large folio volumes, and a poi-tion of which is thus, if not at
SOME PROMINENT FREE LIBRARIES. 41
the reader's fingers' ends, yet actually at the end of every table. In the centre is the " quarter-deck " of the chief superintendent, whose position commands a general view of all the tables and their occupants, often between 200 and 300 in number.
What a difiference exists between the reading-room of to-day and that of a century ago ! Not only is its whole aspect changed with regard to the building, the accommodation provided, and the regulations respecting its management and rules for admission, but the in- crease in the niunber of its "readers" has kept equal pace with the increase in the thousands who visit the other parts of the Museum. The regulations for its management at the outset, in 1759, were of the same cautious and restrictive character with those for the general establishment. Gray, the poet, was one of the first to avail himself of the opening of the room; and some mention of it will be found in two or three of his lettera Readers have at their command, arranged on the walls ax'ound them, a library of 20,000 volumes, comprising books of reference of all kinds. They may, by merely writing for what they want, obtain as many volumes as they please of a printed and manuscript library of more than one million three hundred thousand ( 1 ,300,000) volumes, — ^the best and largest general collec- tion in Europe. Their seats are furnished with every accommod/ition for writing and reading, and they are met on all sides with attention and civility ; indeed, a nobleman in his private library may often miss facili- ties to be found in the reading-room of the Museum. The following are the most important directions
SOME PROMINENT FREE LIBRARIES. 43
respecting it, taken from a printed paper which is given to every reader: —
1. The use of the reading-room is restricted to the purposes of study, reference, and research. The room is kept open on every day of the week except Sunday, and except &ood Friday, Christmas-day, and any fast or thanksgiving day appointed by authority ; except also the first four week-days of March and October.
2. The hours throughout the year are from nine in the morning till eight in the evening from Sep- tember to April, inclusive, and till seven during the other months.
3. Persons desiring to be admitted to the reading- room must apply in writing to the principal librarian, specifying their profession or business, their place of abode, and, if required, the purpose for which they seek admission.
4. Every such application must be made two days at least before admission is required, and must be accompanied by a written recommendation from a householder (whose address can be identified from the ordinary sources of reference), or a person of recognized position, with full signature and address, stated to be given on personal knowledge of the applicant, and certifying that he or she will make proper use of the reading-room.
5. If such application or recommendation be unsatisfactory, the principal librarian will either refuse admission, or submit the case to the trustees for their decision.
44 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES}.
6. The tickets of admission are renewable at the discretion of the principal librarian.
7. The tickets of admission must be produced if required, and are not transferable.
8. No person under twenty-one years of age is admis- sible, except under a special order from the Trustees.
9. Headers may not write upon, damage, or make any mark upon any book, manuscript, or map belonging to the Museiun.
10. Headers may not lay the paper on which they are writing on any book, manuscript, or map.
11. No tracijig is allowed to be made without express permission fi-om the principal Ubrarian.
12. Silence must be strictly observed in the reading- room.
13. Readers are particularly requested to replace on the shelves of the reading-room, as soon as done with, such books of reference as they may have had occasion to remove for the purpose of consultation.
14. The permission to use the reading-room may be withdrawn on the infringement of any of the rules.
15. Any reader taking a book, manuscript, map, or other property of the trustees, out of the reading-room will be dealt with according to law.
16. Headers, before leaving the reading-room, must restore to an attendant, at the centre counter, all books, manuscripts, or maps which they have received, and must reclaim and get back the tickets by which they obtained them. Readers are held responsible for such books, manuscripts, or maps until the tickets have been re-delivered to them.
SOME PROMINENT FREE LIBRARIES. 45
17. Cases of incivility, of undue delay in supply of books, or other failure in the service, should be immediately reported to the superintendent of the reading-room.
There are various printed catalogues of portions of the collection, such as the King's Library, the Ghrenville Library, &c., and subsidiary catalogues to the magazines, newspapers, and serial pubHcations, as weU as to the Bibles and works illustrative of the Holy Scriptures. But the magnum qpm is the General Catalogue. The entries are all made in manuscript by an army of scribes, whose daily work it is to add to it the names of all the new books which reach the Museum. These are entered imder their author's name, or, where published anony- mously, according to the subjects of which they treat. To the title of each book is affixed a " press mark," which by certain figures and letters familiar to the practised eyes of the officials, though unintelligible to the outer world, gives a clue to its whereabouts on the shelves of the leviathan collection. Every reader who wants a book must give in writing its full title and "press mark," in order to enable the attendants to bring it to him when seated at his table. It is much to be wished that there were another classified catalogue as well, in order to help the literary explorer when he knows the subject of a book, but is at a loss for the name of the author whom he wishes to consult.
The General Catalogue of the Library of the British Museum has been in process of printing since the year 1881. The printing has been carried on in two directions : — ^First, for volumes of the manuscript
46 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
Catalogue already filled with entries, and which it |
would be necessary, if kept in MS., to break up and extend. Second, in continuous order from the com- mencement of the alphabet. The two sections will eventually combine in one series, and complete the work. The seventy-four parts issued previous to 1885 — consisting of 8,800 pages — can be had for £18 10s. The subscription for 1885 was £3 10s. The Catalogue is issued to subscribers only. Proposals to subscribe (accompanied — ^in the case of subscribers at a distance — ^with the name of a London agent to pay the subscription-money and receive the copies) should be addressed to the principal librarian of the British Museum, London.
During the last financial year (1884-5) the number of volumes which have been consulted in the reading- room of the British Museum amounts to 1,100,450. The number of readers during the year has been 164,729. No less than 31,747 volumes and pamphlets have been added to the library in the course of the year, of which 3,376 were presented and 10,127 received in pursuance of the law of English copyright, 1,486 received under the International Copyright Treaties, and 5,835 acquired by purchase; 2,890 parcels of newspapers have also been received, and the number of volumes bound is 21,621.
The building newly erected on the east side of the British Museum, and now known as the "White Wing," will contain two or three large rooms to be specially fitted for the reception of English newspapers. Evaders will be allowed to considt the volimies without
fcJOME PROMINENT FREE LIBRARIES. 47
writing the usual tickets, and thus will be able to obtain any information at once.
We have already, under the head of the First Free Library established after the passing of William Ewart's Act, referred to the Free Library at Manchester. During the first year of its working it issued to readers in the Reference Department, 61,080 volumes, and from the Lending Department, 77,232 volumes, making a total issue of 138,312 volumes. The registered burgesses of Manchester, numbered in 1852, 12,542, and when the poll was taken on the question, " Shall a Library rate be levied?" for the maintenance and extension of the library, 4,002 voted. Of these, 3,962 were in favour of the rate, and only forty tvere against it. After allowing- for deaths and departures since the framing of the register, the opponents were -^{3 of the whole.
The noble part taken by Sir John Potter, James Crossley, and other public men of that time, now gone to their rest, will ever remain part of the history of Manchester, and had Manchester and Manchester men set no other example to the community than this, she would have worthily done her share for the welfare and enlightenment of the coimtry.
The city has now one Reference Library and six Lending Libraries. The Reference Library, of which Mr. LaAvrence Dillon is librarian, has now a permanent home in the old Town Hall.
When Manchester built her new Town Hall, without exception the finest building of its kind in
48 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
the country, she could not have more worthily utilized the old and historic building, which had for £0 many years been the home of the Corporation, than by utilizing it as a Reference Library. The entrance hall and stair- case contain numerous busts of leading Manchester men, and engravings which take the mind back to the days of the Chartists and the cotton famine. The entire building has a sombre but studious aspect, and the sight of those walls lined with books is a sight sufficient to answer book-hunger to its fullest extent.
The old Campfield Library 0})ened in 1852, was closed in 1877, and on February 11th, 1878, the Reference Library was reopened in the present building. The plan seems to us a most excellent one of ha\ing one Central Reference Library, and the branches used as Lending Departments, news- rooms, &c.
"We have before us a copy of the last report, 1883-4, published at the date we are writing, and it will be useful to quote some statistics from it. The number of volumes in the Reference Library at that time was as follows :r—
Theology and Philosophy . . . . 6,292
History, Travels, <fec 19,485
Politics and Commerce 12,900
Science and Arts 11,783
Literature and Polygraphy . • . . 21,199 Specifications of Patents 4,338
Total 75,997
SOME PROMINENT FREE LIBRARIES.
49
The issues in the Eeference Library during that year were as follows : —
Theology and Philosophy History, Travels, &c. Politics and Commerce Science and Arts Literature and Polygraphy Specifications of Patents
Total
|
Week-days. |
Sundays. |
Total. |
|
.. 11,171 |
726 |
11,897 |
|
.. 41,209 |
2,496 |
43,705 |
|
.. 53,626 |
1,369 |
54,995 |
|
.. 63,618 |
4,097 |
67,715 |
|
. . 85,556 |
5,599 |
91,155 |
|
. . 9,354 |
55 |
9,409 |
|
264,534 |
14,342 |
278,876 |
GENEEAL SUMMAEY.
Increase in the Number of Volumes in the Libraries since their Foundation.
|
Reference |
Lending |
TOT AT, |
||
|
Library. |
Department. |
X\JXJ%JJ, |
||
|
1st Year |
, 1852-3 . . |
15,744 |
7,195 |
22,939 |
|
5th „ |
1856-7 .. |
25,858 |
10,029 |
35,887 |
|
10th „ |
1861-2 .. |
31,604 |
28,743 |
60,347 |
|
15th „ |
1866-7 .. |
39,264 |
44,705 |
83,969 |
|
20th „ |
1871-2 .. |
46,614 |
72,462 |
119,076 |
|
21st „ |
1872-3 .. |
50,508 |
76,584 |
127,092 |
|
22nd „ |
1873-4 .. |
52,540 |
78,395 |
130,935 |
|
23rd „ |
1874-5 .. |
53,821 |
79,066 |
132,887 |
|
24th „ |
1875-6 .. |
55,273 |
80,440 |
135,713 |
|
25th „ |
1876-7 .. |
56,480 |
80,921 |
137,401 |
|
26th „ |
1877-8 .. |
58,554 |
82,928 |
141,482 |
|
27th „ |
1878-9 .. |
61,171 |
85,306 |
146,477 |
|
28th „ |
1879-80 . . |
63,772 |
83,554 |
147,326 |
|
29th „ |
1880-1 .. |
67,700 |
87,685 |
155,385 |
|
30th „ |
1881-2 .. |
70,320 |
90,449 |
160,769 |
|
31st „ |
1882-3 .. |
73,308 |
94,194 |
167,502 |
|
32nd „ |
1883-4 .. |
75,997 |
96,493 |
172,490 |
E
50
FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
Annual Issues from each Library for each
|
Year since the |
Commencement. |
||||||||
|
Reference Library. |
Lending Libraries. |
• '3 ■*» 1 g < |
1 S S d> 0 |
||||||
|
Year. |
Deans- gate. |
i |
i a < |
Rochdale Road. |
• 1 -s o g |
1 |
|5» 461 |
||
|
1852-3 |
61080 |
77232 |
1«c |
1 . |
• |
• |
138312 |
||
|
1853-4 |
64578 |
77767 |
O CO 53 ^^t^: |
S *'*!>: |
CO CO |
142345 |
488 |
||
|
1854-5 |
66261 |
81321 |
a c5g |
o 00 |
00 |
147682 |
495 |
||
|
1855-6 |
70770 |
85783 |
ill" |
J3 oi ^*^ |
00 |
166553 |
523 |
||
|
1856-7 |
82158 |
96117 |
O |
fe |
00 |
178275 |
600 |
||
|
1857-8 |
96309 |
98351 |
50129 |
38058 |
o £ |
M |
282847 |
1127 |
|
|
1858-9 |
80083 |
75449 |
67231 |
47626 |
^>ri |
s |
270389 |
914 |
|
|
1859-60 |
95305 |
74423 |
64598 |
47358 |
14366 |
o |
^ |
296060 |
1244 |
|
1860-1 |
112885 |
78464 |
77395 |
51532 |
59194 |
'2 |
1- |
379470 |
1270 |
|
1861-2 |
127669 |
100776 |
91763 |
55269 |
70061 |
§ |
445538 |
1600 |
|
|
1862-3 |
124210 |
121868 |
95967 |
59181 |
75472 |
i |
476698 |
15^4 |
|
|
1863-4 |
86550 |
98267 |
88988 |
56091 |
68494 |
1 |
398390 |
1661 |
|
|
1864-5 |
85255 |
96144 |
95687 |
54535 |
76556 |
o |
C3 |
408177 |
1365 |
|
1865-6 |
83463 |
84187 |
94183 |
45508 |
75606 |
9i |
382947 |
1330 |
|
|
1866-7 |
112132 |
88675 |
155555 |
41936 |
88602 |
105315 |
B |
592216 |
2008 |
|
1867-8 |
127053 |
95308 |
167349 |
56246 |
94445 |
133890 |
6 |
674291 |
2263 |
|
1868-9 |
132653 |
97951 |
165302 |
68444 |
96020 |
147368 |
707738 |
2375 |
|
|
1869-70 |
121788 |
106416 |
172718 |
65534 |
114670 |
148155 |
729281 |
2447 |
|
|
1870-1 |
98297 |
125962 |
175776 |
72913 |
98725 |
180146 |
761819 |
2523 |
|
|
1871-2 |
82654 |
118094 |
172169 |
79319 |
103753 |
188147 |
41173 |
786309 |
2845 |
|
1872-3 |
95908 |
115657 |
161660 |
88112 |
130408 |
199970 |
63347 |
855062 |
2889 |
|
1873-4 |
81594 |
108342 |
172312 |
86334 |
111492 |
189145 |
69954 |
819173 |
2805 |
|
1874-5 |
67560 |
94834 |
167516 |
86918 |
99974 |
180390 |
68476 |
765668 |
2815 |
|
1875-6 |
61213 |
92579 |
166785 |
88665 |
95477 |
180494 |
66129 |
761342 |
2513 |
|
1876-7 |
37320 |
40972 |
176415 |
91136 |
97655 |
175193 |
63215 |
681906 |
2684 |
|
1877-8 |
63957 |
closed |
195869 |
112103 |
97271 |
190736 |
75979 |
736915 |
2746 |
|
1878-9 |
173137 |
closed |
211995 |
146277 |
117743 |
235137 |
101790 |
986079 |
3281 |
|
1879-80 |
186448 |
closed |
202354 |
136489 |
106149 |
238402 |
96626 |
966468 |
2777 |
|
1880-1 203194 |
closed |
260673 |
125863 |
107511 |
173548 |
100548 |
971337 |
2908 |
|
|
1881-2 210195 |
38284 |
271052 |
143113 |
106196 |
190383 |
106630 |
1066853 |
3269 |
|
|
1882-3 252648 |
124377 |
253430 |
142745 |
104687 |
207782 |
105919 |
1191588 |
3338 |
|
|
1883-4 278876 1431471 |
279378 150260 |
106227 |
193741 |
168764 |
1320393 |
3700 |
SOME PROMINENT FREE LIBRARIES. 51
SUMMAEY OF THE STATISTICS OF THE
LENDING LIBEAEIES.
