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BY THOMAS GREENWOOD, AUTHOR OF MUSEUMS AND ART GALLERIES,’ “SUNDAY-SCHOOL AND VILLAGE LIBRARIES,’’ “ EMINENT NATURALISTS,’' ETC. FOURTH EDITION, REVISED AND BROUGHT UP TO DATE. üljrmsaîtîï. CASSELL & COMPANY, Limited: LONDON, PARIS, # MELBOURNE. 1891.XIV Advertisements. H. SOTHERAH ft CO., BOOKSELLERS, PUBLISHERS, BOOKBINDERS, PUBLISHERS OF THE LATE Mr. Gould’s grand Ornithological Works, AND GENERAL AGENTS FOR PUBLIC LIBRARIES And Clubs and Public Institutions in the Colonies, Abroad, and at Home. AT THEIR CENTRAL HOUSE, 136, STRAND (NEXT WATERLOO BRIDGE) WILL BE FOUND ONE OF THE Largest and Best Collections of Books in England. Including- the finest and most important Works in every class of GENERAL LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND THE FINE ARTS. A MONTHLY CATALOGUE issued over 40 Years. Specimen No. post free on application. Telegraphic Address — BOOKMEN, LONDON. Code inuse— UNICODE. H. SOTHERAN & CO., 136, STRAND, W.C., and 37, PICCADILLY, W., r.osn>ON.01TZ+2- CT top 2- ®Jjts Jfsurtfr - 4 WHICH' IT NOW OCCUPIES. 15 IF, BY INCREASED EFFORT AND AN ENHANCED PUBLIC INTEREST THE NUMBER OF ADOPTIONS OF THE ACTS CAN BE RAISED TO FOUR HUNDRED DURING THE NEXT NINE YEARS, WHEN THE JUBILEE OF THE EWART ACT WILL BE CELEBRATED, A MOST DESIRABLE END WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED. r. 4Professor T. H. Huxley. “I have found your book on Public Libraries full of useful information. The late Lord Iddesleigh. “Iam glad to hear that you are interesting yourself in the promotion of Public Libraries, and heartily wish you success.’ Sir John Lubbock, M.P. “There is no man who has done more for the extension of Public Libraries, or knows more of these institutions, than Mr. Greenwood.” The Eight Hon. W. E. Gladstone, M.P. “I am sensible of the importance of the subject, and I cannot doubt that your volume will win, as well as draw, a great degree of public attention. ’ The Eight Hon. A. J. Mundella, M.P. “ Your work will do good service to a good cause. No town should be without a Public Library, and your book will assist greatly in the promotion of these valuable institutions.” Extract from a-Letter by the Duchess of Eutland in “ The Times”:— “ Sir,—I find it difficult to reply to inquiries as to establishing Public Libraries in towns, and would suggest that Mr. Thomas Greenwood’s book on the subject should be consulted. If this work could be circulated among ratepayers in towns where it is desired to adopt the Public Libraries Acts, the movement would be much encouraged. —Yours faithfully, Janetta Eutland.”PREFACE. It would have been impossible to desire a more healthy progress in the Public Library movement than has been witnessed within the last few years. During a period of thirty-six years from the passing of the Ewart Act of 1850 the number of adoptions of the Public Libraries Acts was 133. In five years, and since the publication of the first edition of this work, the number of adoptions of the Acts has been 105, making a total, as this fourth edition is closed for press, of no fewer than 238. This satisfactory state of things is due largely to the preparation of the ground by the Elementary Education Act of 1870, the vigorous advocacy of these people’s institutions by the press, and the zeal of the many friends of the movement in all parts of the country. No association exists for the promotion of this movement. The whole of the work, wherever carried on, is voluntary, and the number of workers is receiving constant additions. Some of these pioneers may be forgotten and overlooked when opening ceremonies take place, but they have the consolation of having aided in the establishing of one of the institutions which are not for an age but for all time. I am grateful to these many friends for keeping me so well posted up as to the progress of the movement in their respective districts. Within a period of two years I have received about fifteen thousand newspaper cuttings, newspapers, library reports, and letters bearing upon the subject. As many as twenty-five letters have come to hand by one post. I am convinced that in the immediate future voluntary work will, in efforts for the public good, take, in many instances, the place of organizations with their paid staff of workers; and if the Public Library movement affords an object lesson in this direction a useful purpose will be served. The present edition has been revised throughout, and several chapters have been almost re-written. The rapid extension ofXV111 Preface. the movement is illustrated by the fact that in five years it has been necessary to nearly re-write, on three occasions, the four editions of this work. A great[impetus in the extension of these institutions will be one outcome of the new departure in our system of national education, which came into force on the first of September. The appointment of a Minister of Public Instruction should follow. When such a step is taken there will be a department in his office embracing the work of Public Libraries. No Government document of any importance bearing upon these institutions has been published since 1850. The Parliamentary Return of Public Libraries, brought out at the end of last year, is one of the most slovenly and unreliable returns which has been issued for some years. The majority of existing Public Libraries are in a healthy condition. Some few are badly managed, and almost everything in connection with them seems to be done in the most negligent and perfunctory manner. A Government inspector of these institutions will be a necessity in the office of the future Minister of Public Instruction. Among his duties will be those of looking into the conduct of these libraries which are in an indifferent condition; advising in the formation of new and the extension of the work of old institutions. A librarian at present engaged in one of the large libraries will be best able to fill efficiently such a post. Schools supported out of the rates have their inspectors, and why should not rate-supported Public Libraries be similarly supervised? It is impossible to forecast the future of this movement. Within the next twenty years the entire country will be covered by these institutions. The movement is one which lies essentially at the root of the well-being and uplifting of the people. Public Libraries form a distinct link in our educational system, and at the same time they provide wholesome recreation for the people. The desirability of discontinuing the word “ free,” as applied to these libraries supported out of the public rates, is again put forward. The term is inaccurate and misleading. The tide of generous giving to these institutions has continued. Still there is room for much more to be done. Other objects which appeal to the benevolent are, no doubt, useful, but I am bold enough to claim that the greatest good of the greatest number in perpetuity cannot be better secured than by the founding of Public Libraries. These institutions are the property of the people, and will be administered by the people through all time to come. It is a pleasure to record that every facility has been affordedxix Preface. to me in my work. Librarians themselves are only just beginning to see their way through the labyrinth of methods in library administration, As my own experience as a librarian was gained some twenty years ago, I have considered it best to place the writing of the two chapters dealing with “ The Formation of Public Libraries” and “Library Administration” in the hands of a thoroughly experienced librarian. Mr. James D. Brown, Librarian of the Clerkenwell Public Library, has written these two chapters, and has materially revised and added to them since they appeared in the previous edition. I am indebted to this gentleman for the aid rendered in the compilation of the statistics given at the end of the book. He has also, in conjunction with Mr. J. Potter Briscoe, Borough Librarian of the Nottingham Public Libraries, been good enough to revise the proofs. The index has been compiled by Mr. Herbert Jones, Chief Librarian of the Kensington Public Libraries. To other librarians my thanks are due for much kindly encouragement. A distinct epoch in this movement was reached in February of this year. On the twelfth of that month the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, M.P., opened the St. Martin-in-the-Fields Public Library. He was accompanied by the Right Hon. W. H. Smith, M.P., who took a prominent part in the proceedings. In no better way could it have been shown that this movement is absolutely devoid of political bias. Mr. Gladstone sketched the history of the movement, and as he knew so well and bears as a Christian name that of William Ewart the promoter of the first Public Libraries Act, it is fitting that the speech made on that occasion should appear in a work dealing with the subject. But further than this, the Right Honourable gentleman called attention in a most marked way to the absence of these institutions in rural districts. I have argued and still maintain that Public Libraries, supported by a penny rate, are an impossibility in thousands of British villages. One strictly rural parish only in Great Britain and Ireland has seen its way to adopt the Public Libraries Acts. I should be glad if this problem could be solved in some other manner than by a small annual grant from the Consolidated Fund, based on the income from the rate and the work done. Were other villages equally fortunate with Hawarden, which has its Gladstone library, there would be hope that the great landlords would solve the difficulty in the way suggested by this venerable statesman. I endeavour to deal with the question in the chapter devoted to Public Libraries in the rural districts. The report of Mr. Gladstone’s speech is taken from the “ Times,” “ Daily News,” “ Standard,” and the “ Chronicle.” Mr. Gladstone saidXX Preface. I undoubtedly cannot deny that I have a title, though a questionable title, to appear before you in connection with public purposes of great interest to the parish of St. Martin. I say questionable title, because I am a little in the condition of a Parliamentary elector who, although properly placed upon the register, has had the misfortune to change his abode. I beg, therefore, you will not look too closely into the nature of my qualification. If I could overlook the comparatively brief term of years since I ceased to have a residential connection with St. Martin’s, I might almost aspire to the title of the oldest parishioner, or not be very far from it, for I lived in this parish, with scarcely any intermission, from the year 1837 to the year 1876, inclusively ; and I must add that it was not my will, but a prudential regard to circumstances, which caused me to seek a humbler abode elsewhere, but for which I should still be among you, and not one would be able to question my formal right, at any rate, to invite you to recognize me as your coadjutor upon an occasion of very great interest. My first duty is to declare this library to be open, and I can declare it with the better conscience inasmuch as that office was committed to me in this way —which I think is not always the case with those who declare places open. A key was placed in my hands, and I myself unlocked the door. Under these circumstances, I declare this library to be open, and I believe it is my duty and privilege, having performed that funotion, to be the first to profit by the library. I therefore take the liberty of handing to the librarian a requisition duly drawn and signed, in which I ask, not, indeed, for the Book—that one Book which is to be selected from all others upon its merits, for its dignity and office in a Christian land : there can be no choice as to what that Book should be, but I do not on this occasion ascend to that elevation—and I think I cannot do better than ask for the local tract or treatise on the history of St. Martin’s parish, drawn up by a late respected vicar. Now, Sir, having spoken of my own qualification and the defect in it, I must also say that I am very glad to recognize St. Martin’s as a parish which I believe to be forward in the promotion of all those undertakings which are likely to give it a distinguished place among the parishes of London. Of the philanthropic improvements which have characterized the last generation, one, and not an insignificant one, perhaps the earliest of them all, was the institution of baths and wash-houses. I think it certainly is forty-five years since I accompanied the then respected vicar of the parish, Sir Henry Dukinfleld, to see the baths and wash-houses then in full work in St. Martin’s parish, and I am informed, upon what I believe was good authority—well, I was aware they were certainly among the first—I am told they were the very first-institutions of that description founded in this vast metropolis. I hope the honour thus acquired is an honour which will likewise be a stimulus—which has been a stimulus; it has given St. Martin’s parish a forward place among the parishes engaged in the foundation of libraries ; it has entitled you to appear in a most useful work by Mr. Thomas Greenwood on the public libraries which have now been formed for the use of the population in various parts of the country—here in this work is the front of your library of St. Martin’s figuring and having a distinguished place amongst them. Well, ladies and gentlemen, this is not a very old movement. The Act under which you have been enabled to carry this design into effect dates from the year 18-50, when I was myself already beginning to be a somewhat old member of Parliament. The author of that Act is a gentleman of the name of Ewart, a name which I have the honour to bear as a second name, and he is a man whom I very well remember and whom I had the honour and pleasure of knowing. Mr. Ewart, the author of that Act, was a cultivated man, a scholar, highly respected in every relation of life, and his name deserves to be recorded in that he was upon more subjects than one a pioneer, working his way forward, doing the rough, introductory work in his country’s interest, in the interest of the nation, upon subjects which at that time very few had begun to appreciate. The appreciation of his work in regard to libraries which produced the Act of 1850 has been an appreciation gradually progressing. Mr. Greenwood has supplied us with the facts of the case, which are rather simple. The progress for a long time was not very rapid. In the thirty-six years from 1850 onward—that is, down to 1886—133 places had availed themselves of the benefits of the Act. That was not a very large number, not amounting quite, upon the average, toxxi Preface. four in each of those thirty-six years; Well, but slow progress in infancy is not always a bad sign. We are not a people whose minds move very rapidly. What we hope is that they move securely, that the progress we do achieve is solid progress, and that we are not so much given, as possibly some might be, to step backwards where we have once found it our duty to step forward. Now, see the change which has taken place. We have only four years from 1887 to 1890, and in those four years no less than 77 places took advantage of the Act, so that instead of an average of less than four places in the year we have an average of more than seventeen places. Now, certainly that is rapid progress, which I think we ought to regard as satisfactory. No doubt very many questions arise, which have been ably discussed by Mr. Greenwood, and upon some of which possibly there may be differences of opinion. You are aware, for example, that under the old Acts it was in the power of any qualified person to demand a poll of the parish upon the acceptance of the Act. That was not an unreasonable proposition at the time when it was first embodied in the Act, because this foundation of libraries was not like the ordinary recognized functions of municipalities. It was in the nature of a novelty—of an outside operation; and it was not perhaps unreasonable or impolitic that the people themselves should be distinctly consulted upon the question whether they would have a library or not. They have availed themselves in various instances of the privilege of refusing. Mr. Greenwood, I think, rather complains that in one single year twelve places declined to have the Act put into operation among them. Still, until the country has fully recognized that the foundation of these libraries is an ordinary duty of the local municipality probably it would not be a bad thing that the public, the local public, should be consulted upon the question. There is another great difficulty, undoubtedly, about the extension of libraries of this kind from places of comparatively large population —to which they are now confined—into rural districts. That is a very serious difficulty, because when you have a very large population concentrated in a very small space you can give to the whole of them nearly equal interest in the library. It is accessible to all; but where you have in purely rural districts a much smaller population, distributed and diffused, perhaps, over a space perhaps twenty or fifty times larger, there it is very difficult, as persons conversant with rural districts well know, to put all upon anything like an equality with regard to their access to the library; and, of course, it is to be expected that where people do not recognize either an immediate or prospective benefit to themselves or their families, they should be less inclined to undertake the burdens which the Act enables them to impose upon themselves. Well, Mr. Greenwood, who is an advanced and zealous advocate, has a remedy for all that, and his remedy is a very simple one. The First Lord of the Treasury will at once appreciate it. His remedy is a small dose of public money, a sure and infallible specific, supplying all deficiencies, surmounting all difficulties, and curing all social evils. It may be that in old age one loses one’s nimbleness and power to keep up a competition in pace with other men. I am not at all able to follow Mr. Greenwood’s zeal in the recommendation that the Consolidated Fund should be the source of supply for institutions of this kind; but I do not wish to give up the case of villages and rural districts. We have in this country a very peculiar distribution of the land. It is held in large quantities. It is held by wealthy men; it is held by men who recognize to a great extent, and who, I hope, from generation to generation will still more largely recognize, the proposition that the possession of landed property entails great social duties; and, instead of the Consolidated Fund, what I hope is that the liberality and the enlightened judgment of these large proprietors who are scattered all over the country will meet the difficulty and enable the villages, either upon their own bases or by affiliating themselves to the town libraries—which is a plan, I believe, that has been adopted with very great effect in some places—enable them, I say, to meet the case and enjoy the great advantage of institutions of this kind. Well now, I have spoken to you of the progress that has been achieved—of the general progress; but, besides being parishioners of St. Martin’s, you are Londoners, and as Londoners it is well, I think, that you should understand how the metropolis stands in this matter. Now, for a long time the metropolis was very stiff, reluctant, and hard-hearted, and a gentleman sent to me only yesterday a letter, written by Mr. Ewart himself, fromxxii Preface. which I will make a very brief quotation. Mr. Ewart had been cognizant of the fact that in the year 1855 an attempt had been made to induce the City of London, which need not have been apprehensive of an exhaustive burden from the penny in the pound—I! believe it was a halfpenny then, but whether a penny or a halfpenny the City of London had declined to accept the Act. Mr. Ewart writes a letter to a friend, in which he says “ I trust that, notwithstanding our recent unsuccessfulness, the public library system will flourish even in the City of London.” Had Mr. Ewart happily been among us to-day, he would have seen that the faith which he entertained, and which is a very characteristic quality of men who see far into the future and work for the future, has been amply justified. For a long time London was most obdurate; down to the end of 1885—that is, thirty-six years after the Act, London had only two libraries. But in the month of June, 1890, Mr. Greenwood has shown that instead of two it had twenty-one. That is to say, the rate of increase going on in London was more rapid than in any other part of the country; and what appears likely is that these valuable institutions will in a very short time be strewn so thickly over the whole of this metropolis that there will be no parish without an establishment of the kind. That is a very satisfactory state of things, and if we are content with a moderate but ever-growing success—and that is what a prudent man ought to be content with in this world—I think we may be thankful to see what has been done in this direction, and may look forward to the future with a confident anticipation of still greater achievements. This institution is not an isolated phenomenon. The foundation of libraries is one among many features of the modem tendency and movement of British society. There is a rough question put by Mr. Carlyle. He says“ How is it there is not a library in every town ? You will find everywhere the police, a prison, and gallows; why have we not a library ? ” No doubt if we go back a period and look for particular indications of our social system, we find that they are generally of a penal and coercive character. I remember once being in a certain county —I will not name the county—but I was staying in the house of a friend in a certain county, and I said“ You have a great number of gallows in this county.” I forget the exact number, but that was the case in the different rural districts in the old times. They were not merely the ornaments of large towns where there were numbers of prisons and hundreds and thousands of criminals, but they went through the country as a local and parochial institution. I may mention, also, the venerated institution of the stocks which we have almost forgotten. Well, my friend observed to me that I was mistaken. It was not his county, but the neighbouring county. So it was. But on a little further investigation he was obliged to admit that there was in his parish a place called “ Gallows-green.” That, I am afraid, was only adding conviction to the pointing question. But a great change has taken place. We have less to do with the gallows and the prison than we had in former times, and we have more to do with another kind of agency. There is a word which has come into existence since I was young, and which indicates this wide and comprehensive change—the word “ sociology ’’—rather an awkward word, as it is not of pure parentage, but we cannot manage it any better. But it is a very important word which indicates the great system of education which is going over the country. It indicates the foundation of museums, the foundation of art galleries, the foundation of libraries. It indicates the foundation of institutions having in view the corporeal health and development of the people and the maintenance of their physical properties. Let us not suppose that because we attach importance to the foundation of libraries, museums, art galleries, and so forth, and because ink and paper are indispensable to human progress, that, we can separate what God has joined together. You cannot separate the properties of man’s body from the properties of his soul. You must develope him as a creature of body, soul, and spirit. And I rejoice to think that great attention is now given in many cases to these corporeal pursuits also, and that healthful exercise is supplied to the people. These gymnasia, or whatever they may be called, I for my part join and couple with the institutions directed to manly improvement, and as all being joint ministers in the great and good work. I do not venture to say—I do not think you would approve my thought if I did—that institutions of this order are institutions which will of themselves enable a man to attain the highest purposes for which he came into the world, or will effectuallyPreface. xxiii supply all his needs or furnish all that is required by his infirmities and his sins. It would be a very great mistake if we were to place institutions of this kind in competition with the religion which it is our happiness to profess. They are not designed to compete with that religion, far less are they to be substitutes for it. On the contrary, they hold that religion to be their parent. It is Christianity which is the parent of philanthropy—the parent of all the developments of philanthropy which has taken so many forms in which the blessed and benevolent principles of the Gospel open and expand themselves. We know that not to be an idle boast—not to be an arbitrary and unsupported opinion, and we do it in this way. When we go back to the greatest people of antiquity, when the highest faculties of man were developed, to an extent probably exceeding any development with which we are now conversant, these philanthropic developments were almost unknown. Never until Christianity came into the world did they begin, partly by sympathy and attraction, to make themselves somewhat known. But the full and large acceptance of the doctrines of true philanthropy, which the name “ sociology " was intended to embrace and recommend, was never known to mankind or put in action among mankind. And it is to the blessed influence of Christianity in my opinion that we must refer their origin. But in any case it is in no spirit of rivalry, much less in a spirit of hostility, that these institutions found themselves. We stand here upon ground which is within 50 or 100 yards of the noble church of St. Martin. That is a symptom of the friendly relations which ought to obtain, and which generally have really obtained, between the social developments of our time and the still greater, higher, holier, and more powerful and profound influences which are connected with the Gospel of our Saviour. But in how many ways are these institutions preparatory to religion and in how many ways helpful to it. But these institutions are enemies of what ? These libraries, these gymnasia, these museums, this system of public education, they are all instruments with which a war is carried on. War against what ? War against ignorance, war against brutality. Brutality and idleness are among the greatest auxiliaries by which the kingdom of evil and mischief is sustained and supported in the world. To put down these enemies and to restrict their action is a great and enormous good conferred upon mankind. When we speak of brutality persons are apt to think of this now as an idea and a tendency which have become remote. It seems as if it were buried in a long-forgotten past. But it is not a very remote past and not a past very long forgotten. We go back less than 200 years. Pastimes distinctly brutal were the habitual pastimes of the people of this country. Nor do I say that they are to be blamed for it, by members of our present community, when I recollect that cruelty has tended to lodge itself in connection with the thoughtless enjoyments of mankind in all times, and in those times they had little option, they had not employment for the mind. They had severe labour for the body, and when that labour is fixed and presses hard upon the physical powers of man, he must and will find some relief, some alleviation, some refreshment. It is the fault of those who ought to provide him with the refreshment which is better, for the want of which he is driven to the refreshment which is worse. I will not now go into the drink question which is in the minds of everybody. It would be hard to mark a class of persons as the enemies of the public good. But there is no doubt that these institu-tions are directly in competition with the public-houses of the country. And I will take it for granted that every one of those who hear me wishes them immense success in the prosecution of that competition. It is a very pleasant thing to know that the condition of our labouring population has changed in respect to the means of mental and bodily improvement in two ways. First of all the means—the institutions necessary for the purpose which did not previously exist at all have been largely provided, and are now provided more largely than ever. But there was another difficulty, and that was the hours of labour, such as they were 100 or even 50 years ago, when they were so confined that the hours absolutely necessary for food and the hours absolutely necessary for sleep, left no margin in which men of the labouring population could apply themselves to mental improvement. Now, happily, a great change *has taken place in that respect, a change which, of course, is associated possibly in some quarters with expectations that are of doubtful prudence and possibility, but these are the mere outlying incidents of every great and beneficial alteration. It can now be said thatXXIV Preface. the hours of labour, for a considerable portion at least of our workingpopulation, are fixed within bounds so reasonable, although they still leave the lot of labour sufficiently severe, yet they are fixed within such bounds that when the necessary hours of rest and food are added to them there still remains a margin which is available as real leisure for the working man for the purpose to which he seeks to apply them. Now» there is a competition for the working man who has that margin of time. There is the competition of evil soliciting him visibly and sensibly in the streets through which he passes. There may be also a competition of good in beneficial institutions of every kind which may afford him the means of employing his leisure, not only without difficulty or disadvantage, but with the greatest satisfaction to himself and the greatest advantage to his family at home, and to the children who may succeed him. His leisure may be employed in these libraries, and how happy it is to see with what zeal and promptitude all over the country the working population have exhibited their readiness to take advantage of the opportunities when once afforded them. There are other uses of libraries such as these. I have been promised the power of reference to books here. A very useful power it is, especially with regard to books whose series run out into great bulk. To all classes there is great utility in the power of reference and the uses which this institution affords, but, of course, it is to the masses of the community that they are principally valuable, and it is by those masses that they have been largely, and will be, I believe, still more and more largely, appreciated. There is one kind of appreciation, ladies and gentlemen, which I cannot help contemplating with a greater interest than another, and that is the case of the very young—the case of the intelligent growing lad, who is just beginning, perhaps only in the humble capacity of a messenger, perhaps as an apprentice, but in one or the other beginning to show that he has got in him the metal of a man which, if well used, will develope into something valuable and comparatively great for the future. Now, it is in a library like; this that a youth of that kind may derive the greatest benefit. His mind is full of material, and it is this library and such institutions that may impart the vital spark to that material, and a visit to which may inspire him with ideas altogether new, with the idea that his mind is capable of progress, that his faculties, if applied sedulously and continuously and manfully to a given purpose, will attain a valuable end. All these things he sometimes learns from the occasions of life, but there is no place perhaps among all the various occasions that ordinary life offers—there is hardly any place where he is more likely to receive that enormous benefit than he is within the walls of an institution of this kind. I do not speak of the selection of the books of the institution—a task very arduous and very difficult, but one which I have not the least doubt; will in the instance before us be admirably well performed—but on every ground I feel that to take part in inaugurating, in commending to the public notice and public interest, this library, every one of us is discharging a valuable and important public duty. The very crowd that attended us on our visit from the vicarage to the doors is a testimony how the masses of the population of London appreciate an occasion of this kind. You have got the material—you have got the human material on which to work—you have got the pecuniary means by which to work; you have put those means into operation—into beneficial operation. I express to you the most earnest desire of my heart to be that prosperity and success in social and moral improvement may attend increasingly from year to year the progress of this library. The admirable speech of the late Mr. W. H. Smith, M.P., in moving a vote of thanks to Mr. Gladstone, is given in the chapter dealing with the libraries in London, and in the account of the library then being opened. 20, Lordship Park, Stoke Newington, London, N., October 10, 1891.CONTENTS. PART I. HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE. CHAPTER I. • PAGE Introduction ................................... 1 CHAPTER IL The Place oe Public Libraries in our National Life ... 7 CHAPTER III. The Plea for Public Libraries ............... 2C CHAPTER IY. The Uses of Public Libraries ................ 34 CHAPTER Y. Early Public Libraries ........................ 46 CHAPTER YI. The Passing of the Ewart Bill of 1850 ....... 55 CHAPTER VII. The First Public Library under the Act ...... 68XXVI Contents, CHAPTER VIII. PAGE How TO BRING ABOUT TIIE ADOPTION OF THE ACTS ..... 76 CHAPTER IX. Public Libraries in the Northern Counties ... .... 91 CHAPTER X. Public Libraries in the Midland Counties ......... 151 CHAPTER XI. Public Libraries in the Eastern Counties ......... 203 CHAPTER XII. Public Libraries in the Southern and Western Counties ... 221 CHAPTER XIII. Public Libraries in Scotland ..................... 234 CHAPTER XIV. Public Libraries in Wales......................... 269 CHAPTER XV. Public Libraries in Ireland ...................... 281 CHAPTER XVI. Public Libraries in London........................ 291 PART IL PUBLIC LIBRARY ADMINISTRATION. CHAPTER XVII. Public Library Committees and Commissioners .352 CHAPTER XVIII. Public Library Funds, Buildings, &cf ........376Contents. xxvii CHAPTER XIX. PAGE The Formation of Public Libraries ............. ... 388 CHAPTER XX. Public Library Administration ... ..................409 PART III. SUBSIDIARY QUESTIONS. CHAPTER XXI. The Future of Public Libraries, and What Remains to be Accomplished..................... ... .. 420 CHAPTER XXII. The Case for Rural Public Libraries..............438 CHAPTER XXIII. Board Schools as Branch Public Libraries ........ 448 CHAPTER XXIY. The Sunday Opening of Public Libraries .......... 458 CHAPTER XXY. Public Library Lectures and Science and Art Classes ... 470 CHAPTER XXYI. Public Libraries and Technical Education ........ 479 CHAPTER XXYII. Mechanics’ Institutes, Workmen’s Clubs, and their Relation to Public Libraries .................485 CHAPTER XXYIII. The British Museum Library and its Work.......... 493XXVlll Contents. CHAPTER XXIX. PAGE Object Lessons in Public Libraries .. .. ........ 501 CHAPTER XXX. The Public Libraries of Australasia and South Africa .. 514 CHAPTER XXXI. Public Libraries in the United States and Canada .. 524 CHAPTER XXXII. Statistics of Public Libraries .....................547 APPENDICES. I.—Suggestive Paragraphs for Circulars, Handbills, &c. 558 11.--Public Libraries Acts— Public Libraries Act, 1855 565 Public Libraries A«cs Amendment Act (England), 1890......................................... 572 Museums and Gymnasiums Act, 1891.............. 577 III.—Various Forms, Instructions to Canvassers, &c. .. 581LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGffi New Public Library and Technical Schools, Ashton-under- Lyne................................. Frontispiece Oriel Window in Chetham Library Reading-room... ... 54 The late William Ewart, M.P......................... 66 Blackburn Public Library....................... ... 98 Bootle Public Library and Museum .................... 100 Bootle Public Library, Ground Floor Plan .. ..... 101 Darlington Public Library, Ground Plan ............. 106 Leeds Municipal Offices and Public Library ......... 115 Newcastle Public Library and Newsroom ............... 130 Harris Public Library, Museum, and Art Gallery, Preston ..........................................136 Sunderland Public Library, Museum, and Art Gallery 145 Wigan Reference Library 149 Birmingham Reference Library .........................158 Derby Public Library and Museum ..................... 168 Loughborough Public Library .. ......... ... ... 175 Westcotes Branch Public Library, Leicester .......... 179 Gilstrap Public Library, Newark, Ground Floor Plan ... 181 Gilstrap Public Library, Newark .................. 182 Newcastle (Staffs) Public Library and Municipal Buildings 183 Nottingham Central Public Library and University College .. ... .. .. .. ............ ... 188 Winsford Public Library.............................. 195XXX List of Illustrations, PAGE Winsford Public Library, Ground Plan ... ... . 196 Sale Public Library.....................................197 Ipswich Public Library, Museum, and School of Art ... 212 Reading Public Library, Ground Plan.....................217 Cheltenham Public Library and Schools of Art and Science ............................................227 Newport Public Library .................................229 Alloa Public Library ...................................239 Ayr Public Library.............................. ... 241 Dundee Public Library, Museum, and Art Gallery ... 244 Mr. Andrew Carnegie ....................................246 Edinburgh Public Library, Elevation.................... 249 Edinburgh Public Library, Reference Library Floor ... 250 Peterhead Public Library and Museum ............ .. 258 Swansea Public Library, Art Gallery, and School of Art 275 Belfast Public Library .................................283 Battersea Public Library, Lurline Gardens...............298 Bermondsey Public Library ...................... ... 301 Chelsea Public Library, Ground Floor ........... ... 306 Clapham Public Library .................................309 Clapham Public Library, Ground Floor ...................310 Clerkenwell Public Library ............... .. ... 312 Clerkenwell Public Library, Ground Floor................313 Library Ladder and Drawer of Card Catalogue Case ... 317 St. Martin-in-the-Fields Public Library ................331 Tate Public Library, Streatham..........................334 Westminster New Public Library ... .............337 Book Disinfecting Apparatus ............ ... .. ... 372 Standard Bookcase with Shelves on Both Sides .. ... 390 Wall Bookcase with Ledged Base ... .. .. ... 391 Library Indicator. Fig. 1....................... ... 393 Library Indicator. Fig. 2...............................394 Newspaper Stand ......................... .. .. ... 396List of Illustrations. xxxi PAGE Periodical Rack ... 397 Cloth-covered Pamphlet-boxes ... 398 Card Catalogue Cabinet . „ ... 399 Village Library, Bebington ... ... 446 Plan of Reading-room, British Museum ... 495 The James Reckitt Public Library, Hull ... 508 Sydney Public Library .. 518 New Public Library, Boston, U.S.A ... 535 Concord Public Library ... ... 538 Toronto Public Library .. 545 Colchester adopted the Acts early in October, 1891. The majority in favour was 617.PUBLIC LIBRARIES PART I. CHAPTER I. Introduction. The most sanguine friends of the Public Library movement could scarcely have desired a healthier rate of progress than has been seen during the past few years. It is of comparatively recent date that the leaders of public instruction have had to lament that so few districts had availed themselves of the Public Libraries Acts, and voluntarily taxed themselves for the support of an institution, which should be the common property of the people, and the home of the productions of the great minds of past and present periods. After an interval of thirty-six years from the passing of the Ewart Act of 1850, only 133 districts had taxed themselves with the library rate. At the present time the total number of adoptions of the Acts is approaching 240, making an addition of more than 100 in five years. This indicates that we have reached a rung of the ladder in our national life when these institutions are now looked upon as one of the chief requisites of our modern civilized life, and as an inseparable corollary of our system of education. It is furthermore becoming an accepted principle that no district can be considered complete and possess a progressive character unless it has a building inscribed as a Public Library. Pessimistic writers are fond at times of assuring us that the loving study of books is a thing of the past, that the hastily-written columns of the newspaper, with its list of murders, burglaries, railway accidents, prize-fights, and its sporting reports, have taken the place of literature in the estimation of the people. The facts hardly seem to warrant this assertion. District after district is seen adopting the Public Libraries Acts, purchasing, or collecting from the benevolent, sets of valuable books, and placing them at the disposal of the inhabitants of such localities. The2 Public Libraries. old idea, which the political economists of a generation ago disseminated so persistently, that the only business of a municipality was to pave the streets, look after the lighting and watering, and maintain public order, never took a firm hold of the people. The satisfactory rate of progress which has taken place in all directions is largely due to the fact that such an idea as that just indicated is to-day openly scouted by the majority. The passing of the Elementary Education Act in 1870 was a proclamation of the belief that the cultivation of the minds of the people was a matter of public interest. It was soon felt that the mental cultivation with which the community was concerned could not logically be confined to the training afforded by the elementary school. Further facilities were needed, and so the Public Library has come to be regarded as a legitimate part of the educational machinery of the municipality. Thanks to the enlightenment of individuals, and the generous help of public-spirited men and women, the movement for establishing these centres of knowledge has very rapidly developed during recent years ; and it will soon be looked upon as displaying a great lack of public spirit to any district to be without such an institution. But; still, notwithstanding the change which has come over public opinion with regard to these institutions, there is yet a mountain of work to be done, and our appeal is to all in towns and rural districts who care for the welfare of the community among whom they dwell, to agitate and discuss the advisability as to the formation of these institutions where they are not already established. Representatives on Town Councils, and other governing bodies, clergymen and ministers of all denominations, members of political clubs, debating and literary societies, 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 readily to sympathize with those who are less favoured, and should exert themselves to place within the reach of all a Public Library which shall be as free to them as the highways upon which they walk. The task of advocating and defending these institutions is becoming lighter with each succeeding year, for there is now a consensus of opinion that the Public Library is an institution of unquestionable utility, and it may be affirmed that the trifling addition which it makes to the rates is infinitely more than repaid by the advantages which the ratepayers reap from these institutions. The next generation will look back with astonishment at the prolonged opposition, coming sometimes from sources the least expected, with which the proposal to found these libraries has been met in certain centres usually regarded as enlightened. Some of the Continental countries may have in the aggregate more books in their libraries than we have in the libraries of Great Britain. Taking, however, a general survey of them, and especially viewing the progress that has been made in recent years, it can now be said that in none of the European countries are the libraries more free, or accessible, to the public at largeIntroduction. 3 than are the Public Libraries of this country. A very large number of the Continental libraries receive grants from municipal or imperial sources; but some are only open to the general public on certain days of the week, and at certain hours, and others have restrictions applying to them which keep them all but closed except to the favoured and the initiated. There is less officialism in our British Public Libraries than is the case at many of the Continental institutions. With us catalogues are openly accessible, and are freely provided in the libraries for the use of all comers. The only three conditions enforced upon readers in England, are clean hands, silence, and no dogs. In Germany, Austria, and France, other regulations frequently prevail which prevent the libraries from being the busy hives of readers, which in this country they have now become. To the three rules just named our American friends have added a fourth to the effect that gentlemen shall remove their hats on entering the library, and to a thoughtful man or woman a library is as sacred as a place of worship. Reviewing the principal libraries separately, the largest library in the world is that at Paris, which contains upwards of 2,000,000 printed books and 160,000 manuscripts. Between the Imperial Library at St. Petersburg and the British Museum there is not much difference. In the British Museum there are about 1,500,000 volumes. The Royal Library of Munich has now something over 900,000, but this includes many pamphlets; the Royal Library at Berlin contains 800,000 volumes; the Library at Copenhagen 510.000 ; the Library at Dresden 500,000; the University Library at Gottingen, Germany, 600,000. The Royal Library at Vienna has 400,000 volumes; and the University Library in the same city 370.000 volumes ; at Buda Pesth the University Library has 300,000 books, the corresponding Library at Cracow nearly the same number, and at Prague 205,000. The leading Austrian Libraries receive Government subsidies varying from £100 to £3,000 a year. The Vatican Library at Rome has about 120,000 printed books, and was commenced in 1378. The National Library of Paris is one of the very oldest in Europe, having been founded in 1350; and the University Library at Prague claims to have been founded the same year. Of many of these large libraries a history has yet to be written and published in this country. Some of our earliest records are of libraries. There is clear proof that the great city of Nineveh possessed a Public Library, not, of course, having in it such books as we are in the habit of handling to-day. Here were to be found some 10,000 distinct works on tablets of clay, ranging in size from one inch to twelve inches square. Egyptian libraries also stood high in the world’s records, and were in existence 2,000 years before Christ. They were mainly to be found in the temples or in the tombs of the kings. There are no specimens extant of these works. They were destroyed by the Persians in their invasion of Egypt, and scattered no one knew where. Later in the world’s history the library at Alexandria stood out in a prominent position, and contained4 Public Libraries. nearly half a million rolls. This far-famed library was the work of several monarchs, and so great was the veneration of the Egyptians for it that they looked on it almost as sacred, going so far as to inscribe over its portals these words : “ The hospital for the soul.” The ends of the earth were ransacked to enrich its shelves, and, as was the custom of the times, the would-be possessors were not too particular how they came by their literary treasures. It is related that one of the Ptolemies absolutely refused to supply the famine-stricken Athenians with corn until they furnished him with certain original manuscripts which he coveted. Fancy the Queen declining to subscribe to a Mansion House Relief Fund unless the City Fathers yielded up to Her Majesty the private papers of Sir Richard Whittington! In Greece there were different libraries, great men like Pisi-stratus making their own collections. Rome, which took its model from Greece in all matters of art and social science, had also its great collection of books. In the fourth century after Christ there were no fewer than twenty-eight different libraries in Rome, showing that great progress had been made. In the Christian era also at Constantinople, Constantine established a library, of which there are no known remains. In mediaeval days not much was done in the way of forming libraries, except in the monasteries, which had their respective staffs of copyists and illuminators, whose duty it was to copy works lent from other monasteries, which then became part of their own library. Of the large libraries in the United States, the Boston Public Library comes next to the Congressional, with about 540,963 volumes (including the duplicates in its branches). The Harvard University collection follows with about 350,000. The National Library, however, of the United States is destined to surpass all, for it is to contain, when completed, 3,000,000 volumes. Counting all, there are in the United States about 5,500 libraries, of which fully 450 are Public Libraries, as the term is understood in this country. Notwithstanding that in point of number we are behind some European countries and the United States, Great Britain will hold its own in the actual use made of the books, and this after all is the fairest comparison and truest test which can be applied. The enormous distance Russia is behind the times in the matter of providing for the intellectual wants of her people is evident from the fact that the first public reading-room in the Muscovite Empire was opened only a very few years ago in St. Petersburg. The room is connected with a good library, to which books have been contributed by some public-spirited citizens. Admittance is free, and permission is given to borrow books for reading at home. The new institution is named after Pushkin, the novelist. But that the foundation of the Pushkin Public Library has no significance as indicating a change of policy on the part of the Russian authorities towards literature and the press, is evident from the fact that the Government hasIntroduction. 