Volumes Used, 1883 and 1884. — Number of volumes lent for home use, 670,110; nimiber of volumes used in the reading-rooms on week-days, 76,603 ; number of volimies used in the reading-rooms on Simdays, 9,859 ; nimiber of volumes used in the boys' rooms on week-days, 218,616 ; number of volumes used in the boys' rooms on Simdays, 66,329 ; total number of volumes used, 1,041,517; daily average of volumes used, 2,901.
Headers and Borrowers. — ^Number of borrowers (i.e., the number of times they have used the Libraries), 609,657 ; number of readers («.<?., users of books in the general reading-rooms) on week-days, 73,123 ; number of readers on Sundays, 9,529 ; number of readers in the boys' rooms on week-days, 218,616 ; number of readers in the boys' rooms on Simdays, 66,329 ; total number of readers and borrowers, 977,254. Estimated number of times persons have used the news-rooms and the reading-room of the Eeference Library, 2,507,900 ; daily average of persons using the libraries and reading-rooms, 7,025.
Borrowers' Cards. — ^Number of borrowers' cards issued, 13,634; number of borrowers' cards cancelled, 11,237; number of borrowers' cards transferred, 540; number of borrowers' cards now in force, 37,518.
Books Lost. — ^Volumes lost by borrowers and paid for by them, 72 ; volumes lost by borrowers and paid for
52 FREE PUBIJC LIBRARIES.
by guarantors, 21 ; volumes lost by borrowers and not yet recovered, 30.
Library Stock. — ^Volumes bound, 7,164; volumes withdrawn as worn-out, 3,325 ; volumes withdrawn as duplicates or useless, 1,045 ; additions to the libraries (including replacement of worn-out books), 6,785 ; total number of volumes now in the Lending Libraries, 96,493.
One special feature of the Manchester work is that of special reading-rooms for boys, the sixth now provided, every branch having a boys' reading-room. At the opening of the last, in connection with the Bochdale Eoad Branch Free Library, in October, 1885, there was no formal ceremony, but as soon as the door was opened there was a rush of juvenile readers, and the room was soon well filled. This branch library, which is situated in a densely popidated neighbourhood, was opened on Jime 4, 1860. Li 1870 the building was enlarged by including in it the portion which had previously been used as the dwelling of the librarian. Since that time the use of the library and news-room has very much increased, and the Libraries Committee have recently expended about £3,200 on enlarging the building, by greatly extending the reading-room, by providing more accommodation for the books in the lending department, and by providing a special room for boys. This part of the work of the Manchester Free Library is receiving rapid development. The number of boys who assembled in the several reading-rooms in an evening caused so much inconvenience to grown-up readers as to suggest the desirability of getting up
SOME PROMINENT FREE LIBRARIES.
63
rooms specially for them, and in January, 1878, a room was prepared for them at the Ancoats Branch. This was so great a success as to lead to the opening of boys' rooms at the other branch libraries. The following are the dates of opening: — ^Chorlton, November, 1878; Hulme, September, 1880 ; Deansgate, April, 1882 ; Cheetham, December, 1883. The extent to which they are appreciated is indicated by the following statement of the number of volimies issued to readers in the Boys' Evening Reading-rooms on week-days and Simdays during the past year : —
|
Week-days. |
Sundays. |
|
|
Hulme Branch |
. . 69,426 |
21,610 |
|
Ancoats Branch |
. . 48,174 |
14,032 |
|
Chorlton Branch |
. . 40,818 |
14,450 |
|
Cheetham Branch . . |
. . 49,073 |
14,979 |
|
Deansgate Branch . . |
. . 30,513 |
12,484 |
Totals .. .. 238,004 77,555
All honour to Manchester for what she is doing to provide boys with reading-rooms, a feature in the work of Free Public Libraries to which too much importance cannot be attached. The whole of the work of the Manchester Free Libraries is under the able direction of Mr. Charles William Sutton, and the sub-librarian is Mr. William Robert Credland.
The Public Free Libraries Conmiittee of the Manchester Corporation, in their annual report, which was issued in December, 1885, state that during the thirty-three years which have elapsed since the foundation of the Free Libraries, the result of the labours of the Committee has never been more striking than during the past year.
64 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
In the twelve months the number of visits made by the publio to the various libraries and newsrooms reached an aggregate of nearly two millions and three-quarters, which is upwards of 230,000 more than in the previous year, and 430,000 in excess of the year 1882-3. There has been a similar increase in the number of volumes read. The number used for reading at home or in the reading-rooms has been 1,381,149, against 1,320,393 volumes in the preceding twelve months, and 1,191,688 in the year before. The daily average of volumes used in all the libraries was 3,847. Of the volumes issued to readers, 283,232 were used in the reference library, 396,428 in the reading-rooms attached to the branches, and 701,489 were lent out for home reading. As regards the use made of the branch libraries on Simdays, the Committee are able again to report an increase, 8,613 volumes have been used by 8,148 readers in the general reading-rooms, arid 77,665 have been issued in the boys' rooms. In the Reference Library, 13,654 volumes have been consulted, the average being 266 each Sunday, against 276 in the previous year. The readers of maga- zines and newspapers at the branches on Sundays have been nearly 160,000. The total number of persons who have entered the libraries on Sundays has been 245,700, or an average of 4,818 each Sunday. In the previous year the total was 212,150, and the average 4,250. In the boys' rooms, which are open each evening, 315,559 volumes have been used, being an increase of 30,614. There are now 176,157 volumes of books in the libraries. The number in the Reference Library is 78,551, and in the six branches, 97,606. The addition to the stock
SOME PROMINENT FREE LIBRARIES. 55
of books is 6,903 volumes. The number of volumes withdrawn from the lending Ubraries as worn out, is 1,648, and as otherwise unserviceable, 1,487. The donations include many interesting additions to the libraries, but special reference is made to a gift from the chairman of the committee (Sir Thomas Baker) of 500 volumes, including a valuable collection of books and pamphlets illustrating the early history of Nonconformity in Manchester. The number of volxmies bound during the year for the branch libraries has been 7,157, and for the Reference Library 1,398. In addition to this work, about 1,700 volumes have been bound or repaired by two binders employed at the Reference Library, and 4,080 have been lettered or numbered by them for the branches. The number of persons holding tickets entitling them to the privilege of borrowing from the libraries is 38,422, and during the year they have made 643,200 applica- tions for books, showing that each borrower has been supplied with books on an average 17 times in the 12 months. Out of the 701,489 volumes issued to them only 24 are missing.
No visitor to Liverpool could fail to notice the handsome range of buildings at the head of Lime-street, and they are buildings which reflect infinite credit upon the public spirit of that busy city, and our sincere wish is that every large town possessed what Liverpool possesses, and further that as much use was made of all other Free Libraries as is made of the one situated in the second seaport of the United Kingdom.
The closing meeting for the municipal year of the
5f) FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
Free Library Museum and ArU Committee on October 32nd, 1885, enables us to give the latest sta tidies of these institntions. Sir James Picton presided.
The Mayor said he would take that oportunity to thank the committee for the Hud manner in which they had granted tim the use of the Art GaUery, Museum, Keading-room, and Library on the occasion of his soiree to working nien. Ue would also thank the various officials for the admirable manner in which they
LiTEBPOOL FBKE LIBBABY A»D MVSE0U.
had carried out the necessary arrangements. He had received a letter from Mr, Gray Hill, the president of the Liverpool Incorporated Law Society, expressing the thanks of the society for having had thrown open to them the Ait Gallery and Libraries, Sir James Picton said that the committee were always delighted to make the institutions in their care as useful as they possibly could. Mr. Rathbone's report on the proposed museum of casts was adopted, and it was also resolved, on the
SOME PROMINENT FREE LIBRARIES. 57
motion of Mr. Alderman Samuelson, that the Council be recommended to grant £500 towards this fund. Mr. Cowell, librarian, presented the following statistics for the week ending October 21st : — Reference Library : 12,685 volimies issued during the week, or an average of 2,536 per day. Lending Libraries: North, 4,054 volumes issued during the week, or an average of 675 per day ; South, 3,729 volumes issued during the week, or an average of 621 per day. The attendance at the Branch Evening Reading-rooms had been — Stanley- road, 486, or an average of 81 per day ; Queen's-road, 378, or an average of 63 per day; Chatsworth-street, 452, or an average of 75 per day; Wellington-road, 300, or an average of 50 per day. Mr. Moore, curator of the museum, reported that there had been 4,339 visitors during the week to that institution, representing an average of 1,084 per day. Mr. Dyall, curator of the Walker Art Grallery, reported that there had been 13,353 visitors to the gallery during the week, or an average of 2,208 per day. At the conclusion of the business . of the committee, Mr. Alderman Samuelson said that he had the privilege, before they retired, of proposing a vote of thanks to Sir James Picton, their chairman. He made the proposal then with more than ordinary pleasure, as Sir James would come before the electors in November, and he (the speaker) hoped that Sir James would often have that opportunity. A vote of thanks was now proposed to him in that committee for the thirty-third time. Mr. P. H. Rath- bone seconded the motion, and hoped that the Library Committee would long have the benefit of Sir James
58 FREE PUBLIC IJBRARIKS.
Picton's care in connection with those institutions, which for completeness, in comparison with the size, were the first in the United Kingdom. The motion was carried. Sir James Picton said it was very gratifying that any services he had rendered to those institutions should meet with such a cordial acknow- ledgment. After referring to the valuable services which Mr. Alderman Samuelson had rendered the public in connection with the "Walker Art Gallery, Mr. Lunt in the promotion of lectures, and Mr. Higgins in connection with the natural history section, he said he looked forward to the extension of those institutions to Byrom-street, as they were already hampered and harassed for want of space.
Much of the success of the Liverpool Free Library and its sister buildings is due to the active interest which Sir Jaines Allanson Picton, F.S.A., has for thirty-three years shown in these institutions. We give a portrait of this gentleman, and we hope for him many further years of service in this direction. His son, Mr. J. A. Picton, M.P., in his book, " Oliver Cromwell," inscribed that work to him, as " one who, like the great Protector, ever regarded public services as the end for which a man is bom, and also, like Cromwell, recognized in devotion to humanity, the prac- tical worship of God." The words of a son, but words which very fitly describe the public work of his father.
Mr. Peter Cowell is chief librarian; Mr. Thomas Formby, sub-librarian; Mr. Thomas J. Moore, curator of the Museum; and Mr. Charles Dyall, curator of the Walker Art GaUery.
SOME PROMINENT FKfiE MKRARIES. 59
Mr. Cowell ia a worthy public servant. From tte last report, we extract the following: — "The Library also is rapidly gaining upon the spaoe provided, both in regard to the storage of books and the accommoda- tion of readers. The introduction of newspapers into
Sm J. A. PicTON, F.S.A.
the Brown Heading-room has been felt as a great boon, by the working class especially. It has been found necessary to double the original provision, and thus to encroach on the apace for readers of books. Some relief has been obtained by transferring the
60 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
magazines to the Picton Beading-room, which draws away a considerable number, and thus gives more accommodation. Reference was made in the last report to the proposed establishment of branch reading- rooms in different parts of the city. This has now been carried out with complete success. From the statistics below it will be seen that four reading-rooms have been opened, with a collective average attendance of 160 each night."
A third volume of the general catalogue has been recently issued. It may here be stated that the plan and arrangement of the Liverpool catalogue has met with general approbation, numerous applications being made from various Public Libraries for copies as models to be followed.
The serious injury to the bindings of the books by the fumes of the gas and the foul air poisoning the atmosphere, led to the trial of the electric light, which was found so successful that a contract has been entered into for lighting the whole of the Library and Reading-rooms in 'this way at an' expense rather below that of the gaslight.
On a recent visit to Liverpool I found in the Fi-ee Library on an afternoon some 400 persons, mostly young men of the working classes, all engaged in reading periodicals and works of lighter literature, while in an adjoining room were about 160 readers of books that require closer study. Many of these readers and students were men out of work through the state of trade, of which the attendance at the library is a sort of baro^ meter, but it is always large.
SOME PJIOMINENT FREE LIBRARIES.
61
THE STATISTIC^ OF THE YEAR'S WORK
IN THE REFERENCE LIBRARY.
Table I. — Showing the Books issued during the year : —
Classifleation. Theology, Morals, &c.
Natural Philosophy, Astronomy, &e.
Natural History
Science and the Arts
History and Biography
Topography and Antiquities
Yoyages and Travels . .
Miscellaneous Literature (principally col- lected Works, Magazines in Yolumes, &c.)
Jurisprudence, Law, and Politics . .
Commerce, Political Economy, and Statistics
Education and Language . .
Poetry and Dramatic Literature . .
Prose Fiction
Latin and Greek Classics, and Translations
Heraldry, Encyclopaedias, and "Works of Reference . .
Total
Table II. — Showing the issues of Monthly Magazines : —
Classification. Theology, Morals, &c.
Natural Philosophy, &c.
Natural History
Science and the Arts
Topography and Antiquities
Yoyages and Travels
Miscellaneous Literature
Commerce, Political Economy, and Statistics
Education and Language . .
Total
|
Volumes. 25,085 |
Paily Average 87 |
|
21,742 |
77 |
|
8,597 |
31 |
|
32,781 |
115 |
|
30,161 |
105 |
|
8,983 |
31 |
|
13,045 |
45 |
|
147,241 |
515 |
|
6,256 |
21 |
|
4,839 |
17 |
|
10,504 |
37 |
|
13,447 |
47 |
|
215,403 |
755 |
|
4,837 |
17 |
|
56,923 |
199 |
|
599,844 |
2,099 |
|
Quarteriy and |
|
|
Magazines. 3,496 |
Daily Average 13 |
|
2,283 |
8 |
|
1,651 |
5 |
|
5,607 |
19 |
|
1,978 |
7 |
|
1,306 |
5 |
|
163,643 |
573 |
|
1,611 |
5 |
|
1,387 |
5 |
|
182,961 |
640 |
62
FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
Table III. — Showing the issues of "Weekly Periodicals, &c. : —
Claaalflcation.
Natural Philosophy, &c 1,219
Natural History . . . . 919
Science and the Arts . 1,812 Misoellaneous Literature (principally illustrated
and literary periodicals) . . 206,461
Law and Politics 1,335
Commerce, Statistics, &c 1,269
DaUy Periodicals. Arerage.
4 3 6
723 5 5
Total 213,015 746
Total Patents for inyentions consulted, 21,666. Daily average,
75.
LENDING LIBEAEIES. Table I. — Greneral Statistics : —
Yolumes lent . . New tickets issued Tickets renewed Tickets cancelled Total No. of readers on
the books Books lost or injured,
and paid f or . . Books lost Yolumes worn out* —
withdrawn .. Yolumes worn out —
replaced New volumes added Total No. of volumes in
the libraries . .
1884.
North Library.
South Library.
202,840 188,649 2,313 2,247
2,198 2,240
4,484
21
237
838 564
22,805
Total.
1,820 2,213
4,149
29
1,479
371 570
21,970
391,489 4,560 4,018 4,453
8,633
50
1888.
North Library.
South Library.
1,716
1,209 1,134
44,775
202,710 2,296 2,142 2,344
4,411
25
176,102 2,139 1,894 2,538
4,155
27
Total.
443 513
22,478
411
488
22,879
378,812 4,435 4,036
4,882
8,526 52
854 1,001
45,357
SOME PROMINENT FREE LIBRARIES.
63
Table II. — Showing the Classification of Volumes lent and added : —
|
Volumes Lent. |
Volumes Added. |
|||||
|
North library. |
South Library |
Total. |
North Library |
South Library. |
Total. |
|
|
Theoloff y Natural Philosophy . . Natural History Science and Arts History and Biography Topography and Anti- qtuties Voyages and Travels , . Miscellaneous literature Jurisprudence, Law, and Pontics Commerce and Political Economy Education, Languages, and Logic Poetry ^and the Drama . . Prose Fiction . . Latin and Greek Classics Books for the Blind . . |
3,891 3,037 2,310 9,261 9,517 973 5,424 12,297 327 596 1,802 1,215 151,963 176 51 |
3,177 2,664 1,870 6,738 7,908 937 4,931 10,650 265 630 1,384 1,680 145,289 266 260 |
7,068 5,701 4,180 15,999 17,425 1,910 10,355 22,947 592 1,226 3,186 2,895 297,252 442 311 391,489 |
26 19 11 28 49 8 27 95 5 8 6 11 271 |
23 19 13 22 43 7 26 100 4 11 4 7 291 |
49 38 24 50 92 15 53 195 9 19 10 18 562 |
|
Total . . |
202,840 |
188,649 |
564 |
570 |
1134 |
The Birmingham Chief Library is par excellence the finest building of its kind in the United Kingdom. The serious damage done by the fire which occurred on January 11th, 1879, was felt to be a calamity which affected not Birmingham alone, but the country, for many valuable books were entirely destroyed. The fire broke out on the Saturday, and on the following Monday a special meeting of the Free Libraries Com- mittee was held, and it was resolved to ask for a public
FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
subscription of at least £10,000 towards the re- storation, and it is not a little to the credit of
BinillNGHllE BeFEBENCE LlBRASY.
{Heproduced from photograph byMeasrs. Bedford, Leinere, ^ Co.)
Birmingham that £14,147 lOs. 3d. ^vus raised for thia
purpose.
SOME PliOMINEXT FREE LIBRARIES. 65
Mr. J. I). Mullins, the accompliBhed chief lihrarian and superintendent of the Art Q-allery and Museum, has held this post for many years with credit to himself and to the community of librarians. His little book, pub-
UiBUiKGiHAK Rbfehekce T.iBBABr AKD Tempohabt Muskcji. {Beprwliiced from photogniph by Meievi. Bedford, Lemere, ^- Co.)
lished by Messrs. Sotheran and Co., entitled "Free Libraries and News Booms," has done capital service in placing briefly forward the leading objects and manage- ment of Free Libraries. He has berai supported in his
66 FREE PUBLIC LIHKAKIES.
work by a staff of able and ccurteous assistants, and has at all times shown a willingness to adopt new and improved methods, and we congratulate Mr. Mullins on the useful work he has done in furthering the Free Library movement.
The following is a description, extracted from the BinnirigJuan Daily Pont of June 2nd, 1882, of th<5 building as finally restored : —
The building is approached by a handsome portico 32 feet wide and 12 feet in depth, and three doorways, with wrought-irou gates of highly ornamental design, enriched by gilding, afford entrance to the vestibule. The vestibule is 29 feet wide by 20 feet deep, and is divided from the entrance hall by a glazed oak screen, with polished granite pillars and carved panels. The entrance hall is of magnificent proportions, being 28 feet wide, 60 feet long, and 45 feet high. At the farther end is the staircase leading to the upper floor ; and upon the right are the doors to the Lending Library and news room. These doors are arched over with two arches contained in a larger outer arch. The space between is filled with alabaster and Caen stone, arranged in patterns, and with medallions of painted tiles, the whole forming a very charming piece of work. The news room, which occupies the site of the former lend- ing library, with a considerable space added at the entrance end, is a lofty, well-lighted, and well- ventilated apartment, having a length of about 100 feet, and a breadth of 64 feet. A series of iron columns, with large foliated brackets, support the girders, from which >5priug the brick arches forming the roof. The first
SOME PROMINENT FREE LIBRARIES. 67
few columns on the left-hand side divide the room from the Lending Library, the principal portion of which pro- jects at right angles, the two apartments being arranged in the form" of the letter L. The news room (see en- graving), which receives its light from a double series of windows along EatclifE-place and Edmund-street, is furnished with desks and tables of polished oak. The Lending Library is 82 feet long by 75 feet wide, and hag its walls covered with bookshelves, while a long and somewhat semi-circular counter affords ample con- venience for the borrowers and the library assistants. Light is afforded by means of five large windows facing the south, ornamented with panels of stained glass. The height of these two rooms is 26 feet. Both of them are appropriately and simply decorated with bands of colour following the lines of the architecture, the prominent tints being blue, green, pink, and white. Returning to the haU, the visitor will be struck by the fulness, yet simplicity, of colour and ornament. The walls throughout are of deep red brick, toned in the arches with terra cotta of a delicate buff; and this arrangement contrasts admirably with the rich encaustic tiling of the floor, and with the broad stone staircase, starting from a beautifully carved oak newel, and guarded by a boldly designed iron balustrade, finished by a moulded oak handrail. The staii'case, which is nine feet broad, is divided into three portions, each with a broad landing approached by a short fiight of easy steps. The walls- of the staircase are panelled, and are ornamented with terra cotta and pressed bricks. The lower part of the wall of the hall.
68 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
khe staircase, and the kndings is lined with wall tiling, of geometrical design, in pale blue and white. The staircase is lighted by three large and lofty win- dows, set in a curve — these windows are subdivided by stone mullions and arches, and are filled with stained glass of exquisitely graceful design and delightful colour— combining in a remarkable degree the charac- teristics of richness and lightness. The upper flight of the staircase gives access to the Reference library (see engraving), which is entered through a double pair of oak swing doors, leading to a vestibule or inner porch, of oak. The Reference Library is divided into two rooms, which, taken together, may be roughly described, like the rooms below, as of the shape of the letter L. The larger of the two, which is to be used as ^ the library proper, is 100 feet long by 64 feet ^ abroad, and 50 feet high to the under side of the ridge of the roof. The smaller room, used as a temporary Art Gallery, and partly shut off by a low screen, is 62 feet long by 45 feet wide, and 42 feet high. Out of this smaller room the Shakespeare Library opens ; it is 30 feet long and 21 feet wide. There is a marked dif- ference of construction in the two main rooms. The smaller — ^the Art Gallery — is roofed in one elliptical span, the arched roof being carried on a series of wrought- iron ribs or girders ; this room is lighted wholly from the roof, and so also is the Shakespeare Library. The Great Reference Library is divided into a centre and two aisles by a series of richly-coloured granite piers and columns. Over these, to form the main division, are turned a series of arches in Ancaster stone, and over
SOME PROMINENT FREE LIBRARIES. 69
these arches a band of deeply-panelled work runs round the building. Above the arches are a series of clerestory windows, affording the principal light. These windows axe filled with stained glass, of a character similar to that in the staircase windows. Additional light is fur- nished by skylights in part of the roof. The centre portion of the room, as above mentioned, is 50 feet in height ; the aisles are 23 feet in height. These contain the oak presses for books, and they are divided from the centre portion of the room by a broad oak counter. Roimd the whole of the room, and also roimd the temporary Art Qtillery, is carried a light gallery of open ironwork, giving access to the upper shelves. This is approached by spiral iron staircases. At the entrance end of the Gbeat Library is placed an ornamental oak bookcase, with glazed sliding doors, stretching right across the room, and rising to two-thirds of its height. This is a marked feature of the building, and is highly enriched with carving, and with gilt metal work in the gallery which runs along the front of it. In the upper panels are inscribed the names of the chief donors to the collection, beginning with that of her Majesty the Queen. In this bookcase it is intended to place books of special quality. The whole of the fittings through- out the rooms are of oak, solidly constructed, admirably finished, and arranged in accordance with the latest improvements suggested by the experience of great libraries. The Shakespeare Library, on which special care in decoration has been lavished, is a sumptuous room, Elizabethan in design, having enclosed bookcases throughout, and being enriched wherever possible with
70 FREE PriJI.IC LIHRARIES.
canned panelling. The upper parts of the bookcases are finished with screens of gilt metal work.