5 issued an order forbidding the editors of newspapers in Russian Poland to receive foreign exchanges! As one wanders about among the vast libraries in which some great English families keep under lock and key many rare editions of famous books, worth their weight in gold, the reflection is inevitable that valuable as are these collections, they are not put to the best use within the range of possibility. Bound faultlessly, and shut up in elaborately carved oak bookcases that are seldom opened, inaccessible save to a favoured few, and on occasions of great rarity, they become little more than expensive articles of furniture. Books, like coins, are only performing their right function when they are in circulation. Hoarded up, the coins become only so much metal, and the books only so much paper and leather. In a Public Library, books begin to really live among the people, and to exert an influence for good upon them. Oh! ye gentlemen of England, who are said to “ live at home at ease,” is this not worth remembering ? There are vacant shelves of Public Libraries throughout the country waiting to be filled. Let these gaping shelves appeal to you! By placing your treasures upon them a new lease of life would be given to books so long prized, and it is impossible to say where, along the line of the generations to come, they would cease to gratify and instruct. To the possessors of wealth an even more urgent appeal is made. For all the large-hearted generosity which has during the last few years flowed out towards these institutions all the friends of this movement are grateful. But the high-water mark of giving to Public Libraries has not yet, it is sincerely to be hoped, been reached. There are thousands of English, Scotch, Welsh, and Irish villages, and very many towns which are absolutely devoid of any serious effort to meet the demand for books to read. Will the wealthy not make it possible for one or other of these places to cherish the memory of their aid given them to establish a library for the people P In what manner can the opulent better employ their riches than this ? A Public Library with its books lives for ever, and this way of perpetuating a name may be commended to the rich, and so bestowing on generations to come a priceless blessing. There are hundreds of successful manufacturers and merchants who have in their power the means to benefit the district in which their lot is cast. Gifts of books secure a perpetual blessing, and there will be seen in future years, it is hoped, much large-hearted giving for Public Library purposes, either in the way of sites or money, buildings or books. Unlike help bestowed upon charities, gifts to Public Libraries benefit all classes without the least taint of charity or sectarianism attaching to such gifts. Wealth can confer no better far-reaching utility than by being bestowed upon these institutions. Many charitable gifts pauperize, notwithstanding high and pure motives on the part of the donor. Not so, however, when exercised in this way. The tendency of the gift is to elevate, to open out in the minds of an incalculable number of people new avenues of6 Public Libraries. life, new inspirations, and new pleasures. Future generations will bless the memory of the man who gives libraries and books, and for ages after the donor is gone ; hence the gift accomplishes solid and lasting good, and cannot fall into abuse as some schools and other institutions have done. The system of popular control keeps them healthy and vigorous. Would that there were more bequests to these institutions! What can confer more universal good than a Public Library or Museum ? If a suggestion will be permitted to those who are intending to distinguish themselves in this way, it is to make the gift conditional on the town or district adopting the Public Libraries Acts for its maintenance. Too great stress cannot be laid upon this, because by no other course of action can the library be brought in perpetuity under the administration of the elected authorities of the people. This is infinitely preferable to any safeguards as to trustees and their successors. It is the first outlay which very often frightens the inhabitants, and if this difficulty can be bridged by a noble gift being made to a town if they will maintain it, few places would give a negative reply to such an offer. There is no desire to cast any reflections upon other institutions which are constantly laying their appeals before the benevolent, but it is legitimate to point out that in connection with these institutions the gift in its entirety would go towards the specific object intended by the donor. There is no expensive staff of secretaries, collectors, and others to pay out of it, and the residue, if there happens to be any, to then go for the purpose for which it is intended. Down to the last penny the public would reap the benefit of the gift. This is an important feature, well, worth while being kept in mind. The extension of Public Libraries cannot, however, wait until the benevolent make up their minds to act, or until their wills are read, and bequests of this nature made known. Book-hunger is real and earnest, and can be met in no other way than by each district calmly and dispassionately deciding the question for itself. To stimulate these places into action is the earnest purpose of this work. The following stanzas from a poem, written by Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, to celebrate the laying of the foundation stone of a new Public Library at Boston, U.S.A., will be welcomed by our own library builders and supporters :— i ‘ Can freedom breathe if ignorance reign ? Shall commerce thrive where anarchs rule ? Will faith her half-fledged brood retain If darkening counsels cloud the school? Let in the light ! From every age Some gleams of garnered wisdom pour, And fixed on thought’s electric page, Wait all their radiance to restore. Let in the light! On diamond mines Their gems invite the hand that delves ; So learning’s treasured jewels shine, Ranged on the alcove’s ordered shelves.The Place of Public Libraries in our National Life. 7 From history’s scroll the splendour streams, From science leaps the living ray; Flashed from the poet’s glowing dreams The opal fires of fancy play. Let in the light! These windowed walls Shall brook no shadowing colonnades; But day shall flood the silent halls Till o’er yon hills the sunset fades. Behind the ever-open gate No pikes shall fence a crumbling throne, No lackeys cringe, no courtiers wait— This palace is the people’s own! ” CHAPTER II. The Place of Public Libraries in our National Life. There is no more marked characteristic of onr national life than the growing self-dependence of the people, which has been the outcome of municipal corporations. Where these corporations are the strongest and most vigorous, there must we look for the highest sense of the duties of citizenship and the most self-reliant populations. It is again in these municipalities, such as Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, and Nottingham, that the most has been done for the education of the people, in the way of Board Schools, Public Libraries, Museums, and Technical Schools. The same municipalities have the best street lighting and street cleansing arrangements, and the police force are under the most perfect control. Surely this fact should dispel the fear that the energies of the poor in the way of self-help may be relaxed, and the rich become apathetic to their higher duties, by the spread of Public Libraries and kindred institutions, supported out of the same funds as are the local police, the street lighting and cleansing. It may be asked, What is a corporation ? There are various kinds, but we are here concerned with the corporation as a body politic elected by the people, and responsible to them. The word is used as equivalent to incorporated joint-stock companies, where the whole of the citizens are shareholders and are banded together for a common purpose, that purpose being the common weal of the entire local community. The one vital principle which surrounds corporations is that they are gifted with perpetual life. They may well have been in some laws designated immortal, although in some cases their privileges have run only for a definite number of years, but during the period, when well organized, they cannot die, notwithstanding all the original members are withdrawn, for they are continued by succession. A corporation has, in fact, been compared to a stream which maintains its identity throughout8 Public Libraries. all the continuous changes of its parts. Men come and go, Acts of Parliament are passed and become often a dead letter, to swell the number of much similarly cumbrous stuff already on the statute book, but the corporation lives on. In many of our municipal corporations all the men who were elected representatives when the charter was first granted have gone over to the majority, but the tide of corporate life is not stayed; yea, rather, time has consolidated and added strength. This is the main reason why no private enterprise can possibly do for Public Libraries and education what the corporation can do, and it is on this rests the plea for municipal Public Libraries, Museums, and Technical Schools, which shall be the property of the citizens, administered by their own elected representatives, and forming an integral part of the local life. Lord Salisbury, when speaking a few months ago at a Mansion House banquet, said that while the Executive Government of the country recognises the importance of municipal institutions, so long will this country of ours maintain its prestige, but if the day should ever come when the Government of the country fails to appreciate the value and importance of municipalities then, indeed, our progress would be downward and not upward. The term “ratepayer” is a designation altogether cramped and unsuitable: the general use of the name citizen or burgess would be an infinitely better and more appropriate one. There can scarcely be a more pressing matter of importance at the present time than that of infusing into the minds of the people a high sense of the duties and privileges of citizenship. It is a happy and healthy characteristic of public life in this country that in the midst of controversies which go down to the roots of our national "existence, our statesmen of all parties are regarded by their countrymen as men of light and leading, whose views on subjects of general and non-political interest are entitled at all times to respectful hearing and attention. This same characteristic is evident in municipal life, and men of opposite politics meet and discuss matters for the general good. Around what institutions could local life better gather than Museums ' and Public Libraries ? There is too much sentimental patriotism, too much lip patter about love of country, and far too little of the real thing itself. National patriotism is an excellent thing, but so also is local patriotism, and no institutions are more likely to cultivate the latter quality than these. The State has not done everything for the people that it is called upon to do when it has provided a gaol, a workhouse, a lunatic asylum, a policeman, and a share in the common hangman. Why, again, should our pauper life be so heavy a tax on the thrifty and rich? Why is it not made more self-supporting either in farm labour or other ways P Not that its being brought into competition with the labour out of its doors is advocated, but surely in the raising of food, and in the making of their own clothing, there is ample scope for such productive labour. Oh ye great British people, with all your wealth and boasted commonThe Place of Public Libraries in our National Life. g sense, how long is this national waste of money and force to go on, and the country idly look on, content with an occasional futile protest ? The more vigorous grumbling seems to be when educational matters are under discussion, and with the majority the huge leaks in our national expenditure are forgotten or hidden from view. The higher life of the citizen has received too little attention, and the lower and baser life seems to have absorbed all the sympathy and care of the authorities. But we have touched the fringe of better days, and soon no municipality or local governing body will be considered complete unless it has under its administration a library and a museum, as well as a workhouse, a prison, and the preservers of law and order. It is for the provision for this higher national life that this plea is made, and upon municipalities is earnestly urged the need of giving the fullest and best attention to this question. The fact should be emphasized that the municipality can do for the people in the way of libraries and museums what cannot possibly be done by private enterprise. It may be unhesitatingly asserted that in fullest usefulness, economical management, and best value for money invested, the existing rate-supported libraries are far in advance of the private institutions of this nature. It is some forty years since Carlyle asked the question, “ Why is there not a Majesty’s library in every county town? there is a Majesty’s gaol and gallows in every one; ” and it is as long since the Public Libraries Act was passed, and yet the lack of libraries is still one of the most startling deficiencies in these islands. We have given the people ever greater and greater political power, but they displayed no marked inclination to benefit themselves by means of books or other means of culture. “ We must now educate our masters,” said Mr. Lowe when the Reform Bill of 1867 was passed. He was quite right, for the said masters were by no means quick to educate themselves, and the number of Public Libraries which they consented to establish for three years after 1867 was about ten. Then came Mr. Forster’s Education Act: that was not permissive, and great things were expected of it. Now that everybody was to be taught his letters, everybody would surely want books to read also. What, indeed, would be the good of teaching people to read at all unless they were also to have a supply of good books ? You might as well teach a man the use of his knife and fork and then not give him any meat. Public Libraries would be the natural and legitimate outcome of compulsory education. So it was confidently expected, but the expectations have only been partially fulfilled, as a perusal of the present volume shows. The effect of education upon crime has been a subject much discussed by social reformers. It may be assumed that there is a relation between the two things, although it is not possible to ascertain the precise ratio in which crime diminishes with the spread of education. It may, however, be maintained that the increase of mental power raises the mind of the people above theIO Public Libraries. temptations which lead to crime, and that, as a rule, mental and moral strength are likely to advance together. The case is stronger when we regard education not merely as a process by which knowledge is imparted, but as a system of careful training in which the subject is surrounded by guiding, restraining, and uplifting influences, when the environment of the individual is of a character to bring out its best characteristics, and to check the growth of selfishness and passion. The effect of such a course of what in the best sense must be called education may be expected to be greatest when it is employed towards the children of that class of parents who do not or cannot perform the primary parental duties. It is well known that there exists a degraded residuum from which the criminal class is constantly recruited. The result is seen in the records of the police-courts, where conviction after conviction is recorded against the same person. It is therefore a problem of the greatest social importance to ascertain how far the higher and better influences of education can be brought to bear upon these children, and if it is possible to cut off the entail of misery, to bar the gates of crime, and, as Dickens says, “ throw but ajar the portals to a decent life.” Such a question as this has long formed an interesting subject for speculative discussion amongst moral and social philosophers. On the one side we are told that the influence of heredity is too great to be overcome, that the criminal is born, and not made, and that, however well intended, such efforts at moral reform are doomed to disappointment. On the other side, the more hopeful spirits maintain that, whatever may be the tendencies derived from parentage, there is sufficient elasticity and adaptability in the moral nature of humanity to enable us to act upon it effectually if care is taken that all the surroundings of the individual are properly and judiciously selected. In another fifteen or twenty years, when some millions more children have passed through the Board Schools, and Public Libraries and other similar institutions have been established all over the kingdom, then we shall become a cultivated people. In these or similar words, half hopeful, half regretful, the grown-up generation summarize their estimate of popular culture. The Board School is the star to steer by; the Board School boy and girl are the hope of civilization. There is humility in the confession. But while Young England is, doubtless, a fine promising fellow, something may surely be also said for his seniors. If the question is considered closely, it is found that what the adult generation of working men—using this last word in its ordinary acceptation—have accomplished in self-instruction for themselves is as promising a feature of modern society as the progress which the young are making, more or less under compulsion. The increased access to the great stores of literature, brought about by the establishment of Public libraries, is, therefore, one of the indications which help to show us the tendency of the educational movement of the present day. That tendency is strongly towards the equality which means the placing of theII The Place of Public Libraries in our National Life. same opportunities of knowledge within the reach of all. The University Extension movement, with its gatherings of students at the great shrines of knowledge, is a striking illustration of the tendency. But that extension has rested largely upon voluntary work, and the devotion of the students themselves to the branches of knowledge taught by the university lecturers. The Public Library movement, however, represents the determination of the community to offer special facilities for the cultivation of the mind at the expense of the community itself. The readiness of the people to second and support that determination shows how great has been the growth of the feeling, not only among individuals, but among the public at large. The educational welfare of the multitude has at length become a matter of importance to us all. There has been a revolution in public opinion as to the true functions of Public Libraries. For a time they may be said to have had only a slight relation to the life of the community, but the authorities are now ready to acknowledge that success or failure is to be measured by the extent to which they come in contact with and shape for good the mental life of the nation. The subject of local taxation is inseparably a part of this large question. The present system under which, in England and Wales, the first incidence of local taxation (with some slight exceptions) falls on the occupier and not on the owner of lands and tenements, is unjust; such owners ought in equity to bear at least a moiety of these charges. The system under which country mansions are rated is unfair. The owners of ground rents in towns are liable to no part of those charges the outlay of which is essential in order that the property may possess any marketable value whatever. This is a matter which lies closer to the roots of our national life than the public are generally aware. It is to some large readjustment of the present inequalities of local taxation that we must look in the immediate future for a much larger impetus to be given to the movement for the formation of these libraries than has yet been known. A very interesting study is afforded by comparing the gross rates in the pound per year on the ratable value levied in towns in various parts of the country. A glance at the following list will probably produce a series of surprises to many readers:— Accrington .. Total s. d. ..4 4 Bates. Brighton .. .. s. d. ..4 7 Ashton-under-Lyne .. 4 5 Bristol ..5 0 Barrow-in-Furness .. 3 0 Burton-on-Trent .. ..5 1 Blackburn .. . . 5 2 Burnley .. 3 11 Blackpool .. 4 2 Cambridge .. ..40 Bolton .. 4 3 Cardiff ..42 Bradford 5 5 Carlisle .. 3 1012 Public Libraries. Chester s. .. 4 d. 6 Newcastle-on-Tyne s. . 4 d. 2 Colchester .: .. 6 Northampton . 5 n Coventry .. 6 0 Norwich .. 7 10è Darlingtpn .. .. 5 5 Nottingham . 5 8 Dewsbury .. 6 1 Oldham . 2 6* Gateshead .. .. .. 5 8 Plymouth . 5 8 Grantham .. 4 4.1 Preston . 5 8 Halifax .. 6 1 Rochdale . 5 7 Huddersfield .. 4 7 Sheffield . 6 8 Hull .. 5 10 Southport . 3 8 Ipswich .. .. .. .. 5 2 Sunderland . 4 6 Lancaster .. 3 0 St. Helens . 2 10 Leicester .. .. .. 3 8 Swansea . 7 6 Lincoln .. 3 9 Wakefield .. .. . . 7 0 Lowestoft .. 5 9 Wigan . 4 8 Macclesfield .. .. 5 8 Wisbeach . 7 6 Maldon .. 5 6 Wolverhampton .. . . 6 9 Manchester .. .. 4 6 York . 4 24 Middlesborough .. .. 5 7 Yarmouth . 6 10 These gross rates include the rates for poor, county and cemetery, borough, watch, School Board, .Public Library, bath, and general district, and are from the returns furnished to the author by town treasurers and others during 1891. The proportion of abatement from the gross rental varies so much throughout the country that it is impossible to give particulars here of this abatement. Fifty-two towns are here given as providing the best comparison. Out of these the total number having rate-supported Public Libraries is thirty-seven. The town not possessing these useful institutions among those quoted are—Accrington, Burnley, Burton, Colchester, Grantham, Huddersfield, Hull, Lancaster, Lincoln, Maldon, Wakefield, Wisbeach, and York. It will be observed that some among these last-named towns are among the highest rated. Why Lancaster should have gross rates amounting to 3s. in the pound per year, and the Wisbeach rates reach 7s. 6d., are questions which this is not the place to discuss. When a few of the more pressing questions of the day are disposed of some of our public men will, no doubt, turn their attention to the pregnant lessons to be gathered from local rating. This is a ’question which is more closely allied to the spread of Public Libraries than is 'at first glance apparent. The English taxpayer swallows the camel of imperial and local expenditure, and strains at the gnat. One million paupers cost us annually ten pounds per head, and the police and gaol service an infinitely larger sum. There is no complaint against these heavy drains on the public purse, but the complaint is only too often heard against the paltry number of millions which education, the national libraries, and kindred institutions cost the nation. Our imperial expenditure runs to £90,000,000 a year, and from this stream ofThe Place of Public Libraries in our National Life. 13 national money less than six millions go for education, and the maintenance of the British Museum, South Kensington, and their two or three branches. This expenditure for Education, Science, and Art, is shown by the following table. The figures are for the financial year 1889-90 :— England. Public Education, England and Wales ... £3,683,887 Science and Art Department, United Kingdom 451,061 British Museum 154,226 National Gallery 14,480 National Portrait Gallery 2,174 Learned Societies (United Kingdom) 24,500 London University 14,810 29,000 Universities and Colleges, Great Britain Scotland. Public Education ... £574,924 Universities 17,246 National Gallery 2,300 Ireland. Public Education £854,968 Teachers’ Pension Office 1,039 Endowed Schools Commissioners 655 National Gallery 2,498 Queen’s Colleges 10,523 Royal Irish Academy 2,000 £5,840,291 Six millions out of ninety of the imperial exchequer is not by any means extravagant for education. The total local revenue of the United Kingdom, of which about 60 per cent, is derived from the rates, is now over fifty millions sterling each year. The amount spent upon Public Libraries and Museums under the Acts, is less than £200,000 a year. This includes all the places which have up to the present adopted the Acts. Truly from one point of view we are a nation of Pecksniffs. England is everlastingly setting the world right, and at our own door there are abuses and injustices crying aloud for adjustment. The Hon. Auberon Herbert, brother of the late Earl of Carnarvon, and one of the most prominent of our individualist friends, is entitled to the credit of having produced an entirely new suggestion. He is the chosen orator of a new organisation, the object of which is to get rid of compulsory taxation, and to substitute voluntary taxes, to be paid on voluntary assessment, and to be collected presumably by voluntary agency. Mr. Herbert has assigned a good many "extraordinary reasons in support of this idea. Compulsory taxation, he thinks, is no better than a bribery fund to be used by political parties; it leads to extravagance ; and it encourages the politician. Now Mr. Herbert wants to get rid of the politician; he is a person who does no good, who puts his hands into other people’s pockets,I4 Public Libraries. and who, by helping to impose compulsory taxation, “ thrusts a bar of steel into the human organism.” Somehow, Mr. Herbert seems to think if there were no taxes otherwise than those self-imposed, and paid only if people chose to pay them, we should obtain that control over the national expenditure which Parliaments and Governments now fail to exercise. Everyone will agree with him in the view that there ought to be more control over our imperial expenditure, but his way of arriving at this desirable end is somewhat novel. The one great need of the age, and it is one which cannot be too strongly emphasized, is the appointment, without delay, of a Minister of Public Instruction. After many contradictions of various natures, the country has seen the appointment of a Minister of Agriculture. And so there is room for large hope that the next new public official, with or without a seat in the Cabinet, will be a Minister whose department shall have under its control the entire system of our national education, Public Libraries, Museums, and technical schools. The same official would, of course, be responsible for our national institutions, comprising the British Museum, South Kensington, and their offshoots in Edinburgh, Dublin, and elsewhere. This is a subject vital to the educational interests in our national life, and if the press and those who aid in forming public opinion will only take up the matter vigorously, we may soon be within measurable distance of seeing a Minister of Public Instruction appointed. In this respect our own Government are behind other Governments. The value of the governmental reports upon the libraries of the United States is fully recognized by all who take an interest in the work of libraries. When the little which has been done in this country is compared with what has been in this respect done by the United States and German Governments, the comparison is greatly against us. There is before us at the present moment the whole of the Blue Books and parliamentary returns referring to Public Libraries which have been presented to the British House of Commons. It will be interesting to name them in the order in which they have been issued. First and foremost are the reports from the select committee on Public Libraries issued in 1849 and 1850. Each of these is a volume of between 300 and 400 pages of elaborate statistics, and the evidence before the select committee appointed in 1849 on the best means of extending the establishment of libraries freely open to the public. Judging from the cost of other select committees and commissions, the net cost to the country of this committee must have been some thousands of pounds. These two Blue Books constitute our one national ewe lamb in publications of real value dealing with Public Libraries. Then follow the other returns, which can be dismissed in a sentence. In 1852 there was a return of Public Libraries, some of which had adopted the Ewart Act of 1850. This return consists of nine pages. Then, in 1856, there was a further return, and as matters were growing a little this reached a total of fifteenThe Place of Public Libraries in our National Life. 15 pages. In 1857 the House of Commons added a further instalment of six pages, the extent of an utterly useless return. Our legislators kindly took a rest after so laborious a task, and for twelve years there was no official document issued respecting these institutions. They then gave us a return of libraries and museums actually reaching twenty-nine pages. There was then a further leap to 1875, when we have a further instalment of thirty-one pages. Those in charge of this return must have been napping, for all through it there is the term “ Free Libraries Acts ”—a designation which had not appeared in the Acts themselves, and the use of such a phrase ought never to have been allowed to creep into this parliamentary document. In 1876 there appeared the bulkiest of these returns. This is a Blue Book of statistics totalling up to ninety-one pages. So exhausted did Parliament become after so extraordinary an effort that nothing appeared between a short return of 1877 and one of 1885, to be purchased for a penny. In the spring of 1890 a return of Public Libraries under the Acts was called for by a Scotch member. This is supposed to give all the places where the Acts had been adopted prior to the 25th March, 1890, and some statistics of the number of books and issues. As a specimen of slovenly return making, it would be difficult to surpass it, and it is about as disgraceful a production of its kind as could be named. Places are given where the Acts have not yet beeil adopted, and places where the Acts had been adopted at the time the return was made are omitted. The return represents little else but a gross waste of public money. It has thus been left to private individuals, out of a pure desire to serve the commonwealth, to supply the deficiency, and to do what should have been done by Government long ago. It is perhaps too bad to expose the nakedness of the land to this extent, but it is only a reiteration of a few simple and pertinent facts which wakes up John Bull to the flood of utterly useless talk at St. Stephen’s, and how small a portion of what is done there touches the vitals of our national life. It is not further statistical returns for which it is necessary to plead. That has now been done. But in the making of a department in the State where Public Libraries and Museums will find a centre and a head. Further, the most pressing educational need which can be advanced is that of State aid for the formation and maintenance of Public Libraries in villages—a question which is more fully discussed in a succeeding chapter. The most ready reply which is given to these requests for State aid to national institutions is, Where is the money to come from for the purpose P That, surely, with the resources which lie at hand should not be an insurmountable difficulty. If it were a question of a few additional pensions, or a new torpedo—the “ Brennan ” cost us £100,000 in 1891—the matter would doubtless be solved in a prompt way. As a commentary on the cry of an empty exchequer, there may be quoted the following two or three salient facts. A Government clerk recently died at Ventnor,i6 Public Libraries. in the Isle of Wight, who was a contemporary in official harness of Charles Lamb and John Stuart Mill. This in itself is not a remarkable event to chronicle. The special point in his case is, that he retired from the public service under medical certificate of unfitness in 1835, and that during fifty-four years he drew a pension. In the Chancery Court, a side clerk was retired at the age of thirty-one on a pension of £1,381; and a sworn clerk, whose emoluments had averaged £6,580 a year, was pensioned off with £4,953 a year ; another side clerk was granted £1,540 a year at the age of twenty-nine. The Accountant-General took £4,200 a year, and a humble door-keeper got £366 a year. In the Office of Works we find the surveyor retiring in 1875, after seven-and-a-half years’ service, with a pension of £800 ; and the Clerk of the Furniture went off to draw £306 a year from the revenues of the country. The most outrageous example, however, of “ reorganization ” is afforded by the case of the Rev. Thomas Thurlow, a nephew of Lord Chancellor Thurlow, who was “ Patentee of Bankrupts,” and “ Keeper and Clerk of the Hanaper.” These sinecures were abolished when he was forty-three, and he was given pensions (as compensation) amounting in the aggregate to £11,715 a year, which pensions he continued to draw for forty years. Records of this character are not scarce in the English service. How long Englishmen will tolerate with indifference this waste of national money it is difficult to say. It would be too much to expect the Government, whichever party is in power, to attack these abuses. They perpetually, with their ideas of economy, carp and grumble at the moneys already expended in the interest of science, literature, and art, and are too disposed to cut down the scanty grant to the British Museum, the South Kensington Museum, and other national institutions. It can hardly be expected that the State will establish a Departmental Register of English literature, such as the Keeper of the Public Records has under his control ; yet the advantages of such, or a similar permanent record and means of intercommunication between widely scattered libraries and librarians need only be mentioned to be appreciated. Nor is it wise in this connection to forget that Public Libraries abroad frequently possess unique treasures which are not in any of our collections—Wittemberg, Berne, Basle, and Vienna containing, especially, rarities of considerable literary importance. China is waking up in the matter of Public Libraries. A Public Library was established recently in Canton city. Speaking officially of the inauguration of this institution, the Viceroy of the province declared “ how important it is to the good government of the country that educational projects should be promoted, so that the people may gain the benefits of good learning.” With the Public Library is connected a large printing establishment for the production of “good and useful books, whereby the present and the past may be compared, help obtained in the path of rectitude, and morals and manners strengthened.” The ViceroyThe Place of Public Libraries in our National Life. 17 himself, with certain benevolent associations and trade guilds, subscribed a sum equivalent to £11,000 for the maintenance of this institution, and the interest of this, and annual subscriptions promised, yield an annual income of £2,000. The Japanese are going beyond this. The Government of that progressive country sent over Mr. J. Tanaka as a special commissioner to spend two years in this country, the United States, and some parts of the Continent, to study the Public Library system. This accomplished gentleman left England on his return to Japan in December, 1889, and in several conferences which the present writer had with him prior to his departure, he gave an outline of the plan he has suggested to his Government for establishing Public Libraries throughout Japan. As chief librarian of the national library at Tokio, his experience is not by any means slight. The permissive feature, which forms so essential a part of our library work in England, is to be entirely absent in Japan, and municipalities and other governing bodies are to have the power of establishing Public Libraries, and the cost of maintenance, without any restrictions as to the amount, is to come out of the general local taxation. It will thus be seen from this and other facts that as a nation we must indeed be up and doing. The place of Public Libraries in our national life is of so great importance that it cannot be over-estimated. The growing popularity of these institutions proves this unmistakably. One of many examples which could be named is that at one of the London Public Libraries very recently established under the Acts, a most unusual and encouraging scene was witnessed. The building had been closed for a week for the ordinary purpose of cleaning and arranging, so that readers had been deprived of their privileges for that short period. When the day of reopening arrived the doors were surrounded by an eager crowd. This happened in Lambeth, and at West Norwood the road was blocked by an expectant throng of three or four hundred people long before the library was opened. All day long the people came pouring in to borrow books, and at nightfall no fewer than 1,148 volumes had been taken out—about one-fifth of the whole stock the lending library possesses. At the other Public Library, almost at the opposite end of the parish, similar scenes were witnessed, and the number of books distributed there in the day was 1,009. These facts are as good a testimonial in favour of Public Libraries as could well be conceived. Give a man the run of a large library, and free him from the anxious reflection that the money it costs him, be it ever so little, might be more profitably spent elsewhere, and he is open on all sides to refining influences, many of them not due to literature itself. Should he want it, he will acquire the civility of silence in a public reading-room, and he will emulate the courtesy which oils the wheels of every organization. Too much, perhaps, is made of the Puritanical argument that a taste for literature keeps a man away from the pot-house. The bane of luxury lies not m moderate indulgence, but in excess. 2i8 Public Libraries. Time, and health, and mental energy may be wrongfully frittered away in reading as well as in tippling. But a temperate gratification of one pleasure is the strongest of all checks to excessive indulgence in another. The natural faculties of the mind are exercised in wholesome recreation in the Public Library. They ripen in the active work of life, in intercourse with active minds ; but in solitude and in idle company they rot. And from a literary playground, where they may gain health and vigour for these faculties, many of the poorer classes, who may in no disrespectful sense be called children in intellect, are debarred by lack of means. Thus, to view the matter from a point whence only its narrow aspect of mere entertainment is visible, much may be said for the institution of Public Libraries throughout the entire country. The Chancellor of the Exchequer promised us in his 1891 Budget a considerable share of the surplus towards assisted education, and many people who are protesting loudly against what is not quite accurately called “ free education ” in elementary schools, seem to overlook the fact that, under the Public Libraries Acts, something very much like free education is being provided not only for the children of the poorer classes, but for the sons and daughters of the middle classes, and all classes, so far as they choose to read or borrow the thousands of educational works placed at their disposal. The Public Library is the university of the working man. But a university is not for every man. Its true value is only appreciated by those whose previous training fits them to profit by its advantages. Books are only valuable to those who know how to read them, and libraries are only valuable to those who know how to use them. Nevertheless, the growth of the Public Library system is at least a proof of the gradual development of more active intellectual interests throughout the industrial community. This is an advantage in every way. It is indisputable that the industrial competition throughout the world is daily becoming more and more a competition of intelligence. It is certain that if we cannot hold our own in this com-'petition, we must make up our minds to witness the beginnings of national decline. Knowledge is power, and in the long run it is the only power that prevails. But it is as well not to forget, in the recognition of the power that dwells in" knowledge, that knowledge is a good in itself, and contains attractions within itself. Intellectual pursuits, even such as men immersed in daily industry can compass, often carry within themselves their own best fruits to the pursuer. In the present condition of the world we can none of us afford to neglect the material profit that resides in knowledge and in the cultivation of the intelligence; but knowledge, like virtue, is its own true reward, and the pleasures of a cultivated intelligence are so pure and so unalloyed that even if no profit ensued from them they are worthy of pursuit for their own sake alone. It is clear that as a nation we are on the right road to educational excellence, and have become, if we may put any trust in arithmetic and appearances, a nation of learnedThe Place of Public Libraries in our National Life. 19 and learning people. From the swaddling clothes of Celtic Uruidism, the youthful habiliments of Saxon Paganism, and the corduroys of mediaeval barbarism and ignorance, we have come to the full, well-made garments (mentally) of science, art, and general useful knowledge. Epictetus said that you will “do the greatest service to the State if you should raise not the roofs of the houses, but the souls of the citizens; for it is better that great souls should dwell in small houses rather than for mean slaves to burrow in great palaces.” Sir John Herschel uttered a similar truth when he said that “ there is a want too much lost sight of in our estimation of the privations of the humbler classes, though it is one of the most incessantly craving of all our wants, and is actually the impelling power which, in the vast majority of cases, urges men into vice and crime—it is the want of amusement.” Like the indulgence of all other appetites, it only requires to be kept within due bounds, and turned upon innocent or beneficial objects, to become a spring of happiness ; but gratified to a certain moderate extent it must be, in the case of every man, if we desire him to be either a useful, active, or contented member of society. It is therefore a matter of very great consequence, that those who are at their ease in this world should look about for means of harmless gratification to the industrious and well-disposed classes, who are prepared to prize highly every accession of true enjoyment. Of all the amusements which can possibly be imagined for a hard-working man after his daily toil, or in its intervals, there is nothing like reading an entertaining book. It calls for no bodily exertion, of which he has had enough or too much. It relieves his home of its dulness and sameness, which, in nine cases out of ten, is what drives him to the ale-house, to his own ruin and to that of his family. Supposing him to have been fortunate in the choice of his book, and to have alighted upon one really good, what a source of domestic enjoyment is laid open! He may read it aloud, or get his wife to read it, or his eldest boy or girl, or pass it round from hand to hand. A feeling of common interest and pleasure is excited. Nothing unites people like companionship in intellectual enjoyment. It does more, it gives them self-respect, that corner-stone of all virtue. If we would generate a taste for reading, we must begin by pleasing. Give a man this taste, and the means of gratifying it, and you can hardly fail of making him a happy man. He is at once placed in contact with the best society in every period of history, with the wisest, the wittiest, with the tenderest, the bravest, and the purest characters who have adorned humanity. It is hardly possible but the character should take a higher and better tone. There is a gentle, but perfectly irresistible coercion in a habit of reading, well directed over the whole tenor of a man’s character, which is not the less effectual because it works insensibly. The one truth which it appears necessary to bring home again and again to the heart of the people is the sense of the duties and responsibilities of citizenship, and it may be maintained20 Public Libraries. that Public Libraries and Museums, with their concomitants of reading-rooms, lectures, and all the other departments which are now being added are the institutions, par excellence, which are best calculated to bring home the privileges of citizenship. And so in the immediate future the place of Public Libraries in our national life will be more and more firmly established. These progressive instincts in our national life find an echo in the language of Lowell:— “New occasions teach new duties ! Time makes ancient good uncouth ; They must upward still, and onward, Who would keep abreast of Truth.” CHAPTER III. The Plea for Public Libraries. As a question purely social and absolutely free from the influences of party politics or religious prejudices, the Public Library movement has rapidly risen to importance. All movements, however, having for their object the good of the commonwealth, appear to the promoters to make but slow progress, and were it not that the leading force in efforts for social reforms comes, as a rule, from men of persistent determination and undaunted perseverance, many a question would be allowed to die a natural death long before it passed the Rubicon. The process of educating the public on a subject requires unlimited time and patience ; and opposition, coming as it frequently does from unexpected sources, makes the work at times diificult and very arduous. Not a few pressing reforms, again, are doomed to still further delay by the Education Act of 1870 coming a full ten or twenty years too late, and foremost among the subjects which has had, on this account, to bide its time is that of Public Libraries. Considering that the existing institutions, especially those in large commercial centres of the provinces, have so fully and conclusively justified their existence, the wonder is that we have not now from four to five hundred, instead of the comparatively insignificant number which exist. Truly the number is meagre enough to meet the book-hunger of a reading people, and is not by any means creditable to the enlightened and practical character which we Britishers claim to possess. In the provision of books for free-lending we are in danger of being left so far behind by the United States, Erance, Germany, and our Australian colonies, that the nation may well ask itself a few serious questions respecting the cost, uses, and operations of these institutions, and seek especially to solve the problem of their extension. The purpose of this chapter is to endeavour to