It is impossible by any description to convey an ade- quate idea of the appearance of the rooms we have just noticed, or to do justice to the richness, the beauty, and the variety of the ornament bestowed upon them. We may safely say that no nobler libraries are to be found in the kingdom; certainly there are none which are so beautiful. Boldness of construction, simplicity and harmony of design, grandeur of proportion, amplitude of space, and richness and gracefulness of decoration mark them out as alone amongst buildings of their class. As regards the decoration, the most unobservant visitor cannot fail to be struck with its almost infinite variety of design. Wherever we turn, we find in the wealth of carving and the flush of colour evidences of originality and individuality, which indicate at once inexhaustible fancy and endless labour. These the visitor must be left to trace out at leisure for himself ; no description can paint them for him. The same manifestation of skill in the use of colour apparent in the interior decorations is visible also in the exterior design of the Edmund- street front, where marble, terra-cotta, brick, painted tiles, and mosaic have been employed with admirable effect ; so as to produce an edifice which worthily recalls the richest and finest effects of Italian art.
The buildings are heated by an apparatus combining both the hot-air and hot-water system, while the arti- ficial light is provided partly by what are known as sunlights and partly by lanterns. Rooms are provided for the storage and repaii* of books and for other
SOME PROMINENT FREE LIBRARIES. 71
purposes connected with the management of the Libraries.
As soon as the date of opening could be fixed, the Free Libraries Committee requested the mayor to solicit the Bight Hon. John Bright, M.P., to deliver the opening address, and we wish that space permitted us to quote at length the speech he then made. In the course of it he said : — " What is a great love of books ? It is in point of fact something like a personal introduction to the great and good men of all past times. Books, it is true, are silent as you see them on their shelves, but silent as they are, I think — to me it is so — that when I enter a library I feel as if almost the dead were present, and I know if I could put questions to these books they would answer me with all the faithfulness and fulness which have been left in them by the great men who have left the books to us. Have none of us, or may I not say, are there any of us who have not felt some of this feeling when in a great library — I don't mean in a library quite so big as that in the British Museum or the Bodleian Library at Oxford, where books are so many that they seem rather to overwhelm one — ^but libraries that are not absolutely unapproach- able in their magnitude ? .... I have had the opportunity of spending a quiet hour in the library at Windsor Castle. I have been in other great libraries ; I recollect many years ago at Wobum Abbey, at an occasion not so long ago at Chatsworth, and there are himdreds of libraries throughout this country which are of the kind that I describe — such that when you are within their walls and see these shelves, and these
72 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES,
thousands of volumes, and consider for a moment who they are that wrote them, who has gathered them together, for whom they are intended, how much wisdom they contain, what they will tell to future ages, it is impossible not to feel something of solemnity and of tranquillity when you are spending time in rooms like these ; and if you come to houses of less note you find libraries that are of great estimation and which in a less degree are able to afford mental aliment to those who are connected with them, and I am bound to say — and if anyone cares very much for some other things he will not blame me when I say — ^you may have in a house costly pictures and costly ornaments, and a great variety of decorations, yet so far as my judgment goes, I would prefer to have one comfortable room well stocked with books to all that you can give me of the decorations which even the highest art can supply. The only subject of lamentation is — one feels that always, I think, in the presence of a library — that life is too short, and I am afraid I must say also that our industry is so far deficient that we seem to have no hope of the full enjoyment of the ample repast that is .spread before us. . . . My own impression is that there is no blessing that can be given to an artizan's family more than a love of books. The home influence •of such a possession is one which will guard them from many temptations and from many evils. How common it is — in all classes too common, but how common it is amongst what are termed the working classes — I have seen it many times in my district, where even an industrious and careful parent has found that his son
SOME PROMINENT FREE LIBRARIES. 76
or his daughter has been to ^im a source of great troitble aud great pain. No doubt, if it were possible, even in one of these homes to have one single person who was a lover of books, and bno'ws how to spend an evening usefully with a book, and who could occasion- ally read something from the book to the rest of the family, perhaps to his aged parents, how great would be the blessing to the family, how great a saieguard would be afforded, and then to the men themselves, when they came — as in the case which I have mentioned — to the feebleness of age, and when they can no longer work, and when the sands of life are, as it were, ebbing out, what oan be more adTfrnt^geous, what more a blessing, than in these hours of feebleness — may be sometimes of suffering — it must be often of solitude — if there be the power to derive instruction and amusement and refreshment from books which your great library will offer to everyone ? To the young especially this is of great importonce, for if there be no seed-time there will certainly be no harvest, and the youth of life is the seed-time of life. I see in this great meeting a great number of young men. It is impossible for anybody to confer upon them a greater blessing than if he could stimulate them to a firm belief that to them now and to them during all their lives it may be a priceless gain that they should associate themselves constantly with this library and draw from it any book they like. The more they read the more in all probability they will like and wish to read. Mr. I^ewis Horris, in his late charming poem called 'The Ode of Life '--in that part of it dedicated to youth, and in addressing
./4 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
the imaginary youth of whom he is writing — he says : —
* For thee the fair poetic page is spread,
Of the great living, and the greater dead;
To thee the greater gains of science lie
Stretched open to thine eye.*
"What can be better than this ; than the fair poetic page, the great instruction of history, the gains of science — all these are laid before us, and of these we may freely partake. I spoke of the library in the beginning of my observations as a fountain of refresh- ment and instruction and wisdom. Of it may be said that he who drinks shall still thirst, and thirsting for knowledge and still drinking, we may hope that he will grow to a greater mental 'and moral stature, more useful as a citizen, and more noble as a man."
The Blight Hon. Joseph Chamberlain, M.P., said : — "I agree with Mr. Bright in his estimate of the value of small collections of books, and I do not doubf that a few volumes,-* well read and properly compre- hended, may be more valuable to their possessor, more tiTdy an object of joy and gratification to him, than the vast collection of some millionaire who knows only of his books, the name of the printer, the date of the edition, and the place at which the book was produced. And as all of us have our favourite authors lo whom we turn again and again with ever renewed satisfaction and pleasure, so it is in the power of almost all of us — - there are very few who are so poor that they cannot at all events have in their possession these special subjects of their delight and appreciation. But that is not enough, because I am a great believer in the advantages
SOME PROMIXEXT FREE LIBRARIES. 75
of miscellaneous reading. I believe that by it we opeh our mind to new ideas, we' widen our sympathies and expand our intellectual and moral horizon ; and I know also that for the student who desires to pursue thoroughly any subject it is absolutely necessary that he should have access to books, many of which are costly, many of which are very difficult to obtain, even to the richest of single individuals, but which it is in the power of a community to provide for all its members alike. And in this provision there is no favour conferred; it is a right which is enjoyed by all. Sii', I have often thought that that is a kind of Communism which the least revolutionary among us may be proud to advocate. It imparts, it gives to every man a sense of possession and knowledge of rights and privileges of property which cannot, I think, constitute any danger to the property of others."
We regret that lack of space prevents our saying more of the Birmingham Free Libraries. The author of this little work has visited the leading Free Libraries of the United States, but has not been in liner and more conveniently arranged buildings than those of the capital of the Midlands.
The Free Library work at Leeds is distinguished by considerable vigour, and this town stands almost alone in the extensive use now being made of the Board School buildings, to which we have referred under another chapter. At the time of my completing this work, the report for 1885 had not been issued, and I extract some particulars from the report for 1883-84.
76 FREE PUBLIC MBRAKIES.
The total issues for that year show an increase <3f 10,000 volumes, the totals' being 652,594 volumes as compared with 642,175 volumes in the previous year. The principal feature of the year has been the removal of the library from the premises in Infirmary Street to the Municipal Offices, which was effected with great expedition, so as not to interfere with the public con- venience. The change has proved beneficial both to the public and the officials, in consequence of the extended space allotted to each department, better ventilation, and the lighting by electricity. The architectural effects of the new library premises have been much admired. A room was specially prepared for bound volumes of newspapers, parliamentary blue books, and specifications of patents, for reference.
On June 5th the News-room (1st floor) was opened without any break in the time. Considerable additions have been made to the number of newspapers taken. The Lending Library (2nd floor), consisting of 31,000 volumes, was opened in its new home on June 18th, 1884, the issues ceasing for two days only.
On July 2nd, 1884, the Reference Library (3rd floor), consisting of 32,000 volumes, was opened, nine days only elapsing for the removal.
IIeferenx'e Library. — There were 78,986 issues, being an increase of 5,153 on the previous year. On comparing the last quarterly returns for 1883 and 1884, it will be found that a conspicuous change has taken place in the class of books issued. The miscellaneous class of Literature has decreased one half (nearly 3,000 volumes), whilst the more solid reading has increased in
SOME PROMINENT FREE LIBRARIES.
77
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78 FREE pibi.k; i.ihraries.
like proportion. In order to afford facilities for easy reference, the current Home and Foreign Directories have been placed on the first floor in the news-room. This arrangement has so far proved satisfactory, for there has been an increase of 218 volumes issued in the last three months, upon the previous year.
The Central Lending Library. — ^The number of volumes issued during the year in the Central Lend- ing Library was 275,885, against 266,296 in the previous year, being an increase of about 10,000 volumes. The total number of borrowers is now 10,633, being an increase of 2,280.
The Branch Libraries. — The Branch Lending Libraries have issued 297,723 volumes, being a decrease of 4,323 volumes upon last year. A new feature has here been introduced. The Committee have placed in charge of the School Board 2,000 volumes of Juvenile Literature, for the Carlton Hill and Green Lane Board Schools, to be issued by the teachers to the children attending these schools. This system is proving very satisfactory, and will probably be extended. The Rodley Branch Library has also been handed over to the School Board on like conditions. The total number of borrowers at the branches is 8,240, being a decrease of 367.
The Museum. — This is a new department of the Leeds Free Public Library.
The borough of Sheffield adopted the Act in 1855, and has now not only a chief or Central Library, as it is termed, but three branches, and the museum in connec- tion with the Free Libraries to which we have referred
SOMK PBOMIXK.Vr VKKE I.IItUAKIES. (9
under the head of Museums. The Central Library, of which we give a sketch, is a building adapted for the purposes of a Free Library, and has for some years been found to be inadequate in nceommodation ; but we uuderstand that the oomniittee are looking for- ward to a considerable extension as soon as the funds will permit of the outlay.
Sheffikld Central Fhee Libeakt.
The number of volumes in the Chief Library is as follows : —
Lending department, 29,039 ; reference department, 10,740; making a total of 39,779.
The chief library is in the charge of Mr. Thomas Hurst and five assistants. Mr. Hurst has been at this
80 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
library almost the whole of his life, commencing first as an assistant, and then eventually promoted to the posi- tion he now occupies. He is a thoroughly efficient and practical librarian, and is supported by a committee of well-known Sheffield gentlemen, some of whom have served in this capacity for many years, and who have proved themselves true friends to the thousands of Sheffield's population who use the libraries. Six gentlemen to represent the ratepayers are on the committee, and give much time and useful aid to the work.
The first of the branches opened was at Upperthorpe, a suburb of the town, in 1869, and its first home was in part of the schoolroom of the Tabernacle Congregational Church, which has. had for some years, and still has, a pastor, the Ret. T. W. Holmes, who has a marvellously intimate acquaintance with the inner contents of books. In 1876 a new building was opened, of which we show an engraving.