reply to some of the arguments usually advanced against Public Libraries. The first and foremost reason is that the British taxpayer objects on principle to any increase in his rates. All that the Act permits is one21 The Plea for Public Libraries. pepny in the pound per year on the ratable value, and no possible manipulation on the part of the authorities can make it more than this very small sum. There is somehow a chronic objection to rates, and there are not a few people who think we ought to be able to live anywhere without the troublesome quarterly visits of the ubiquitous rate-collector. The author of “ More Worlds than One ” does not enlighten us how the supposed inhabitants of those regions get on about the rates, or, what would be still more interesting to us, whether they have Public Libraries. What the comforts and conditions of life would be if there were no rates, the good people who object to them do not stop to inquire. It is this,penny in the pound per year which forms the barrier to their extension, and yet nothing could be simpler and more just to all classes of citizens than this vital principle of the entire question. The interests which each man has in common with his fellows tend more and more to outweigh those which are peculiar to himself. In no better way could this be illustrated than by the institutions on behalf of which the present plea is made. As soon as a Public Library is opened the workman finds how poor a means for the production of happiness are the few books on his own shelf, compared with the share he has in the public collection, though that share may have cost even less to produce than his own little stock of literature. The language used against this additional penny on the rates by the economists on the one hand, and those who object to all efforts towards the uplifting of the people on the other hand, is invariably so strong that it tells perceptibly upon the ratepayers, and effort after effort is frequently defeated, until eventually the question is settled by sheer force of moral suasion. There are rates for police, lighting, paving, cleansing, improvements, and the support of the poor, and surely a rate for the mental health of a town is just as necessary as any of these. Public Libraries are no longer a luxury, for the march of education has made them absolute necessities. They are, in the truest sense, educational institutions, and as such are as deserving of support out of the rates as are the Board schools. They provide facilities in a way that is provided by no other institution for the continuing of study after school days are over, and, more than any other institution, they are the best link between leaving school and adult citizenship. The statement has gone forth that in London alone, out of the 80,000 boys and girls who leave our elementary schools yearly, a small minority only continue their education at evening classes; and this may to a great extent be attributed to the lack of Public Libraries, for there is clear evidence of a very important section of young people in the large towns continuing their education by means of the Public Libraries. Even on the score of this additional penny to the rates, a town cannot make a wiser investment for its citizens than to build, stock, and maintain a Public Library, and it would be impossible to name any outlay so small as this which produces so much far-reaching utility as this22 Public Libraries. penny. The benefit out of the rates for the poor, police, drainage, lighting, &c., is indirect, but the benefit out of the penny library rate is direct and personal. It is within the reach of all adults where these Public Libraries exist, to derive a benefit so great that, if they had to pay for it at the current rate of subscription library fees, would cost them ten or twenty times as much. The aggregation of the infinitely little could not be better exemplified than in the penny library rate, for in some towns it means an annual income of over £10,000. Unfortunately, as long as the environments of life and human nature are what they are, it will not be possible to do without rates. But rate economists usually begin at the wrong end, for they resent and oppose educational rates and meekly pay the police, gaol, and workhouse rates without any inquiry as to whether there might not be some saving in those directions. England is the only country with an elaborate poor law system, and whether the labour of those in our work-houses could not be made more remunerative and so reduce the rates for their maintenance, is a question which must sooner or later come to the front. When this happy time arrives, there will then be more to spend for libraries and museums. At present the rate expenditure is chiefly for the improvident, the criminal, and the generally troublesome citizen, and the peaceable and respectable citizen is left to take care of himself; whereas the cases ought to be reversed, and as the public become educated to the needs and vast utility of Public Libraries they will demand them. The avowed enemies everywhere of Public Libraries are the publicans, and yet it is acknowledged on all hands that their business creates the necessity of the workhouse and gaol, with their huge machinery for management. How long will thrifty and intelligent citizens continue to be governed by this powerful body, who always range themselves against every movement which has for its object the true interests of citizenship ? Is there one town which has adopted the Libraries Acts which would go back to the saving of a penny in its rates and do away with its Public Library? There is not an atom of proof that there is a single one; but there is evidence that the citizens of some towns, who would like to extend their operations and open additional branches, would be willing to pay a higher rate than a penny. It is not by any means a rash assertion to state that in the majority of cases it is the most cheerfully paid item on the rate-paper. A companion argument to the one named is, that they are parochial institutions, and as such will not be used by the “ better class ” people, and the rich pay for supplying books to the working classes. This is an amusing argument to all who are familiar with the working of Public Libraries. The designation of “ Free ” Libraries is highly objectionable, and it is greatly to be hoped that librarians and all concerned will discontinue the use of the word, and simply call these institutions Public Libraries. In America no Public Library is allowed to be called “free” unless supported entirely by private munificence. Libraries,23 The Plea for Public Libraries. education, trade, and land never can be absolutely free. The argument just named is only heard when an effort is being made to adopt the Acts. It is a rare thing to hear it in towns where they exist. In Birmingham, the occupations of the borrowers reach a total of 200, and it would be difficult to mention any occupation or profession which is not included. Other towns can show a like general use of their Public Libraries, proving beyond a doubt that all classes avail themselves in one way or other of their facilities. Public Libraries are no more parochial than are the roads and the street gas lamps, and the citizen who refused to use a library because it was “ free ” and “ parochial ” should be the first to move in having the lamp-posts abolished from the street or road in which he dwells. By others, again, they are classed with free soup kitchens and free wash-tubs in public washhouses. But this is an unfair and inaccurate analogy. There is no doubt that the term “ free ” as applied to these libraries has deterred a number of people from using Public Libraries, on the ground that they objected to participate in any charitable institution. In many of the large towns it is not an uncommon sight to see private carriages drive up to the library, and the occupants to get out and change their books. And why should it not be so ? “ They are not an unmixed good,” says another. Well, is there anything in this mortal life which is absolutely an unmixed good P but there is so much good mixed up with them, that a town which refuses to adopt the Acts is depriving itself of an institution, the influence of which could not fail to be for the best interests of the district in which it is situated. Workhouses are not an unmixed good, because they induce thriftlessness, while they provide shelter for the unfortunate and indigent. The police are not an unmixed good, for they are sometimes found giving untruthful evidence, and have been known to lose their heads in a mob. The highways are not an unmixed good, because they are used by people having unlawful purposes in view. All sanitary provision is not an unmixed good, because the drainage may flow away to some river and the district surrounding the outlet be made unhealthy by pestiferous smells. Yet all these things, acknowledged as good and beneficial, are supported out of the rates, and the rigid economists say, so it ought to be; but the State, as represented by the local authority, has no right to go beyond these necessities of civilization, and provide books and reading-rooms which shall be as free as the highways. The unmixed good argument should, if carried out, lead those who advance it to abstain from marriage, from most kinds of food, and from almost everything which adds to the comfort and happiness of life. Carrying this argument further, that these institutions are Socialistic in character because the State is expected to do what the people should do for themselves. In a little pamphlet issued by the Liberty and Property Defence League, there are given, under the head of “ Socialism at St. Stephen’s, 1886 and24 Public Libraries, 1887,” what this body of gentlemen are pleased to call the “ Socialistic Acts and Bills, 1870 to 1887.” In this they include all the Education Acts and Bills, Public Libraries and Museums Acts, the Technical Instruction Bills, and a host of others. This League has for its object self-help versus State-help, and has been formed for the purpose of resisting over-legislation, for maintaining freedom of contract, and for advocating Individualism as opposed to Socialism, irrespective of party politics. Stated briefly this new association appears to be a Landlords’ Defence League, for the Acts and Bills which have been for the protection or strengthening of some of the many landlords’ privileges are carefully excluded from what the association is pleased to call Socialistic Acts and Bills. It is a useless task to argue with those who class the Elementary Education Act of 1870 as socialistic, and state further, that all educational machinery should be left to the individual. To look after the citizen’s stomach by means of Adulteration Acts and inspectors is admissible. But when the State attempts to see to some provision being made for the citizen’s head by means of Education and Libraries Acts, it is, according to the teaching of this League, crossing the border line which divides Individualism from Socialism. The influence of Mr. Herbert Spencer on the thought of the age is unmistakable, and his political philosophy is permeating the efforts towards reforms which on all sides are looked upon as necessary; the difference resting only in the degree with which parties view a possible and necessary change, in order to adjust a law or series of laws to the requirements of the time. Mr. Spencer considers it highly desirable that museums and literature should be provided for the public in a way accessible to them. But, he asks, when we begin to lay on the public shoulders the cost of what they say is not vital but merely desirable, where is this going to stop? And he further charges us with being committed to State Socialism to bring about social amelioration by force. Every thoughtful person who has read his works with a desire to do him justice can scarcely fail to have received so much mental stimulus that to differ from him, not so much in the general principles laid down as in the application of a particular principle to a particular department of the work of the State, is not an agreeable position. It is impossible not to feel the force of Mr. Spencer’s statements in “The Coming Slavery,” in “The Man versus The State,” and with much that he says about the State monopoly in letter carrying, telegraphs, and telephones, many are in full accord. This, however, does not prevent such from differing from him when he says:—“ The changes made, the changes in progress, and the changes urged will carry us not only towards State ownership of land, and dwellings, and means of communication, all to be administered and worked by State agents, but towards State usurpation of all industries, the private forms of which, disadvantaged more and more in competition with the State, which can arrange everything for its own convenience, will more and more25 The Plea for Public Libraries. die away; just as many voluntary schools have in presence of Board schools. And so will be brought about the desired ideal of the Socialists.” But may it not be reasonably asked, Why should the action of the State be limited to what is necessary to the material existence of a nation, and rigidly excluded from what ministers to its higher life ? What Divine right has property that no demands should ever be made upon it for the latter purpose P And why may not we use the organized forces of the community to do that which it is desirable in the interests of the whole community should be done P No school of thought condemns the establishment and maintenance of the British Museum Library and the National Gallery out of national taxation; why, then, should it be called “ State Socialism ” for a local community to support its own Museum or Public Library out of its local taxes ? As to the questions of State ownership of land and dwellings : the first is already too patent, as exemplified in the State land under the control of the Ecclesiastical and Charity Commissioners; but with regard to the second count there is not much danger of the State becoming the landlords of huge industrial dwellings. State usurpation, again, of existing means of communication and all industries, is receiving considerable check at the present time rather than an impetus, as judged by the dismissal of workpeople from the dockyards and clothing factories, and the marked tendency of public opinion to prevent the State from interfering with particular industries.' Does not the line of demarcation lie here ? That the State cannot compete with private enterprise when it comes to the building of ships, making rifles, guns, or clothing. The disadvantages arising chiefly from costly and inefficient management, without an individual pocket to suffer from depreciation in stock and plant, is becoming acutely recognized. Where the State has sought to come into competition with industries of any kind it has egregiously failed in every department. This is unwise and impolitic State Socialism which cannot be too effectually scotched. But in all educational matters and affairs relating to the public health and safety, if this be State Socialism for the municipality to take these under its control, it has been an inestimable boon to the people, and a diminution of the first category -of State Socialism, and an enlargement of the second class may well be advocated. Mr. Herbert Spencer has not asserted anywhere that the Education Act of 1870 has not worked most beneficially for the good of the country, although it may have caused the disappearance of a few voluntary schools. The utter deadness of many of the voluntary schools so closed was universally apparent. The recognition by the two leading political parties in the State, that unwise and impolitic State Socialism is a possibility and a danger against which we should be on the alert, is a sufficient safeguard for our national welfare. The mischief lies, not in the tendency of the State to do in the future what the people should do for themselves, but that up to 1832 the people were not allowed26 Public Libraries. the choice of doing anything for themselves, but had to accept without voice whatever laws were passed contrary to their best interests. The privileged classes, up to that time, placed upon the statute books so many laws of a distinct State Socialistic character that the reading of political history up to that time is one of the saddest records of human selfishness to be found in all the range of literature. The fear is, not that we may, as a nation, go in for too much State Socialism, but that we may fail, or, at all events, be so long in undoing the unjust State Socialism of bygone generations. In his chapter headed, “From Freedom to Bondage,” in “ A Plea for Liberty,” published in 1891, Mr. Spencer informs us that his opposition to Socialism results from the belief that it would stop the progress to such a higher state as he has described, and bring back a lower state. “Nothing,” he assures us, “ but the slow modification of human nature by the discipline of social life can produce permanently advantageous changes.” He must be a bold man who would deny that the beginning of the discipline of social life was when the nation took in hand the education of the people by surer and quicker methods than the old and cumbrous machinery afforded. In the book to which reference has just been made there is a chapter on “ Free Libraries,” contributed by Mr. M. D. O’Brien. He leads off by saying that “free” libraries may be defined as the Socialists’ continuation school. The main ground upon which he rests his argument is shown when he says that “ while State education is manufacturing readers for books, State-supported libraries are providing books for readers.” “ If,” he says, “you may take your education out of your neighbour’s earnings, surely you may get your literature in the same manner.” The argument is a misstatement of the whole position. No man whose rates are duly paid gets either the education for his children or the literature for himself and family at his neighbour’s expense. He most certainly contributes, either in his rent or by the special charges in his rate paper, his pro rata share of the cost of educating his children, and for his literature supplied by the agency of the Public Library. He, furthermore, continues to pay his share as long as he is a householder. And if in the incidence of taxation one with his wages of thirty shillings a week pays less than the man with his income of thousands a year, there is absolutely no injustice to the latter, but, on the contrary, he has all the more for which to be thankful. The argument that the children in our Board Schools have been taught to read at other people’s expense, and that they are provided with books and newspapers from the same source, is as false as it is mischievous. Mr. Spencer, and no doubt Mr. O’Brien, may be found making more than occasional use of the British Museum Library. Applying their own argument, is this not obtaining literature at other people’s expense? The writer of this article on Public Libraries, tilts against the providing of these institutions when cheap and good literature is to be had. He discusses vigorously the predominance of fiction in the27 The Plea for Public Libraries. returns of Public Libraries. He points somewhat scornfully at the large towns, which have by a special and local Act increased their library rate from a penny to an extra penny, or a fraction of a penny. The “ loafer ” objection to Public Libraries comes in for notice, and the percentage of actual users of the libraries out of the whole population receives attention. These are all matters which are fully dealt with in the present book. It is to be regretted that this gentleman is against us, and that he should look upon Public Libraries as being typical examples of the compulsory co-operation everywhere gaining ground in this country. By this compulsory co-operation there is better street lighting, improved drainage, cleaner thoroughfares, and safer streets. Education, and its inevitable accessories of Public Libraries and Museums, has been added to these because the nation has discovered that on the co-operative principle they can achieve results and advantages which are absolutely unreachable by each individual acting for himself. When these philosophers emphatically announce that the sole duty of the State is to administer justice, and that legislation should not attempt to uplift the citizen, but rest content after providing him with a policeman, a workhouse, a lunatic asylum, a scavenger, a row of lamp-posts, and a hangman, the ground upon which both sides stand is as far apart as the poles. The notion that municipalities, corporations, and nations are organized for physical purposes and material ends is only a relic of the barbarism of mediæval periods. The Individualists assure us that private enterprise will best furnish the community with whatever civilizing and ennobling influences it needs. To this it may be replied that the highest and first duty of the State, as exemplified by a national or local authority, should be to make good citizens, and this it can only do by extending every opportunity for enlightenment and general advancement. Sir Edward Clark, the Solicitor-General, when opening a Public Library in October, 1890, said that he was not to be frightened at the cry of Socialism in his advocacy of these libraries. To use his own words, he said that “ he had been warned by a friend of the Socialistic tendencies of Public Libraries,” but, continued he, “ I do not care one jot about the cry of Socialism ; I am not to be frightened by words of that kind ; we will look straight at a thing if it be good or bad, and will give judgment without regard to phrase.” As to the charge that Public Libraries are superfluous and unnecessary, the Solicitor-General denied that education is superfluous, and said that, so far as the administration of the Libraries Acts are concerned, each district is a self-governing community, and with self-government the people claim and are entitled to a library for their own welfare. When opening a library and recreation rooms for working men at Saltney,near Chester, at the end of October, 1889, Mr. Gladstone said :—“ Let the working man be on his guard against another danger. We live at a time when there is a disposition to think that the Government ought to do this and that, and that the28 Public Libraries. Government ought to do everything. There are things which the Government ought to do, I have no doubt. In former periods the Government have neglected much, and possibly even now they neglect something. But there is a danger on the other side. If the Government takes into its hands that which the man ought to do for himself, it will inflict upon him greater mischiefs than all the benefits he will have received or all the advantages that would accrue from them. The essence of the whole thing is, that the spirit of self-reliance, the spirit of true and genuine manly independence, should be preserved in the minds of the people. If the individual loses his self-reliance, if he learns to live in a craven dependence upon wealthier people rather than upon himself, he incurs mischiefs for which no compensation can be made.” It is in the spirit of these words that the Public Library movement will continue to make headway. In the many uses of these institutions their very tendency is to cultivate that self-respect and self-dependence to which Mr. Gladstone was referring. No one who has once tasted the joys, the pure intellectual joy of reading, can help feeling something of enthusiasm at the idea of Public Libraries, whose open portals invite all alike to enter. It is such a perfect luxury to sit down with some really good book, and in a few minutes to be transported out of this common work-a-day world into brighter scenes, to have pass before the mind’s eye all kinds of gorgeous pictures, and to hold familiar converse with the great and good of all ages and climes. But the advantages of good reading do not stop here ; it is not simply an enjoyment, but if pursued systematically it constitutes a liberal education. There is every need now, more particularly, to give to the people the means for further education. It is inexpressibly sad to see those over whose education so much has been spent in our Board schools suddenly cease their education with the ending of their school life. Imagine the insanity of our present act. Several pounds a year are spent over the education of every one of these Board school children, and then the means of continuing their studies at that point in their life when they might most profitably do so is denied to them. To such as these a Public Library provides a pleasant mode of adding to their stock of knowledge, and carrying it to a further point. A question often asked is, “Why should the rich provide libraries for the poor?” as is also the fellow-question, “Why should we educate other people’s children ? ” The simple answer to both is, that the safety of the commonwealth demands it, and that if it is not done there will be infinitely more to pay in repressive organizations. The people of Scotland, the United States, and Germany have universally educated their children, and they are the most intelligent and thrifty folk in the world. There is no choice about the so-called educating of other people’s children. Not only has it to be done, but it pays to do it. An educated commonwealth means law-abiding citizens, and these mean a people strong, just, and upright, and these qualities nourish the best and truest interests of the country. Parsimony29 The Plea for Public Libraries. and cheese-paring economy in educational matters cripple and harass without effecting any good, whilst large and comprehensive educational measures have always proved the wisest course. In an article in the “ Leisure Hour,” by Mr. F. M. Holmes, on Public Libraries, based on the first edition of this book, he calls attention to “ the feeling of resistance which animates many people against the ‘new’ system, which, it is said, overrules and subordinates private rights to the benefit of the multitude, and heavily taxes the few for the advantage of the many, whether lazy and thriftless or not. We shall hear a very great deal of this feeling expressed in different ways in the times that are to come. For the present we mention it, in passing, as in our opinion a very decided influence against the establishment of Public Libraries. To give an instance, our good friend Midas says, ‘ Why should I pay a sovereign a year for Tom, Dick, and Harry, and their wives and children, to read story-books, simply because Tom, Dick, and Harry at the municipal poll outvote me P The amount of their rate will be but sixpence per year—perhaps nothing direct: yet they will get all the benefit, for I have what books 1 care for at home. Why should I be ruled and taxed by them for their advantage ? It is pauperizing the people.’ ” This argument is not without force; but it may be said, in reply to it, that the increasing municipal and political power of the people is inevitable, and that, as an economical investment, it is a wise investment for a community to tax itself pro rata for the placing of every possible elevating and educating influence in its way. Education alone will not make people good and peaceable citizens, but its tendency and effect are in this direction. A commonwealth must necessarily be composed of all classes of society, from the very rich to the very poor ; and it is an inevitable law of nature that the interests of all shall be so intermixed that there is a mutual dependence one on the other for the comfort, safety, and immediate advantages under which they may live. The law of the great Master, that “ man liveth not to himself alone,” is the one principle underlying the well-being of the commonwealth. It is the carrying out of the principle of union where all citizens contribute for the common good of all, and it is as far removed from pauperization as can possibly be. It is far better for a nation, a community, or an individual to aim at what might be considered the ideal, than to burrow downwards, and the wmrk of Public Libraries unmistakably tends in that lifting up of the people. It is better for Midas to spend his 25s. a year, if he is rated at £300, than a larger sum as his quota for a staff of extra policemen and gaolers. It is becoming now received as an axiom that as education increases crime diminishes, and politicians of all shades of opinion make use of this assertion so repeatedly that it would seem unnecessary to support it with figures. Statistics are usually so dry and uninteresting that to inflict an avalanche of them upon the general reader would only bore and not perhaps convince. Still,30 Public Libraries. there are a few figures in this section which should be studied with care by all who delight in the uplifting of the people and the spread of intelligence. In 1856 the number of young persons committed for what are called indictable offences in Great Britain and Ireland was 14,000; in 1866 it had fallen to 10,000; in 1876 to 7,000 ; in 1881 to 6,000; and in 1886 to 5,100. And this though the population had risen from 19,000,000 to 27,000,000, so that juvenile crime was less than half what it was, though the number of children was one-third larger. The prison statistics are scarcely less satisfactory. The average number of persons in prison was, in 1878, 21,000; in 1880,19,000; in 1882,18,000; in 1884, 17,000; in 1886, 15,500; in 1888,14,500; and in 1889,13,521. Our prison population is mainly recruited from those who cannot read. Out of 164,000 persons committed to prison, no less than 160,000 were uneducated, and only 4,000 were able to read and write well. The state of pauperism depends, no doubt, mainly on the state of trade and agriculture. But while, as we know, they have latterly been subject to extensive fluctuations, pauperism has also steadily decreased, which is due, to a large extent, to our better education leading to greater thrift and more power of adaptation to circumstances. However this may be, in 1870 the paupers were 46*5 in every 1,000, and for some years the number had rather increased than diminished. In 1880 it had fallen to 32 per 1,000, and in 1889 it was 28 per 1,000, the lowest percentage since the introduction of the Poor Law. It is significant that no new prison has been built since the Education Act of 1870, and it is still more gratifying to know that one or two old gaols have been turned into Public Libraries. With these facts and figures before us, it may well be doubted whether Public Libraries really cost the ratepayers anything. It may be said that they actually save more than the penny rate. Does not this help to prove that every town and district is best studying the economy of its administration by making liberal provision for educational purposes? Looked at broadly and fully, this fact should cause towns, where they do not exist, to at once establish these crime-reducing institutions. The national need is that we be not placed at any disadvantage in the neck-and-neck race of competition with the Germans and Americans which has become inevitable, as the existence of libraries generally in the midst of these nations has given the people an advantage which has been lacking in English life, and it will take us years to overtake the drawbacks, on this account, which have inevitably accrued. National sentiment alone should lead every town and large rural district where a Public Library does not already exist, to at once set about the adoption of the Acts. Some friends say that books are so cheap, a whole library can now be purchased for a few shillings. Some books certainly are cheap, especially reprints of works when the copyright has expired; but let us ask, in all seriousness, whether the nation’s book-hunger has been met when two or three publishing houses3i The Plea for Public Libraries. have competed with each other in issuing cheap reprints by the cartload ? Public Libraries may contain these, but they also contain something infinitely more valuable. Good as many of the books are, the mind of the nation can no more feed solely upon them than the appetite can be satisfied with sponge cakes. What Carlyle would have said against the shoal of cheap reprints is not known. But it is safe to aver that when he stated that “ the true university of these days is a collection of books,” he did not mean a plethora of threepenny and sixpenny editions of standard works. The fact of books being cheap does not necessarily bring those which anyone may desire to read within their reach. Do the large subscription libraries find a diminution in their number of borrowers because books are cheap ? Their experience proves that they do not; and the same truth applies to borrowers from Public Libraries, for the fact remains that the number using them where they are established is rapidly increasing. But still, notwithstanding some books being cheap, many standard works are still very high in price. Amidst the cheapening process, which has for some time been going on in almost all classes of commodities, books have maintained until recently a singularly high price. Literature has not adapted itself to the democratic tendency of the times; and if the democracy has suffered in consequence, literature, too, has been injuriously affected by the narrowness of the market. The cheapening of good books is a vital point now that political freedom is the possession of the masses. For the masses, like their wealthier countrymen, read; and the only question is as to what is presented to them for their amusement or instruction. Another objection, frequently brought against these institutions where attempts have been made to establish them, is that they would injure the subscription libraries and the bookselling trade, and existing institutions, such as mechanics’ institutes. It may be unhesitatingly affirmed, with regard to the former, that this is not the case, and in support of this statistics could be quoted showing that the shares in subscription libraries had gone up rather than down where Public Libraries have been established ; and the testimony of booksellers in most large towns is that the sale of books is not diminished by the proximity of these libraries. The existence of the Public Library has certainly not a deterrent effect upon the sale of books. It enables many a man to read books which he could not afford to purchase, and which would therefore not be bought even if the library were not in existence. It enables him to read a book before purchasing it, so that he may judge whether it will be worth his while to add it to his own private collection. The fact is that there never was a time when so many books of all sorts were in demand as are now bought by the public. It may be doubted whether the compulsory closing of all the circulating and other libraries in the kingdom would make an appreciable difference in the sale of books to the general public. In 1866 a public meeting of the burgesses of Harrogate was held to consider the question of adopting the32 Public Libraries. Acts. The motion in its favour was carried with only three dissentients. An alderman stated that he had been in communication with four of the booksellers of Harrogate, all of whom had circulating libraries. One was present at the meeting to support the adoption of the Acts, two were indifferent, while the fourth said he should be delighted to pay his share of the library rate, and if anything was required for its initiation he would be glad to subscribe five pounds. There are a great many subscription libraries whose whole stock is often less than 200 vols., and they do a thriving business on 3d. per week per volume, or in some cases Id. per day. The class of books is often the veriest trash ever issued from the printing press, and must have been bought at so much a ton. These trades are not injured, and the seller of lamps has just as much reason to complain when an enterprising company seeks to light his town with gas, as a bookseller or proprietor of a subscription library has against a town’s library being established. Public Libraries engender habits of reading, and no trade benefits so much from this as the booksellers. Some booksellers are among the best friends of the Public Library movement. In many places there is a pardonable fear that a Public Library would be the ruin of the mechanics’ or kindred institutions. All who know anything of these institutions would be prepared to acknowledge that in times past they have done a most admirable work, but it may be very seriously doubted whether they are equal to the needs of the day. They are too exclusive in character, being proprietary institutions. They are, again, too costly to the average working man, for there are few of them where the subscription is less than 5s. per year, and a working man would need to be rated at £60 a year to pay this amount in his rates, and even in the case of a £60 ratable value, there is better value in a Public Library than in the mechanics’. The libraries in many mechanics’ institutes are poverty itself. New literature is conspicuous by its absence, and in not a few towns they are languishing and gradually dying for want of funds. They lack the one vital principle which keeps Public Libraries healthy and vigorous, inasmuch as they are not subject to the control of the popular vote, and are, moreover, too much under the administration of cliques. In some towns they exist side by side with Public Libraries, and the twin institutions are in no sense antagonistic to each other. In other places the committee of management have well and wisely offered to hand over their institution as a Public Library if the town will adopt the Acts. This has been followed with the most satisfactory results, as is shown in another chapter, and is well worthy of being imitated in other towns. Certainly no mechanics’ institute committee can reasonably expect a town to forego adopting the Acts simply because their institution might suffer. The great fiction question is, however, the chief stumbling-block in the minds of many. Severe phrases have been launched against these libraries, on the ground of being the storehouses or53 Early Public Libraries. Chetham. The proof that the library has been opened to the public continuously since 1655 lies chiefly in the original purchase book. From this period down to the present time the records of the purchases are continuous, and written in a clear hand by the various librarians who have been in charge. A transcript of the first few lines of the first page is here given:— “ An acct. of the first parcell of Bookes for ye publicke Libraries of Humfrey Chetham, Manchester, is as following—Fol. 1. Beceived from Mr. John Littebury the 2 day of Augt. 1655, Augustini Opa., ORIEL WINDOW IN READING-ROOM. Yol. 8 Fol. £7; Aquinatis Suma cum coment: Cajet, Vol. 2, £1 14s.; Aristotelis Opa., Vol. 2, £1 18s.; Aquinatis, Catena in Evaug., 9s.; Coment, in Evang. et Epist., Yol. 2, 17s.; Opuscula Oma., 11s.; Quest disput. de. deo Xt., 10s.; Alvarez de (divina Gratia) Auxiliis, 7s.; Ambrosii Opa., Yol. 2, £1 10s.” Only some eight to ten people per day consult the books in the library, but the whole of the buildings and the quadrangle form a great show place, and no tourists or excursionists consider that they have seen Cottonopolis until they have visited the Chetham Library.34 Public Libraries. Mechanic,” and many others. If the fairest classification was made, Scott would be classed with history, and Dickens and Thackeray as moral philosophy. Young’s “ Night Thoughts ” and “Paradise Lost” have been included as fiction in some libraries. “ Under Canvas,” a book setting forth evangelistic work in a tent, has gone in the same category, and numerous other instances could be quoted. Nearly everyone reads works of fiction at some time or other, and the time has passed when novel reading need be defended, seeing that bishops, as well as publicans and sinners generally, all plead guilty to the practice. The mistake lies in the individual reader doing too much of it, and so weakening his taste for the more solid works. The best of our English novelists may be reckoned amongst the chief benefactors of mankind, and nothing has contributed so much to lighten the tedium of daily life as romance. Novelists claim that theirs is the most important branch of literature, considered as a factor in the education and amusement of the masses, and they have some ground for the statement. It may be further urged that as all classes of the community contribute towards the maintenance of these institutions, the tastes and literary requirements of all classes of the community should be considered. Those who pay the piper have a right to call for the tune. There is little general sympathy with those who condemn novel-reading altogether. It serves a very healthful purpose in carrying us out of the absorbing and often troublesome affairs of daily life, and awakening our interests and sympathies in fresh scenes and characters. Many a hard-working thinker and jaded toiler derives grateful rest and mental refreshment from thus becoming interested in the imaginary doings of others. Many a barrister whose brain is weary—many a doctor whose round of cases during the day has dulled his spirit and made his heart heavy—makes a nightly practice of spending one hour before bedtime with some novelist who cheats the fancy or sets the pulses of tenderness, merriment, or excitement thrilling. And the recuperative effects of the practice are extraordinary, But those who surrender themselves too entirely to novel-reading, and particularly younger people, commit a grave mistake. Again, it may be emphasized that the tendency is distinctly upward in the issues of these libraries. The issues of fiction are shrinking, and the demand for history, science, poetry, and books of travel is proportionately becoming greater. CHAPTEE IY. The Uses of Publie Libraries. The uses of Public Libraries are becoming so manifest that it would appear almost a work of supererogation to enumerate some of them. Let any one not familiar with such institutions visit those in Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Nottingham, Newcastle, London,35 The Uses of Public Libraries. and other towns, and see for himself what they mean to the inhabitants in those towns. It is not simply that the citizens have the privilege of borrowing books, and largely avail themselves of it, but if they wish for information on any subject, the first step they adopt is to go to the reference department of the Public Library. Books on any subject can be obtained there, where there is absolute quiet, so that these departments become public studies, where the bookworm may revel to his heart’s content, and here may come the Sabbath-school teacher to prepare the better for his or her class, and to consult books otherwise beyond reach. Here the mechanic, eager to improve himself in some technicalities of his trade, can read what masterminds have said upon the subject. Here, too, you may find the minister of the Gospel desirous of making the acquaintance of the latest critics and scholars, or to learn the most recent discoveries of travellers, and the opinions of the erudite students. Yet again you may see in these libraries the family doctor, bent on consulting the most recent authorities on the healing art, the literary man in search of data, the student and the essay-writer upon the same errand, the schoolboy or schoolgirl to see maps or gazetteers, and the business man to see some book in which he is interested or which will be of service to him—in fact, representatives of every class find their way hither in search of much-needed information not otherwise so easily accessible. If it is evening the news-room will, in all probability, be full of adult visitors, diligently perusing the papers, magazines, or books of one kind or another. These libraries are centres of light, and not only feed, but create a taste for reading, and, unquestionably, whatever does this is a benefit to the whole community, and aids materially in the repressing and taming of the rougher and baser parts of human nature. The writer, who formerly held the position of librarian, is well aware how often wives and children come for books, and make the request, “ Please pick me a nice one, sir, for if I take home an interesting book, my husband (or father, as the case may be) will stop in during the evening and read it aloud.” The curse of officialism does not extend to by far the greater majority of librarians and assistants, for, taken as a body, it would be impossible to find a more courteous body of men and women among public officials. They are invariably willing to help the readers and borrowers, and in thousands of instances they are not merely the attendants who give out and take in the books, but they are the vocal key to the catalogues, aiding with their suggestions and knowledge in the search for books on a particular subject. Not a few of them, again, look upon their office as that of a public instructor. It is said of Wordsworth that a stranger having on one occasion asked to see his study, the maid said: “ This is master’s room, but he studies in the fields.” The agricultural labourer learns a great deal in the fields. He knows much more than we give him credit for, only it is field-learning, not book-learning—36 Public Libraries. and none the worse for that. But the man who works in a shop or a manufactory has a much more monotonous existence. He is confined, perhaps, to one process, or even one part of a process, from year’s end to year’s end. He acquires, no doubt, a dexterous skill, but has, from the very force of circumstances, to work in a limited groove. If he is not to become a mere animated machine, he must generally obtain, and in some cases he can only obtain, the necessary variety and interest from the use of books. There is happily now some tendency to shorten the hours of labour, and, what is less satisfactory, there are times when work is scarce. But the hours of leisure should not be hours of idleness ; leisure is one of the greatest blessings, idleness one of the greatest curses —one is the source of happiness, the other of misery. Suppose a poor man has for a few days no work, what is he to do P How is he to employ his time P It need no longer be lost where there is a Public Library or news-room to which he can resort. It is not being advocated here that these libraries should be the common resort of those who wish to idle away their time, and receive a passing half-hour’s amusement. It is said that this evil afflicts all Public Libraries to a less or greater degree ; but the statement should be made with a very great degree of caution and qualification. Some have gone so far as to say that it is undoubted that the Public Library everywhere is largely patronized by the respectable loafer. He has no club, and cannot take his ease at an inn. So he drops into the Public Library, possesses himself of a couple of chairs, and makes himself comfortable. He asks for a book, and endeavours to make it interest him. If the effort ends in his complete physical and mental prostration, he looks upon the result as inevitable. Now, we have no desire to prevent the Public Library from ministering to the amusement of the public. On the contrary, there would be need for regret if it did not. There are too many institutions of the strictly “ improving ” class, which inculcate a sort of priggish propriety, and leave no room for the healthy development of the universal desire for entertainment. By all means let the Public Library provide the public with newspapers, novels and other light reading. But the light readers ought not to stand in the way of the solid ones. The attempt in Liverpool and in Birmingham to separate the two classes has been somewhat remarkable. The plan adopted was to set aside a “ students’ room,” and it has not been very successful. A better plan would be to give legitimate working readers the first claim to the available accommodation. A man or a woman who is merely skipping through a novel should give way for the reader who wants to read some works of solid literature. Many books now in the lending department should be transferred to the reference department, and the sitting room in the library should be preferentially given to the reference readers. No mercy should be shown to the sleepers. When a “reader” goes to sleep, it is time for him to go home, and make room for less happy mortals to whom the felicity of early slumber is denied, and this is unquestionably done, and is being exercised with greater strict-37 The Uses of Public Libraries. ness every succeeding year. In not a few reference reading-rooms even the writing of letters is strictly forbidden, and any attempt in this direction is immediately stopped by the caretaker or newsroom superintendent. This official, usually in a distinctive coat, has become an indispensable person in the news-rooms, where the