For a branch library this is one of the most convenient of any library of its size which we have seen, and for its arrangements, both exterior and interior, it may well be put forward as an excellent model.
The building is of red brick, with stone windows, doors, and comers, the residts being pretty in the ex- treme. The first thing which strikes the observer is the entrance porch, which is 19 feet by 14 feet. The door- way is in itself a work of art. On each side at the top are two figures sculptured in stone, one representing " Science " and the other " Literature." In the centre is a handsome circidar panel, through a head of granite^
SOME FROM I NEXT FREE LIBRARIES. 81
and bearing an inscription from Thomas Carlyle: — " There should be one man die ignorant who had the capacity for knowledge — this I call a tragedy — were it to happen more than twenty times a minute, which by some computations it does?" This distinguishing feature of the library is the gift of a Sheffield gentleman, an earnest advocate of the Free Library movement.
Uppebthorpe Brahch Free Libruct, Sheffielb.
After entering the building there is a stone stairoase 6 feet wide. The lending department is 47 feet by 30 feet. Immediately opposite the entrance is placed the counter and the indicator. The space out of the porch between the reading-room and the lending department is set apart for a waiting-room, and immediately opposite there is the entrance into the ladies' reading-room, which
I
82 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
is 30 feet by 22 feet, and attached to it is a lavatory and
other Gonveniences for the comfort of the readers. The
general reading-room is on the upper floor, and access to
it is gained by the staircase at the entrance It is 70
feet long by 30 feet wide. It has windows on all sides
with an open timbered roof. As this room is entered
by the staircase immediately opposite the counter, the
librarian can see all who either leave or enter it.
The librarian's office, used for committee meetings, is
16 feet by 15 feet. Prom this office there is a door
communicating with the librarian's house. Prom the
lending department to the reading-room there is a small
spiral staircase for the use of the librarian only, so that
it will be seen that the entire of the building is
immediately imderthat official's control and supervision.
The whole of the interior is lined with white brick,
relieved by a few red bricks in bands and courses, giving
an air of extreme comfort and warmth to the place.
The architect was Mr. E. M. Qibbs, and the building
cost about £6,000.
The last report for year ending August 31st, 1886, of
these well-managed libraries states that the Central and
Branch Libraries have each been open 276 days during
the twelvemonths ending August 31st, 1885. The issues
have been : —
From the Central library . . 126,217 vols., or 457 vols, daily.
From the Upperthorpe Branch.. 83,450 „ 302 „ From the Brightside Branch .. 77,008 „ 279 „
From the Highfield Branch .. 109,551 „ 397 „
Total .. 396,226 „ 1435 „
During the year 1883-4 the Central Library was open
84 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
working of the PubKc Libraries Act, and report upon the advisability of its adoption by this Council," which was carried. In December, 1871, this Committee pre- sented a most exhaustive report, concluding as follows : — "Tour Committee recommend that the Mayor be requested to convene a public meeting in accordance with the requirements of the Public Libraries Acts with a view to their adoption in this borough."
At a meeting of the Council in March in the follow- ing year, this report was discussed and adopted. On May 28th, 1872, a public meeting, presided over by the then Mayor, Alderman Qregson, was held in the Qnild- hall, Dr. Newton moving, and Dr. Eutherford second- ing— "That this meeting, convened in accordance with the request of the Town Council, determines to adopt an Act for this borough for further promoting the establishment of Libraries and Museums; that his Worship the Mayor, as chairman of this meeting, cause a minute to be made of the foregoing resolution, and that he sign the same on behalf of the meeting and present the same to the Town Coimcil." An amendment having been moved, and upon being put to the meeting, thirty votes were recorded for it, as against forty-eight for the original motion. The Mayor having declared the motion carried, a poll was demanded by the opponents of the measure ; but the Mayor, acting under the advice of the Town Clerk, ruled that the amended Act of Parliament made no provision for such a demand. A protest was then handed to the Chairman on behalf of the opponents of the measure.
SOME PROMINENT FREE LIBRARIES. 85
At the monthly meeting of the Council held on Jime 5th, the Mayor, in reply to Dr. Newton, stated that he could not sign the minute legalizing the adoption of the Acts, as a grave doubt existed as to the maimer in which the meeting was conducted. After considerable discussion. Dr. Newton, on behalf of the supporters of the movement, undertook to give way, on the distinct imder- standing that an early opportunity would be afforded the town for the expression of its opinion. This was agreed to unanimously.
In February, 1874, a memorial was presented to the Mayor, who convened a town's meeting on March 2nd, under his own presidency, in the Town Hall. Dr. Newton moved, and Dr. Bruce seconded, a resolution in favour of the adoption of the Public Libraries Acts, 1855, and the amended Act of 1866. The motion having been met with an amendment, a vote was taken, when the Mayor declared the resolution carried by a large majority, and the Public Xibraries Acts adopted in and for the borough.
At the Council meeting on May 6th, 1874, Dr. Newton moved — "That the Public Libraries Act of 1855, and the Public Libraries Amendment Act, 1866, having been adopted for this borough, a committee be appointed, to be called the Public Libraries Committee, which was done.
The first difficulty which presented itself to the Committee after its appointment was connected with the obtaining of a site whereon to erect a building suitable to the requirements of the borough.
Nothing was satisfactorily accomplished in this
86 FREE PUBLIC MBRABIES,
direction until September, 1878, when an ogreement
i entered int« between the trustees o£ the Mechanica'
SOME PROMINENT FREE LIBRARIES. 87
Institute and the Public libraries Committee, whereby the Mechanics' Building and library were to be handed over to the corporation on condition that the liabilities (amounting to £2,000) should be paid, and that the arts and science classes should be continued and extended, under the style and title of "Educational Depart- ment, Mechanics' Institution section of the Public library," while nine members of the Committee of the Institute should be elected to serve on the Public libraries Committee for a term of seven years. At the following meeting of the Council a motion was submitted to rescind the terms of this agreement ; but upon a vote being taken, it was defeated by 29 votes to 1 2.
Other difficulties presented themselves, which need not be mentioned here. On Wednesday, February 4th, 1880, a contract was entered into for the erection of a new building, and its incorporation with the Mechanics' Institution, at a cost of £10,573 14s. 3d. This building was rapidly proceeded with, and the opening ceremony of the temporary lending library took place on Sep- tember 13th, 1880, twenty-five years after the subject had been first introduced into the borough.
After this record we may say that were a poll now taken we venture to say that not five per cent, would say that the effort had been imwise, or the move- ment a failure. On the same day on which the temporary lending department was opened, the foundation stone of the present building was laid. It is a handsome structure, and the main room on the first floor, which is intended for the reference department, is a beautiful apartment 130 feet long.
88 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
During the visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales to Newcastle in August, 1884, they had consented to declare the Reference Library open.
The Mayor, in asking (on August 20th, 1884) His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales to open the Reference Department, said — "I have the honour to invite your Royal Highness to inaugurate the perman- ent building, and to open the Reference Department of the Newcastle-upon-Tyne Public Library. It is established imder the provisions of the Public Libraries Act of 1860, which was promoted in Parliament by the late William Ewart, to whose memory the catalogue of this institution is dedicated. So great has been the success which has attended the establishment of rate-supported libraries in this country, that, at the present time, there are more than one hundred in active operation in cities and towns with populations varying from six thousand to half a million inhabitants. The number of volumes contained in these libraries exceeds 1,776,000, while the issue over the year is little short of 11,000,000 volumes. The Reference Library which your Royal Highnesses have graced to-day with your Royal presence and ap- proval, contains 20,000 volumes, many of which are both rare and valuable, while all are useful. The entire stock in the Newcastle Library is 50,000 volumes, and during the three and a half years the Provisional Lend- ing Library has been open to the public 1,000,000 volumes have been issued for home reading, while during the same period only 14 volumes have been lost. The beneficent influence of this and similar institutions, with their vast circulations, must be great indeed. They
SOME PROMINENT FREE LIBRARIES. 89
will cany onward and upward the work of the public elementary schools, and supply a deficiency in our system of national education. Carlyle says, * The true university of these days is a collection of books,' and there is none better than a Public library, with its vast stores of intellectual wealth, within reach of all who desire to enjoy its advantages."
The Prince of Wales said — " I have great pleasure, ladies and gentlemen, in announcing that this Reference Library is now open."
The Mayor of Newcastle then presented their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales with beautifully bound copies of the catalogues of the Public library.
The following tables show the stock in the Lending ^d Reference Libraries: —
LENDING LIBRARY. Number of voliunes from all sources at
date of last Report 26,282
Added during the year —
By Gift 57
By Purchase 835
892
Total Stock in Lending Library . . 27,174
REFERENCE LIBRARY.
Number of volumes from all sources at
date of last Report 17,658
Added during the year : —
By Gift, including Patents . . 591
By Purchase . . 3,916
4,507
Total Stock in Reference Library , 22,165
90 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
|
TOTAL STOCK. |
|||
|
Total Stock of yolumes in |
both depart- |
||
|
merits from all sources :— |
- |
||
|
From Mechanics' Institute Library |
• • |
2,003 |
|
|
By Gtift, including |
3,343 yolumes |
of |
|
|
Patents |
• • • ■ |
• • |
6,642 |
|
By Purchase . . |
« • • • |
• • |
40,694 |
49,339
Mr. W. J. Haggerston has been the chief librarian since the opening of the library, and has done himself and the town credit in his able administration.
The Free Public Library and Museum of Blackburn, Lancashire, is centrally situated in Library Street, which adjoins the Town Hall and the Exchange.
In September, 1853, the ratepayers of this town adopted the Libraries Act of 1850, although the Act was not carried into effect imtil February 17th, 1862, from which time the operations of the library have been continuous.
Since 1874 the Library and Museum have been in a specially constructed building. It is a handsome stone- built and fireproof edifice, with sculptured panels in the Mediaeval Gothic style, erected at a cost, including the internal fittings, of about £12,000. On the ground floor are the reference and lending libraries, a commo- dious reading-room, &c.
The libraries contain upwards of 30,000 volumes, which are almost equally apportioned to the lending and reference departments.
Tbe museum occupies the whole of the upper floor, comprising the south, west, and north museum galleries.
SOME PHOMINENT FEBE LIBRABtES. 91
By donations, loans, and judicious purohaaes the oon- tente of the museum have hitely been oonsiderably extended. It oontains objects relating to antiquity, ethnology, geology, zoology, &e., a small collection of china, &o., good paintings, both in oil and water colours, besides many other noteworthy objects relat- ing to art, &c.
This museum contains a very fine model of the steamship dtp of Paris.
The Library and Museum is much and deservedly prized by the inhabitants of the town, and the people of the surrounding district, Mr. D. Geddes is the librarian and curator. The library is open daily (Sundays excepted) from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. ; the museum from 10 a.m. till dusk, except on Thursdays, when both are closed after 1 p.m., for cleaning, &c.
The Walsall Free Library. — The oommittee of this institution, in the report published in December,
92 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
1885, state that the working of the library has been most suooessful during the past year. Owing to the very handsome presents from the Trustees of the British Museum and others, the number of books in the reference department of the library has been considerably augmented, and there has consequently been a large accession to the number of readers in that department. The committee, at a cost of £60, have provided an extensive range of bookcases for the very valuable books received from the British Museum and other sources : and the great want now is proper accom- modation for students and others to consult, with conve- nience, the books which are on the shelves, but which under existing regulations cannot be taken beyond the precincts of the building. The committee hope that in a short time they may be able to see their way to provide a students' room, where readers may be free from the bustle of the library and magazine room; and whilst not unmindful of the claims of the outlying districts of the borough, such as the Pleck and Cald- more, they felt that their best policy was, with the limited means at their disposal, to secure an official central establishment, which, after all, is within a reasonable distance for most parts of the borough, rather than have some two or three branch libraries, which would only impair the efficiency of the parent institution. The number of volumes in the library is 12,449, and, including 2,280 issued for reference, and 9,634 issued from the Bloxwich Branch library (as against 6,879 last year), the nmnber issued in the year was 75,037, as ag^st 58,117 in the previous year.
SOME PROMINENT FREE LIBRARIES. 93
Among the donors were the Queen (" Leaves from the Journal of Our Life in the Highlands," and "More Leaves from the Journal of a Life in the Highlands"), 2 vols., with her Majesty's autograph ; the Trustees of the British Museum, 209 vols. ; the Public Record Office, 165 vols.