attendance is very large, and his presence certainly tends to the general comfort. The direction which reform should take is indicated by the course of the growth of the evil to which reference has just been made. The modern library system is a development of the mechanics’ institutes and reading-rooms of other days. Its scope and principles are only beginning to be clearly defined. Its central idea is that any man or woman should be able to have any book for the asking—that his or her means of obtaining wholesome reading shall be as independent of the individual pocket as are the lighting of the streets and the drainage of the district. The term “ Free Libraries ” is, of course, a misnomer ; one might as well talk of free drains. But the central idea has developed without the limitations which it is the function of discipline, organization, and discrimination to impose. That is the origin of the evil. The remedy is clearly to be found in imposing these limitations. The indiscriminate lending of books, and j>rovision of seat and desk accommodation, must give place to a system under which workers are distinguished from idlers, and the former given the first consideration. But even granting that there is a modicum of truth in these undesirable uses of Public Libraries, it is maintained that the legitimate and reasonable use of Public Libraries, with their reading and news-rooms, is far in excess of whatever abuses can be pointed out. The tendency is distinctly upward, and a man or youth who idly saunters into one of these places may, and does, begin to feel that the place possesses privileges which bring pleasure and true relaxation in his life, and he gradually begins to value them accordingly. The spirit of factious criticism may be silent, for precisely similar evils could be pointed out as existing in other public institutions supported wholly or partially at the cost of the nation, and also as applying to churches and chapels. Even the very worst of the residuum who frequent public newsrooms cannot get harm from what they peruse, and the chances lie in the probability of their getting something of an opposite character. Public Libraries seek to realize Tennyson’s words^ “ To teach high thought and amiable airs, And courtliness, and a desire of fame, And love of truth, and all that makes a man.” Very large numbers of the community are engaged from day to day in a simple struggle for existence, and their time is fully occupied with the cares and worries of daily life. When visiting the Public Libraries and reading-rooms in the evening, such do not want books which will continue the same train of thought in which they have been engaged during the day. TheyPublic Libraries, 38 naturally want something which will lift them into a different sphere altogether, and excite their imagination and interest them. When Public Libraries were first established, it was greatly feared, as has been already mentioned, that they would militate against the bookselling trade, and that this worthy class of tradesmen would suffer. On the contrary, the very opposite has been the case. At one of the annual conferences of the Library Association, the closing day of the session was marked by the reading of a paper of more than professional or technical interest, the subject discussed in it being “ Public Libraries from a bookseller’s point of view.” It was argued, when Public Libraries were first instituted, that they would have the effect of injuring the sale of books. People, it was urged, would go to the libraries for what they wanted, instead of buying it as heretofore. And there was a certain amount of plausibility in the suggestion. Most persons, it might be supposed, would be satisfied with perusing the volumes in which they were interested, and would be happy to be relieved of the necessity of acquiring them for themselves. And to a certain extent that is the case with regard to the more costly works of reference. No doubt the establishment of Public Libraries has been of great advantage to many who formerly were obliged to expend large sums in book-buying. Nevertheless, the bookseller who addressed the librarians asserted, as the result of his experience, which has not been by any means limited, that Public Libraries had rather increased than decreased the trade in which he is concerned. Nor is the reason difficult to discover. Granted that there are those who are glad to read without buying, there are probably still more who are led to buy what they read, or are led, by reading, to desire to buy. A young man who borrows a book from the Public Library, finds it, perhaps, so attractive, that he becomes desirous to obtain a copy of the work. He is not satisfied with reading, he wishes to possess. That, one can well believe, very frequently happens, as is, indeed, proved beyond doubt by the constant demands made of librarians by readers for the prices and easiest means of obtaining books of all kinds. And then, of course, there can be no question that the anxiety to form a library of one’s own is, in a general way, fostered by the reading which the libraries supply. A taste for books is engendered, and then comes the feeling that it wpuld be pleasant to be the owner of some; and if Public Libraries did no more than inspire this feeling, they would have a sufficient reason for existing. In some districts the proportionate issue to each inhabitant reaches over five books per year of the entire population of the town, and to each actual borrower over twenty volumes per year. This fact not only justifies the existence of the libraries in those towns, but should be a very powerful argument to other districts to establish them. In the book of anti-socialistic essays already referred to, the writer of the chapter on Public Libraries makes a strong point of the fact that, according to the statistics given in39 The Uses of Public Libraries. the former editions of this work, only one per cent, on an average, of visitors per day of the population of the town to which the library belongs, use the library. If the writer of the article will take the trouble to look again rather more carefully he will find that, in not a few cases, it reaches four per cent, and even more. This, it must be kept in mind, is of the entire population. The very young and the very old are scarcely expected to use the library. If we take the reading age, say, from fourteen to fifty, the average would work out to fully twenty per cent, of the population of the town per day. Moreover, it should be kept in mind that it is not the same people who go day after day. There is a never-ceasing change of faces, and it is easy to see, on the same plan as the writer of the attack on libraries has adopted, that a number equal to the entire population of the town, old and young, visit the library every month in the year. This may be said not of a town here and there, but of very many places where the Acts are in operation. Again, one member of a family will frequently change the books for the whole family, and so may on each visit represent three or four others. This microscopic method of looking at the attendance at Public Libraries will be quite obsolete in another ten years. These institutions will then have become so thoroughly a part of our national life that mere figures to illustrate the number of visits paid will not be necessary. The time of the attendants will then be infinitely better employed in aiding borrowers in the selection of books than in counting heads. Professor W. Stanley Jevons said truly, that “ The main raison d'être of Public Libraries, as indeed, of public museums, art galleries, parks, halls, public clocks, and many other kinds of public works, is the enormous increase of utility which is thereby acquired for the community at a trifling cost. If a beautiful picture be hung in the dining-room of a private house, it may, perhaps, be gazed at by a few guests a score or two of times in the year. Its real utility is too often that of ministering to the selfish pride of its owner. If it be hung in the National Gallery it will be enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of persons, whose glances, it need hardly be said, do not tend to wear out the canvas. The same principle applies to books in common ownership. If a man possesses a library of a few thousand volumes, by far the greater part of them must lie for years untouched upon the shelves ; he cannot possibly use more than a fraction of the whole in one year. But a library of five or ten thousand volumes opened free to the population of a town may be used a thousand times as much. It is a striking case of what I propose to call the principle of the multiplication of utility, a principle which lies at the base of some of the most important processes of political economy, including the division of labour.” The town which cares for its citizens will establish a Public Library, and take care of it with just as much interest as it will attend to the water, drains, and cleansing of the town. If it is necessary for the health of the inhabitants that they have pure4° Public Libraries. water, perfect drains, and good scavenging, surely it is the more necessary that they have healthy provision for the mind, and no institutions which have yet been provided in any part of the country so thoroughly do this as Public Libraries. Our friends across the Atlantic endeavour to carry out the principle that every town ought to have a library containing as many volumes as the town has inhabitants. Such a library becomes at once the centre of the intellectual life of the town, and affects the morals and manners of the entire community. And more: its influence stretches out into the whole country, wherever its readers may chance to go; and its importance is not for a moment to be compared with the entire sum of the mercantile and manufacturing interests by which it is surrounded. A town with a library can be distinguished easily from one which lacks any such collection of books; and those parts of the country in which town libraries abound are the parts which are most influential in every department of intellectual and even material labour. “ Let those,” says a recent writer, “ who pride themselves upon their devotion to the so-called practical, reflect that the advantages of a library are no longer of a purely literary character, and are becoming less and less so ; that the ‘ arts and mysteries’ of manufacture are no longer taught by words of mouth alone to indentured apprentices, but that the ‘ master workmen ’ of the nineteenth century speak through books to all; and that in proportion as our workmen become intelligent and skilful does their labour increase in value to themselves and to the State.” These are weighty words. It may be a cause for wonder that any private person should make such a bad investment, pecuniary and literary, as to buy an expensive encyclopaedia. In the first place, unless the person be a universal student—and life is too short for that—he pays for a far greater proportion of what he never will or can read, than of information that he cares for and can assimilate and utilize. He must be rich or extravagant who can afford to pay for a pound’s worth of tablecloth to accompany a half-pennyworth of bread. In the second place, such rapid advances are nowadays made in nearly every department of science, that most of the articles on that subject will be superseded and out of date, even if not incorrect, before the publication of any single edition is completed. Public Libraries are the most suitable purchasers and owners of encyclopaedias, for the sake of giving their readers the opportunity of reference to such works. But to the private individual the possession of such an expensive work is an unnecessary encumbrance except it be required for professional purposes. As one of the uses of Public Libraries, it may be noticed with pleasure that juvenile reading is becoming elevated. The decrease of illustrated books, for use in the reference library, is at some libraries very marked. When this department was made accessible to young readers, the books in greatest favour with them were those containing illustrations, but in many cases they did little more than turn over the leaves and glance at the pic-The Uses of Public Libraries. 41 tures, one reader being thus able to take out several volumes during a single visit. This custom, if not a very intellectual one, had at least the negative merit of keeping these young people from walking aimlessly about the streets, and out of possible mischief; but it has resulted, as it was hoped it would, in the positive virtue of enabling them to acquire the habit of reading. Large numbers of these young lads now regularly ask for books in various branches of literature, and spend a whole evening reading one, instead of merely turning over the leaves of several volumes. This shows that libraries are being more and more used for educational as distinguished from merely recreative purposes. There are only a few Public Libraries in the country where on shelves in the general reading-room are placed a number of volumes for the free use of visitors. Two of these places are Wigan and Cambridge. At the former place the number of volumes is 400, representing fiction, some illustrated books of travel, and others of general interest. These books are largely used, and the loss in twelve years from these volumes has been three books. This simple fact may be commended to the very careful thought and attention of those who say that Public Libraries and news-rooms are misused. This same plan is deserving of the consideration of other libraries, especially in the smaller towns. It works exceedingly well at the places above named. What should not be seen on the tables of reading and news-rooms are tracts of the goody-goody order, placed there, no doubt, by persons perfectly well-meaning. But in some cases, while going over the libraries of the country, it has been a cause of surprise to find some librarians making quite a display of these on the tables of the news-rooms. In answer to inquiries the reply has been that young folks coming into the news-room see them lying on the tables and take them up to read. This is really no answer, and there need be no apology for saying that these public institutions ought never to be made the means of disseminating sectarian propaganda. Apart from this objection there is the other view—which is, that the sickly and sentimental tracts usually forming the chief bulk of those issued by many religious bodies up to quite recent years have had their turn, and it is now time for something of a more wholesome order to have an opportunity of influencing the community. How far books of travel and guide-books should be provided by Public Libraries is a question around which much discussion has revolved. The term “ books of travel ” is such a comprehensive phrase that it is difficult to say where such literature begins and ends. But it may be safely said that very costly books of travel should not be purchased. Still the same spirit would not be in place when applied to Bates’ “Naturalist on the Amazon,” and many other books of travel which could be named. With regard to guide-books there is less difficulty, for it appears reasonable that only in very special cases should these be included; and then only those guides to the more beaten tracts of travel. Less thorny42 Public Libraries. ground is trodden when the matter of local charters, records and documents is approached. Too much stress cannot be laid on the fact that, in the majority of instances, the Public Library is the proper custodian for many of these charters. How large a number of these old and invaluable documents are now rotting away in the cellars of town halls or the musty holes of town clerks’ offices only those know who have to consult occasionally these local records. A literary friend was writing the history of a county, and travelled over the entire district to consult the old records. Many of these he found in most inaccessible places, rat-eaten and mildewed. An earnest appeal is made to librarians to have these documents searched out. If they need cleaning and restoring communication should be made with the authorities at the British Museum. Every help has been given in many cases in this direction, the charge being simply for the time of the attendant spent in the work. No Public Library can now be considered complete until it possesses as perfect a collection of local histories and literature as opportunity and means will afford. Those at Birmingham, Manchester, Nottingham, Newcastle, and Plymouth are excellent, and it may be confidently hoped that every library will within the next twenty years possess such collections. How far these libraries are justified in spending their money in old and rare collections of books or copies of scarce works is a matter which must be left to the individual requirements and resources of every library. But there is one section of literature which has become indispensable and invaluable, and that is a collection of books bearing upon the staple industries of the town or district in which the library is situated. This is a matter vital to the future welfare of libraries, and it should not be necessary to restrict this collection to works in the English language. Some few of these Public Libraries are already the most complete storehouse extant for these collections of technological books, and others will soon begin to make a special feature of this department. There are other uses which could be enumerated. Files of local and leading London papers are kept. Here also are maps, charts, blue books, patent specifications, and other special matters, and it is impossible to deny that these are a great public convenience. Some libraries open the doors of their news-room at 8.30 a.m., in order to specially accommodate those who wish to have the very earliest opportunity of consulting the advertisements of situations vacant in the newspapers. It may at times be a depressing sight to see so many eager to do this, but it should be a cause for local satisfaction that the unemployed can at once go and make acquaintance with the wants of the labour market. Seaboard towns find a demand for the shipping papers, and wisely place these in positions where they are most accessible. Here will be often seen hard-headed captains and horny-handed sailors looking over each other’s shoulder at the last copy of theThe Uses of Public Libraries. 43 shipping paper. Here too comes the captain’s wife, when her husband is away on the mighty deep, to see if his ship had been spoken or signalled. These are but straws to show the universal appreciation in which these citizens’ reading-rooms are held. The question of the supply of Government papers and other official papers to Public Libraries is of the highest importance. In August, 1885, a deputation waited upon the late Lord Iddes-leigh at his official residence in Downing-street. The ultimate result of the interview is embodied in a letter of this lamented statesman, of November 13,1885, in which he said: “I have carefully considered the question brought before me by the deputation as to the possibility of free grants of Government publications being made to the Public Libraries. I stated at the time the objections which I saw to such a proposal, and on further consideration I remain of the same opinion. But I am glad to say I have been able to make an arrangement which, by appreciably reducing the cost to Public Libraries of purchasing such publications, will, I trust, be of considerable advantage. A contract is about to be made, under which one contractor will undertake the sale of all the Government publications published by the Stationery Office; and it is to be a condition of the contract that the accredited agents of Public Libraries are to be allowed at least 25 per cent, discount from the prices of the publications as fixed by the Stationery Office.” This important matter was further advanced, for on February 15, 1887, the Chancellor of the Exchequer said that his predecessor had promised to submit a vote to the House to enable the House to decide whether a gift should be made of Parliamentary papers to Public Libraries. He would submit a vote to the House for this purpose. As each set of Parliamentary papers, only, cost about £15, he thought that the amount might be furnished by economies in the Stationery Office and a reduction in the cost of distributing Parliamentary papers. Hitherto nobody has cared to buy them, and, with few exceptions, their distribution has been confined to Members of Parliament, the bulk in the end finding their way to the paper makers as waste paper. It is reasonable to hope that their distribution to the Public Libraries of the kingdom will secure for them a wider circle of readers than has hitherto been possible, and be followed by a more thoughtful perusal and even study of their contents. In a letter received from the Treasury on December 8, 1889, reference is made to the debate in the House of Commons on May 14 of that year, when the vote for the Stationery Office was under discussion. It was then stated that the arrangement made a few years ago still holds good, under which applications of this nature are met within the provision of £100 made by Parliament. Each application must contain a list of the papers which the Library desires to obtain, and should be addressed to the Controller of H.M.’s Stationery Office, Storey’s Gate, London, S.W.44 Public Libraries. Only those who from time to time have occasion to consult these official documents know their real value. Those who ignore the information they embody do so under an entire misapprehension of its true value. It is most desirable that ignorance on this matter should be dispelled. This can best be done by placing the papers in the Public Libraries, and thus bringing them within the reach of all in search of reliable information on the special subjects into which the reader or the student may be inquiring. The supplying of Patent Office publications is a question of burning interest to librarians and committees. At present these are very costly, and fill up a vast amount of space, that it is in many libraries becoming a serious question, indeed, as to whether they will be able to continue obtaining them as they have hitherto done. The condition of affairs in this respect at Neweastle-on-Tyne is so thoroughly indicative of what is being felt at other places, and what has been done there summarizes the position of affairs so thoroughly, that there can be no better plan adopted than by stating what steps have been taken at the place just named. A sub-committee of the Library committee was formed to report on the supply of Patent Office publications. This committee reported in September, 1889, that they had received from the Patent Office a letter informing them that, as the bound volumes of specifications of patents could not be got ready earlier than eighteen months after the publication of the separate specifications, the Board of Trade had decided, with a view to the distribution of the specifications at the time of publication, to discontinue the distribution of these volumes, and, in lieu of them, to issue a packet of specifications every week, on the understanding that the library receiving them would undertake to bind them up at the end of every eighteen months. This letter w'as referred to the chairman of the Books Committee and the chief librarian presented the following report to the committee:— “We have gone carefully into the points raised in the letter by Mr. J. Lowry Whittle, of the Patent Office, dated July 24th, 1889, and report as follows :— The specifications of patents are now received in bound volumes from eighteen to nineteen months after the date of publication. The arrangement which the Patent Office now propose will give us the specifications in parts as soon as published, which is some three weeks after the acceptance of the completed specification. A specification may be completed at the date of application for provisional protection, or at any time within fifteen months afterwards. The Patent Office authorities undertake to make good any copies of specifications which may be abstracted, lost, or damaged prior to the binding of the volumes. The proposed change will involve our appointing a London agent to collect the specifications weekly, and to dispatch the same to Newcastle. If this be necessary, Messrs. H. Sotheran & Co. have offered to act for us at an annual charge of £1 Is. Od. We shall need 150 cardboard boxes for storing and administering the specifications prior to their being bound. The boxes will coat 2s. 6d. each, altogether £18 15s. Od. It will be necessary to bind from 90 to 100 volumes of specifications annually. The estimated cost of each, in half linen buckram guarded, will be about 3s. 6d., or an annual cost of from £15 15s. Od. to £17 10s. Od. The total estimate of preliminary cost will, therefore, be £20 5s. 0d., and the estimated annual cost about £20.45 The Uses of Public Libraries. The grant of patent specifications was made to the Corporation of Newcastle. We have not been able to ascertain the date, but we are informed that they were deposited by the Corporation with the Literary and Philosophical Society not less than 40 years ago. The Corporation paid the Literary and Philosophical Society the cost of binding and of carriage. In eight years—from 1859 to 1867—the amount thus paid for binding was £232 16s. 4d. In 1882 the Literary and Philosophical Society required the room which the patent specifications occupied, and they were transferred to the Public Library; but they did not become the property of the Public Library, as they had not been the property of the Newcastle Corporation. The Government maintained the right of withdrawing the grant at any time, and recalling the volumes. Whilst it is right and fitting that books such as these which the Corporation receive from Government for the benefit of the entire community should find room at the Public Library, it is not right that the Public Library should be charged with expenses for them which a private library was not charged with when it took care of them. They are not books which the Public Libraries Committee would be likely to purchase if the Corporation did not provide them. We have noted that the Government may recall them. They are open to reference by any person who wishes it free of all charge. They are in the Public library as a convenience to the public not only of Newcastle and neighbourhood, but of the whole of the surrounding country. The nearest places to Newcastle where complete sets of these publications can be consulted are Edinburgh or Glasgow in the north, Liverpool or Manchester in the west, and Leeds in the south. There is no reason whatever why the finances of the Public Library should be burdened with any payments for these specifications; but, on the other hand, they should not have been required to make any payments during the past seven years. They have simply acted for the convenience of the Corporation in the matter, and if it is placed fully and clearly before that body it cannot be doubted that that body will see the justice and propriety of acknowledging its responsibility. The matter is a very important one. In 1857, 65 volumes of patent specifications were published, and each of these contained about 50 separate specifications, giving a total of 3,250. In 1867, 94 volumes were published, giving a total of 4,700 specifications. In 1877, 50 volumes, each containing about 100 specifications, or a total of 5,000; and in 1887, 91 volumes, each containing about 200 specifications, or a total of 18,200. It will thus be seen that there are more than five times as many specifications published now than there were thirty years ago. It may appear somewhat unjust that Newcastle should be called upon to defray the whole of the charges for these patent specifications; but we must remember that this is one of the consequences of the position of our city as the metropolis of the district. If, however, the finances of the Public Library, which are already so meagre, are to be burdened by the payments we have mentioned, the General Committee will have very seriously to consider whether it is justified in agreeing to the change which the Patent Office proposes. The Commissioners of Patents seem to be acting under the instructions of the Board of Trade, and it will probably not be possible to get the specifications in any other form than that which is now proposed. We suggest at the same time that negotiations should be opened with the Patent Office so as to ascertain how far it can be induced to undertake that, if the grant be recalled, it will reimburse the Corporation or other persons who may pay for the cost of binding; and how far it is possible to induce it to undertake the binding itself. It may be that this could not be done without considerable agitation and difficulty; but when the large and accumulating profits which are in the hands of the Patent authorities are borne in mind, and it is remembered that these profits spring out of the patents themselves, and that the object of circulating the specifications is to encourage the taking out of patents, and so to increase the fund we have mentioned, it cannot be denied that it would only be fair if all the expense of that which is practically the best advertisement of the Patent Office were borne by the Patent Office itself.” This matter of the Patent Office publications now stands thus: The Patent Office decided to continue the grant, and Newcastle and other libraries receive weekly parcels of these publications, so that inventors and others interested in this form of publication are practically as well off for purposes of consultation as if they were at the Patent Office in London. The Newcastle Corporation, being impressed with the fact that these publications did not come exactly within the sphere of the Public Libraries to provide for, other than as administrators, have generously undertaken toPublic Libraries. 46 pay for all boxes, binding and carriage, thus relieving the Library of an initial expenditure of about £25, and an annual charge of about £15. Other library committees should endeavour to get from their corporation a similar concession. The Patent Office has such an enormous annual revenue that it is not an unreasonable request to make on behalf of these libraries that they shall be regularly supplied with specifications free from all expense, as well as the “ Patents’ Journal.” Gifts of books and pamphlets come from publishers, authors, and public bodies. One library received from the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury—Calendars of State Papers, &c., eighteen volumes; Chronicles and Memorials of Great Britain and Ireland during the Middle Ages, sixty volumes ; and the publications of the Record Commissions, &c., seventeen volumes, the value of which was £53 8s. 6d. The Agents-General of the Colonies send books and pamphlets, and the Cobden and other clubs do the same. The American Bureau of Education, Washington, and other institutions on the other side of the Atlantic sometimes send copies of works to Public Libraries in this country. There are occasional distributions of duplicate copies of books by the British Museum, but these are now in all cases given only to rate-supported libraries. The Clarendon Press at Oxford, and other institutions, make grants of books to Public Libraries. CHAPTER Y. Early Public Libraries. The kings of old were wise in their day and generation. They were not slow to recognize that it was politic to turn the popular mind from merely political theories to books. The pleasures of imagination which all might enjoy through the channel of a library were a famous antidote for political disaffection, and it was probably, therefore, not altogether a love of literature that made the Roman Emperors reckon manuscripts amongst the most valued of their spoils of war, or to estimate them even more highly than vessels full of gold. All the literary treasures of the nations they conquered were sure to find their way to Rome. Julius Caesar proposed to open to the public the magnificent library upon which had been lavished the opulence of Lucullus and of which Plutarch speaks in the highest terms. The daggers of Brutus and his companions nipped the project in the bud. But the emperors who followed were as enthusiastic as the great Caesar in the cause of Public Libraries, and even called those they established after their own names. As a matter of course the Imperial despots spared nothing that would add to the magnificence of their literary hobbies. Thus, we read of marble floors, walls covered with glass and ivory, and shelves of ebony or cedar. Just as men of a later period thought nothing too costly to bind47 Early Public Libraries. or ornament the books they loved, or as the plutocrat of to-day will lavish his gold as freely on yards of well-bound literature for which he really cares no more than he does for some work of art of the painter’s skill which has cost him thousands. Still, the fact remains that from the earliest times the great men of the earth invariably turned their attention first to the collection of books and manuscripts, and next to taking care that the people should have free access to them. In the old days, when King John was trying to impose his rule on his somewhat turbulent subjects, and, indeed, for two or three decades afterwards, libraries hardly existed. The borrowing of a volume was a serious concern in those days, and heavy was the pledge or the bond required for the loan. One of the regulations of the library of the Abbey of Croyland, Ingulphus has given. It regards the “ lending of books, as well the smaller without pictures as the larger with pictures, any loan is forbidden under no less a penalty than that of excommunication, which might possibly be a severer punishment than the gallows.” Books were rare and precious things with the learned and rich, and Public Libraries were totally unknown during that period. The Library of Corpus Christi, Cambridge, is a very interesting feature of that University town. Although most of the sights at Cambridge are free to the visitor, and great the liberty she allows to those who visit her, she, too, has her sacred places whither not all may penetrate. Such, for the most part, are her libraries. Perhaps this conservatism is an inheritance from mediaeval times, when books too often proved an irresistible temptation, and gave rise to much grave abuse and scandal. Modern times are not free from a like reproach. So it may have been either prophetic insight or consciousness of the peccadilloes of his contemporaries, which led Archbishop Parker to frame the stringent rules under which the library is held by Corpus Christi. His intimate connection with this college, of which he became Master in 1544, is suitably marked by this bequest of the greatest of all his treasures. Some little account of the restrictions he imposed on their use may be of interest. Two persons must always be present before any volume can be consulted: one Master or Fellow of the College, the other Fellow or Scholar. Should longer use of the books be necessary, they may be removed to one of the Fellows’ rooms, not more than three at a time, and after due registration. Beyond the College buildings they must never go. A system of duplicate keys to the bookcases affords security that these instructions be observed. The Archbishop’s will provides that if six folio or an equivalent number of smaller volumes be lost, the entire collection, together with the plate he also bequeathed, shall pass to Caius. Should they in turn lose as many more, it travels to Trinity Hall; a third like loss, and what remains returns to Corpus. For smaller lapses than these, fines are imposed, no doubt heavier in the Archbishop’s day than they seem now. Once a year the Masters of Caius and Trinity Hall, together with two Scholars of Corpus,Public Libraries. 48 are invited to verify the list, the two former receiving 3s. 4d. and the two latter Is. each ; and subsequently they are entertained at dinner by the College. But no volume has yet disappeared since the first review was made nearly 250 years ago. While looking at the cases one is reminded of the old joke of Edmund Burke’s, who remarked, on seeing some locked presses of books, that it reminded him of “ Locke on the Human Understanding.” The library was originally a room built over the old chapel. When this was pulled down in 1824 the books were temporarily placed in a private apartment, until the completion of the new library in 1827, when they were transferred to their present quarters; subsequently, a few of the most interesting were placed in glass cases down the centre of the room., The library is a fine building, with bookcases of carved oak, and a handsome ceiling; a screen at the west end separates Archbishop Parker’s collection from the other books. Being made at the time of the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII. it contains, as might be expected, a large proportion of ecclesiastical papers. The last report of the Bodleian Library, which the librarian has issued, shows that the number of volumes on the shelves is now about half a million. Beferring to the older benefactors of the library, it is said that until his death, in 1613, Sir Thomas Bodley never slackened his munificence, and among many contemporary donors, the Deans and Chapters of Exeter and Windsor were conspicuous. William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, Sir Kenelm Digby, and Archbishop Laud followed with most extensive and splendid benefactions of MSS. Sir T. Bae and Oliver Cromwell gave collections of MSS., which still bear their names. The illustrious Selden bequeathed about 8,000 MSS. and printed volumes. And in the same century Sir Thomas Fairfax, Christopher Lord Hatton, and “ Junius ” added celebrated MS. collections—Marshall and Bishop T. Barlow, collections of MSS. and printed books. Since the seventeenth century there have been other benefactions more or less munificent, and the library is also entitled to a copy of each book issued in the United Kingdom under the Copyright Act. Hext to the British Museum the Bodleian is the most interesting library in the country, and it is tempting to linger over the records of an institution so full of interest, and which, more perhaps than any other library in the world, seems to be the natural abode for the scholar and the bookworm. Where is the lover of books who has not experienced a longing to spend his years in the cloistered retreats of the Bodleian with its priceless treasures of literature ? In the minster of Wimborne, Dorset, which is a venerable structure, believed to have been first erected between the years 705 and 723, and to which was joined a monastery, there is a Public Library attached that was founded by the donor, the Beverend William Stone, in 1686. Wimborne was a place of importance in Saxon times, and most historians date its foundation to the Bomans, who made it one of their military stations, for as such we first find it mentioned. The old minster was49 Early Public Libraries. originally founded by Cuthburga, daughter of Kendred, in the year 700. A century and a-half later, St. Ethelred, fifth king of all England, who was mortally wounded in conflict with the Danes, was buried here. The king must have been well acquainted with the church and monastery, for it was at his own request he was buried within its portals. The Danes destroyed by fire the church and monastery in the tenth century, and no effort was made to restore them till 1043, when Edward founded a college of secular canons on the ruins. The present minster was founded about the middle of the eleventh century, and was not completed till that of the fifteenth, so that the church consists of various dates. It is through a small door in the vestry of this later style of architecture, which is a most interesting chamber, that admission is obtained by a turret stair of the Perpendicular period to the Public Library. It is certainly not uncommon to find literary storehouses attached to churches of importance, but the peculiarity in Wimborne is that it is one of the very earliest attempts to popularize knowledge, and gave to the townspeople of Wimborne the unspeakable gift—in an age when books were scarce and expensive—the right to book knowledge free of charge. How far this boon was appreciated by the good folks of Wimborne of that day is not known, but we find that Matthew Prior, the poet, born in Wimborne in 1664, used to visit the library, and with pleasure read copiously of the 243 volumes which it contained. The room is small, but the library is well arranged, and round the edge of each shelf runs an iron rod, to which is attached all the books by means of a chain, so that it is clear, even in the days of the donor, there were those who had no respect for the eighth commandment. The rods are secured by locks, so that, to read comfortably, it was necessary to bring a stool beneath the book wanted. Many of the chains are broken, but they are still preserved. The books are of great value and exceedingly rare. The oldest entire manuscript bears the date 1343, and is a compendium for the instruction of priests who might have the cure of souls. There is a beautifully-bound copy of the Breeches Bible, in black letter, dated 1595, in oak boards, and a volume of Sir Walter Baleigh’s “ History of the World,” and also Walton’s " Polyglot Bible,” complete, dated 1657. The Bible consists of four volumes, in seven languages, and the New Testament in one volume in five languages, and a Lexicon in seven languages by Castello, dated 1669. The history of Public Libraries appears to date, in England at least, from the fourteenth century. Monks, from their cloisters, have left us an evidence of how they spent their time between matins and evensong; and whatever reasonable doubt there may be of the usefulness of their work to the age in which they lived, book-lovers and collectors will ever owe them a debt of gratitude for the illuminated books they left as legacies to the generations following them. A singular assertion has been made to the effect that there were more Public Libraries two or three 450 Public Libraries. hundred years ago than there are at the present time. This is an interesting point, not only to librarians, but to all anxious to see progress and not retrogression. There is much to be said in favour of this assertion. This proves the great need for the speedy extension of Public Libraries all over the United Kingdom and Ireland. 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 public-spirited Englishman that he should, at that early date, have recognized that the truest republic for the people was the republic of letters. This brings us to a very important consideration, no less in fact than the question as to which was actually the first Public Library in England. The claim lies chiefly between London, Bristol, and Manchester. Mr. John Taylor, chief librarian of the Bristol Public Libraries, has taken up the defence of Bristol, and has marshalled his facts with great skill. He says, “It should be remembered that our present mental illumination 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 elsewhere, 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 churchmen 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 of the great minds of antiquity. There was an ancient library that once flourished in Bristol, for which they claimed the distinction of being the first library accessible to the public. My purpose is to show that Bristol might claim the honour of having founded a Public Library in her midst two centuries earlier than the date of Chetham’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. This apartment, or upper room, which extended the length of the nave, served as the cottage and library of a fraternity of semimonastics, to whom was committed the custody of the civic archives, and whose office it was to keep a register of local and public events and acts. This body were termed kalendars, 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 the5* Early Public Libraries. 