Stoke and Burslem have well-managed Free Libraries, and the one at Stoke is one of the five or six such institutions throughout the whole country that are open to the public on Sundays, To obviate any possible question as to the employment of labour on the Sunday in connection with the library, the mem- bers of the committee attend themselves in turn to fulfil the functions of the officers who look after the place throughout the week. A better or kindlier method of rendering the library a popular Sunday resort could not be found, and the system appears to have answered so well hitherto, that the committee consider themselves amply repaid for their kindness and trouble by the results obtaiQed. The last yearly report of the committee of the Stoke Public Free Library shows that during last year there were recorded 394 out-door borrowers — ue,y persons taking books from the library for home reading. Of these 394 borrowers, 154 were potters and artizans, of whom 129 were under twenty years of age, and 127 were women and girls. Throughout the year the lending-out department issued a daily average of 118 volumes. We regret, however, to state that financially the library is in low water. The rate realizes £270 per annum, and this is barely sufficient to meet aU demands. The committee, in their report, say, " that by the death
94 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
of Mr. C. M. Campbell, the library has lost a good friend. Besides the kindly interest he always showed in its proceedings and success, the loss of his annual subscription of £50, and of £20 from the basement remaining unlet, is one of so serious a nature that the committee see no alternative before them (without sufficient annual subscriptions from the public) but to close the library and museum for about foui* years, so that the rate during that time might be devoted to the extinction of the debt, and relieve the accoimts of the q.TiTnm1 interest. To avoid this, the committee will shortly be compelled to appeal to the public for annual subscriptions, to which they have reason to hope, from the popularity of the institution, that there will be a liberal response." Mr. Thomas Minton, of the world-wide known firm of Mintons, is chairman of the committee, and we feel persuaded that the many suc- cessful potters of that district will rally round, and will not permit such a dire calamity to happen as the closing of the library even for a twelvemonth. There is too much public spirit in the Potteries to allow this.
The proposition for the erection of a new building for the Free library in Aberdeen is under consideration. According to the arrangements of the committee, it is proposed that the design should be obtained before Whitsimtide in next year. A commencement would be made with the building in the course of the following year, but it is not anticipated that the books could be installed in their new home before the Whitsimtide of 1888. The cost of the site is expected to be met by the
SOME PROHINENT FREE I.IBRAKIE3. 95
sale of the house in Market-street, and a sum of £7,000 for the erection of the building will have to he borrowed, unlees the citizens are prepared to oome forward with donations. The interest and «inlHng fund would amount to £385, which ia one-fourth of the whole sum that is available from the rates.
There ore others to which we should like to call attention did space permit, such as the Eristol and Plymouth Libraries, under the charge of Mr. Nieholls and Mr. Wright respectively, two thoroughly experienced librarians.
CHAPTER T.
FJ»EE LIBRARIES RECENTLY OPENED OR IN COURSE'OF CONSTRUCTION.
DO not piupoae in this chapter enu- merating all the Free Lihraries in course of oonatruction or recently opened. A very convenient building is now in course of oonatruction at Wimbledon, and of this I give an engraving.
The design was selected in public competition in July last, about forty Bete being suhmitted. The plan is very simple, the point striven at being that the librarian or his assistant should be able to thoroughly oversee the whole library without much walMng about. Then, as the newapepCTs, &c., have most readers, they are placed near the door, with the tables for those using the reference library situ- ated in the more retired parts of the building. The
98 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
librarian's rooms are over the front entrance, and have a private oommunioation to both street and office. Tenders have been submitted, that of Mr. Johnson, of Wimbledon, being the lowest, £2,165, including light- ing and heating, but not the bookcases. The architects are Messrs. Potts, Sulman, & Hennings, of London.
The new Free Library buildings at present in course of erection in Belfast, occupy a site in the centre of the town in Royal Avenue, which is a new thorough- fare made by the Corporation imder parliamentary powers, through what was one of the poorest and most un- sanitary districts in the town, but which now boasts the finest buildings in Belfast, including a new General Post Office, Reform Club, Junior Liberal Club, Water Commis- sioners' Offices, Royal Avenue Hotel, and numerous warehouses and shops.
The sanction of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury to the appropriation of the site by the Council for a library was obtained, and in order to keep within their powers, the Coimcil decided to lay out only £16,000 or £17,000 on the buildings, and about £3,000 on the furnishing. Designs were obtained by open competition, prizes of £100, £50, and £25 respectively being given for the first three in order of merit. Mr. W. H. Lynn, of Belfast, obtained the first, Messrs. Maxwell & Tuke, of Manchester, the second, and Mr. John Johnston, of London, the third ; while Messrs. H. & J. Martin, of Belfast, secured the contract.
The foimdation stone was laid by His Excellency Earl Spencer, the then Lord Lieutenant, on June 19th, 1884.
FREE LIBRARIES RECENTLY OPENED. 99
The original skeUih of the building was hung in the 1884 Eoyal Academy Exhibition. The whole of the ground-floor is devoted to the libraries and reading- rooma, ■with the neceseary offices, no apace being wasted
Belfast Fbee Libbibt,
in UBeless passageB and corridors. The reading-room measures 52 feet hy S6 feet: on the right a large hall and staircase leading to extensive picture-galleries — a feature in addition to the libraries to be provided, and
100 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
it is located and kept distinct on first floor. On the right of reading-room is the lending library, 37 feet 3 inches by 29 feet 6 inches; ladies' reading-room, 28 feet by 25 feet ; and committee-room, the latter looking out on front. On the left is the general library, 60 feet by 34 feet 3 inches ; and adjoining, looking out on front, the select library and librarian's room. The sketch shows the front elevation.
The centre room is open to the roof, and has galleries round all its sides, and is covered with a glazed, semi- circular iron hipped roof, 58 feet from floor in centre ; the rooms at sides are 20 feet 6 inches high, divided from central hall by glazed screens, and extending to the streets bounding sides of site, and a thorough view is obtained from Kent Street to Little Donegal Street.
The first fioor contains two large picture galleries, i
62 feet 6 inches by 29 feet, and 50 feet by 33 feet (
6 inches. The galleries are 23 feet in height to soffit of ceiling, and are added to by the large lantern lights provided. No windows are placed in these walls. The picture galleries have galleries of communication at ends, so that a complete circuit can be made.
The building is designed for carrying out in stone, the construction, as far as possible, being of a fire-resist- ing character.
Newcastle-on-Tyne was late in adopting the Act, but has made up for this dilatoriness by erecting one of the finest Free Libraries in the three kingdoms, and of which we show an engraving.
A Public Hall, Free Library, and Baths are to be erected at Newcastle-under-Lyme from the joint plans
■
i
•? • • • •
r •.• • •
FREE LIBRARIES RECENTLY OPENED. 101
of Messrs. W. Sugden & Son, of Leek, and of Mr. J. Blood and Messrs. Chapman & Snape, of Newcastle.
The new building intended for the Oldham Free Library was formally opened on August 6th, 1885. The municipal authorities went in procession to the building, where the Mayor (Mr. Alderman Eadcliffe) formally declared the Library and Ghrounds to be open. A banquet took place in the evening, at which speeches were made by the Mayor, Mr. J. T. Hibbert, M.P., Dr. Yates, and others, and was followed by a ball.
The Tunstall (Potteries) Free Library was opened October 29th, 1885.
The Chief Bailiff, John Nash Peake, Esq., J.P., in opening the proceedings on that day, said, after a few introductory remarks : I propose to give you a short history of the movement which has led up to this library and news-room being instituted. On August 13th, 1885, a requisition was sent to me as Chief Bailiff to call a public meeting of the inhabitants to consider certain proceedings. At that meeting it was proposed, seconded, and carried that the Public Libraries Act, 1855, and that the Amended Act of 1871 should be adopted. It was also proposed that the Local Board of Health be requested not to put the Act in force until it could be done without increasing the present rate, and that when the old Town Hall was available, it should be used as temporary premises for the Free Library, and that the Local Board be requested to permit its use for the purpose. It was found possible to take the Id. rate out of the present rate without increasing it, and on October 14th, 1886 — ^fourteen
102 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
days since — a meeting of the Local Board decided that permission should be given to use the present Town Hall as temporary premises for the Free Library« So you see thaUt 7oIj two months since the nZr was brought prominently before this town, and only four- teen days since they took this building in hand. Those who knew this building before will hardly recognize it now. It has certainly been very materially altered and improved, and as a temporary home for the Free Library, we have not ill-managed to arrange it. Out- side, of course, it is a gruesome structure ; indeed there is no defence to be made for the appearance of the out- side of it. However, if the people of this town take advantage of the institution, I have no doubt that in days not very far distant we wiU be able to organize the outside so as to make it a little more tasty-looking than it is now. We are greatly indebted to Mr. Wood, the architect, for the manner in which he has completed his work.
Lord Wrottesley then proceeded to declare the Free Library open. In doing so, he said he could assure them that it was a matter of satisfaction to him that he had been able to respond to the invitation given him to come there that day, and take the part allotted to him in declaring that institution open. He thought there were few towns now, who claimed any amount of pro- gress, that did not contain that educational advantage of a Free Libraries' Act. He hoped that as time went on — and everything had a beginning — ^it would grow into that development which they had seen in many large towns, and that these Free Libraries might become the
FREE LIBRARIES RECENTLY OPENED. 103
engine of education. If their want was felt before the national education was undertaken by the Government, how much greater was the want felt now, when educa- tion was T^ithin the reach of everybody, and everybody could avail themselves of it. It might be the case in times of depression of trade, and unfortunately they knew that they were subject to these times of de- pression, and when employment was uncertain, that those who had uncertain employment might have a resource to go to, and take advantage of the books that they would have an opportunity of studying. It might afford them some relief from the care of uncertain work. He was quite sure they had done wisely in availing themselves of the Free Libraries' Act, and they had also done wisely in availing themselves of the present building, hitherto used as a Town HaU, and in converting it for the purposes it was now intended for. He thought the mere fact of the architecture outside was a little matter. It was a structure they had been acquainted with ; it occupied a place of central situa- tion, and both inside and outside it was well adapted for the present purpose, until it grew into something more substantial. It was some years ago since Lord Carlisle, in addressing a meeting at a mechanics' institute in the north of England — and he was well qualified to speak upon the advantages to be derived from intellectual cultivation — said, " It was eminently their duty, as it was no less their interest, to take every means to sur- roimd themselves with a refined, orderly, intellectual, and an educated population. It would be returned them in a thousand ways. The particular studies might
FREE LIBRARIES RECENTLY OPENED. 106
not have any direct connection with their daily work, yet in promoting good in others, they were sure in the end to promote their own good." He wished he could speak to a large assembly with half the weight of Lord Carlisle. He felt as time went on that there would be many who would come within those walls, and who would be able to go away and say with one of the older poets,
I never spent more sweet and happy hours, Than in the employment of my books. He had pleasure in declaring the institution open, and he hoped the anticipations of those who had interested themselves in the work would be realized.
The Leyland Free Library and Museum at Hindley, now being built, is intended to form part of the im- provement of Hindley, near Wigan, now being carried out from the fund left by the late Mr. Leyland for that purpose.
It contains, on the ground floor, the lending library and news-room, 51 feet by 25 feet 6 inches, with cloak- rooms and lavatories adjoining ; and a stone staircase which leads to the committee-room on the first floor, 23 feet by 16 feet, with oriel window at the end ; and the reference library and museum, of similar dimensions to the library below.
The basement wiU be utilized as a working-man's club, with biUiard and smoke rooms. At the rear is placed the keeper's house, with living room, scullery, and two bedrooms, and heating chamber, coal-cellar, &c., below.
The building will be of red pressed bricks and Par-
106
FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
bold stone, with green Welsh slates covering the roofs. The bays and windows in the library and staircase
HINDLEY FREE LIBHAEY — PLAN OF GROUND FLOOR.
have stone mulliohs and transoms, with lead-light glazing.
FREE LIBRARIES RECENTLY OPENED. 107
The work is being executed by Mr. Preston, of Wigan, from the plans and under the direction of Messrs. Thomas Worthington, F.E.I.B.A., and John G. Elgood, A.E.I.B.A., architects, of Manchester.
The sketch of the building, and also that of the "Wimbledon Library, are reproduced from the Builder,
A building is in course of erection at Bootle, near Liverpool, and there are others which could be named.
Widnes presents the most recent attempt for the adop- tion of the Act up to the time of my book going to press, and as it will be interesting to many to have before them a full report of what took place, I think it advisable to reprint, from the Widnes NewSy the account as given in that paper.