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 difficult passages of Holy Scripture, to the best of his knowledge, 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 them 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, 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. He ventures, therefore, to conclude that as early as 1464 a reference library was instituted in Bristol.” This is the main argument which Mr. Taylor brings forward. In further support he has supplied a transcript of a document, hitherto unpublished, that was out forty years before the fine old library yet existing in Manchester was founded. A similar institution took its rise in Bristol, and was founded by Robert Redwood in 1615, and Mr. Taylor explains that this—the house spoken of in the deed of 1615—was rebuilt in 1740. The library has had continued existence, and in 1876 came under the operation of the Acts. The librarian of the Guildhall Library points out, and with truth, that London had a Public Library nearly two hundred years before the Bristol Library of 1613 was founded. There was a Public Library founded by the famous Richard Whittington and William de Bury, certainly as early as 1425. This library suffered from an illustrious book thief, as, according to Stowe, the Protector Somerset borrowed the books, probably in 1559, and forgot to return them. It would require a second volume and an antiquary to enter minutely into the merits of these three claimants as to which was the first Public Library open free of charge to the public The Chetham Library is unique in the history of libraries, and when one steps into it out of the busy Manchester thoroughfare in which it is situated, it would only require a few people dressed in the costume of the period moving about, to imagine oneself back at least three centuries. Within sight of the two largest railway stations in Manchester, and under the shade of the cathedral church, there is, after passing through the gateway into the large quadrangle, almost as much quiet as if one were miles away from the madding crowd and the busy haunts of men. The building dates back to 1421, and was, no doubt,52 Public Libraries. used for monastic purposes. The college was erected upon rocky ground overlooking the confluence of the Irk and the Irwell, by Thomas West, Baron de la Warr, in the time of Henry VI. The site had previously been occupied by an old manor house known as the Baron’s Hall, whose antiquity even then was an unknown quantity. Anyhow, it had for centuries been the residence of the “ Lords of Manchester.” The Baron handed the edifice over to the warden and fellows of the collegiate body, in whose care it remained until 1547. Not being a monastery in the strict sense of the word, it somehow escaped the predatory clutches of Henry VHI. It fortunately survived the dissolution of the monasteries, and was left to his successor, Edward VI., to dissolve the worshipful community, which he appears to have done with much thoroughness. The boy king transferred the college to the then Earl of Derby. Then followed the troublous times of the battle of the people against Charles I., and the property was confiscated from the Stanleys. During the Commonwealth the main part of the premises was used as a prison. The old Manchester worthy, Humphrey Chetham, now comes upon the scene. Bom in 1580, he had, during the latter years of his life, maintained and educated twenty-two poor boys. In 1653 he died at the age of seventy-two, and left £7,000 for the purpose of an estate, the profits of which were to be devoted to the maintenance of forty boys. In 1665 a charter was granted by Charles II., making the twenty-four feofees an incorporate body, and they have gone on since then on the self-elective process, administering the estate, and at the present time there are about 100 boys in the school or hospital who are fed, clothed, and educated in the institution. A further bequest of £1,000 was devoted to the purchase of a library, and a sum of £2,100 was allotted from his personal estate for the acquirement of a suitable building in which to house the boys and books. The trustees selected the old college, of which they took possession in 1654. The first purchase of books was made in August, 1655, but the whole of the sum bequeathed was not expended until near the close’of the year 1663, when the library consisted of 1,450 volumes. This number had increased to 4,453 in 1712, including thirteen manuscripts. At the present time the number of volumes in the library is 50,000, of which several hundreds are MSS. of exceeding interest and value. About one-half of the books are of modern literature. The library is especially strong in works on archaeology, history, theology, and county histories, and the efforts of the trustees have been directed to procure the best of original editions in the masterpieces of literature. Here are to be found the granite columns in literature which have formed the quarry for the smaller and less important works. Strange to say, there is only one little pamphlet in the whole library which is known to have belonged to Humphrey Chetham. This reached the librarian only a short time ago from a clergyman who had bought it for a few pence among a number of pamphlets at an old bookshop. In it there is the signature of Humphrey53 Early Public Libraries. Chetham. The proof that the library has been opened to the public continuously since 1655 lies chiefly in the original purchase book. From this period down to the present time the records of the purchases are continuous, and written in a clear hand by the various librarians who have been in charge. A transcript of the first few lines of the first page is here given:— “ An acct. of the first parcell of Bookes for ye publicke Libraries of Humfrey Chetham, Manchester, is as following—Fol. 1. Received from Mr. John Littebury the 2 day of Augt. 1655, Augustini Opa., ORIEL WINDOW IN READING-ROOM, Yol. 8 Fol. £7; Aquinatis Suma cum coment: Cajet, Yol. 2, £1 14s.; Aristotelis Opa., Yol. 2, £1 18s.; Aquinatis, Catena in Evang., 9s.; Coment, in Evang. et Epist., Yol. 2,17s.; Opuscula Oma., 11s.; Quest disput. de. deo Xt., 10s.; Alvarez de (divina Gratia) Auxiliis, 7s.; Ambrosii Opa., Yol. 2, £1 10s.” Only some eight to ten people per day consult the books in the library, but the whole of the buildings and the quadrangle form a great show place, and no tourists or excursionists consider that they have seen Cottonopolis until they have visited the Chetham Library.54 Public Libraries. The library is open from ten to four in the winter months and ten to six during the summer. But the library deserves an infinitely better fate than to be used as a mere show place, and some day, amidst the hurry and race for wealth, a good portion of the Manchester public will realize the fact that they have m the very heart of their city old buildings of considerable archaeological value, and the home of literature of the first water, and from which fiction has been scrupulously excluded. The reading-room, where the treasures of the library are freely placed for the use of the student, is a very paradise for the spirit seeking rest in this unrestful age. The walls are oak-panelled, and on them hang a number of portraits of Manchester worthies. One of these portraits is a veritable Gainsborough. Seated in this room on one of the high-back chairs of Charles II.’s time, and with all the other furniture of the same period, it does not require a great stretch of the imagination to repeople the old chamber with those who must have trod its floor centuries ago. In this very room there probably walked Sir Walter Raleigh, who was entertained there by Dr. Dee. One is tempted to linger in this quaint old place surrounded by its lore of literature and archaeology, but we must forbear. Without desiring to enter minutely into the question of which really was the first, it does appear that, so far as Bristol and Manchester are concerned, the former place is the older foundation and Manchester the older building. Furthermore, the latter place presents the unique fact of an uninterrupted record of free use since 1655 in the same rooms and the same building. A matter of almost equal interest to the foregoing is the dis-. covery a year or two ago by the librarian of the Wigan Public Library, of a tract issued in 1699 bearing the title, “ .Am Overture for Founding and Maintaining of Bibliothecks in every Paroch throughout this Kingdom.” The author of this production has been identified as the Rev. James Kirkwood, minister of Minto, so that the “ kingdom ” referred to is undoubtedly Scotland. In clear and forcible language the writer points out the great usefulness of parochial libraries, especially to the young student before " the cares of his family or the affairs of his calling do so take up his mind that he can have no time nor heart to study.” This is capital. He then urges parochial authorities to secure the establishment of a library in each parish. Mr. Kirkwood proposed that after a suitable place had been provided and placed under the superintendence of the schoolmaster, the minister should send to it all his private books, and be paid for them by an annual tax on the income of the parish. This appears a little singular in the light of to-day. The general expenditure was to be met by the levying of one month’s “ cess ” upon all church incomes, a method which would, in Mr. Kirkwood’s opinion, have realized £72,000 Scots or £5,000 sterling. Such a sum he expected to be more than sufficient for the purpose intended, and he therefore proposed that the surplus funds should be used in founding a national printing office, which would be controlled by a Committee55 The Passing of the Ewart Bill of 1850» of the General Assembly. “This founding and promoting of Bibliotheeks in every paroeh throughout the kingdom,” he contended, “ is both necessary and easie, advantageous and honourable, our interest and our duty.” A copy of this interesting old pamphlet is not to be found either in the British Museum or the Bodleian. It is reproduced in its entirety among the appendices in the third edition of the present book. The saddest thing about the whole matter is that, though nearly two hundred years have passed since the pamphlet was written, the intelligent appreciation of the wants of the country by which its author was evidently animated has not yet infected more than a comparatively limited number of his countrymen, although, taking the population into consideration, Scotland comes out exceedingly well, if the case of Glasgow is excepted. CHAPTER VI. The Passing of the Ewart Bill of 1850. Reference has already been made to the voluminous report of the Select Committee on Public Libraries. On March 14th, 1849, it was ordered that a Select Committee be appointed on the best means of extending the establishment of libraries freely open to the public, especially in large towns in Great Britain and Ireland. The granting of this Committee was greatly due to the exertions of Mr. Ewart and Mr. Brotherton, who, at various intervals in 1849, had been agitating the question in the House of Commons. On the 23rd of the same month the Committee was appointed, and consisted of—Mr. Ewart, Viscount Ebrington, Mr. Disraeli, Sir Harry Verney, Mr. Charteris, Mr. Bunbury, Mr. George Alexander Hamilton, Mr. Brotherton, Mr. Milnes, The Lord Advocate, Mr. Goulburn, Mr. Thicknesse, Mr. Mackinnon, Mr. Kershaw, and Mr. Cardwell, all except one of whom have passed over to the majority. The first meeting of this Committee was on March 30th, 1849. Three meetings were held in April, eight in May, and four in June, making in all in that year sixteen meetings. Mr. Ewart was present, and took the chair at all the meetings except one. Mr. Brotherton was absent from only one. Sir Harry Verney and Mr. Monckton Milnes were regular attendants at these committees. Mr. Disraeli was present at two of the meetings. The report of 1849 was issued in July of that year, and consists of 318 pages. The evidence of the late Mr. Edward Edwards was first taken, and occupies thirty-six pages. He was also examined at a later date, his evidence again extending to about the same length. He also furnished a number of maps of his own compilation, showing the distribution of libraries in the leading countries of the world. The report presented to the House of Commons by the Com-Public Libraries. 56 mittee provides very good reading even at this distant date. They begin by referring to the inquiries made in Parliament during the years immediately preceding the appointment of a Committee. These inquiries applied more particularly to the formation of museums, art galleries, as well as schools of design, as a means of enlightening the country. Right in the very foreground of this report there stands the admission that there were not at that time wanting those who held that such institutions, however successfully established among foreign nations, would not be appreciated, and might be abused by our own. Old prejudices in England die hard, and the same objection is now and again even yet made in some quarters. The Committee then shoot their big gun. They state that notwithstanding the fact that the British Museum, the gallery at Hampton Court, and the National Gallery had been thrown open to the people it was generally admitted that no abuse has marked the change, but that much rational enjoyment and much popular enlightenment have distinguished it. The heavy shot of the gun lies here. They say one improvement, however, yet remains to be accomplished, hitherto (in 1849) almost untried in this country, and that is the establishment of Public Libraries freely accessible to all the people. It was a humiliating confession for them to make that such libraries had long existed on the Continent, and they were further compelled to own that it could not be doubted that their existence had been very advantageous to literature and to the general character of the countries in which they had been founded. No one can deny that it was a just comparison for the Committee to make when they said that it might with equal fairness be inferred that our own literature as well as our own people being denied the benefit of such institutions must have proportionately suffered. * They drove this home by saying that they had learned that more than half a century before 1849 the first step taken by an English writer was to consult a foreign Public Library on the subject of his studies, and that no such auxiliary was at the service of British intellect. They referred to Gibbon, who complained that in his time the greatest city in the world was destitute of that useful institution, a Public Library; and that “ the writer who had undertaken to treat any large historical subject, was reduced to the necessity of purchasing for his private use a numerous and valuable collection of books which must form the basis of his work.” They quote a number of similar cases. The usefulness of the Foreign Libraries is largely brought out, and altogether the report of the committee is forceful and suggestive. They point out that the principal advantages offered by Foreign Libraries consist in their number, in their entire accessibility, and in the fact that the books were allowed on liberal yet sufficiently protective conditions to circulate beyond the walls of the library. It is unnecessary to go further into the details of the Committee’s report. A digest of the evidence of Edward Edwards would be interesting, but the exigencies of the present book pre-57 The Passing of the Ewart Bill of 1850. vent its being done. Asked what had been the result of opening the National Gallery and Hampton Court Palace, he unhesitatingly said that large numbers of people had been withdrawn from amusements of an unintellectual and often of an injurious character, to such amusements as are rational and improving, and are calculated to benefit them in very many ways. He was asked if he thought that libraries would have the same effect, and replied that even in a greater degree if they were made generally accessible. This is where Edwards’s warm-hearted enthusiasm showed itself. The immense and almost daily extension of London had, even at that early date, begun to show itself, and he was asked if the policy of creating Public Libraries was not daily becoming of more importance. He replied to this that he thought it was on several accounts. And this “ not only from the growth of London making the actual existing provision of libraries more and more inadequate, but also from the fact that the increase in the production of books makes it still more difficult for persons, even those who have considerable private resources, to keep pace with what is produced both here and abroad. Therefore, that as it becomes more difficult for many persons adequately to purchase books, it is still more important that they should be provided in Public Libraries.” Something like a realization of Edwards’s hopes is now within sight. Questions about the provision of libraries in manufacturing and commercial towns were then put to him, and he said that this was daily becoming a question of increasing importance. Asked what attempts had been made to supply libraries in large towns, he was compelled to own that only some attempts of an imperfect kind had been made by the mechanics’ institutions. He produced a list of some of the libraries in Lancashire and Cheshire towns, but from the fluctuating nature of the resources of those institutions, and the want of permanency in them, such libraries often lasted but a short time, and were then dispersed and sold. This must suffice for the report of 1849. The report published in 1850 is a continuation of this, and extends to over 400 pages. There was some slight difference in the constitution of the Committee. The first meeting was on the 4th March, 1850. They met again on the 7th, 11th, 14th, and 21st of the same month, and then adjourned in order to give time for the printing and translation of certain foreign papers relating to Continental Libraries. They afterwards met on June 4th, and the final meeting was on June 11th, making in all seven meetings. Mr. Ewart was present at every one of the meetings and acted as chairman. Mr. Brotherton attended five of the sittings, and the name of Mr. Disraeli does not appear as having been present at one of the seven. The first witness again examined was Mr. Edward Edwards, whose evidence was by far the most important of that laid before the Committee. The other gentlemen who gave evidence were Mr. Bobert Lemon, chief clerk of the State Paper Office, Sir Henry Ellis, principal librarian of the British Museum,58 Public Libraries. Mr. Antonio Panizzi, keeper of the printed books at the British Museum, and Mr. C. R. Weld, Librarian to the Royal Society. The questions asked were of a most varied and comprehensive character. Every branch of the library world was dealt with, and the questions were framed with a view of bringing out the most trustworthy and useful information. Naturally a very large number of the questions deal with the British Museum. Mr. Panizzi was asked whether he thought that the interests of the public, in an intellectual point of view, would warrant the expense incurred by the extension of the reading-rooms of the British Museum. He thought that decidedly they would, but added that a better plan would be to provide new libraries for general resort, open to all comers, and to regard the library of the British Museum as a library for the higher class of students, rather for purposes of research and erudite study, and so to meet both requirements. As a library for the use of men of letters, the regulations which then prevailed at the British Museum were good in the main—as good probably as could be devised; but that, in addition to that provision, he pointed out that there was needed another provision of a different kind for general readers; a provision of educational libraries, which would certainly come under regulations of a different kind from those which are found quite sufficient for the uses of the British Museum Library. The whole of the evidence in this direction was, that in London libraries were required in all directions, and that to say that the British Museum Library could possibly supply the book needs of London was simply erroneous. Questions were sent to the Public Libraries on the Continent, Greece, Russia, and other countries, and the replies are printed in the languages of those countries. The whole of the two Blue Books may be summarized as follows:—The Committee believed that there was much in the practice and experience of other countries by which we might profit, and it was hoped the labours of this Committee would give a powerful impulse and a right direction to that growing interest in the subject which has been evinced in so many parts of the country. Further, that this country is still greatly in want of libraries freely accessible to the public, and would derive great benefit from their establishment. There is much in the sum and substance of their work, that we may apply to ourselves now, after a lapse of forty years, although we have made some excellent progress, and the question does not now by any means stand where it did. In going through the evidence of Mr. E. Edwards, it is impossible not to feel the pulsation of a man alive to the book needs of the time, and the keen prophetic spirit actuating him in all he said and did for the enlarging of the work of Public Libraries. Sufficient honour has never yet been paid to his work on behalf of these institutions, and the very least that should now be done is either a monograph of his life and labours, or a tablet or bust placed in the Manchester Public Reference Library. He died during sleep on the 7th February,59 The Passing of the Ewart Bill of 1850. 1886, and was one of the most earnest and enthusiastic workers which this movement has ever known. He was originally an assistant in the printed books department of the British Museum. When the Manchester Public Libraries were in course of formation, he worked very assiduously in connection with them, and there is no doubt that they owe much of their success to his wide knowledge of books and the ability displayed during his six years’ management. After his retirement from the service of the Manchester Public Libraries’ Committee, he published several books on libraries and their management, the most important being his “ Free Town Libraries,” and “ Memoirs of Libraries.” He was also the author of u Lives of the Founders of the British Museum,” a “ Life of Raleigh,” and many other works, and was granted a Civil List pension in 1883, of £80 a year, and never was a pension better bestowed, for libraries and librarians owe him a debt of gratitude which can never be paid, especially when it is considered that his salary during the first eleven years while at work at the British Museum, was only a little over £164 per annum. He was a vigorous worker, often being at his desk at six a.m., and his earliest writings on Libraries date back to 1836, when he was twenty-four years of age. He was seventy-four at the time of his death. As to the actual origin of the Ewart Bill of 1850 there has been recently some interesting discussion, and the question seems now to be fairly set at rest. It is a striking fact that so many movements for the public good, and which have gone to the very core of our national life, have had their beginnings in the meeting together of two, three, or more men in a little upper room. This was so with the Anti-Corn Law League, and it may be said to have been the same with the Museums Act of 1845, which really formed the basis of the Act of 1850, the previous Act being repealed on the passing of the Ewart Bill. In one of the classrooms of the then Government School of Design in the Royal Manchester Institution two friends were, on a winter’s morning in 1844, warming themselves over the fire, for it was snowing out of doors. These two friends were the late Mr. George Jackson, the honorary secretary of the school, and the other Mr. George Wallis, then the head-master of that school, now the keeper of the Art Collection at South Kensington Museum. Mr. Jackson urged Mr. Wallis to prepare a paper on the value of museums in the provinces as a means of improving public taste. Mr. Wallis, however, insisted that he (Mr. Jackson) was the proper person to prepare a paper, inasmuch as so early as 1837 he had prepared for and read at the Manchester Mechanics’ Institution two papers on “ Schools of Design,” in which he had advocated something very like museums in connection with them. The friendly contention ended in Mr. Jackson undertaking to prepare a paper, on condition that he had the assistance of Mr. Wallis, and help in his discussion. The result was a paper on “ The means of improving public taste,” and it was read at a conversazione held in the Royal Manchester Institution on the6o Public Libraries. 25th November, 1844. The paper, and the discussion which followed excited so much interest that it was proposed to hold a public meeting for the further consideration of the subject. This meeting was held in the theatre of the Manchester Athenaeum, on 30th November, 1844, the late Eichard Cobden, M.P., taking the chair. The paper was again read by special request, and the subject discussed at length, as recorded in the Manchester newspapers. Amongst those present was Mr. Joseph Brotherton, M.P. for Salford, who was deeply interested, as was Mr. Cobden, in the matter; and after the meeting Mr. Brotherton proposed to Mr. Jackson and Mr. Wallis that they should furnish him with the materials for drafting a bill to empower corporations and the governing bodies of large towns to establish museums, and support them, as discussed, by a penny rate, Mr. Brotherton undertaking to lay the matter before William Ewart, M.P. for Liverpool, who had been chairman of the Committee of 1836, which recommended the establishment of schools of design. This suggestion was carried out, and on the 6th of March, 1845, Mr. Ewart moved in the House of Commons for leave to bring in a bill to enable corporations to establish and maintain museums of art. An interesting debate followed, and amongst the speakers were Sir Eobert Peel (then Premier), Joseph Hume, Mr. Brotherton, and Lord John Manners; Mr. Shiel concluding the debate by advocating Sunday opening, which did not help the proposal.^ The result was the “Act for encouraging the establishment of museums in large towns.” Owing to a variety of circumstances—not the least difficult of which were the conditions on which corporations could establish such museums, and support them by a halfpenny instead of a penny rate—the Act was practically a dead letter; but in the session of 1850 Mr. Ewart carried his now celebrated Act, by repealing that of 1845, and giving powers enabling town councils to establish Public Libraries and museums. Mr. Wallis is a very modest man, but it is gratifying that he has enabled us to clear up the point as to how rate-supported Public Libraries came to be established. In a letter recently received he says that his official work has been more with the extension of museums than with libraries, but he has never lost his interest in the latter, and has always begged books or money to buy them whenever he has had a chance of doing so. He was fortunate enough some five or six years ago to get a friend to give £50 worth of books to one of the London libraries. Mr. Ewart’s efforts gave a concrete form to an idea which was widely prevalent in the public mind. The diffusion of education since the beginning of the century had been great, and a rapidly-increasing class had begun to feel the necessity of providing means for carrying to a higher development the education which had been conferred on the poor in the national schools. By cooperative effort the necessary books could be readily placed at the disposal of those who were too poor to buy them for themselves. Hence the suggestion of rate-supported libraries. ButThe Passing of the Ewart Bill of 1850. 61 the limitations which it was then thought useful to impose in order, presumably, to prevent the ratepayer from spending his money recklessly for his own advantage, were stringent, and not a little singular. The expenditure was to be limited to a halfpenny in the pound on the ratable value of the property in the borough or district adopting the Act, and even of this not a penny was to be spent on books. There might be a library, but it should contain no books bought at the public cost. It was hoped that philanthropists would come forward, and at their own “proper costs and charges” fill the empty shelves. Doubtless the untamed philanthropist was as rampant in those days as now, but his sympathies did not run in this direction. The books were not forthcoming, and Parliament had again to be appealed to, with the result that in 1855 the Act, which is up to the present time the principal enabling Act, was passed. The work of the late William Ewart in connection with this Bill was not by any means light, and the struggle he had to secure the passing of his Bill provides one of the many examples of how often the House of Commons has opposed measures to which, after they have been passed, ifc has given no stinted praise for the beneficial results to the nation conferred by the Acts. 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 drawing-room of the wealthiest, 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 appearance 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 permanent Public 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 was concerned, the majority of the members lingered over their dinner, and their places were vacant. Constituencies now watch very closely the attendance of their members at divisions, and it is well for the nation that such is the case. It is refreshing to turn back to some of the speeches made upon the second reading—the crucial stage of all legislative measures,—and as most of those who took part in the debate have gone over to the majority, the pith of the chief speeches made on March 13th, 1850, is here given. Mr. Ewart, in moving the second reading, said that the simple object of it was to give a permissive power to town councils to levy a small rate for the establishment of Public Libraries and62 Public Libraries. museums in all municipal towns. An Act called the Museums Act was passed four years previously, enabling town councils, in towns having a population of 10,000 inhabitants and upwards, to levy a small rate to establish museums of science and art for the benefit of the public; and all that the present Bill proposed was to extend the principle of the Museums Act to the establishment of Public Libraries also. In asking the House to adopt such a measure, he was backed by the feeling of many of the towns of the country; and since he had introduced it, he had received communications from several large towns in Scotland and Ireland, who were desirous of having the Bill extended to both of those countries. Afterwards Colonel Sibthorp said he would be happy to contribute his mite towards providing libraries and museums and proper recreation for the humbler class in large towns; but he thought that, however excellent food for the mind might be, food for the body was what was now most wanted for the people. He did not like reading at all, and he hated it when at Oxford ; but he could not see how one halfpenny in the pound would be enough to enable town councils to carry into effect the immense powers they were to have by this Bill. He felt that this Bill would increase the taxation of the people in times when it was not at all necessary, and, therefore, he moved that the Bill be read a second time that day six months. Mr. Brotherton was surprised at the opposition to the Bill. In the first place, the measure was entirely permissive; and secondly, the rate was limited to one halfpenny in the pound. The money could, he pointed out, only be applied to the erection of, or paying rent for a building for holding a Public Library or Museum. No power was given to lay out the funds in the purchase of books, specimens, or pictures; all these were left to depend on the voluntary contributions of the inhabitants. In the populous boroughs of the country this was a very proper measure. In Salford the town council, acting as the representative of all the ratepayers, had come forward with alacrity to provide a building for a Public Library and museum. The private gifts of the inhabitants had already stocked the museum to a considerable extent, and there had been voluntary contributions made of between 5,000 and 6,000 volumes to the library (which was attended by hundreds every night) in less than six months. He contended that this Bill would provide the cheapest police that could possibly be established, and what was the use of education for the people unless they were enabled to consult valuable works which they themselves could not purchase ? It was the duty of the House to promote all that had a tendency to bring the higher and the humbler class together; but this could not be done unless the people had the assistance of those above them. Mr. Bernal (afterwards Mr. Bernal Osborne) said his objection to the Bill rested on a very narrow and limited ground. Then he continued: If it had proposed to give power to town councils on an application to the Treasury from two-thirds or three-fourths of the inhabitants of a town, to be allowed to tax the general body of the ratepayers for theThe Passing of the Ewart Bill of 1850. 63 establishment of libraries and museums, he would not have had so much objection to the measure. But he found fault with it because it would enable any town council, desirous of carrying out the views of any small section of the inhabitants to tax the general body of ratepayers for an institution that might soon degenerate into a mere political club, for which only a few of those who were compelled to contribute for its support had any sympathy. Had the Bill been really permissive, as it was alleged, he would not have opposed it; but it proposed to clothe town councils with imperative powers, and, therefore, he would support the Amendment. Lord John Manners (now the Duke of Rutland) said, as far as the great principle of the Bill was concerned, no one was more anxious to support it than himself, for his experience of towns led him to wish that in every town, not only museums but Public Libraries were established; at the same time the public did view with great suspicion any measure that tended to increase the amount of local taxation. He admitted that the Bill would not tell upon the landed gentry, but it would impose an additional tax upon the agricultural labourers. Mr. Labouchere (father of the present member for Northampton) said he was induced to take the same view as the member for Montrose. It would be most useful if in every good-sized town a well-composed library was established, to which all the inhabitants had free access. He was of opinion that it was of much greater importance that there should be a good library than a good museum. Nothing, he believed, could be more visionary than the fear that these libraries would be filled with novels and the worst description of literature, or that they would be mere receptacles of newspapers. Why should such distrust be entertained of the discretion of the town councils, who, he conceived, could be as safely trusted with the management of this as of other matters placed under their control. The question was of considerable importance, and one in which all classes were interested; and he confessed he did not think these libraries could lead to those consequences which some hon. gentlemen, who opposed the measure, appeared to apprehend. Mr. W. Miles said his objection to the Bill was, that it gave the town council the power of taxation without consent. Moreover, there was something like a false pretence in the Bill, for although the maximum rate was said to be only a halfpenny in the pound, he observed, by the third clause, it was enacted, that, for the purchase of land, it shall be lawful for the town council, from time to time, with the approval of the Treasury, to borrow money at interest. Mr. John Bright, who all through his life was an advocate of these institutions, said there was evidently great accordance on both sides of the House with regard to the object of the Bill, and he hoped, therefore, that the House would not, on account of certain objections, which might be removed, refuse to read it a second time. He then continued: The member for the University of Cambridge seemed to take an entirely erroneous view of the halfpenny rate, which was only intended to ^pply to the building and furnishing of the library, the books being supjmed by voluntary contributions. There must be a large concurrence of opinion before any step could be taken. The town councils would not borrowPublic Libraries. 64 £5,000 to build a library unless they felt satisfied that the wealthier inhabitants would furnish books. He would be ashamed of himself and the House if he supposed that it would be necessary to say a word in favour of the object of the Bill. He (Mr. Bright) was quite sure that nothing would tend more to the preservation of order than the diffusion of the greatest amount of intelligence, and the prevalence of the most complete and open discussion amongst all classes. He would give his support to the second reading. Mr. Boundell Palmer, now Lord Selborne, expressed a doubt that they were all agreed as to the principle of this Bill. He admitted— That it would be desirable to have good Public Libraries in all towns ; but that was not the principle of this Bill. The principle of this Bill was taxation without the consent of the persons to be taxed. According to the principle of the hon. member for Manchester, this Bill would be totally inefficient for all the purposes for which it was to be introduced; for the hon. gentleman said, that by passing it they did no more than enable town councils to erect the buildings and to purchase furniture. Why, unless they were possessed of libraries and museums, what town council would be justified in erecting buildings in anticipation that charitable persons would afterwards present them with books and curiosities ? It was evident that the Bill was intended for ulterior objects, by which powers would be given for the purchase of books, and perhaps, also for the fitting-up of lecture rooms. He hoped the House would consider well before they applied to institutions of this nature the principles of public management, and compulsory rating instead of the voluntary and self-supporting principle, which he considered to be the life and essence and the cause of the utility of such institutions. On these grounds he should certainly divide against it. Mr. Palmer expressed what was evidently the feeling of a considerable number of members, that the time had not then been reached when the principle of popular control could be introduced into matters of this kind. How far this mistrust was ungrounded has been shown by results. Sir H. H. Inglis and other members opposed the second reading. Mr. Ewart, in reply, said that the latter hon. gentleman seemed to forget that this was merely a permissive Bill. He would not now at that late hour go into all the objections which had been urged against it, but would only say that existing libraries had been formed on the Museums Act, on the principles of which he had framed the present Bill. He would give his careful consideration to all those objections, and endeavour, if possible, to meet them, and render the Bill more popular. After Mr. Muntz, Sir G. Grey, and Mr. Law had addressed the House, a division was taken, the result being—for the second reading, ayes, 118; noes, 101; majority, 17. On April 10th the Bill passed through Committee, with certain modifications, by a majority of 35. It must be confessed that the House looked bored with the subject. The immediate proposal before them was limited to65 The Passing of the Ewart Bill of 1850. the procuring of sites and the erecting or adapting of buildings for Public 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 legislation. Looking at the question as it rested before the House, one naturally wonders that so simple a measure should have met with any opposition. In later stages the small measure of practicability which the Bill contained was, by the persistent struggle of its opponents, lessened in Committee. When it was returned from the Committee 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 chamber, 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 the measure. It must be admitted, however, that as landed proprietors they would not have to pay the tax. When it received the Boyal assent on August 14th, 1850, its chief provisions stood as follow :— 1. Town councils were permitted, if they thought it well to do so, to put to their burgesses the question—“Will you have a library rate levied for providing a Public Library,” and to poll them on that question. The proposal was, however, limited to a population of not less than 10,000 within the municipal limits. 2. In the event of the ratepayers deciding that question in the affirmative, the rate so levied was limited to a halfpenny in the pound on the ratable 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. It is interesting to note that the late Lord Hatherley (Lord Chancellor), then Mr. W. P. Wood, took the liveliest interest in and ga/ve great assistance to Mr. Ewart, in the passing of the Amendment Libraries Act of 1855. Lord Hatherley was a Commissioner of the Westminster Public Libraries, from the adoption of the Act, in 1856, by those parishes, until his death in 1881. The late William Ewart lived to see some very happy results as the outcome of his work. He died in 1869. Many a man has been immortalized in marble, who did far less for the public weal than has been accomplished by the Public Libraries Acts, which will for ever be associated with his name. He was the second son of the late Mr. Ewart, merchant, of Liverpool, near which city66 Public Libraries. he was born in 1798. The Ewarts are an old Kirkcudbright family, datmg back there to 1576. His early education was obtained at Eton, where he had among THE LATE WILLIAM E AY ART, M.P. his schoolfelloA\Ts Dr. Pusey, Mr. Denison, a past Speaker of the House of Commons, the late Dr. Trower, Bishop of Gibraltar, the late Marquis of Londonderry, and others. From Eton he AYent to Christ Church, Oxford, and took his B.A. degree in 1821,The Passing of the Ewart Bill of 1850. 67 and in 1827 he was called to the Bar. After leaving Oxford he lived for two years in Italy, Germany, and France, for the purpose of studying the language of each of those countries. He not only returned to England a very accomplished linguist, but his travels had a further influence upon him. The libraries then open to the public in so many French, German, and Italian cities first aroused his desire to see English cities and towns as well endowed in that respect. In 1828 he entered Parliament for the since disfranchised borough of Bletchingley, and voted for the first Beform Bill. He afterwards sat for Liverpool, and later for Wigan. His name, however, is most associated with the Dumfries Burghs, for which constituency he sat from 1841 to 1868. In the early part of his career Mr. Ewart’s name appeared very frequently in the reports of the Parliamentary debates as a speaker, both on subjects of general politics, in which he was an advanced Liberal, and on special subjects, such as the sugar duties, for Free Trade in sugar, and in 1834 for the Bepeal of the Corn Laws, and many other questions which have gone to the very roots of our national well-being. He always exhibited a laudable zeal on behalf of the working classes and the population of our large and crowded cities, and advocated the opening of public museums and galleries, and other repositories of works of art, as free from every restriction as possible. He also was among the first to propose, and certainly one of those whose steady perseverance carried, several important bills for the establishment of schools of design. The nation is very apt to forget the great blessings which have accrued from some of the small and apparently insignificant measures passed by the House of Commons, but the memory of William Ewart should ever be kept green by the friends of this movement. An excellent portrait of him appears on the opposite page. In the middle of 1887, Mr. Gladstone, in opening a Public Library, paid a high tribute to his memory. It is interesting to note that Sir John Gladstone, the father of Mr. Gladstone, was an intimate friend of the father of William Ewart, and Sir John gave the names of his friend’s son as Christian names to his own son, who was to become so distinguished. William Ewart could have no better monument than that of his name being perpetuated in the name of England’s greatest living commoner. Mr. Gladstone, speaking at Swansea, said: It recalls to me the early days of my political life, and the name of one whom I knew well from my boyhood upwards, namely, William Ewart, who passed the Public Libraries Act, and on whose memory and whose services I look back with the greatest respect and regard. There is no doubt that Mr. Ewart, by his efforts in this cause, entitled himself to be enrolled upon the list of England’s benefactors. He was, in point of fact, not only a patriot, but a prophet in this case. He took up the question of Public Libraries at a very early date, and he reminds us of the phrase which is applied in a higher and holier sphere to a character familiar to us all—he was for the time the ‘ voice of one crying in the wilderness.’ But by degrees there became apparent solidity and reality of the public interest which was involved in this question, and which68 Public Libraries. was perceived by him in the far distance, long before others were aware of its existence, while the majority were perhaps inclined to treat it as a crotchet of a benevolent mind, and the product of his fancy rather than of his judgment. Notwithstanding such discouragements, Mr. Ewart laboured steadily in the cause, and could he now be amongst us how he would rejoice to think of the acceptance which his great purpose has obtained. Mr. Ewart was for forty years in Parliament, between the years 1828 and 1868, when he resigned his seat for the Dumfries Burghs, having represented them for twenty-seven years. Several letters have recently been received from Miss Ewart, his daughter, who' mentions that she has, in conjunction with her brother and sister, sent photographs of their late father to most of the Public Libraries in the country. CHAPTER VII. The First Public Library under the Act The influence of Manchester on commerce, politics, and education has long been a recognized fact, and to the everlasting credit of Manchester be it said that it was the first town to avail itself of the Public Libraries Act of 1850. Cottonopolis may reasonably be proud of this fact, and the author of this work, a native of that district, looks back with pride and pleasure to the time when, as a lad in his teens, he used the old Campfield Library as a borrower. All honour to Manchester for what she has done for the advancement of knowr ledge and social progress in its various forms. Warrington had a Museum and Reference Library from 1843 ; Leicester had a rate-supported Museum from 1844, under the James Silk Buckingham Act of 1843; Salford had its Peel Park Library and Museum, a year or two before the passing of the Ewart Act; but to Manchester belongs the credit of giving effect to the Act in establishing a popular Lending and Reference Library. The opening ceremony took place on the afternoon and evening of Thursday, September 2,1852, and in the issues of the local newspapers on the following Saturday every prominence was given to the reports of the two meetings. Each of the Manchester papers devoted about a column to a leader on the important event which had taken place in their midst. To the afternoon meeting some eight columns are devoted, and the report of the evening meeting extends to between five and six columns. Nothing could better demonstrate the significance of the event in the estimation of the Manchester press than this fact, and from that time to the present the “ Manchester Guardian,” “ Courier,” and “ Examiner and Times ” have never ceased to give Public Libraries their earnest and consistent advocacy. The tone of the editorials is hopeful and buoyant throughout, and in perusing carefully the entire fifteen columns of newspaper matterThe First Public Library under the Act. 69 it is impossible not to be struck with the inspiring tone which characterized the proceedings. The “ Manchester Guardian ” in its editorial, remarked that “Sir John Potter and his coadjutors* in the foundation of the Public Library, scarcely need to be congratulated on the brilliant ceremony which has crowned their labours. If they feel towards the nascent institution as towards their natural offspring they must have some satisfaction in reflecting that a more successful christening never ushered into the world a favourite of fortune. No good fairy was absent from the festal board, nor, we firmly trust and believe, did any malignant genius slip in uninvited to mar the destiny which so many powers had contributed to render perfect. In our age and country few undertakings have been launched under more august or varied auspices.” Then there follows later on in the editorial these words, so pregnant with hope and foresight: “ To what vast fields of mental and moral elevation, individual and social, an avenue was opened for our teeming population on that day—never, we trust, to be shut to the poorest of our fellow-townsmen so long as Manchester has an existence and a name.” For thirty-nine years the doors have been open to the very poorest, and through all time to come, as far as one can be humanly certain, they will remain an open portal for the long line of generations to follow. As the time approached for the opening ceremony of the new Library the interest in the object increased, subscriptions were multiplied, and numerous were the applications for tickets. A more brilliant and intellectual assemblage was seldom seen than that which filled every nook and cranny of the reference room of the Campfield Library where the meetings were held. The lending library on the ground floor was opened as a reception room. At a quarter after eleven a.m. the principal guests came upon the platform, and were received with loud applause. On the right 0f Sir John Potter, the chairman, there were—R. Barnes, Mayor of Manchester, the Bishop of Manchester, Sir E. Bulwer Lytton, Bart., M.P., R. Monckton Milnes, M.P. (afterwards Lord Houghton), W. Makepeace Thackeray, John Bright, M.P., Charles Knight, James Crossley, and M. Ross. To the left of the chairman were—the Earl of Shaftesbury, the Earl of Wilton, Charles Dickens, Sir James Stephen, Joseph Brotherton, M.P., J. A. Turner, treasurer“ of the Public Library Fund, Sir E. Armitage, and Thomas Bazley. The whole of these have now passed over to the majority, but the movement whose birth they were celebrating is destined to envelope the whole country by the time the jubilee of the movement comes round. The entire story of these two meetings is so full of interest and bears retelling so well that the indulgence of the reader must be asked if the details seem wearisome. The chairman first read a report of the history of the institution. This occupied a column of small type in the newspaper reports. In the summer of 1850 a subscription was set on foot for the establishment of a library.7o Public Libraries. But as it was the especial object of the promoters to provide means for the mental culture and moral elevation of the artisans and workpeople, who form so large and important an element of such a community as Manchester, it was laid down, as the fundamental basis of the scheme, that it should include a Free Lending Library, an institution up to that time without example in this country. In support of this object twenty-six townsmen subscribed, either for themselves or for their respective firms, the sum of £100 each. The building at Campfield had early been pointed out as well adapted to the contemplated purpose. It had originally been built by the working classes with an outlay exceeding £5,000, but under the then existing circumstances those interested were willing to dispose of it for £1,200. Sir Oswal Mosley owned a chief rent upon it of £91 6s. per annum, which was estimated to be worth twenty-four years’ purchase, or about £2,200. That gentleman, on being informed of the purpose to which it was intended to devote the building, expressed his cordial approval, and stated that he should value the chief rent at twenty years’ purchase, £1,826, and should further testify his goodwill to the project by returning one-half of the purchase money as a contribution to the fund. In January, 1851, the first appeal was made to the public for co-operation and support. Particulars as to the formation of the library were then given. The speech of the chairman, Sir John Potter, came first after the recital of the particulars by the secretary. The mayor, Robert Barnes, who wore his chain and badge of office, afterwards spoke. The Earl of Shaftesbury—the good earl—said:— In rising to propose the first resolution, I must defend myself against the probable charge, that, as a stranger, and unconnected with your great city, I presume to obtrude myself upon tip notice of this meeting. The resolution which I am called upon to move expresses : “That this meeting witnesses with great satisfaction the opening ceremonial of the Manchester Public Library, and desires to express its entire confidence that this noble institution will effect great and lasting good to the community for generations to come.” There will be no difficulty in obtaining your concurrence to this resolution, and there will be as little difficulty in showing to the by-standers and the world at large the local benefits that will arise from this institution. But we must go further than local benefits ; and allow me to observe that in these days of pursuit of excitement, in these days of novel projects and restless inquiry, in these days of accelerated progress, when time and space seem almost extinct, yo:i are preparing hereby an antidote to mischiefs that might likewise arise, and setting an example that may be imitated ; and in laying down a principle of universal application, you assert that the true end of commerce is to make the necessities of the country subservient to its civilization, and then its civilization subservient to the social and moral amelioration of the whole family of man. Now, sir, who in these days will presume to question the growing importance of the man of commerce and industry ? They no 'onger, as before, figure for a time, and then become absorbed in the great mass of proprietors. They now stand apart, upon a separate and inde-7i The First Public Library under the Act. pendent basis, and claim to be heard as equal to the best in patriotism, in principle, and in intellectual power. Our institutions—God be praised ! —can well bear this demand. . . .You have founded this great and glorious institution, large, liberal, and cosmopolite ; and from my heart, I say, may God prosper it to the purpose to which it was intended ; and may you, in the pursuit of wealth, and in the duties of commerce, in the exercise of every virtue, and in the maintenance of every sound and great principle—may you, I say, thereby sanctify the possession and enjoyment of your riches, and may you enjoy for yourselves, and transmit to those who may come after you, the citizenship of a crowning city, “ whose merchants are princes, and whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth.” Therefore, with heartfelt satisfaction, I propose this resolution. Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, M.P., after referring to the speech of the Earl of Shaftesbury, spoke as follows:— I am reminded that there was once a Scottish peasant, who, having raised himself to a rank in the eyes of posterity beyond that of ordinary princes, desired also to raise the whole class which he ennobled in the scale of intellectual nobility, and was the first to institute libraries for the people in the rural districts of Scotland. That peasant was Robert Burns the poet, and when I look around this noble hall and this large assembly ; when I know that behind me are the contributions that come from the palaces of your kings ; when I see that next to me is one of our most reverend dignitaries of the church ; when I see beyond me the representatives of some of the loftiest houses of our aristocracy ; and when I look upon either side and know that you have present also the representatives of the orders of literature and art; and when I look before me and see an array that I confess awes and dazzles me more than all, composed of those who are never absent where good is to be done, I own I do wish that Burns could have foreseen what magnificence you have given to his idea. .... But, gentlemen, education does not cease when we leave school ; education rightly considered is the work of a life, and libraries are the school books of grown up men. I was exceedingly touched when the other day I was taken by Sir Elkanah Armitage to see the library and museum at Peel Park, which, I believe, owes as much to Mr. Brotherton as this library owes to Sir John Potter. I was moved and affected when I saw so many intelligent young faces bent over books with much earnest attention ; and when I felt what healthful stimulants had replaced the old English excitement of the ale-house and the gin palace. Then came Charles Dickens, who was in a very happy vein:— I have seen so many references made in newspapers, in parliamentary debates, and elsewhere to the “ Manchester School,” that I have long had a considerable anxiety to know what the phrase might mean, and wrhat the “ Manchester School ” might be. My natural curiosity on this head has not been diminished by the very contradictory accounts I have received respecting that same “ school; ” some great authorities assuring me that it was a very good one, some that it was a very bad one ; some that it was very broad and comprehensive, some that it was very narrow and limited ; some that it was all cant, and some that it was all cotton. Now, ladies and gentlemen, I have solved this difficulty by finding here to-day that the “Manchester School” is a gieat free school, bent on carrying instruction to the poorest hearths. It is this great free school inviting the humblest workman to come in and be its student; this great free school, most munificently endowed by voluntary subscription in an72 Public Libraries. incredibly short space of time—starting upon its glorious career with 20,000 volumes of books—knowing no sect, no party, no distinction— knowing but the public want and the public good. Henceforth 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. ... I have long been, in my sphere, a zealous advocate for the diffusion of knowledge among all classes and conditions of men ; because I do believe with all the strength and might with which I am capable of believing anything, that the more a man knows, the more humbly and with a more faithful spirit he comes back to the Fountain of all knowledge, and takes to his heart the great sacred precept, “ On earth peace, goodwill towards men ! ” William Makepeace Thackeray, whose name will ever stand deservedly high in English literature, called attention to the fact that amongst the many sanitary and social reforms which every man interested in the public welfare is now anxious to push forward, the great measure of books will not be neglected; and we look to those as much as we look to air, or to light, or to water. Then he said:— If books do soothe, cheer, and console ; if books do enlighten, enliven, and fortify ; if they do make sorrow bearable to us, or teach us to forget or to endure it; if they do create in us harmless tears or happy laughter, if they do bring forth in us that peace and that feeling of goodwill of which Mr. Dickens spoke, and which anybody who has read his books must have felt has come from them—surely we will not grudge these estimable blessings to the poorest of our friends, but will try with all our might to dispense these cheap but precious benefits over all. Of educated mechanics, of course, it is not my business to speak, or ever my wish to pretend to be an instructor. Those who know the educated mechanics of this vast city or this empire, are aware that they are in the habit of debating the greatest literary and political questions amongst themselves; that they have leisure to think, and talent to speak, much greater than that of men who sometimes are obliged to appear for a moment before you. They have their poets and their philosophers. The character of their education is very much changed from that of one hundred years ago, when, if you remember, Hogarth represented the evil mechanic as occupied with Moll Flanders, and the good mechanic as having arrived at the reading of the story of the good apprentice, who was made Lord Mayor of London. The mechanics of our day have got their Carlyles to read, their Dickenses on their shelf, and their Bulwers by their side. It is only to the very poor—to the especially poor—that the resolution which we have before us applies. I am sure that you will use all your endeavours to meet the purposes for which it was intended, and to carry the contents of your noble volumes into the cottages, garrets, and cellars. I am aware, gentlemen, that in so vast a collection, the sort of works which I am in the habit of writing can occupy but a very small space. I know that our novels are but what we may call tarts for the people. History is bread, and science is bread, and historical and spiritual truth form that upon whieh they must feed. But, as one knows, that when every fresh book is written, a new desire springs up for better and better reading. I feel sure that your attempt to improve and elevate the condition of the working classes of the community will be crowned with success.73 The First Public Library under the Act. Sir James Stephen, Professor of Modern History at Cambridge, moved, “ That in the Reference Library this meeting hails with great pleasure a provision for the wants of the scholar and the student of every class, and in most branches of literature, science, and art; and records its firm expectation that, by a continuance of liberal aid, this department of the institution will long be a centre of intellectual information and improvement.” In the course of his speech, Sir James said:— We are living at a time when it is not permitted to any man to withhold the little which it may be in his power to contribute towards the advancement of such objects as this. These mighty discoveries, these strange inventions, these gigantic revolutions, these unheard-of migrations, these heavings of the lower strata of human society—the increasing power of the popular voice,—all these things testify that we have reached the accomplishment of the prophecy of the time when “men shall run to and fro, and knowledge be increased.” We are, therefore, approaching a great crisis and catastrophe of human affairs. To approach such a crisis and catastrophe in the right spirit, it. behoves us all to do our best. You have done your best; you have erected this temple of knowledge in the midst of a multitude whom now, as we have heard, we regard with composure unbroken, but whom altered circumstances might cause us to regard with other and different feelings. The future, however, is in the hands of Him who rules us all ; our business is with the present hour, and with present duty. Richard Monckcon Milnes, M.P., said he remembered, not without shame, how many of the class to which he belonged possess magnificent repositories of books of which hardly a volume ever descended from the shelves. “ But let me,” he went on to say, “ congratulate you on having a population which can read the books that you have gathered, let me congratulate you that the purposes of this library are not limited to your own liberality, but that they reach at once with a trumpet-voice the intelligence even of the poorest of the people of Manchester.” John Bright, M.P., was in his best form, as will be seen :— The Libraries Act was a very inefficient and incomplete measure. He was in Parliament at the time, and saw the difficulties which Mr. Ewart and Mr. Brotherton, the parents of the measure, had to pass it through the House. It was an extraordinary fact that the opposition came almost entirely from that side of the House which was composed of country gentlemen, a great portion of them, no doubt, having had an education at one of our great universities. Those gentlemen opposed the rate on the ground that there were certain boroughs wherein the limits of the corporation included certain agricultural districts, and that it would not be a judicious or a proper thing to add to the “ burdens on land ” by passing the Bill. He was sure that no class, whether connected with agriculture or with manufactures, could dispense with such an instrumentality as the Public Library afforded to the people ; and that it would be better for the country if every manufacturing and agricultural labourer, every manufacturing capitalist, and every farmer, were well read and instructed in all the branches which were accessible in this library to the population of Manchester. Charles Knight, who did so much in the providing of cheap74 Public Libraries. literature for the people, and whose work in this respect has not yet had justice done to it, moved, “ That the promoters and friends of this institution most earnestly desire that the example now given may be followed by the establishment of similar libraries in the populous cities and towns of the United Kingdom.” Then later on he said:— Most sincerely was it to be prayed that this example might be followed ; but he could not refrain from expressing his conviction that the time was not far distant when it would be universally followed, and when the populous cities and towns of this kingdom would rival this eminent example. . . . Out of this library there must grow an intelligence that would go forth throughout the country to enlighten and to radiate, for it was perfectly clear that, amongst the great body of men who worked in the factories, there must be men who were anxious to cultivate some particular pursuit, in which they might one day attain to eminence. A few other speakers followed, and a working man, Peter Cunningham, hoped that John Bright would see them through this “halfpenny hatch,” referring to the limit of a halfpenny rate in the Ewart Bill, and which was afterwards removed by the Bill of 1855. These were the leading speeches at the afternoon meeting. At the more public meeting in the evening, the Earl of Shaftesbury again spoke, and so did Mr. Thackeray, and an incident occurred in connection with the speech of the able and pure-minded author just named which should not be allowed to be forgotten, reflecting as it does the greatest credit upon the sensitive feelings and patriotism of the writer of “Vanity Fair” and “ Esmond.” Those who have read his speech at the gathering earlier in the day cannot fail to have been struck with the tone of dignity and the earnest hopefulness which pervaded it. In the evening the vista of popular libraries being established all over the country, and the educational and elevating influences which would necessarily flow from the extension of the movement, overcame Mr. Thackerary, and he abruptly sat down in the middle of an incom-pleted sentence, much to the surprise of the audience, who cheered him when the words he was uttering came to a sudden stop. After learning of the incident, it is impossible not to have one s respect for the memory of this genial and good man greatly enhanced. It was not the lack of words so much as the effect on the highly-strung nerves of a sensitive man, on the opening out of this new page in England’s educational history. The Manchester papers make no mention of this incident. And not only Thackeray, but all who lift up their voice in public, have at some period of their career to be grateful to the kindly charity of the Press. Leading articles on the inauguration of Public Libraries appeared also in “ The Times,” “ Athenaeum,” “ Illustrated London News,” and other papers; but at a distance of thirty-nine years we have yet to see fully realized these institutions becoming partThe First Public Library under the Act. 75 of our national institutions. One of the papers just named made use of the following language, and were it not very certain that it was in 1852 when it was first printed, we might be disposed to rub our eyes and see if it was not yesterday when it actually appeared. The writer says:—“ In an age when Public Libraries have become necessary, 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 manufacturers 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 and cities have their Public 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.” The inauguration of the Public Library Movement, graced as it was by the "presence and active aid of several of the most eminent authors of the day, whose reputations gain lustre rather than diminish as the years recede, was an event to which we may well look back. Upon that occasion the readers and makers of books stood face to face. Manchester, the city of numerous industries and well-distributed wealth, declared with 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 Government then practically denied it by taxes on knowledge. Mr. Alexander Ireland is one of the very few still living who took an active part in the promotion of the movement, and he may be congratulated on the part he then took. Another gentleman who was present, and is still living, is Alderman Abel Hey wood, J.P., who well remembers the meeting. It is impossible for a Manchester man to refrain from going back, in memory, to the premises in which that meeting was held, a building now turned to other uses, but which deserves a tablet placed upon it to record its history as the cradle of a new social movement which will yet spread itself over the entire length and breadth of the land. How much we owe as a nation to some of these apparently lessPublic Libraries. 76 important measures of reform, which have, through much difficulty, been placed on the Statute-book, will never, perhaps, be fully recognized, but so far as this movement is concerned, we would scatter a handful of flowers over the graves of Ewart, Potter, Brotherton, Edwards, Shaftesbury, Bright, Dickens, Thackeray, and Lytton; and as the movement gains new life, and is fast enveloping the entire country, we would thus call to mind the memory of those who struck this new vein in the nation’s life, and gave the first impetus to a cause fraught with blessing for the common weal. It may be said of nearly all those whose names have been mentioned in this chapter, as has been the case in nearly every other department of life, that the leaders of human thought are rarely ever permitted to enter that promised land whither they are conducting others. CHAPTER VIII. How to bring about the Adoption of the Acts. It is a healthy and happy characteristic of public life in this country that, in the midst of political controversies which go down to the very roots of our national existence and unity, our statesmen of all parties are looked upon as men of light and leading, whose views on subjects of general and nonpolitical interest are entitled at all times to respectful hearing and attention. As a people we fight stoutly and vigorously when political issues are at stake; but even while the battle rages most fiercely we are always ready to lay down the weapons of political warfare and to listen patiently and respectfully to men who have earned the right to speak with authority on topics of common social interest. This is a trait in our national character which cannot be too highly valued, and we may well be proud of it. Life, and especially public life, would scarcely be worth having if there were no questions or movements affecting the common weal of the people in which those of all shades of political and religious opinion could stand together, and work shoulder to shoulder for the achieving of a given purpose for the good of the whole local community. This characteristic applies with greatest force when it is brought to the test of movements like the one now being advocated. There is, in fact, no effort for the public good which could be commenced in any district so capable of effectually welding the sympathies and activities of those holding opposite views in politics and religion as the Public Library movement. Every town and every rural district ought to have its Public Library and reading-room; and instead of the very limited number of these institutions established in forty years’ time, the number during the next ten years should be more than doubled. Let it be said with sorrow, however, that in some cases the77 How to bring about the Adoption of the Acts. movement has been defeated not by the indifference of the majority of the people but by the strenuous opposition of those possessing well-filled bookshelves of their own, and to whom the penny rate would mean only the merest trifle. In not a few cases leaders of local opinion have so damned the movement with faint praise, if they have not kept altogether aloof from it, that failure has attended the efforts made. Considering these matters and the years of agitation which have been necessary in some towns, it is of vital necessity that the subject should be taken up only by those prepared to meet with bitter opposition, and to vigorously maintain their views. The British ratepayer is very often a tough customer. The seat of sensitiveness is the trousers-pocket, and in every district he has the impression that he is over-taxed, and the least hint of any increase in that direction brings paterfamilias up in arms directly. To make haste slowly should, therefore, be the motto of all friends of the movement. The more the question is discussed, the more friends does the movement gain; so that the fullest publicity should be courted rather than shirked. In one year there were twelve refusals to adopt the Acts, and this is a fact patent enough to prove that the adoption of the Acts is not easily brought about. Before passing to the more important section of this chapter there is a matter of vital interest to this movement to which it will be here opportune to direct attention. The writer was the first to launch, several years ago, the suggestion that the popular vote to decide this question should be abolished, and many friends have been won over to this view of the subject. All are agreed that the various Acts as they stand are a conglomeration of phrases, confusion worse confounded. Even lawyers themselves do not understand them, or interpret them in different ways, as has been the case in some noted instances. The ground is being cleared for the bringing forward of a Consolidation Act upon which librarians and the friends of this movement shall be agreed. For the present, counsels are somewhat divided, and there has as yet been no opportunity for a fair and full discussion of the whole subject. The more, however, that the question of the Popular Vote is considered, the more is it evident that the movement will never make the progress which it ought to do until the whole plan of operation is altered, and the power to adopt the Acts placed with the governing body. This is, of course, the one vital point upon which rests the whole movement, as it is at present constituted, and it is one, perhaps, which concerns the movement more than it does librarians. Judging from the forty years’ experience of the popular vote it cannot be said to have been as successful as the best friends of the first Bill hoped would be the case. In many districts where the adoption has been carried there has been an appalling amount of apathy and indifference, and the question has been ultimately carried by the few who have advocated the cause and those they have been enabled to gather around them. Frequently not one in ten of the ratepayers has voted where thePublic Libraries. 7s method has been by voting papers, and in some cases where it has been settled by statutory meeting there has been an even worse evidence of the want of interest in the movement. In a county town in England, within the last year or two, a town’s meeting, numbering all told fifty souls, carried the adoption of the Public Libraries Acts. This was one argument why the method of settling the question by statutory meeting should be abolished. Those who are not friendly to this movement say that this lack of local interest is a proof the people do not want these libraries. But this is not so, and repeatedly the very people who have shown the most indifference have been the first to use their Public Library when it has been opened. The cause lies deeper down than the absence, in some quarters, of a desire for libraries. Our local national life and the sense of citizenship are only just beginning to take root, and when this question comes up at a later date for settlement it will be found that there is a much more universal interest in the success of the efforts than ever there has been before. But the time has arrived when the accredited representatives of the people, the local governing body, may be safely left to have charge of this question. Through them their constituents will still have a voice in the decision. Surely if these representatives may be trusted in the expenditure of larger sums and the power to impose infinitely greater increases in the rates than the Ewart penny, they might be trusted with this question, which is one lying so close to the welfare of the entire district. The popular vote can be resorted to on so few questions that to make it apply any longer to Public Libraries seems unwise, unnecessary, and impolitic. This argument is strengthened by the fact of the Technical Instruction Act of 1889 giving the power to the governing authority to levy a rate not exceeding a penny in the pound without first obtaining the consent of the people. Within a period of six months there have been over forty adoptions by governing bodies of the Technical Instruction Act. This illustrates the rate of progress which might be anticipated under new conditions. As already stated, the constituents would still have a voice through their representatives. And there is no fear that Town Councils, Local Boards, and other governing bodies would rush in one huge body throughout the country to carry the adoption of the Acts within themselves. Representatives are too afraid of arousing the antagonism of their constituents by the imposition of an extra penny on the rates to do any such thing. They know full well that out of doors every vote they give for the increase of local taxation brings upon them obloquy and misrepresentation. But the point is that the elected representatives of the people can in educational matters especially be trusted, and that for the mental advancement of the people parsimony and niggardly economy are not the most suitable sections of our expenditure in which these can be practised. Extravagance and undue expenditure are not suggested, and it should always be seen that the people get good value for the public money spent in these as well as in other direc-79 How to bring about the A doption of the A cts. tions. Still our economical tendencies have begun at the wrong end when they are applied to educational matters. The same zeal turned upon the frightful cost which crime, drink, and self-made poverty inflict upon us would have long before this made an appreciable saving in these items, and so there would now be more to spend for educational purposes. One of the chief objections against the popular vote is the cost of taking the poll. This means to some districts an outlay of several hundred pounds. In fact, where voting papers are delivered and collected by hand almost the whole of the machinery necessary at a municipal election has to be set in operation. It is safe to say that in many districts the local public money which is absorbed in taking the vote would go a very long way towards stocking a library. It is possible that returning officers will oppose doing away with the popular vote because the question of fees is not by any means a small one. But the ratepayers whose money has to be used to pay these fees should consider whether the expenditure in taking a popular vote is really necessary. Another objection is that in the taking of the popular vote the publicans and other false friends of the people have it in their power to defeat the movement. How often this attempt at popular voting has been strangled by Boniface & Co. it is lamentable to have to consider. This prolific class of society seems to rule and govern almost every department of our national and local life either directly or indirectly. There is a constant drain upon public money to pay the depredations upon society created by the ravages of their trade. And when an attempt is made to promote libraries, museums, education generally, parks, and other advantages for the people, up start the publicans and block the way. That there are some respectable members of this trade is acknowledged; but the Public Library movement has so often been defeated by the efforts of beer-sellers that all thoughtful people should seriously consider the factor that this trade is in our national life. For street lighting, cleansing, road making, poor laws, and police, there is no popular voting. The local governing body can pull down whole streets, make improvements in brick and mortar, beautify and build at the cost of tens of thousands, but if the question is on widening the avenues of thought, building up the edifices of mind, and making more healthy the moral atmosphere of town or city, they must wait until, forsooth, the people out of doors take the lead ! Why should the line be any longer drawn at Public Libraries ? The only way that William Ewart could get his Bill through the House was by the introduction of the permissive clause. Still, from the Act of 1855 down to the present there has been a sufficient test of the popular vote, and we should, as a nation, have now grown beyond that stage. As these libraries are for the good of the whole district, and not for a section of it, the power can with safety be given to the representatives elected by popular vote. These can be trusted8o Public Libraries. to look at the question from every standpoint. The mere fact of its being made a test question at the polls would be a distinct gain to the movement, for then the constituencies would hear so much said on one side and on the other that they would be compelled to think about the subject. The popular vote would thus remain; it is only changing its field of action. This is a matter which may be urged upon the attention of all who take an interest in this movement. The gain would be great. There would be to the constituencies less cost, and a better way of ascertaining the real wishes of the people; and the influences at present brought to bear in opposing the adoption of the Acts would be minimized and concentrated in one particular direction. There would, further, be an impetus in the number of adoptions of the Acts, as it would narrow down the ground to cover. But this is prospective, and we have to deal with the Acts as they stand at this date (August, 1891), and these clearly define that until they are repealed the popular vote shall be taken by means of voting papers. The Act of 1890 abolished the statutory meeting—a change which all those who are seeking to promote the adoption of the Acts must keep in mind. Similar methods which have produced success in the past are calculated to again have the same effect. First and foremost in the front rank of influences likely to aid those in any district desirous of starting the movement is that of the Press. The Fourth Estate has become so great a factor in English life, that any public effort which leaves out in the cold, or pretends to do so, the local newspapers, is almost sure, from the very first, to be doomed to failure. And if proprietors and editors of newspapers can be made friends of the cause, and be prevailed upon to treat the matter vigorously in their columns, the efforts towards the adoption of the Acts cannot fail to be ultimately successful. The question might, in the first instance, be introduced by some prominent resident in a letter to the local press, showing the wide usefulness of Public Libraries to all classes, and the desirability of adopting the Acts in that town or district. The writer of such a letter should give some particulars of what these institutions have done and are doing in other districts. He should go into figures, giving the ratable value of the town, what the penny in the pound would produce, and what might be done in the way of establishing, stocking, and maintaining a library with the gross amount. It would be advisable in such a letter to combat the idea that the rich provide books for the poor—that the town is doing for individuals what they should do for themselves, viz., provide themselves with books. Opponents designate these institutions as expensive luxuries in a town. They are nothing of the kind. The argument to the effect that if a town provides water, highways, and sewers for its ratepayers, why should it not provide books and reading-rooms, should be skilfully handled. One letter would thus lead to others, and the subject would be prominently ventilated on both sides. Promoters must expect8i How to bring about the Adoption of the Acts. to be told that there is an immense amount of nonsense talked about Public Libraries, and that it seems to be thought that because books are good things, therefore they should be provided for nothing. Such will, as a parallel inference, say that since bread is useful, therefore it should be given without work. Other statements are sure to be made—such as, it is just as reasonable to provide free boots as Public Libraries, free everything, in fact, as books for lending to all adult citizens, without let or hindrance. The conclusion will be drawn that if these institutions are provided for the citizens it tends to destroy the moral fibre of a man, and dulls the sense of self-independence. Elaborate arguments will be advanced that Livingstone, Stephenson, and a host of other noble Englishmen achieved success without the aid of Public Libraries. Pope’s oft-quoted words, but which are neither wise or very accurate— “ A little learning is a dangerous thing; Drink deep or taste not the Piserian spring: There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, And drinking largely sobers us again ”— will be served up and do duty in a variety of ways. Others will say that all such measures as the Public Libraries Acts are simply relics of Protection—devices for compelling men to maintain a channel of supply which is supposed to be beneficial to the community, but which confessedly cannot stand alone. The terms “ faddists,” “ fanatics,” and the rest are sure to be used, especially by anonymous letter writers, for it is a significant fact that there is not more than one in twenty-five letters in the public press against Public Libraries which gives the name of the writer. In discussing this question, as with all others, it should be well borne in mind that there is no reason to be ashamed of an honest opinion, no matter whether it is for or against a particular movement. Every question admits of reasonably different views being taken of if, and the one immediately under consideration is no exception to the rule. Letters such as those indicated, and replies, cannot fail to bring out the editor in his columns with leaders, and so the subject soon grows into a burning question for the district. Every letter against the movement should be answered by one in favour. The most extraordinary assertions will be made respecting these institutions, their cost, management, etc. A long chapter could be filled with a selection culled from various sources. One paper gravely stated, among some “facts” against Public Libraries, that servant girls would have a new excuse when they wished to get out in the evening. Instead of the excuse being to buy a “ Bit of ribbon,” it would be “ To- change my book at the library.” “ Please I want a book for my baby to play with! ” was a request, says somebody, actually made to a librarian at a Public Library. The most remarkable correspondence which it has been possible to read upon this question appeared in that excellent paper the “ Standard ” in January, 1891. 682 Public Libraries. According to a correspondent who signed himself “ A Victim of Free Libraries/’ these institutions are positive evils, inflicting harm upon society and undermining the character of large numbers of people. He first imbibed this extraordinary notion of the demoralizing effect of Public Libraries by observing what happens in Sydney. The chief city of New South Wales has a magnificent library, and the rooms are very comfortable. Generally speaking, he always found the rooms crowded, and this appeared to him a gratifying indication of Antipodean intelligence. But eventually he noticed that half the seats were occupied by a pronounced class of loafers, who came in off the streets to take advantage of the comfort of the rooms, which they did with great coolness, some of them even going to sleep without making a pretence of reading. The librarian admitted-, so he said, but it is a statement which requires corroboration, that the library was the loafing ground of every idle young man in Sydney. On returning to England this gentleman had occasion to interest himself in a young man at Brighton, who could not be got to work. He was usually to be found at the Public Library, perusing light literature, and he asserts that the library ruined him. “ I mentioned this to a gentleman at the library (a visitor), and he said he had long seen it, and that no greater curse existed than these libraries, and he had rather see a young man hanging about a public-house than spending his time in these places.” This was followed by a letter in the same paper signed “ Science,” which is given in full. The writer, who might have made us acquainted with his name, said:—“ You have done good service in opening a discussion on this subject. Your correspondent, ‘ A Victim of Free Libraries/ need not have gone to Sydney to see the ill-effects of this new fad upon our young men. I have myself very little time for consulting such books as I wish in pursuance of my studies, but whenever I have entered any of our Public Libraries, I have found, as a rule, every chair occupied— and by whom P In nine cases out of ten by loafing office boys or clerks, who were using their masters’ time for devouring all the most trivial literary trash they could get. It is often stated that it is better to read trashy novels than not to read at all. One might just as well argue that it is better to eat poison than not to eat at all. I never knew a case in which a novel-reader became a lover of intellectual reading, though I admit that a novel is a necessary change for the overwrought brain of a literary student. Light literature is, and has been, quite enough of a curse in our country without having our loafers and idlers deluged with it in the form of Public Libraries. Many are the crimes brought about by the disordered imagination of a reader of sensational, and often immoral, rubbish, whilst many a home is neglected and uncared for owing to the all-absorbed novel-reading wife.” Then a few days afterwards one who signs himself “ Oxon ” wrote to the “ Pall Mall Gazette ”:—“ I would submit two possible objections to the establishment of Public Libraries. 1. They are apt to become disseminators of infection centres of disease.How to bring about the Adoption of the Acts. 83 People who use circulating libraries are notoriously careless— some of them at least—and the first thing that strikes a certain class of persons, if any member of the family falls ill, is to lay in a stock of books. 2. They are liable to break up the influence of the home. Beading in sullen silence is not the best possible training for the mind. Bather is that to be preferred which encourages a comment or rejoinder now and again. The place for the paper or magazine is the home circle. Those who encourage members of the family to find their reading matter elsewhere loosen, however imperceptibly, the strongest ties of civilization. The people who use Public Libraries are not those for whom these libraries are intended. The well-to-do class can, or ought, to buy the periodicals they want for themselves. Why, then, should Public Libraries be established in rich districts like Kensington P ” A more unfounded charge was never advanced against these institutions than that they are the means of disseminating infectious diseases. One single authenticated case has yet to be brought forward where an infectious complaint has been spread by means of a book from a Public Library. As to the second objection put forward by this correspondent, it is so unique that it is better left as it is. These examples well illustrate the class of correspondence which appears from opponents. In other cases correspondents will be strong in figures, proving (to themselves) that the libraries will cost fabulous sums, involving risks and outlay, which may bring the town or parish to the verge of absolute bankruptcy. In other cases towns will be quoted where, by a special Local Improvement Act, they have obtained permission to increase the rate. It should be remembered that in these instances the opening of branch libraries has been the main cause. Second in influence for the movement are local public men clergymen and other ministers of the Gospel, Sunday and day-school teachers, and all who have influence with, and care for, their fellow-townsmen. Surely these could easily introduce the subject in a sermon, speech, or address. Some capital lectures on the subject have been given by clergymen, nonconformist ministers, and laymen, and in several instances the successful issue of the movement has been largely owing to the spirited championing of it by these influential classes of the community. Notices from the pulpit, on the Sunday prior to the voting papers being collected, referring to Public Libraries as part of Home Missionary efforts, are especially helpful. The members of political clubs and literary and debating societies can and do render very good aid. It is astonishing how many friends of education there are when such a movement as this is set going, and the voluntary help of all these should be at once enlisted. When the subject has been forward for a time, a provisional committee should be formed, with a man of definite qualities for light and leading elected as chairman. All true friends of the cause will have no jealousy against some gentleman taking a very prominent lead in thePublic Libraries. 84 matter ; but it is only one of strong individuality who can do this, and the others should rally round. Such a work is, of course, all voluntary, and a good leader will take care that these voluntary workers are well organized into sections for various districts. Schoolrooms, as a rule, will be willingly lent free of expense for the purpose of meetings. Speakers at these meetings would do well not to burden their audience with too many statistics. Short speeches, to the point, do much more good. Stress must be laid all through the agitation that more than one penny in the pound per year for maintenance cannot be levied. This is the one vital point of the entire question, and this argument cannot be driven home too firmly. An elaborate preliminary scheme should be avoided. A library committee appointed on the carrying of the Acts are never bound by any scheme put forward by the provisional committee. If friends of the movement have visited Public Libraries in the country all the better, as they will from these derive inspiration. Much help must not, at first, be expected from alderman and town councillors, or members of local boards. These gentlemen know only too well the sensitiveness of their constituents respecting the rates, and a prominence on the part of many of them in a movement for an extra rate, however slight, might mean the loss of a seat in the council or board. The local members of Parliament again sometimes hold aloof from the movement, for reasons best known to themselves. Be careful that every step taken is legal. Those not friendly to the movement are frequently on the watch for loopholes of attack. One case is in mind where a reverend doctor refused to pay the rate when levied, his plea being that a meeting had decided against the adoption of the Acts. As it was a test case he was summoned in the County Court, and of course lost, as he had mistaken a meeting of the opponents as the statutory meeting defined by the old Acts. Sometimes town clerks, when perhaps there is a personal feeling in the matter, are reluctant to give information which would keep promoters within the strict lines of the Acts; but in other cases they give the freest and fullest advice, and so render admirable help. Wherever possible a local solicitor should be asked to serve on the provisional committee. As it is impossible to carry on any propaganda without some expenditure, a small preliminary fund is indispensable, and friends of the movement are always ready with subscriptions for this purpose. A distribution of literature is the chief expense, and the outlay for this depends, of course, upon the size of the town. Local printers are the best from whom to get leaflets, etc., printed, preference being given to the publishers of the local newspapers which support the movement. Reprints of letters and other matter are given at the end of this book, and then from the type standing, after appearing in the local press, for a number to be struck off will be found a practical plan. The expenses for taking the poll come out of the rates, but forHow to bring about the Adoption of the Acts. 85 public meetings for the purpose of advocating the adoption of the Acts, and literature, a subscription fund among the promoters will be necessary. It is impossible to take too great care to keep the question absolutely free from political bias, and wherever practicable the leaders of the two chief political parties should be induced to take a prominent part in the movement. Life would not be worth living if there were no platform where all could meet together and work for the common good, and no other public question is welding together so thoroughly those of all shades of religious and political opinion as this. It does not, as a rule, augur well for the movement when it is brought forward and advocated chiefly by those who are open to the charge of being doctrinaires. The attitude of shopkeepers is always a vital factor in the movement, and they are, of course, a class largely interested when an increase in the local rates is contemplated. Every effort should be made to conciliate them and to win them over to the scheme. The presence of Public Library buildings always improves the adjoining property, and in some towns tradesmen advertise their places of business as being within so many doors of the Public Library. These institutions inculcate by their influence temperate habits and thrift, and as the masses spend less in drink they will have more to spend with the local tradesmen. Many shopkeepers render most valuable service by advocating the claims of these institutions. Drawing-room meetings for the purpose of explaining the uses and working of Public Libraries to the well-to-do are advisable. There are a large number of people who will never take the trouble to inform themselves about any movement, but who might be disposed to attend such a gathering as this when they could not be induced to attend a public meeting or a lecture on the subject. Many local papers print matter referring to these institutions, and before the type is distributed it would be well to have a few thousands struck off. Posters are useful, especially in large towns where the people are difficult to reach by other means. Opponents of the measure may be thus classed:— I. The better-class people, who do not see why they should be taxed for the benefit of their less-favoured neighbours. II. Those who say books are so cheap nowadays that no one need be without them. III. The enemies of education—and there are not a few of these. IV. The burdened (P) ratepayer, who objects on principle to all rates and taxes. V. The publicans and their numerous votaries. VI. The working classes, who very often are not particularly anxious for the establishing of Public Libraries. VII. The people who do not care for books, and fail to see why other people should—poor creatures, what a life to lead!86 Public Libraries. VIII. The absolutely indifferent, who care for no movement, no matter how good its objects—“Mugwumps,” our American friends call them. IX. Those who say that providing Public Libraries out of the rates kills private benevolence in this direction. X. The individualists who designate these libraries as Socialistic institutions, which are doing by compulsory co-operation what should be done by each one for himself. Shareholders in subscription libraries, who fear that the movement will depreciate the value of their shares. As a matter of fact, Public Libraries do nothing of the kind. Take a large town in the north of England, for instance. Shares were offered in the circulating library of that town, in 1870, at £6, and now command over £20. In some movements there has been much mistaken consideration for existing circulating libraries, and it cannot be made too widely known that wherever Public Libraries were established, so far from injuring other libraries in the town, they had on many occasions benefited them. As existing mechanics’ and other institutes are very frequently referred to, it may again be mentioned that the one vital difference between mechanics’ institutes, literary and scientific institutions, and Public Libraries is that the latter are subject to popular control, and the former are not. This ensures for them a healthy and vigorous condition, for their administration is closely watched. The librarian is responsible to his committee, who are in turn responsible to the town council or local board, and they again have to come periodically forward for re-election. Mechanics’ institutes being proprietary institutions, are not subject to this popular control