108 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
DISTEICT OF WTDNES.
THE PUBLIC UBEAEEES ACTS, 1855 TO
1886 INCLUSIVE.
Widnes, 11th December, 1885. To F. H. Gossage, Esq., J.P.,
Chairman of the Widnes Local Board. Dear Sir, — ^We, the undersigned ratepayers, respect- fully ask you to call a Public Meeting of Ratepayers of the Township of "Widnes to take into consideration the following subjects, or either of them, and to pass such resolution or resolutions thereon as may be considered advisable —
1st — ^Whether it is desirable to at once proceed with the erection of the Town Hall portion of the Public Offices. 2nd — Whether a Free library and Public Reading Room should be provided under the provisions of the Public Libraries Acts.
We are. Dear Sir,
Yours respectfully,
Eustace Carey, Frank GaskeU, F. H. Pankhurst, Samuel Sadler, Joseph Robinson, James Chapman, J. McN. O'Keeffe, Thos. John Peters, Richard Mercer, John Lea, Alfred Machin, Alfred Edwards, John Farrant, Edwin Warham, W. Wood, 0. Maddison, William Sadler, J. E. Johnson, Daniel Gill, Ellwood, Smith, and Co., J. Morrison, William Jones, Thomas Sadler, Francis Heyes.
FREE LIBRARIES RECENTLY OPENED. 109
F accordance with the above requisition, I hereby caU a PUBLIC MEETING of the ratepayers for the District of Widnes, to be held in the Volunteer Hall, Widnes, on TUESDAY, the 29th day of Decem- ber, 1885, at half-past Seven o'clock in the evening.
F. H. GOSSAGE, Chairman "Widnes Local Beard.
Note. — Only persons assessed to and paying the General District Bate for the township of Widnes have a right to be present and vote at the above meeting.
The town's meeting was held on December 29th, 1885. "A public meeting of the ratepayers of Widnes was held in the Drill Hall on Tuesday evening, to take into consideration (1) whether a Free Library and Public Reading-room should be provided under the provisions of the Public Libraries Acts ; and (2) whether it is desirable to at once proceed with the erection of the town hall portion of the public offices. There was only a thin attendance. Mr. F. H. Gossage (chairman of the Local Board) presided.
Mr. Gossage, after remarking that he took the position he then occupied by virtue of his office as chairman of the Local Board, said that what they had to consider, first of all, was whether it was desirable in Widnes to adopt the Public Libraries Act. He did not know that he could explain to them very much about that, because all of them would be perfectly acquainted with the matter. The principal point was that the Widnes Local Board could not go further than the expenditure of a penny in the poimd for the purposes of the Libraries
110 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
Act. He simply had to take the chair that night because he had to decide as to how the voting went, and he should ask them to excuse him speaking upon the points at all. With regard to the other subject, refer- ring to the completion of the town haU portion of the public ojfices, that meeting had nothing to do except as giving an expression of feeling on the part of the public of Widnes. He called upon Mr. T. Snape, who had come kindly forward, to move a resolution.
" Mr. Snape, who was well received, said the resolution which had been put into his hands read as follows : — 'That the Public Libraries Acts, 1855 to 1885 in- clusive, shall be and are hereby adopted by the Local Board for the district of Widnes, being the local autho- rity in and for the said district.' It was not his expectation, or intention, when he, came to that meeting to take such a prominent part as. he foimd himself doing. He had supposed that some of those more immediately interested in promoting that meet- ing would have moved that resolution ; hence he was a little astonished to find himself in that position. He came there to hear what might be said upon the question they were come to consider, although for himself he did entertain a strong opinion in favour of the adoption of the Free Libraries Act. From his youth upwards he had had opportunities of watching the effect of the establishment of Free Libraries. Per- sonally he had derived such great advantage from Free Libraries that on that ground alone he should feel strongly in favour of extending the same privileges ^o all those who reside in this town. He did not know
FREE LIBRARIES RECENTLY OPENED. Ill
whether many of them had had an opportunity of visiting the splendid library in Liverpool; he meant the Reference Library, but of course there were branch lending libraries. Any student who resorted to that library must have found it of the greatest possible assistance to him. Widnes was a town which essen- tially depended for its prosperity and development upon the growth of knowledge and the advantages for the attainment of knowledge which were held out to the ratepayers and residents. In considering this question they should look at it not immediately from a pounds, shillings, and pence point of view, but from a future pounds, shillings, and pence point of view ; for if they wished to see the town grow and prosper it became essential that the residents should have every possible opportunity of extending their knowledge. Literature, both scientific, historic, and poetical, should be readily available. They knew how difficult it was even to those who had extensive libraries of their own to get upon their own shelves all the books they would like ; and it became essential for them to resort to some of the public libraries before entering upon branches of study which the books upon their own shelves did not cover. It was much more so for many of their young people, who had not the same oppor- tunities. They might by these means give the yoimg people the same opportunities. Although they were passing through a season of great depression, and none of them wished to see their rates increasing in amoimt, he took it, from that point of view, that this might be an economical step to take. If they succeeded in pre-
112 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
venting the adoption of more vicious things, and in giving recreation an4 amusement, and opportunities for intellectual advancement to their population, they would in that way, assist in diminishing the rates. They would also assist in making the town more attractive as a place of residence. If they wanted to have a large population in the town, they should see that there was nothing in association with the town that would make it an unwelcome place to residents. At best there would always be some detractions, either accidental or otherwise, in Widnes, and they ought not to lessen its attractions, but increase them, and strive to make them stronger and brighter than they were in other and more favoured places. He was in Northwich the other night, and walking along the main street he was struck by the appearance of a bright new building. He crossed over to look at it, and found that it was a Free Library which had been built there by the liberality of their former townsman — Mr. J. T. Brunner. He thought he would step into it, and on doing so he was very pleased with the comfortable provision made for the students who wished to refer to books which were not allowed to be taken away, and also with the provision made for the lending of books to those who were permitted to take them to their homes. It seemed to be a hopeful sign that he might look forward to the establishment of a similar institution in Widnes. He (the speaker) was not in favour of a great expenditure in connection with the institution. He thought it possible to devise means to carry out that resolution without going to any great expense. Any expensive or costly scheme they might
FREE LIBRARIES RECENTLY OPENED. 113
have in view might be postponed to a somewhat more favourable period. He had a strong opinion of his own on the matter, and he trusted that there would not be a hand held up against the adoption of this resolution. He knew the expense would be comparatively slight, and it would be a portion of the rates that would be more cheerfully paid than any other, because they had the assurance that it would promote the intellectual growth of the population, and at the same time provide amuse- ment and recreation which otherwise a large portion of their fellow townsmen would not be able to obtain.
" Dr. O'Keeffe, in seconding the resolution, after pay- ing a compliment to the chairman, of whom he said that he and his family were deserving of nothing but gratitude from the inhabitants of Widnes, said he was certain that there was nothing that would be more con- ducive to the moral elevation of the people who resided in Widnes than having such an institution as a Free Library. There were no facilities whatever for people who live in Widnes now educating themselves after they have left the elementary schools. It was after leaving the elementary schools that working-men and those who aspired to higher positions in society, had to educate themselves. At present they had not the facilities of educating themselves such as a Free Library would afford. The result was they had a great amoimt of intellectual power lying dormant, and unless that power were developed it would neither be of benefit to themselves nor to the country in which they lived. Whereas, on the other hand — as they could easily see by the science and art lectures which were given here
I
114 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
during a certain portion of the year, and by the distri- bution of prizes, and the number of those who took an interest in coming to witness those interesting occasions — every yoimg man who got a prize was not only proud of it himself, but all his relations and friends were proud that he had succeeded in educating himself after leaving the elementary school. If they had a Free Library it would be free of access to every person who liked to take advantage of such an excellent institution. They would have, as Mr. Snape had said, probably in a little time a splendid library of reference. He (Dr. O'KeefPe) had been making inquiries lately where libraries of this kind were in use, such as St. Helens — and he need not go further — ^where a library was in force ; and had been for many years. He had made inquiries, and found that the rate for keeping up that library was simply infinit- esimal— only a farthing in the pound — even to pay a librarian something like £100 a year, assistant librarians* and for cleaning, lighting, and warming. It was some- thing under £200 a year. (" Question.") He was not making a statement that he feared for a moment could be contradicted. He had it from one of the officials at the town haU. If a farthing in the pound would support a library in St. Helens, he thought something similar would do in Widnes. It was not that alone. If the afPair were conducted in a careful and economical manner, he was sure that it would not add anything at aU to the rates. He must give credit to the gentlemen -wTio had presided over the financial department of the liocal Board, and who had had the management to ja ^eat extent of the rates of Widnes, as well as to
FREE LIBRARIES RECENTLY OPEXEI). 115
the chairman of the Finance Committee, both the present one and one of his predecessors. They had carried out and spent-the rates of the people of Widnes in a manner that was highly creditable to the Chan- cellor of the Exchequer. The rates, which were 2s. V>d. and 2s. 9d. some years ago, had remained stationary the last three or four years at 2s. in the pound. This was a state of things for which the Finance Committee and the gentlemen who had the management of the funds in Widnes desen'ed the highest amount of credit. The benefits that would accrue to the inhabitants of Widnes from a Free Library would be so paramount to any little expense — ^if possibly any expense could exist — ^that they would not take the latter into consideration. Then 'it might increase the reputation of the town to such an extent as to elevate it in the minds of those who had had a poor idea of it previously, and might induce people to estimate it at its proper value, and to cease to say the evil things of it that had been said in former yeajrs, and even up to the present day. Another great benefit that would accrue to Widnes from the establish- ment of a Free Library would be the elevation of its moral character. There was no place of entertainment, no place of recreation whatever, at present where people could resort, except the public-house — a very excellent institution in its way, and one that was required. If they had a Free Library and reading-room, many yoimg men, and probably many young women, of this town would prefer to spend their leisure time in improving their minds, in reading works of high-class
116 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
Kterature, and in studying, as they did in Liverpool, for the degrees of Oxford and Cambridge, which universities had afforded so many facilities to the people lately. Unfortimately they had not a single person in Widnes, either lady or gentleman, who had gone in for either the Oxford or Cambridge degrees. That was a consideration that ought to weigh with any gentlemen who were at all inclined to oppose the establishment of an institution like a Free Library. It was a great consideration indeed, and he hoped they would think seriously before they should any of them put their vote on a question that was of such import- ance, not only to people of the present day, but to the rising generation as well. He, for one, having lived in Widnes for years, seeing to a great extent, he would not say the depravity of the place — ^fortunately it was greatly improved, but at all events it used to be to a great extent depraved — ^thought in consequence of the excellent way in which the finances of the town had been managed, and that it was likely to cost nothing at all in the pound, it would be well for the rate- payers and the gentlemen then present to vote for the proposition, whichhe had very great pleasure in seconding. " The Chairman here read a letter from Mr. H. "Wade Deacon, of Messrs. Gaskell, Deacon, & Co., large chemical manufacturers, in which he stated, * I regret I shall be unable to attend the public meeting to-night, as I should have been in favour of providing a Free Library and reading-room. It seems to me that the expense need not be large, and I am sure that the benefit to the town would be great.'
FREE LIBRARIES RECENTLY OPENED. 117
" The Chairman then invited anybody who wished to speak against the resolution to step on the platform, but for a time no one offered to do so. (A Yoice : * I think they are all Quakers.')
" Mr. Eichard "Webster ultimately stepped forward, and said he should like to ask a question. Asked to ascend the platform, he declined to do so. (A Yoice : "Go on the platform and show your figure.") Mr. Webster asked where the library was to be held, and whether it was not the thin end of the wedge to spending another £10,000. They had already one or two dead horses in the town. There was the market, and then £20,000 had been spent on a sewer which was of no use for want of extension. He, himself, thought that if the Local Board would go in for an extension of the sewerage, and try to save the lives of the inhabitants of the town, instead of establishing a library, it would be better. If they went in for spending another £10,000 for a library, that, he thought, would be another dead horse. They had so many things that wanted pushing forward by the Board, that he did not think they were warranted in spending so much of the ratepayers' money. If the Board were not intending to spend another £10,000, there was no man in the town but would like to see a place for a library ; but if it was to cost so much money they ought to take the matter into deep consideration before the money was spent.
"Mr. Gould : I should like to know what expense we are going to ?
" The Chairman : I said, in the first instance, that we cannot go beyond a penny in the pound.