and administration, and if the cause of failure to .meet the educational and reading needs of the day is looked into, it will be found that the absence of this popular control largely accounts for it. Mechanics’ institutes have done in the past a magnificent work, but they are scarcely in touch with the educational needs of the day. These institutions, in some instances, would form a good nucleus for a Public Library, by the taking over of the building and books at a fair valuation price ; or, what is better still, for the committee of management of the mechanics’ institute to offer to hand over the institution if the town will adopt the Public Libraries Acts, and turn the mechanics’ institute into a Public Library. National and local pride should save these institutes from becoming mere clubs and places for lounging, and there is a reasonable fear that many of them already possess this character. The provisional committee may be urged not to prematurely push forward the taking of the vote. The cause has been lost in many towns through doing this. The ground must be well cleared before this is done, and test votes can be taken at the public meetings. A short and vigorous agitation has in a number of instances of late been very successful, and so prepared are some districts to vote for the Acts that this plan is not at all unadvisable.How to bring about the Adoption of the Acts. 87 Then following vigorous discussion, and the period appearing ripe for the test, a requisition signed by ten ratepayers to the mayor, or local authority, requesting him to issue voting papers to decide whether the Act shall be adopted in that town. An example of a form of requisition is given in the appendix. There is, however, no specially stereotyped form. Nearly every legal man drawing up this form likes to use his own particular phraseology. A poster announcing the vote will then appear on the public posting stations. This need not always appear in exactly the same words, but the following will serve as a specimen:— “ Borough (or parish) of-------. Public Libraries Acts, 1855 to 1890 inclusive. The -------- of the parish of -------being the overseers of the poor of the said parish, and the district authority under the Public Libraries Acts, 1850 to 1890 inclusive, having received a requisition from ratepayers and voters of the said parish as to the adoption of the said Acts or otherwise, notice is hereby given that (here follows the date) is appointed for the issue of voting papers, that on that day there will be sent by post or delivered to every voter at his address appearing in the register of Parliamentary (or County Council) electors a voting paper in the form provided by the said Acts, and that such voting papers (except those which shall have been sent to addresses beyond the boundaries of the parish) will be collected between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. on —-----. Any voting paper which is not ready when called for, and all voting papers sent to voters residing outside the boundaries of the parish, must be sent prepaid post or by hand to reach the undersigned at--------- before -------. Dated this ------. By order of---------.” In case of failure twelve months must elapse before the vote can be again taken. The bringing forward of the question year after year until success is achieved is strongly advised. About the time of the delivery of the voting papers each voter should have sent or delivered to him a circular or handbill, giving a few salient reasons or facts why the Acts should be adopted. The twenty reasons given at the end of the present work have been used in numerous instances for this purpose. Where house-to-house canvassing can be done to explain what are the uses of these institutions, there is no question about the helpfulness of such a step. Questions will arise, and can then be answered. It is only fair to say that the most marked success in carrying through the movement has been in the places where the lines of action here suggested have been followed. A simple majority is sufficient. Some years ago a meeting was held at Stockport to consider the advisability of establishing a Public Library. It was manifestly hostile to the proposal until a young man rose, and, in an impassioned speech, exhorted the citizens present to go to their children’s bedsides and say, “ Oh, my little children, I have cursed you with the blight of ignorance, with all the power that88 Public Libraries. is at my disposal/’ Although hyperbolical in tone, it is not strange that such a taunt should have struck home. The Act was adopted. As already named, the Act of 1890, which is given in the appendix, abolished the show of hands as a means of adopting the Acts, and so nothing need now be said about the demanding of a poll. The result of the vote by papers is final. Voting papers may be delivered and collected by hand or may be sent and returned through the post. Sending the papers by post is permitted by the Scotch Act. “Here you are—more taxes! ” said by the postmen as they handed in the papers, lost Glasgow the adoption of the Act, and the citizens had to pay to the tune of several hundred pounds for the gratuitous remarks of these industrious members of the Civil Service. The cost of taking the vote by papers is defrayed out of the rates. Unless there is in the requisition any desire expressed that the views of the voters as to whether the rate shall be a halfpenny or three farthings in the pound, there need be on the voting paper no reference as to the limitation of the rate. It cannot be too strongly urged upon requisitionists to leave the question as to the limitation of the rate to a id. or jd. absolutely alone. It is only a very few of the London parishes to which this is at all likely to apply. Sometimes the number of spoiled papers is very considerable, and the issue of a little slip giving plain instructions a day or two before the polling takes place is advisable. “ Yes ” or “ No,” and, if the requisitionists have so ordained, a vote that the rate shall not exceed something under a penny, is with the signature all the writing permitted. Anything beyond this nullifies the vote. Some exceedingly good friends want to say on their voting papers that they are in favour of these libraries, but they are not in favour of providing novels at the public expense, or novel reading, and they cannot resist making the fact known on their papers. Such a vote would, of course, be lost. Others again wish to make remarks of some other nature; and too much stress, in [many places, cannot be laid upon the necessity of giving a simple answer, “Yes,” and their name. The signature, but not the address, as this is placed on the paper by the authorities, is essential, otherwise the vote is lost. The exact wording of the Amendment Act of 1890, as to who can vote, is as follows:— Where the library district, as defined by this Act, is a borough or part of a borough, the burgesses of that borough, and the burgesses enrolled in respect of qualifications in such part, respectively; and elsewhere, the county electors registered in respect of qualifications in the library district. This is an unfortunate clause in the Acts, for the lengthened residence required in order to be on the register is sure to disqualify a large number. And what is even more absurd is that those who have removed from the parish and are on the register will still have a vote, although they will not have theHow to bring about the Adoption of the Acts. 89 rate to pay in the borough or parish from which they have removed. In not a few cases the most determined opposition was offered to the adoption of the Act, and during the formation of the library the most gloomy forebodings and prognostications of failure were indulged in. After, however, the library had been in work three or four months, there was not one in a hundred of the opponents but what had been won over, many of them having the honesty to confess their conversion, and to acknowledge that they had not the slightest idea that a Public Library was such a splendid and enjoyable institution. The following gives the main features of the various Acts :— 1. Any town, parish, district, or union of parishes, is empowered by the Public Libraries Acts, 1855-1890, to levy a rate not exceeding one penny in the pound for the establishment and maintenance of buildings, with the requisite appliances, suitable for “ Public Libraries, Public Museums and Schools for Science, Art Galleries, and Schools for Art, or for any one or more of those objects ” (47 & 48 Viet. c. 37), provided that a majority of more than one-half of the ratepayers vote in favour of adopting the provisions of the Acts. 2. The preliminary steps to be taken with a view to the adoption of the Act are these :— («.) In Municipal Boroughs the Act requires that the mayor shall issue voting papers on the request of the town council, or on the request in writing of any ten resident ratepayers ; (b.) In Districts within the limits of any Improvement Act, the district board is to issue voting papers upon the requisition in writing of at least ten resident ratepayers ; (c.) In Parishes, the overseers of the poor, on the written requisition of ten resident ratepayers, are to issue voting papers to determine whether the Acts shall be adopted. (1d.) The prescribed local authority is empowered to ascertain the opinions of the majority of the ratepayers, by the issue of a voting paper to each ratepayer. 3. Ten clear days’ notice of the time, place, and object of the voting papers must be given by affixing the same on or near the door of every church and chapel, and at least seven days’ notice by advertisement in a newspaper published or circulating in the borough, district, or parish. 4. Any expenses incurred in connection with the taking of the vote, whether the Act be adopted or not, are chargeable upon the borough fund or rates, and may be defrayed, if necessary, by a separate rate specially levied for the purpose, such rate not to exceed one penny in the pound. 5. If the Acts be adopted the organization for carrying their provisions into operation is as follows :— (a.) In Boroughs. “ The management, regulation, and control of libraries and museums, shall be vested in and exercised by the council,” or by such committee as the council maygo Public Libraries. appoint, and the members of the committee are not required to be members of the council. (b.) In Districts. The board or trustees acting in the execution of the Improvement Act, or a committee appointed by them; also local boards under the Local Government Act, 1858. (c.) In Parishes. Not less than three nor more than nine commissioners, to be appointed by the vestry, are constituted a body corporate for the purposes of the Act, under the name of “ The Commissioners for Public Libraries and Museums for the Parish of------in the County of-----.” The vestry can elect other than those on the vestry to serve, and this is in all cases advisable. 6; The council, board, magistrates, or commissioners are empowered to borrow money at interest, on the security of a mortgage or bond of the borough funds, or general district rate, or of the rate levied under the Act; and the provisions of the Companies Clauses, and the Lands Clauses Consolidation Acts, 1845, are incorporated with the Public Libraries Act. The Amendment Act of 1884 (47 & 48 Yict. c. 37) empowers any authority acting under the Public Libraries Acts to accept a grant from the Committee of Council on Education towards the purchase of sites or the provision of premises or furniture for schools of science or art. 7. When two or more neighbouring parishes combine for the purposes of the Act, each parish is to appoint not more than three commissioners, and the commissioners for the several parishes are to form one body corporate, and to act together in the execution of the Act. The expenses of carrying the Act into operation are to be borne by the parishes in such proportions as they may mutually approve. 8. Upon receiving the report of the presiding officer, the district authority shall cause the result of the poll to be made public in such manner as they shall think fit. This will, as a rule, be by means of an advertisement in the usual local papers. The amount of intimidation which goes on when the vote on this question is being taken is at times perfectly amazing. In the autumn of 1888, when the vote was being taken in Hull, it was stated before the stipendiary that there were whole streets where opponents had induced wives of absent fishermen to vote against the Acts, and themselves aided to fill up the voting papers. A charge of forgery was instituted, and the case was brought home to the party. The most common cases of intimidation are where landlords of property in cases where the tenants have compounded for their rates threaten that in case the Acts are adopted they will advance the rents. In some cases the threat has gone to the extent of saying that threepence or even sixpence a week would be added to the rent. It is not quite clear as to whether the Corrupt Practices Act does or does not apply to these cases, but the point has not yet been threshed out in the Law Courts. In any instance where the evidence is clear of such intimidation the writer will be glad if the facts are placed before him.Public Libraries in the Northern Counties. 9i CHAPTER IX. Public Libraries in the Northern Counties, It is in the northern and midland counties that we have to look for the best development of the Public Library movement up to the present time. The spirit of emulation is, however, abroad, and in another ten years the metropolis and some of the western counties will, there is reason to think, have made so much progress that they will be in line in every way with those of the north and midlands. But it was in the north of England that the movement first entered the soil, and it is here that its roots have most widely spread and the work has been carried on with the greatest vigour. Some of the modern geographies are beginning to split up the forty counties of England differently to the arrangement in the older books, but for present purposes and in order to adjust the length of the chapters the division of the counties is not on all-fours with the recognized school books. The counties here dealt with are Northumberland, Durham, Yorkshire, Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Lancashire, and the towns are named alphabetically where it is thought necessary to call attention to the work. It has been already stated that the time does not appear to have yet arrived when Public Libraries ought to be made the subject of unsparing criticism. The real national interest in these institutions is as yet only a few years old, and whilst the largest and best of the libraries are doing a work which will bear the closest examination, there are others which have to struggle with difficulties and surroundings which hamper and harass their work. These hindrances may arise from various causes. But it becomes increasingly evident that the tone of the work comes chiefly from the librarian unless his hands are tied by a captious committee. It is not a pleasant statement to make, but nevertheless a true one, that some librarians are so very unbusinesslike in their methods that the wonder would be if the libraries under their charge were particularly successful. These cases are, however, not numerous, and are becoming less so. It not infrequently happens that, even in libraries where the management is not quite what it should be, the use made of the building and the books grows by leaps and bounds, so that even in spite of adverse circumstances the work is successful. Ifc is a truth which cannot be too often reiterated, that the same qualities which go to make a man successful in other walks of life invariably produce a librarian whose work possesses spirit and energy. The ranks of librarians who are deeply in touch with the purposes and possibilities of their work are being constantly enlarged, and so long as this is so there need be no fear as to the future of these institutions. It has been, of course, impossible to mention more than a limited number. Some will, perhaps, argue that the work of many Public Libraries differs so little that it was unnecessary to mention more92 Public Libraries. than a limited number of representative libraries. But the main object in view is the promotion of the movement, and to bring as many side lights to bear upon it as possible. In districts where it is sought to adopt the Acts the work of libraries in adjacent and similar sized towns and districts to the place where the movement is in progress is quoted, and it is with a desire to aid these that so many places have been named in these chapters. There is the further desire to prevent so many librarians from being disappointed at their own place being left unmentioned. Nearly all the places where the Acts have of late years been adopted are named in the present and chapters immediately following, but all are, in any case, in the table of statistics at the end to which reference will require to be made for the actual figures indicating the current state of each library. It is a pleasure to be able to record several adoptions of the Acts since the issue of the last edition. Ashton-undeh-L yne . The library here has for some time struggled to carry on an increasing work in rooms in the Town Hall, which are not at all adequate to its requirements. The committee, however, saw a year ago an end to their troubles on this account, for on April 10th, 1890, a letter was read at the Town Council meeting from the trustees of the late George Heginbottom, offering the gift of £10,000 for the erection of a Public Library and Technical School for the town. It was the generosity of this gentleman which led to the Acts being adopted in 1880. He left them £500 towards the formation of a Public Library, but which amount, if not used within five years, was to go towards the advancement of the Mechanics’ Institute. This donation roused the Corporation and the burgesses. They went into the matter thoroughly, and it soon assumed a practical shape. To this new gift, made a year ago by the trustees, there was only one condition attached, and this was that the whole of the money was to be expended on the building itself. The Corporation must purchase the land and provide the necessary furniture. The £10,000 will be laid out on the building and on such fixtures in the way of shelving, &c., as are attached to the freehold. It is obvious that with so large a sum a very handsome structure will be erected, and that is precisely what is being done. The moment the preliminaries were arranged they went into the matter with praiseworthy energy and acumen. Messrs. John Eaton & Son, of the town, are the architects. The style of the building being erected is after the early English style of architecture, and it is mainly divided into two sections. One will be the Public Library, and the other portion will be the Technical Schools. The whole building will practically consist of a basement floor and first and second floors. The library accommodation will be ample, and all the books will be arranged on the same method as at the British Museum. The books will be arranged in cases round thePublic Libraries in the Northern Counties. 93 sides and in the body of the room, so that quick and easy access can be had to any volume required. On June 6th, 1891, the corner stones were laid, and the occasion was made a red-letter day in the history of the borough. Where a Technical School is being combined with a Public Library, and the ground space is ample, the style of building and the arrangement of the rooms may with safety be copied. The accommodation provided in the basement will be for a large store-room extending under the whole of the library, and large class-rooms, in which may be taught carpentry, plumbing, cooking, turnery, &c. The ground floor is to be devoted to the purposes of the Library and Technical School, having a library 68ft. by 30ft., with an open timbered roof. Here also will be the paper and magazine room, 38ft. by 22ft.; reference library, 30ft. by 22ft.; ladies’ reading-room, 24ft. by 22ft.; committee room, and spacious hall, with provision for the distribution of books. On this floor also are to be the various technical class-rooms. There will be a chemical laboratory 44ft. by 22ft., fully fitted with apparatus; a lecture theatre to seat sixty or seventy students; a professors’ preparation room ; and a class-room, which may be used for dyeing, metallurgy, theoretical spinning, weaving, &c. The upper floor, to which access will be gained by a stone staircase, will be devoted chiefly to art purposes. The science and art department are expected to contribute a portion towards the cost of the technical instruction department. A view of the building appears as a frontispiece. Barnsley. Barnsley adopted the Acts in 1890. Some years ago the question was first mooted by Mr. Alexander Paterson, the editor of the “ Barnsley Chronicle,” and there was then a very strong feeling against a Public Library in certain quarters. When the question came again forward, it was entirely the other way, and there was absolute unanimity. A public hall was erected in the town some years ago, and this was so unsuccessful that the company came to bankruptcy, and the hall, offices, and some other effects became a white elephant to the creditors. After various suggestions had been advanced as to the uses to which the hall might be put, the whole block of buildings came to the hammer, and was purchased by Mr. Charles Harvey, J.P., who with commendable public spirit offered the hall to the town for the purpose of a Public Library, making the wise proviso that the Acts should be adopted. This gift represented an actual money value of not less than from £10,000 to £12,000. After the necessary alterations, decorating and fitting up, which in all cost about £600, subscribed chiefly by the townspeople, the Marquis of Bipon formally declared the building open in July, 1890. I11 the course of a thoughtful address, the speaker wished that all boroughs throughout the country would follow the example of Barnsley in the adoption of the Acts. He believed Public Libraries to be a most important part of their educational system, and that they ought to exist as widely as possible. They had established94 Public Libraries. amongst them now a system of primary education which, although he was far from saying that it might not be capable of improvement, had within the last twenty years brought elementary education within the reach of all the population of the country. But the time during which children remained in the elementary schools was far too limited sometimes, and it required to be supplemented and continued, and the great problem of the day, in respect to educational matters, was how they could continue the benefit of the primary education given in the elementary schools, and how they could best build upon the foundation which was there laid down. The continuation of their education might be said to be of two kinds—a continuation in time and a continuation in study. Children left school so early that unless some means were found of carrying on the education which they had been receiving, they were apt to lose all the benefit that they had already derived, and therefore there was a need for that continuation in time which was afforded by evening schools. But there was also a need of continuation in study, by which he meant that the opportunity should be given to those who had most profited by the instruction in the elementary schools to advance to higher branches of study. That could only be done by such means as those which were afforded by University Extension Lectures and methods of that description. But the whole of these efforts for the further education of their children after they left the primary schools rested as its foundation upon their having brought within their reach the books which were necessary for their study and the means of easy reference to those books. Therefore it seemed to him that the establishment of a good library was essential in the principal centres of population, aye, and in those which they might be accustomed to think of, in those populous neighbourhoods, as but small centres of population. Later on in his address he said that he recognized heartily that one of the most useful purposes of a Public Library was that it should be a place of rational recreation, where men and women could go and obtain books for their reading which would afford them some relief and enjoyment in the midst of their hard-working lives. He looked upon that as an end in itself highly to be recognized, and as one of the most useful objects of an institution of that sort; because, in days like these, when there was so much hard, dreary, and monotonous work in the world, when the time of men was taken up by the labour which was forced upon them by this fierce battle of modern competition, it was of vast importance that there should be the means offered to persons of all classes that would afford them some opportunity of brightening their lives, and relieving the monotony of the conditions which pressed upon all men who were engaged in work in these times. The institution is now in full operation, and its success is more than assured. Efforts are being made to establish a branch of the National Home Reading Union, in order to encourage a systematic study of some of the standard books in the library.Public Libraries in the Northern Counties. 95 In course of time no district where there is a Public Library will be looked upon as complete which has not a branch of this new development of the University Extension scheme, and Barnsley means to hold its own in this matter as well as in the general work of the library. A sum of £100 was left by will for books by a townsman not long since deceased. Barrow-in-Furness and Fleetwood. The new Town Hall in which the library is situate is a handsome block of buildings. It was opened in July, 1887, by the Marquis of Hartington. The Public Library is the youngest of the municipal institutions of Barrow. The subject was first mentioned several years ago, but, public opinion not being sufficiently ripe, the question died out, and it was not until 1881 that the Acts were adopted. A temporary building was at once erected, to be used until the library found a permanent home in the new Town Hall. The opening ceremony took place in the autumn of 1882. Funds w'ere subscribed for acquiring a natural history and scientific museum. It was soon found that the building which had been erected was too small for the number of persons desirous of availing themselves of its privileges, and the room intended for museum purposes was fitted up as an additional newsroom, while a further sum was expended on the purchase of books. From that time forward success was certain, and it is gratifying to state that the public demands on the institution have grown year by year. There is abundance of proof in Barrow that those who were formerly opposed to the movement are now among its strongest supporters. People who thought another rate would be the proverbial last straw now say it is the most useful institution that any town can possess, and of all ways of spending money a library, after food, clothing, and rent, is the most beneficial and gives the most satisfactory results. The 1,500 books specially selected for young people have a never-ceasing circulation. There is a demand for branches from the outskirts, but Barrow will do well to concentrate its attention upon its one institution. The example of the town has already helped materially to get the Acts adopted in a group of neighbouring towns. Fleetwood owes its library to the generosity of the late Samuel Fielden. In August, 1887, the Acts were adopted, and in December of the same year the reading-room was opened. The library followed in the middle of 1888. Papers and magazines to the number of sixty-five are taken. The librarian’s report is pithy. At the end of 1888 the question of Sunday opening came up. The donor was distinctly in favour of that step, for he said— “It is urged as an argument against opening similar places on Sundays that it may prevent people from attending church or chapel. In reply, I would say that the people will go where they are attracted and interested. Let the clergy then make their services such as to draw and please the people. With good96 Public Libraries. music, short sermons, and good elocution, they would fill their places of worship—at any rate, better than they now do.” The building purchased by Mr. Fielden was erected by the late Benjamin Whitworth for educational purposes. On its coming into the market it was purchased by Mr. Fielden and handed oyer. Here is another case of donors making their gifts to irresponsible bodies whose work is not continuous. The late Mr. Whitworth has done a work for education which stands out among all the conspicuous work which has been done in this direction. But the permanent use of the building in question for the purpose intended could not be satisfactorily guaranteed by any clauses in legal documents. It is only by the building being the property of the people that this can be assured. Gifts of this nature should always be offered on condition that the people will take upon themselves the maintenance of the institution, and this can only be done by the adoption of the Acts. In the building there is a recreation room, ostensibly for billiards, but in which other games have been introduced. A complaint is made that gambling goes on in this room. There are not many libraries where a generous donor has provided a recreation room, but donors would do well not to attempt to combine the two. A recreation room invariably injures the work of the library, and in no known case can it be said to be a help to the library. Out of the rate such a room cannot be provided, and can only be established by means of a private gift. “ Punch’s ” advice of “ don’t ” may be taken to heart so far as it applies to the association of a room for games with the work of a Public Library. Bindley (Yobks). The question was discussed at Bingley for some time, and the example of Barnsley was found to be contagious, for on February 14th, 1890, the Acts were unanimously adopted. Here the committee and members of the mechanics’ institute acted worthily. An offer of Mr. Alfred Sharp’s of £1,000 for books if the Acts were adopted aided the matter materially. It required the consent of nine-tenths of the members of the mechanics’ institute before they could hand over the building. It is satisfactory to note that 240 voted in favour of handing over the institute and only ten against. In October, 1890, the Local Government inspector held an inquiry with reference to the application of the Improvement Commissioners to borrow £700, out of which £300 was for library purposes. This application was granted, and the Board also sanctioned the renting of the old mechanics’ institute at £125—a somewhat heavy sum—a year for ninety-nine years. The library work will soon be in operation. Blackpool and Southpobt. These two Lancashire seaside watering-places are well served by their libraries. Blackpool shows a steady increase in itsPublic Libraries in the Northern Counties. 97 lending department. The number of borrowers gives a proportion of one in every thirteen of the population. The attention of readers is being directed to works of travel, history, science, and art. Only £56 was spent in new books, which is a small amount considering that the rate produces £613. November to March are the busy months. On a Saturday night visit in February, 1891, the place was simply a scene of the greatest activity quietly going forward. Every seat in the newsroom was occupied, and a constant stream of people were exchanging their books for home reading. Shortly after the writer’s visit the committee resolved that persons regularly employed in the borough, but residing outside the borough, be allowed to borrow books from the library with the sanction of the chairman for the time being of the committee, and upon a guarantee form satisfactory to the chairman being signed and delivered at the library. At Southport the turnover is improving. Among the rules is one to the effect that a penny shall be paid for each leaf found turned down. The index catalogues and supplement are both well arranged and well printed. The Southport Corporation are empowered by the Southport Improvement Act, 1885, to levy a rate of three halfpence in the pound. The same Act provides for the establishment of Science and Art Schools and the erection of the necessary buildings. The Corporation appropriate one penny of the rate to Library purposes proper, and the halfpenny for Science and Art purposes. Birkdale is a neighbouring district of Southport, and it is said that a considerable number of the residents have been accustomed to go into Southport almost daily to use the reading-room, and some of the Birkdale people thought that the time had come when they should have a library of their own. Discussions as to amalgamating the two districts have taken place, but nothing has yet been done. In March, 1889, the township was placarded with a copy of a requisition signed by some thirty or forty persons, all of whom, except three or four, belonged to one political party, others not bein’g asked to sign. This in itself was, of course, suspicious. Birkdale is still without its Public Library. Surely a growing place like this catering for holiday visitors should soon be among the enrolled. Blackburn. The street in which the building illustrated on p. 98 is situated is appropriately called Library Street. In 1853 the Act was adopted, although it was not carried into effect until 1862. Since 1874 the library and museum have been in a specially constructed building. It is a handsome stone-built and fire-proof 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, and a commodious reading-room, &c. The report for 1891 states that during the year the circulation of books, both from the reference and lending departments, has exceeded that of all previous years ; 7Public Libraries, 98 and a gratifying circumstance is that the books relating to technical subjects, history, travel, science, and art have been in greater demand. The collection of local books, tracts, and pamphlets in the reference department numbers considerably over 300. Special efforts were being made to secure every book relating to Blackburn and the district. The bequest made by the late Thomas Ainsworth comprises a well-selected collection of books, numbering over 700 volumes, and amongst them are numerous folio and quarto illustrated books, and a valuable collection of paintings, about seventy in number, besides some thirty proof engravings and etchings. The additions to the various departments during the year amounted to 2,442, of which 2,190 volumes were purchased at a cost of £334, while 252 were BLACKBURN PUBLIC LIBRARY. presented. The increase of borrowers in the year was 724. The additions to the museum are of an interesting and extensive character ; and a selection of reproductions in plaster and antique sculpture and statuary, representing celebrated works and fragments in the British Museum, has been acquired. Besides being historically instructive, the collection is intended to assist art students. In view of the considerable changes that are being made in the ornithological department of the museum, and to encourage the formation and extension of school museums, it was resolved to grant the superfluous specimens of birds and other specimens to such elementary schools in the borough as would provide suitable accommodation for them,Public Libraries in the Northern Counties. 99 Boltox. Bolton was one of the first of the twelve places to adopt the Acts, and has recently issued its thirty-sixth report. In its central library and three branches it boasts of 68,061 volumes, three-fourths of the number being in the parent institution. The use of the reference library is strongest. There is managed at the Bolton Public Library about the largest subscription library of any in connection with these rate-supported institutions. The number of subscribers is about 400, and the average daily issue in this department is about 200. The Public Library received in one year 1,459 volumes from this subscription library, the value of which is given as £200. The committee, in the report, are content to express themselves in ninety-five words— about the briefest report which has come under the author’s notice. The other parts of the report are full and interesting. There is mention of the generous offer of Mr. J. P. Thomasson, of Mere Hall, for a library and museum, and the grounds for recreative use. These premises have been altered for the purposes named, £11,000 having been borrowed for the work. The central lending library is badly housed, but the branch buildings, especially the one in High Street, are well suited for the work. This was erected at a cost of about £2,000, on a site of 600 square yards of land presented by Mr. John Hey wood, M.A. A separate entrance is provided from the street level for the boys’ reading-room; both entrances being thoroughly controlled from the librarian’s private office, which also supervises the lending library and newspaper reading-room. On the upper floor is a large reading-room, and also a ladies’ reading-room, separated by a glazed screen, together with a small room for students. The style is Gothic, plainly treated, and the materials of the building are brick and ornamental terra-cotta. The structure is thoroughly well lighted, windows being placed on all the four sides. The gifts to the library have been most encouraging. One, at the end of 1888, of local and other valuable literature, should lead the owners of similar literature in other towns to go and do likewise. The presentation consisted of the books, pamphlets, papers, prints, and engravings of the late Mr. Holden, who did much to bring about the adoption of the Acts in 1853, and who acted for some years on the committee. These contributions include an illuminated manuscript found in an old Piedmontese monastery in the present century, and the first copy of the work printed at Kuthingen, an ancient town in Germany, at a period almost contemporary with Caxton’s first work. The manuscript, which is in an excellent state of preservation, is entitled “ Historia Scholastica,” and consists of a commentary on the various books of the Bible from Genesis to the Acts of the Apostles. It was composed by Petrus, dean of Troy, who acquired the name of Comestor (or devourer) from his having read or devoured so many books. He died about the year 1185. No place is so suitable for the preserving and handing down for public use of100 Public Libraries, these old documents as the citizens’ library. Here they will be seen and appreciated, and some care taken of them, instead of being allowed to rot away in old cupboards and drawers, where they can only be gazed at now and again by the owner and hisPublic Libraries in the Northern Counties. IOI immediate friends. No Public Library should go without gifts of this nature. There is no doubt about a solidly good work being done at the Bolton Libraries. It was decided in July, 1891, to build a new central library. Bootle. For a population of some 50,000 Bootle is exceedingly well off in its Public Library and Museum Building, but the supply of books can scarcely be said to touch a significant figure. This stands at only 7,564, and many libraries with a fifth of the revenue from the rate have as many books, or even more. It may be said, »0 5 O lo Si * 30 AO so f!t fcsknf-...- »■-------V----j-----1—^ GROUND FLOOR PLAN OF THE BOOTLE LIBRARY. however, that Bootle has had its twin institutions of library and museum for which to provide, and this is not at most places an easy thing to accomplish satisfactorily out of a penny rate for the two institutions. The building is admirably planned, as will be seen from the engraving. The Museums and Gymnasiums Act of July 3,1891, will come to the relief of Bootle as to other places. There is one excellent feature of the Bootle work, and that is the publicity given to it by the local press. Even the committee meetings are reported, or at least some of them. It would be all the better for library work generally if committees would have their chief meetings reported.102 Public Libraries. The circular of information issued by the librarian is full of interest, and must have aided materially to popularize the library and museum. Within the compass of eight pages there is an epitome of what is going on in each department. There is a splendid lecture-hall in the building, and of this good use is made throughout each winter. In order to encourage systematic home reading the committee have arranged with the Cambridge University to keep the home study syllabuses in stock; and not only this, but the books recommended have been obtained in the library. The attendance at the students’ room has doubled in one year. The report of the librarian and curator is of a very interesting nature. Judging from the local papers a political bias has on one or two occasions been given to the committee. This is unfortunate, not only so far as Bootle is concerned, but whenever it can be applied to any committee. Fiction has fallen five per cent, in the year’s issues, whereas the increase in the total issue of books was 6,000 over last year, and the increase in the number of borrowers for the year is 300. The committee place it on record that the works of the noblest writers of the day' are among the books in most constant demand. Bradford. The work at Bradford has rapidly developed, and a comparison between the first and the twentieth report should be enough to convert the most rigid opponent. With a limited income they have constantly enlarged the scope of their operations, until now they have, in addition to the central library, eight branches. The chief library has also in connection with it an art museum. There is a general consensus of opinion that as an educational agency it is entitled to rank among the grandest local institutions, appealing, as it does, to the intellectual senses throughout each of its departments. Supplied with the best literature of the day, the library and reading-room departments offer inducements to improvement, which, it is satisfactory to add, are in the highest degree appreciated by those for whose benefit they are intended, while the addition of the art gallery and museum has furnished a means of recreation equally instructive, besides supplying a want which was long felt in Bradford. The general public in other parts of England have little conception how large a number of Lancashire and Yorkshire working men are naturalists. The Bradford library, in common with a number of other northern libraries, carefully studies this class, and some important volumes bearing on natural history have been quite recently added, which have been welcomed by local naturalists. Few natural history books in the library have been more consulted than the twelve volumes of Sowerby’s English Botany, but for a long time a want has been felt for modern works on plant physiology. This want has now been supplied, and the botanical student can consult such high-class works as the latest edition of Sach’s “ Physiology of Plants’7; also that of Vines on the same subject; “PracticalPublic Libraries in the Northern Counties. 103 Botany,” by Bower and Vines, and Hopkirk’s “ British Mosses ”; then there is the “ Text-book of Zoology ” by Dr. Claus; Miss Ormerod’s “ Manual of Injurious Insects ” ; “ Birds of the Humber District,” by J. Cordeaux; and others on geology, bacteriology, microscopy, etc. As an example of the close link between education and libraries, it is worthy of note that there is a close connection between the Teachers’ Guild, of which there is a strong branch in Bradford, and the work of the Public Library. Twelve months ago an arrangement was made whereby the books of the society were to be housed at the Public Library on terms advantageous to both parties. The books, including about 235 standard volumes, have been placed on the shelves in the reference-room. They naturally are strictly of a scholastic nature, and in the catalogue (which is issued at 3d.) the price of each book is stated. This will be a boon to teachers. The library is divided into sections, and includes (1) Greek, annotated texts, (2) Greek grammars, &c., (3) Latin annotated texts, (4) Latin grammars, &c., (5) mathematics, (6) science, (7) English literature, (8) history, (9) geography, (10) French authors, (11) French grammars and exercises, (12) German authors, (13) German grammars and exercises, (14) education. These books are mainly presentation copies from Macmillan, Deighton Bell & Co., Cassell & Co., and others. Some of the groups are well supplied with the latest and best texts. For example, in Latin some of the latest and most approved editions appear of Caesar, Cicero, Horace, Livy, Ovid, Sallust, Terence, Virgil, and minor authors. In the literature group are to be found class-books on Bacon, Milton, Scott, Shakespeare, Tennyson, and others; in French there are good representatives of Corneille, La Fontane, Moliere,Bacine, Sandeau, Voltaire ; and in German are Goethe, Hauff, Heine, Schiller, and Uhland. The terms of the arrangement with the library committee are that the books are accessible to the general public as reference books, but may be taken home for perusal by members of the Guild only. The Bradford Public Library has been compelled to starve its supply of literature, particularly to the branch libraries. The income is £3,700 per annum, and of that sum £1,000 goes back to the Corporation for rent and rates. When other unavoidable expenses are met the committee has only some £600 or £700 per annum left for books,#as compared with twice that sum devoted to the same object in towns which are not more literary nor better able to afford liberality in this direction. In some places the intention of the Legislature in restricting expenditure to a penny rate is circumvented by the corporate gift of rent-free premises; and in no place is the charge for rent so high as in Bradford. When there is a total record of 2,327,000 issues from the libraries and visits to museum and reading-room within twelve months, it is impossible to contend that the benefits conferred are felt by only a small section of the community. A clear majority of the population must be directly interested; and it is needless, at this time of104 Public Libraries. day, to argue that the interest is healthy and beneficial. The pinching of the library committee is not creditable to the town and its rulers; and the Town Council, by an overwhelming majority, decided some months ago that it should have at least temporary assistance to the extent of £500 out of the gas profits. It is to be hoped that the Council will in due course approve of the further concession required to place the finances of the library on a more liberal footing, and charge less rent for some of the Corporation premises occupied by the library. Sunday opening is greatly appreciated, and some 3,000 people use the reading-rooms and museum every Sunday during the winter months. In June, 1891, the committee had offered to them as a gift the collection of Bradford manuscripts left by the late Edward Hailstone, F.S.A., of Walton Hall. Both Mr. Hailstone and his father were resident in and connected with Bradford, where they practised as solicitors. Their united professional experience covered a period of about a century. During this time they were connected professionally with many of the public institutions of Bradford, and both of them had a taste for collecting documents bearing on the history and antiquities of the town. In this way a large collection of interesting papers and documents came into their possession, many of them being originals, and others copies and abstracts from the originals. In addition to MSS. there was also accumulated a miscellaneous assortment of printed matter bearing upon local history and social life, forming in the whole an extensive and probably unique collection. Carlisle. Carlisle is on the way to possess a triple institute which will not only be a credit to the city but to the whole of the northern counties. In May, 1890, the Town Council had formal offer made to them of the library and other property of the Mechanics’ Institution, as a gift in behalf of the citizens, on condition that it be made the basis of a Public Library under the Acts. The Council could not do otherwise than accept so noble a gift, representing a value of about £2,000, having regard to the circumstances in which it found itself. In a city like Carlisle, with its numerous institutions, each possessing a fair stock of books, a Public Library became essential. A quarter of a century ago the Mechanics’ Institution and four other associations with reading-rooms each possessed a body of students. But the change which the growth of elementary education has brought about made an institute more on the lines of this progress an absolute necessity. In the month following the receipt of the letter from the committee of the Mechanics’, the Acts were enthusiastically adopted. Liberal gifts have flowed in, some of money, and some of specimens for the museum, and instruments for the science and art section. Tullie House, dating back to 1689, and the site upon which this old structure stood and also spacious grounds became available. Upon this site a Public Library, Museum,Public Libraries in the Northern Counties. 