118 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
"Mr. Gould : If you look at it, it is only a very little sum once a year. And what do you get for it? A fine hall, and also a library in which to educate your families as well.
"Mr. Benjamin Brown, who was warmly cheered on ascending the platform, said he did not think he should be wrongly judged, or that an opinion would be entertained that he was opposed to any institution which would improve the morality of the town, or which would tend to elevate its character. He imder- stood, to begin with, that the adoption of the Libraries Act had no connection with the town hall question.
" The Chairman : It is absolutely distinct. This meeting has nothing to do, has no power to do any- thing with regard to the expenditure of a further £10,000 upon the town hall. This meeting is simply here to express its opinion as to whether the Free Libraries Act shall be adopted or not ; and, in regard to the second resolution, as to whether the town haU shall be erected to the full extent that we have designs put in for.
" Mr. Brown said he thought he expressed the opinion of a good many, when he said that they did not like to put themselves in the position of opposing the adoption of the Free Libraries Act in "Widnes. At the same time, he did very firmly protest against any increase, any permanent increase, in the rates of the township. His reason for that assertion was, that con- sidering the present state of the staple trade of the town and its prospects, they were not justified in increasing the permanent burdens of the place. As he
FREE LIBRARIES RECENTLY OPENED.- 119
understood now tliat the adoption of the Free Libraries Act did not at all commit the meeting to the further extension of the town hall, he should not oppose the adoption of the Free Libraries Act — but with refer- ence to any further expenditure of money in the direction indicated, he should oppose it most decidedly. " Mr. Martin Taylor said that as far as he was able to gather, the feeling of the meeting was this ; that if they sanctioned the Public Libraries Act in the first resolu- tion, they might find themselves committed to the higher expenditure on the town hall. He did not know whether that was so or not, but he should like those present to place confidence in the Local Board. He should not like to go away from that meeting — as he believed it was the second meeting already held for the purpose — ^without the resolution being adopted. He thought they were depriving the town of a very great instrument for educating the people. The young men of the town had little beside the public-house to go to when they came to that age when they could not always be expected to be sitting roimd the fire. He got upon the platform to appeal to them not to be carried away, by the matter of expenditure, from voting for the adoption of the Public Libraries Act, and to ask them to adopt a vote of confidence in the Local Board, as far as the town hall was concerned. Another thing they might possibly do : they might show a willingness on the part of the town that the town should be further educated; and there was no telling but that some gentleman or gentlemen in the neighbourhood would provide them with a library. At the same time by showing their
120 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
willingness to subscribe to the library, they might throw the onus upon those rich gentlemen, who had made their wealth in the town, of finding a building, if necessary.
" Mr. Poulson said he should like to ask a question with regard to the increase of a penny in the pound in the rates. Did that penny in the pound, allowed by the Act, cover the first expenditure in the provision of rooms, furniture, and so forth, or did it simply cover the maintenance after the necessary premises had been provided out of the rates P
The Chairman: A penny in the pound is to cover both the original expenditure and maintenance. As Dr. O'KeefPe very properly pointed out, at St. Helens it is only a rate of a farthing in the poimd.
Mr. Snape wished to make his position clear. As to the second part of the business submitted for the opinion of the meeting, they had no power to give any effective decision to their consideration; but he was thoroughly with Mr. Brown and others who had spoken, that ways and means ought to be devised by the Local Board without resorting to the great expense that had been suggested in the second part of the business. He did hope some day to see a town hall, but he was not quite sure that this was the right time to build it. With reference to the question asked last, he found that at Northwich, owing to some delay in building the library, a rate had been made two or three times before the library opened, so that they had the accumulation of one or two rates to enable them to stock the library.
FREE LIBRARIES RECENTLY OPENED. 121
He did not think that would be necessary in Widnes.
The Chairman then put the resolution to the meet- ing, when only two voted against it, the result being received with applause.
On January 15th, 1886, the new Free Library and Reading-room which has been erected in Loughborough, under the Free Libraries Act, was publicly opened before a large gathering of local ladies and gentlemen and ratepayers of the town. Nearly £1,200 have been spent in the work, and the whole has been contributed by volimtary subscriptions, the movement, since its in- ception, twelve months ago, having been warmly taken up by the working classes generally. To Mr. A. A. Bumpus belongs the credit of having initiated the move- ment in a most substantial manner. He was joined by Mr. Hy. Deane and Mr. George Hodson, and the three gentlemen named directed their efforts towards populariz- ing the imdertaking. This they had no difficulty in doing, for, with the hearty co-operation of large em- ployers of labour, financial as well as moral considera- tions were set at rest, and obstacles surmoimted. The town unanimously adopted the Free Libraries Act, and the Local Board dedicated a site for the building, which is situate adjoining the town offices, on the Ashby-road, and extends down Green Close-lane a distance of about seventy feet. It is in the Tudor style of architecture. The principal entrance is- in Green Close-lane, the entrance hall being twenty-six feet by nine feet. On the left is the entrance to the lending library, about thirty-four feet by twenty-six feet in its maximum
K
122 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
dimensions and sixteen feet high. The bookshelves, of pitch pine, occupy at present two sides of the room, and the shelves even now are so filled as to present a very creditable appearance, and show unmistakably that the book committee have fairly grappled with the task before them. The arrangements for the lending library department appear to have been carefully thought out. Two large glazed screens, with spring doors, are provided, one for entrance and the other for exit of the borrowers, whilst the coimter space and fittings are suitably arranged for quickly dealing with the wants of the borrowers. The rea&ing-room is on the right of the entrance hall, forty-five feet long by twenty-six feet wide, with a height to the wall plate of sixteen feet, and twenty-eight feet to the boarded ceiling, and contains 28,000 cubic feet of air space. It is lighted by four large windows on the Green Close-lane side, and with an ornamental lantern skylight extending one-half the length of the roof. The ceiling is all of wrought wood- work, stained and varnished, and the walls are tinted a warm buff, which harmonizes well with the woodwork. Newspaper stands, upon which the newspapers are opened out and secured from removal, will be placed in various positions in the room, and the lower portion has a continuous stand across the room. For the con- venience of readers of books and periodicals, tables j,re provided, and the arrangements generally seem to be thoroughly conducive to the comfort of the public, whilst the system of the glazed screen entrances permits the whole of the premises to be at once under the eye and control of the librarian.
FREE LIBRARIES RECENTLY OPENED. 123
The Chairmaoi first gave a short but succinct history of the movement which led to the establishment of the library, and in doing so recognized the kindness of Mr, A. A. Bumpus, the ready help which all classes gave to the movement, and the cordial sympathy which the late Archdeacon Fearon manifested in it. The result of the appeal for subscriptions, he said, was that the handsome sum of £1,183 was subscribed, and the committee felt that they were justified in asking the town to adopt the Free Libraries Act. A public meeting was held in the Com Exchange, when the Act was enthusiastically and unanimously adopted. A properly constituted committee was formed, and the Local Board dedicated a site of land for the purposes of the building. His pleasure would have been complete if the committee could have handed over the building to the town without any expenses upon it; but there was a debt remaining of about £150, which included every liability that had been incurred up to the present time. Having spoken upon the relative values of the reading-room and library, he called on Lady John Manners to open the building.
Lady John Manners, who was very cordially received, said she earnestly trusted that the building might be a great blessing to the town. Indeed, they had little doubt it would be so, and she thought each person who had con- tributed, either by giving time or money, to attain that delightful result must feel that they had conferred a lasting benefit upon the town. She need hardly say that she was there that night with feelings of the greatest delight. It had always been her wish that every town
124 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
of England should possess a Free library. But she was afraid her most sanguine expectation had not pictured to her so charming a building as that which the committee had given them the privilege of seeing that night. It appeared to her to be one of the best fitted build- ings for such a purpose as she had ever seen. Its lofty proportions, its cheerful aspect, and the excel- lent arrangements which had been made to hand out the books seemed to approach very near perfection. They knew what a great interest the Queen took in Free Libraries, and to-morrow she should communicate to Her Majesty the pleasure and happiness she had that night. It was greatly owing to Her Majesty's encour- agement that she was induced to do the little she had done towards promoting the cause of Free Libraries and recreation rooms for the people. Her Majesty had set the example ; in every way she possibly could she had encouraged the movement. But she (Lady John) had done but little except to gather up the opinions and experience of those who were more fitted to speak with authority upon the subject of the arrangement and organization of Free Libraries. But she might say it was extremely grateful to her that scarcely a week passed that she did not receive communications from some parts of England respecting the establishment of such buildings. Where they had been established she was told the results almost exceeded the expectations in many instances. Examples of the kind were so numerous that she must forbear to quote them for fear of detaining the audience. Suffice it to say that where these libraries were established it was quite extra-
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ordinary to perceive how much the peace and prosperity of those towns in which they existed increased. Since Free Libraries were started in every barracks, the condition of our soldiers was greatly improved. It was shown that they attended the reading-rooms nightly, and appeared to enjoy the greatest possible pleasure in so doing. Next to founding a Free library, the best thing to do was to make the best use of it. She was extremely glad to hear that the daily papers were to be foimd in the reading-room, and she was also pleased to hear that numerous periodicals would be there also. No doubt the study of papers and periodicals was most interesting. She considered that every educated person ought to endeavour to read all that was going on up to the present time. There was scarcely a subject of any interest on which they could obtain information that was not to be found in the newspaper or periodical. It might be said she had time to do so, and it was true to a certain extent; but she had been reading a paper by Lord Iddesleigh on the uses and disadvantages of desultory reading. Lord Iddesleigh said it was neces- sary for them to read what was best in the history of the present day. He said if they read intelligently what appeared in the newspapers they would be able to obtain books which would throw additional light upon the subjects. He did not discourage desultory reading, but he urged that they should use all their endeavours to go through a course of more solid reading. She could not pretend to dictate to men what they should read, because individual preferences differed. Still, there were certain fundamental principles that they
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ought to observe. They ought to have a good know- ledge of history, and acquaint themselves with the literature of past generations, so as the better to under- stand the references and quotations which occurred in newspapers and periodicals. There was no doubt that one of the greatest pleasures for any man or woman was a taste for reading. She believed that in America the taste for reading was much more developed than in England. She believed there was scarcely a village in America — so she was informed — where there was not a small library of some sort, even if it were in a log hut. All over Germany and France there were Free Libraries, which were frequented by all the intelligent inhabitants of every class. She was extremely thankful that Englishmen now appeared to be deter- mined not to be behind America or any continental coimtry. She had received so many communications upon the subject of Free Libraries, that she was aware many persons in different ranks of life were earnestly devoting themselves to spreading abroad the idea of recreation rooms and such institutions, so that were she to abandon the work, and cease to take an active interest in it, it would be taken up all over the country by thousands of persons who were more capable of giving advice on the subject. It was a most gratifying reflection, because they must remember that their capacity for work was limited, and that at any time it might be necessary for them to abandon their favourite schemes. But she believed their mutual work was good and useful, not- withstanding their different opinions upon other subjects. It was a well understood thing that in promoting the
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prosperity of material things, public Free Libraries did more than anything else to advance the cause of tem- perance and thrift. To her it was always a gratify- ing fact in connection with the establishment of Free Libraries, that so very large a sum was contributed by em- ployers and workmen themselves. In this case no less a sum than £182 hadbeen contributed by them towards the funds, and she hoped their earnestness and devotion would become known throughout the breadth of the land, as an example which working men in other towns might follow. She had always said, "Let working men themselves say we will be educated, we will have reading-rooms, and raise ourselves to the level of intelligent persons," and then they would hear much less of poverty and distress. It was not money which made them happy, although a certain amount was desirable, but it was the capacity to use it well; and, what was even more necessary, to make good use of their time. They must be quite sure that those who frequented the library adopted that principle because in the library there were books of all kinds. She had been told by a hardworking man that it was absolutely necessary from time to time to read works of fiction. Some very much preferred biography, but other minds found it essential to unbend. The bow could not be kept on the stretch night and day, and therefore they resorted to works of fiction. But she thought the women ought to have a share of the advantages of the institution, and she thanked the committee for having considered the wives at home, who would find pleasure, after their hard day's work, in perusing the pages of an interesting book.
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Again her ladyship thanked the committee for having permitted her to take part in the proceedings, and concluded by saying it was a particular pleasure for her to see so many friends around her, so many representatives of different shades of thought, and she felt quite certain that they would join with her in thanking the committee most heartily for their hand- some present to the town.
Mr. J. E. Johnson-Ferguson,