105 and Technical and Art Schools are being erected at a cost of some £12,000. Carlisle will shortly have one of the finest institutions in the North of England. Clitheroe and Over Darwen. The Clitheroe library has had eleven years’ existence. It is a case of living on £120 and doing an increasing work on that income. It is open for two nights a week. Fifty pounds was left them some time ago, and this has been a windfall for new books. The magazines are in large demand for home reading. What is being done at Clitheroe with a small revenue can be done at other places. The pressing need at Darwen for new premises in which to store the increasing number of books belonging to the Public Library has long been generally acknowledged. Three years ago a committee appointed to investigate the matter reported on the inadequacy of the present accommodation. They stated that every square yard of space was utilized, that in point of ventilation the place was so deficient that great injury was being done to the books, and that “ the whole of the arrangements at the present building are, in fact, of a makeshift and temporary character,” and they concluded with the words— “We are, in short, satisfied from our inspection of the library that the question of procuring another building for its accommodation is an urgent and pressing one, and that no time ought to be lost in dealing with it.” Since that report was drawn up the evils therein complained of have been intensified, for the books are constantly accumulating and the number of borrowers is continually increasing. At the present time the erection of a library and technical schools is very seriously under discussion. The local papers help the work considerably by publishing lists of the new books as they are added to the library. Readers are advised to cut out these as they appear, and place them at the end of their catalogues. This plan is deserving of being copied by other libraries. It is this publicity perhaps more than anything else which enables the commissioners to announce that the library is now more appreciated by the local public than at any other period of its existence. The Darwen people claim that for the size of the library and the size of the town Darwen has the best Public Library in the county of Lancashire. This may be a little open to question, but there is one point greatly in favour of the managers, and that is the amount spent in new books each year. The late Thos. Ainsworth has just left them a well-selected collection of books numbering over 700 volumes, amongst them numerous folio and quarto illustrated books, and a valuable collection of paintings about 70 in number, besides some 30 proof engravings, etchings, &c. Darlington. The old adage of its being unwise to look into the mouth of a gift-horse, does not apply to Public Libraries which have beenio6 Public Libraries. the gift of a generous citizen. Every one of these institutions which owes its origin to such a source may be looked at as fully as desired, and without exception there is reason to think they will bear the most minute examination. The Edward Pease Library at Darlington has been open five years, and although every book in the lending department has been, on the average, some dozens of times in circulation, not a single one is now unaccounted for. The inhabitants make the greatest possible use of the institution, as will be seen from the fact that the books in the lending department are turned over nine times in the year. The juvenile section of the library has been particularly successful. The subject of a Public Library had been for a considerable period mooted in Darlington. In 1870 a vote of the ratepayers showed a preponderance against it of those who chose to record their votes. The late Edward Pease took great interest in the question, and in everything relating to educational matters in his native town, and left by his will £10,000 for a Public Library, or a similar object, as his trustees might think fit. Sir Joseph Pease, one of the trustees, offered to build and furnish a Public Library, and also to give a site for the same in a central position in the town, if the inhabitants, adopted the Acts. A considerable majority declared for the Acts. The style of architecture isPublic Libraries in the Northern Counties. 107 Renaissance, and is very striking. The west elevation has a frontage of about 106 feet, and the north elevation of about 92 feet. The main entrance is at the junction of these two elevations, and is made conspicuous by a handsome gable, which cuts off and thus destroys the severity of a right angle, this object being further attained by a well-proportioned porch. The lending library measures about 57 feet by 29 feet, and is admirably lighted from the roof, which is partly open timbered. The librarian’s desk is immediately in front of the centre, and by a careful arrangement of glass-panelled doors the librarian or his assistant is enabled to see every person who enters not only the lobby, but those going into the reading-rooms and the reference library. Running south from one side of the librarian’s desk to a length of 43 feet, and from the other side of his desk running east for about 12 feet, are the indicators for 24,000 volumes. The remainder of the furniture in this room consists of bookcases, &c., capable of holding 32,000 volumes. These are arranged so as to utilize the floor space to the greatest advantage. The general reading-room measures 51 feet by 29 feet, and is otherwise well proportioned and admirably treated as regards its structural and artistic details. The upper parts of the windows in this room are filled in with painted glass illustrating different foliage; this is intended to obviate the necessity of blinds. The reference library has a good front north light, also a top light, and is treated structurally and artificially in the same manner as the general reading-room, but the style of furnishing is different. In the same position on the north as this room occupies on the west, there is a committee room. Liberal gifts have flowed into the library. The most recent of these gifts has been the Surtees bequest of 275 volumes, some of them of archseological and historical value. In the reference department there is a unique collection of books dealing with the early history of the Society of Friends. Darlington forms a very suitable home for these works, for the Friends throughout the district are numerous. The cost of the building was about £8,000. Intending donors of libraries may follow the Darlington building with safety. Mr. Gr. G. Hoskins was the architect. A ground plan of the building is shown. Denton, The adoption was quickly and quietly settled in May, 1887, by public meeting. The hat manufacturers took up the question in a very spirited manner, and praise is due to them for taking the lead. The assessment of most of the works stands at £100 or £150, and this only means 8s. or 12s. for the year. The chairman of the Local Board, in moving the resolution for the adoption, said truly that the erection of a Public Library, whilst benefiting the few, must certainly be a great benefit to the many, and he believed that in providing suitable classes the manufacturers of that district would derive equal advantage. Twelve months—not by any means an unreasonable time—were absorbed in obtaining subscriptions andio8 Public Libraries. in the holding of a very successful bazaar for the raising of funds, and no less a sum than £885 was realized. Plans were solicited, and a large and handsome building in the Elizabethan style has been erected in the middle of Denton. The structure is of brick with stone facings, and its picturesque gables mark it out from the buildings around. The interior corresponds with the ornate exterior. The rooms are large, lofty, well lighted, and furnished solidly and tastefully. Entering from a large hall, a reading-room 39 feet by 24 feet is on the left. Next is the lending library, with a reading-room for boys. On the first floor are lecture-rooms which can be converted into class-rooms, a laboratory for twelve students, and a balance-room. The science classes for which this provision has been made are an important feature. The chemical classes are certain to be of great technical value to the workers in the staple trade of the district. The scheme involved an expenditure of nearly £3,000. When it is borne in mind that the township has a population of only 15,000, it will be seen that more than ordinary generosity has been shown by the people within the district. The opening ceremony was in September, 1889. There are several surrounding districts which are watching the success of the library in Denton, and it is sure to exercise a wholesome effect upon these places. Dewsbury. This is the one ewe lamb which Yorkshire provided in the adoption of the Acts between January, 1887, and the end of 1889. The trustees of the Mechanics’ Institute acted in a very worthy manner. A promise of from 4,000 to 5,000 volumes was made by them, and several gentlemen who had been mainly instrumental in keeping the Mechanics’ Institute from going to pieces took an active part in the movement for the adoption of the Acts. One of the speakers at the statutory meeting said that when the adoption of the Acts was first proposed, some years ago, he opposed it because he thought they would be able to make the Mechanics’ Institute a success, but he now found out that it could not be done. About £1,000 was raised in subscriptions. In December of 1889 a room was opened, the premises having at small cost been rendered suitable for temporary use by the library committee. It was, however, from the first intended to build a permanent structure, and in the autumn of the following year designs were invited. One of the class papers representing architects criticised rather severely the conditions of the competition. The writer of the article twitted the corporation with meaning to get all they could for their moneys as they offered only one premium of £50, which was to merge into the commission if the successful author was appointed architect for the work. “ Then the 5 per cent, commission was to be calculated 1 on the net value of the work in the accepted tender, subject to any deductions,’ and is ‘to include and be deemed payment for all plans, working, drawings, specifications, quantities and super-Public Libraries in the Northern Counties. 109 vision/ and the architect i will not receive any commission on any extras which may be carried out!’ The architect at all events will not under these conditions be led into temptation in the matter of extras ! But whether executed or not the design selected was to become the absolute property of the Corporation. So that if the architect whose design is premiated was not appointed to carry out the work, or someone else (say the borough surveyor) is engaged to superintend it, then the architect will have received for his design a very considerably less sum than the fee prescribed under the R.I.B.A. rules! ” The writer gives a great deal more in the same strain. As the best way of obtaining designs for library buildings is a matter of discussion both among architects themselves, as well as library committees, it was advisable to call attention to the kind of criticism which committees sometimes bring upon themselves in this matter. In May, 1891, the committee w'ere still discussing these plans, which are to include baths, as well as a library, but in good time Dewsbury will see its permanent structure an accomplished fact. In the meantime the temporary quarters are well used by the people. Several ladies have been elected on the committee, and are rendering good service. Doncaster. Doncaster rejoices in a new building opened in the middle of 1889. The new quarters are the outcome of a Jubilee movement, and the money for its cost was subscribed by the public. The former history of the library may be told in a few words. The nucleus of the library was the books which formerly belonged to the Subscription Library and the Mechanics’ Institute, but when the promoters of the movement proposed on June 15, 1868, that the Acts be adopted, they could not have foreseen what a handsome and commodious building would be the outcome of the proposition, or what an extensive collection of books would twenty years after be placed at the service of the people. The promoters took up their abode in a building which was built for the Grammar School, and it would probably have had to serve that purpose for many years to come, but for the fact that the citizens, in common with those of other towns, desired to mark in a permanent manner the Jubilee year. Not indeed that better accommodation was needed; the 7,000 books which formed the nucleus of the library had doubled themselves, and the number of volumes issued in one year had nearly trebled itself. The committee have been constantly adding to their store of books, and during the last ten years have on an average expended from £80 to £100 a year upon the purchase of new works of a standard character. The school of art, on the first floor, consists of elementary drawing, cast and modelling rooms, all of large size, the first-named being specially noticeable for its height and general suitability. All the halls, corridors, &c., have tiled floors, andno Public Libraries. the fittings, chimney-pieces, &c., have been made to special design ; and the building generally is most appropriate for its purposes both in plan and appearance, externally and internally, and reflects credit on the building committee. There is annually received from outside borrowers some £17 or £20 in subscriptions. It was proposed to spend £3,300 upon the building, and after allowing for a donation from the Science and Art Department towards the school of art, the Corporation undertook to make themselves responsible for the balance. The Science and Art Department promised a subscription of £370 to be exclusively expended upon that particular portion of the building, and the library committee, anxious that no further liability should fall upon the Corporation, offered to defray the expense of fitting and furnishing the library, which amounted to about £500. The building is in the Tudor style of architecture, treated in a liberal spirit without slavish adherence to the period, save to give the general character and appearance of that scholastic time. Every well-arranged and well-managed library becomes an educator for other districts. In the early part of 1891 a deputation of fifty gentlemen from the Leigh Local Board, in Lancashire, visited the Doncaster Library for the purpose of obtaining information previous to erecting a new technical school and library for Leigh. G ATESHE AD-ON-TYNE . This library is housed in a suitable and compact building. On the Saturday evening of the writer’s visit there was an appearance of activity about the place, and yet, although the reading and news rooms were crowded, there was a very inviting air of studious quiet about the whole premises. Notwithstanding a large turnover during five years, the loss of books has only been two. The building is admirably planned, although they could have done with more space. On the ground floor there are the lending library, the magazine and reference reading-room, and the general newsroom and women’s room. In the middle of 1889, the building was closed for three weeks for decoration and renovation. The appearance now is decidedly prepossessing, and the style of decoration is decidedly happy. On the main floor the reading-rooms have been coloured in pale green and cream, whilst in the newsroom creams and greys are the prevailing tones. The walls of the staircase have been given a salmon tint, and when brought into the line of sight with the decorations of the rooms opening out upon it the effect of the whole is highly pleasing to the eye. Of the rooms tenanted by the science and art classes the antique room has received a colouring of a very pale shade of green, varied with dark maroon, and in the lecture-room opposite the decoration is in harmony with the general plan, although of not quite so elaborate a character. Immediately on its reopening the institution was patronized by crowds of visitors, evidently anxious to make up for lost time. It may be taken for granted that the bright and cheerful aspect of thePublic Libraries in the Northern Counties. hi whole building accounted for the quiet business-like air about the place. There is no doubt that visitors to these places are largely influenced by their surroundings. A bright and cheerful appearance cannot fail to produce a demeanour in keeping with it. Gateshead may well be taken as a model for a small library so far as its internal arrangements are concerned. The Sunday opening of the reading-room is appreciated, as many as 200 persons using it during the hours it is open, two to five o’clock and six till nine o’clock. The caretaker, who lives on the premises, is able to exercise all the supervision which is requisite. Harrogate. It is one of the most encouraging circumstances in connection with Public Libraries, that wherever they have been established, they have steadily grown in popularity, the number attending them increasing year by year. This is particularly the case with the Harrogate Public Library. Since the adoption of the Acts in 1887, the reading-room and library has been thronged daily. During the last twelve months no fewer than 80,000 volumes have been taken out, while the reading-room is visited by upwards of 600 persons daily. The library opened with less than 2,000 volumes, these have been augmented by purchases and gifts, and now total nearly 6,000. The volumes are of a healthy nature, and represent the principal modern writers in history, biography, travel, science, art, and natural history, whilst readers in the lighter branch of literature are well catered for. The selection has been assiduously and judiciously made, and there is evidence, in glancing over the shelves, of a bestowal of care and attention. Since the inauguration of the institution the residents have lent aid by their donations, and these gifts have materially enhanced the limited sum of money at the hands of the committee for carrying on the work. Out of a rate producing £300 the committee were able last year to devote £60 for the purchase of new books. With this amount the library has been enriched with nearly 600 volumes. Hartlepool, East. Old Hartlepool deserves a Public Library medal. After a short and brisk agitation the question was settled on June 4, 1891. The result of the poll was as follows:—In favour 1,418; against 478—majority in favour 940. The number of voting papers issued was 3,500. It is believed that the difficulty in regard to a suitable building for the library will be removed by the Town Council handing over for the purpose the old Town Hall in the High-street, once the municipal headquarters of the ancient borough. The building is at present in the occupation of a Town Councillor, but that gentleman has expressed his willingness to give up possession at any moment, should the Council require it for the purpose named. The cost of the poll was about £30,112 Public Libraries. Hartlepool, West. The two Hartlepools have distinguished themselves. Within some three weeks of each other they have adopted the Acts with most encouraging majorities. The question came prominently forward in December last; but owing to a parliamentary election intervening there was a lull, and a rest in the agitation became necessary, seeing the subject was overshadowed by a political contest. A good meeting was held as a beginning in December last. A very prominent townsman and large employer of labour, Sir William Gray, wrote a letter to this meeting, in which he said:—“ I think there cannot be two opinions as to the desirability of such an institution, and I shall be glad if the inhabitants of the borough will urge the members of the Town Council to take the matter up and carry it to a successful issue.” Mr. H. Weatherell and Mr. A. C. Burge were the moving spirits which led to this meeting being convened, and the local press gave the fullest prominence. At a later date another meeting was held at which Mr. J. J. Ogle, librarian of the Bootle Public Library, spoke. The promise of a site, if the Acts were adopted, greatly helped the movement, and on June 25, 1891, when the vote was taken, so spirited had been the spread of light upon the question that the district was quite prepared for the vote. This was as follows: —For 1,966 ; against 968; spoiled papers 416 ; blank 2,045 ; uncollected on account of absence 2,535; total issued 7,930. It is likely that a Town Hall and Technical Schools will be comprised in the same group of buildings. Hindley (Lanc.). The donor of the building, the late Mr. Leyland, JJP., passed away in 1883, but he has commemorated his name by means of the Public Library and a park in a way which will never be effaced. The aphorism that England’s greatness is due to the nobility of her sons has been repeatedly proved. And, to apply the simile, in a restrictive sense, it is as true that the monuments of a town’s greatness are due to the liberality and large-heartedness of her citizens. There is many a town in England at the present time whose inhabitants remember gratefully the beneficent gifts of some of the citizens who, gifted with remarkable foresight, have left donations for the building and the working of institutions which have been the turning-point in the career of the town. The park and recreation grounds are situate about two miles from the centre of Hindley, and cover an area of about twelve statute acres of land. They are fitted up with a gymnasium, bowling green, cricket and football grounds, walks, &c. The building contains, on the ground floor, the lending library and newsroom, 51 feet by 25 feet 6 in., with other rooms 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 legatee expressed the wish that thePublic Libraries in the Northern Counties. 113 Acts should be adopted, as the local board could not maintain the library without this being done. The building is in every way suited for its work, and has before it a useful career. Kendal. It is excusable to say “ Well-done Kendal.” Although the question had been previously ventilated in the local press the subject was practically brought prominently before the people in December, 1890, and from that time down to the adoption in April, 1891, the provisional committee were working with might and main to secure success. In few places has there been better organization, and the provisional committee are to be highly congratulated upon the able way in which the whole question was championed. Mr. W. P. Parker, M.D., acted as the honorary secretary, and all seemed to work together with a warmth and vigour which was bound to bring success. The “ Kendal Mercury ” and the “Kendal and County News” gave excellent support, as is evidenced by the writer having before him at the moment newspaper cuttings representing some twenty-five columns of matter, from each of these papers referring to the agitation. With the aid of an influential local press the movement is simply irresistible. This is abundantly proved by the experience at Kendal and other places. The list of donations promised is distinctly creditable to Kendal. Mr. Swinglehurst heads it with £500. Four give a hundred pounds or guineas each. Ten fifty pounds each; eighteen £20 to £25 each; nineteen ten pounds or guineas each; and then a very large number ranging from ten shillings to two guineas each. The total reaches between £2,300 and £2,500, and seeing that they have a corporation building in the old market hall ready made, and it is to be hoped will be rent free, the prospect is in every way most hopeful. The report of the meetings provides capital reading. Well might one of the local papers already named say in a leader after one of these meetings : “ A Public Library once in order will bring to its care' gifts of valuable books that can nowhere be so usefully and carefully kept. The time will come when our little libraries will hand over all they have to the new one. Those who take an interest in a reference library will have a pleasure in adding to the one belonging to the town, and as time grows and the boys of this day grow into men, and the girls of this day become the mothers, of the future, an institution like the one to be now established will have friends and helpers repaying in money and books for the advantages they will have learned to value. In many other ways the work will grow, for all of History and Science, of Biography and Travel, of Art and Literature, will have in time a great abode in our midst, at the reach of rich and poor free to all and the property of all.” Numerous letters in the newspapers followed after the first meeting, and altogether the question was as well ventilated as it has been in any district. In April, the question seemed ripe for taking the vote. Kendal declared by a substantial majority in favour of a Library. The 8Public Libraries. II4 return of valid papers was 1,168 for and 766 against, a large number of papers were not filled up, and a moiety of those returned were spoiled, on account of their having no signature attached to them. The result of the appeal was regarded with great satisfaction by the promoters of the scheme, as the poll was taken under the most unfavourable circumstances. Three facts became known that went much against the poll. The sanitary rate was to be increased by threepence, the poor rate by one penny ; and the Public Library rate another penny in the £—a very serious matter, which affects the ratepayer community considerably. But notwithstanding all this the vote was a distinct “ yes.” The experience at Kendal goes to prove that it is unwise to wait, as is being done in some towns, until a favourable time presents itself for carrying the movement to the vote. The rate will bring in about £190, but it is hoped that several outlying villages will be incorporated and the income increased to about £230. Mr. Frowde, then a neighbouring librarian, aided by pen and voice to educate the people upon the question. Leeds. The people of Leeds are naturally very proud of their Public Library work. With a record of twenty years behind them they may proudly turn to the vast extension of the Public Library system in Leeds, and to the unquestionable progress which the work has made, as proof of the estimate placed on these institutions by the citizens. Leeds now has at its head-quarters a splendid collection of works, and the reference department there is of such a character and of so comprehensive a nature, that it is not only a source of pride to Leeds but to the whole of Yorkshire. The town stands fourth on the list of libraries throughout the country for the extent of its reference section. Artisans and professional men are well represented among the users of the reference library. Yorkshire ladies are usually able to hold their own among the ladies of any other part of the country, but they do not represent a large proportion of those who make use of the reference department. Perhaps the main reason why the percentage of lady-visitors to this section is not larger, is the number of steps which they have to climb before reaching the library. In planning the handsome municipal buildings where the library is housed, it is most unfortunate that both the lending and reference departments are at the top, and it is an even greater calamity that the general newsroom is so far away from the library, having a separate entrance, and in a different part of the building. Somebody must surely have been at fault in the drawing up of the original plans, and the views of the committee and the librarian appear to have been overridden in the Town Council, or so great a mistake could not have been made. The estimated cost of these municipal buildings was to have been £75,000, but through some breach of contract and extras, the sum reached ultimately £130,000. In so large an expenditure it is greatly to be deplored that the library portion should have beenPublic Libraries in the Northern Counties. 115 sacrificed to the other parts of the building, as has unquestionably been the case. The work in the parent institution at Leeds grew and developed in an old, adapted building, most inconvenient in every way, and badly lighted and ventilated; and it might naturally have been expected that some marked advance would have been made in the convenient arrangement of the new quarters. That the new premises are of course better in every way than the old is admitted on all hands, but the pressing wants of the library have certainly not met with the careful consideration from the Town Council which should have been the case. In the years to come, when the next move becomes necessary, it is to be hoped that the library, with its twin institution of art gallery, will have a building specially constructed for their ever-wideningii6 Public Libraries. requirements. Perhaps by that time the Nitrate King, who has done so much in providing parks for Leeds, will see his way to do for Leeds what another benefactor has done for Edinburgh, Ayr, and other places. The lending library of the parent building represents a strong feature. Works of history, biography, travels, science, and art represent a very respectable total of each day’s issue. The extensive use made of the Board Schools in Leeds has brought their work most under the public notice. The town of Leeds covers a wide area, probably the largest in the country. It [was early seen, in connection with the Public Library, that if that institution was to be of advantage to the great body of the ratepayers, and not simply to a section, it should be spread over the town. This has been done to the extent of some thirty-three branches, most of them with a fairly well-selected stock of books, and all of them in populous neighbourhoods. The result of this arrangement is that it is only on rare occasions that readers in the districts so provided need to visit the main library at the municipal buildings. The wisdom of opening so many branches has been seriously questioned, and it may be stated here, as is said in the chapter dealing with the use of Board Schools as Public Libraries, that it is to be hoped other large towns will not emulate the example of Leeds, with regard to the number of Board Schools in a town used in this way. The aim of having a library within only a very few minutes’ walk from the door of every householder in Leeds is not an unmixed good. It prevents that consolidation of work in large given centres to the same extent as has been achieved in other towns, with their specially constructed branch buildings. Several of the branches in Leeds have had to be closed through lack of readers, and it certainly appears a case of having too much of a good thing. These various branch lending libraries issued in the year 353,314 volumes, and the total number of borrowers’ cards issued was 10,958. The total number of visitors to the newsrooms during the year was 1,249,634. In fines the amount received during the year was £235. Some of these branches are doing an excellent work. The one at Sheepscarhad about 200,000 visits to it in the last year. The branches at New Wortley and Hunslet rank next, with a very large turnover and a use of the reading-rooms which must be gratifying to all concerned. The Town Council is responsible for the large number of these branches, but in the developing of them Mr. Yates, the librarian, has had much to do. In the early part of 1891 a deputation from the Leeds School Board waited upon the library committee for the purpose of asking that they would add to the number of libraries in the Board Schools of the town, so as to meet a suggestion made by Her Majesty’s Inspector of Schools as to the desirability of extending the library facilities in the interests of the children attending the public elementary schools. The committee passed a resolution admitting the desirability of meeting as far as possible the wishes of the board. In accordance with this resolution they have thrown openPublic Libraries in the Northern Counties. 117 during the daytime to the children the existing juvenile sections of the libraries at certain of the Board Schools, the School Board undertaking on their part to furnish additional shelving and other accommodation. It may be reasonably argued that for the maintenance of these libraries the School Board should, out of their rate, contribute a sum annually to the funds of the library committee. The originating of the travelling libraries in Leeds has been quite a success. These contain about 100 volumes each of good and instructive literature, and they pass around among the children of the Board Schools. This is a method which should be largely copied in other districts. Books of travel are the favourites, and all fiction is excluded. A new catalogue of the lending department of the central library was issued last March. This consists of 800 pages, and is sold for sixpence. Some advertisements have been inserted in it, which has enabled the committee to issue it at this popular price. The Leeds report is packed with statistics, and has about touched the high-water mark in this direction. The whole work accomplished every year is very instructive, and it would be impossible for all this educational machinery to be in constant operation without yielding beneficial results. During the latter part of 1890 the question of inserting a clause in a local Consolidation and Improvement Act for the increase of the library rate was much discussed. This became necessary not so much on account of the libraries and newsrooms as for the Art Gallery. There are limits to what the penny 'will do in every town, and Leeds, for its penny, has had a value for years which has been reached by no other section of its local expenditure. In September, 1890, and the following month the question was very fully discussed in the meetings of the library committee, but the ultimate decision of the Borough Council was to negative the proposal to increase by means of a special clause in a special bill the library rate to twopence. This is to be regretted. The Art Gallery has some £800 a year out of the penny rate, and this sum will not go far in the purchase of pictures and other works of art. Liverpool. The late Sir William Brown, the munificent donor to Liverpool of the Public Library and Museum buildings in William Brown Street, could not have perpetuated his name in a more appropriate way. These, with the Art Gallery, are, without doubt, the finest pile of buildings for this purpose in the whole United Kingdom and Ireland, if we except the state-aided institutions. Standing in the most prominent square in the city of Liverpool, and well elevated from the street below, they have contributed largely to gain for Liverpool an important place for the majesty and architectural beauty of its public buildings. In 1850, when the question of founding a Public Library was first mooted, the proposal met with cordial support, but some opposition. Two years afterwards118 Public Libraries. the Council obtained the Act of Parliament authorizing them to levy a library and museum rate of not exceeding Id. in the pound, and in the same year, 1852, the Library was opened in Duke Street. The following year saw the establishment of the north and south lending libraries; the Brown Library was opened in 1860; the Walker Art Gallery in 1877; and the Picton Beading-Room in 1879. Whilst, however, these buildings, thus gradually erected, form a splendid group of institutions testifying to regard for education and for art, the public rate out of which they have to be maintained has since 1852 remained the same. There has been no corresponding accession of resources, and in this respect Liverpool differs from many of the other towns, where the ratable value has increased so much. The use made of these buildings is unmistakably large. The thirty-eighth report was made public in March, 1891. The committee note in their previous report that the parliamentary powers obtained during the last session now enabled them to administer their Library and Museum Act of 1852 to the fullest extent, and frees it from many moot points which heretofore presented themselves, notably so, that a do.ubt has been dispelled as to the lending libraries forming a part of the corpus of the main library in William Brown Street. The exigencies of Liverpool trade and commerce having necessitated the migration of a large and industrial section of the community to a residential neighbourhood removed from the centre of the city, it was deemed desirable in their interest to extend the area of the district libraries, resulting in the erection of one in the township and ward of West Derby. The extent to which district libraries may ultimately be established will greatly depend upon the financial resources of the committee, and upon that question the view of the ratepayers must sooner or later be pronounced. This question of branches has for a long time been an important one in Liverpool, and many columns of the local press have been devoted to it either in the form of letters, reports of discussions of the committee, or leading articles. The solution of this problem is, however, becoming clearer in Liverpool, and the large residential population in the suburban districts is receiving considerable attention from the librarian and his committee. The last report is interesting and instructive reading. Naturally the committee wish to place before the Council not merely the statistical facts which record the magnitude and completeness of the work done by the noble and remarkable group of institutions, but they are desirous of considering the value of that work, and to estimate its moral and intellectual influence upon the well-being of their large community. The task which they have set themselves is great, but the report is an advance upon the generality of reports, and does indeed put forward clearly and forcibly the work being done. Notice is taken in the report of the tendency among some members of the Town Council and others outside that body to undervalue the possession of a great reference library, on the plea that it is largely used by the educated and those who can afford to purchase their own books, APublic Libraries in the Northern Counties. rig reference library worthy of the name should, they claim, contain every book of repute written upon every subject; and if a library is to maintain its efficiency its shelves must every year receive the addition of all recognized standard publications. They have every ground for saying that it furnishes students with books of reference which they cannot obtain in any other way, and they note how largely the reference library is availed of by the clergy, teachers, students, journalists, and others, whose object is to weave the materials they thus collect into a form which will instruct and entertain the people of the city, and thus, directly or indirectly, every citizen can derive benefit from them. Another interesting point in the report is the passage in which the committee combat the idea that lending libraries and reading-rooms should not provide works of fiction, periodicals, and newspapers. The demand for these classes of literature they regard as the natural outcome of the progress of education. .When, they say, “this country happily adopted a scheme of national elementary education it committed itself, and equally every municipality, to the supply of adequate means by which the people can make use of their intellectual faculties, and can continue the education begun in the school, or make use of it for the purpose of recreation. Thus Public Libraries, Museums, and Art Galleries have ceased to be merely the resorts of the cultured, but have become the gathering places of the people. They are no longer merely the repositories of books of standard authors and articles of vertu and high art; they must also satisfy our new social conditions and minister to the intellectual entertainment of the masses. Viewed in this light the demand for works of fiction, magazines, and newspapers is not surprising, and it is one which ought to and must be met, for while this light literature satisfies the craving of the intellect for occupation, it is in itself a valuable means of education, and one which, no doubt, often serves as a stimulus and incentive to reading of a more serious character.” The soundness of this estimate of the value of a popular reading-room is beyond dispute. The Picton reading-room is a special feature of the Liverpool work. This room is so called in honour of the late Sir James Picton, who for nearly forty years was chairman of the Public Libraries committee. This room is set apart as a students5 room and for literary research and inquiry. No restriction is placed upon the number of volumes a reader may require. Two large globes and a number of atlases are placed for easy reference. Near the entrance are some 180 scientific and literary magazines and reviews. In the Picton room during the year 191,071 volumes and 116,618 magazines and reviews were consulted. Four evening reading-rooms situated in school-rooms have been opened, and these are in use from 6 to 9.30 p.m. Only newspapers and magazines are supplied. The aggregate of visits paid to all the departments is enormous, and it is not an unfair claim for the committee to make when they say that these institutions in their city form a unique group, and whether the citizens regard them from the120 Public Libraries. excellence and completeness of the collections of which they are the depositories, or the educational and literary work conducted within their walls, they claim equally the admiration and liberal support of the citizens; and while they contribute largely, and over a very wide area, to the happiness and well-doing of the people, they are not the less valuable to the increasing number of men of culture and education. Manchester. Taking an all-round survey it may be said that the work at Manchester will bear comparison with any town or city in the world. This, perhaps, appears a rather bold assertion, but it is one based upon what Manchester has done, is still doing, and is prepared to do. The vitality and energizing force throughout the entire work are so conspicuous that the statement just made is more than justified. So eagerly desirous have the friends of this movement been of having a fuller account of the rise and progress of the Public Libraries of this city that the need for a little handbook giving a descriptive and historical sketch of them has long been apparent. And to meet this demand for information a pamphlet of sixty pages was written by the chief librarian, Mr. C. W. Sutton, and the deputy chief librarian, Mr. Credland, and issued in 1888. The able work of Mr. W. E. A. Axon on “The Manchester Libraries,” published some years ago, had prepared the way for this shorter book, which brought the subject down to date. The reader already knows that the Manchester Public Library was the first to be established under the Ewart-Brotherton Act of 1850, and, as previously shown, immediately after the passing of the Act steps were taken for the adoption of the Acts and the formation of a library. The steady progress of the work from the beginning down to the present date is a record which Manchester men look upon as one of the brightest gems of the many to which Manchester proudly and justly lays claim. The roll of chief librarians is not by any means without interest. Edward Edwards was the first, and held the position for six years. Then followed Robert Wilson Smiles, brother to the genial doctor of the same name. In 1864 Dr. Crestadoro was appointed to this office, which he held until his death in 1879, after fifteen years of faithful service. His successor was Mr. Sutton, who had been for some years in the service of the committee, and who still holds the same office. The writer remembers well Dr. Crestadoro when, as a lad, he was a reader at the old Campfield Library. The reputation of the doctor will ever be associated with the preparation of a memorable catalogue issued in 1864. It consisted of two parts, the first being a list of authors’ names in alphabetical order, anonymous works being placed under their subjects, and the second an index of subjects. His library work is well known in the district. He was rather a recluse so far as other librarians were concerned; but one gentleman who holdsPublic Libraries in the Northern Counties. 121 a high post as chief librarian in a large northern town, and whose catalogue is one which has received universal admiration, tells how as a young man he sent some MS. copy of his first catalogue to Dr. Crestadoro and sought a personal interview with him. In the most kindly way the old doctor looked through his sheets, made a few suggestions, and chatted pleasantly with the chief librarian in embryo. The first year’s working of the Manchester Public Library, 1852-3, showed that 61,080 volumes were issued to readers in the reference department, while 77,232 were borrowed from the lending department, making a total of 138,312. The reference library contained at the end of the first year 18,104 volumes, and the lending department 7,195. Thus it may be said that the 25,000 volumes provided were issued five times over. The use of the libraries has in later years increased out of all proportion to the mere growth of the population, and this increase is largely accounted for by the strenuous educational work which has been carried on since the passing of the Elementary Act of 1870. Since that time the proportion of children not apparently receiving education has steadily decreased. Between 1852 and 1870 the libraries received their fullest development. The parent institution in Campfield gradually increased in popularity, and demands began to be made for the establishment of branches in other parts of the city. Accordingly, in 1857, two branch libraries were opened. These were followed by the establishment of the Livesey Street branch in 1860, and of the branch in Rusholme Road in 1866 ; thus, before the end of 1870, the whole of the present library system had been brought into existence, with the exception of the Cheetham branch, which was opened in 1872, and the reading-rooms at Bradford and Harpurhey, established in 1887, and the reading-room in Hyde Road opened in 1888. From 1870 to the present time the efforts of the libraries committee have been confined principally to the improvement and extension of the buildings and privileges already provided. By the opening of the Cheetham branch in 1872 the chain of libraries encircling the city was completed, and it was not until 1886, when the out-townships of Bradford and Harpurhey were added, that any necessity was felt for more branches. The last official year exhibits results of a highly satisfactory character. Every day a record is kept of the number of visits paid to the various libraries for books, and for the perusal of newspapers and periodicals. It is found that during the last twelve months these visits reached an aggregate of considerably over four millions (4,195,109). Again, the number of books taken home or used in the reading-rooms has been 1,564,808. But perhaps the most surprising, and, at the same time, most gratifying, fact is that of 700,242 taken away for home reading the insignificant number of thirteen volumes only are missing. When it is considered that a large proportion of these are fetched and brought back by young people, often by children, that they122 Public Libraries. are not infrequently taken to mills and workshops for casual perusal at meal times, and that in many homes the provision for the preservation of books is of the scantiest description, the absolute honesty and conscientious care of this army of readers are demonstrated in an extraordinary degree. The attendance on Sundays at the reference library averages 214, and at the branches and reading-rooms (including those for the boys) it has been 284,840, or an average of 5,585 each Sunday. On the shelves of the reference library and the various branches there are now the considerable number of 202,641 volumes. Nearly worn out, or otherwise unserviceable for circulation, 8,117 volumes have this year been replaced by new copies, and the old ones distributed amongst the workhouse and hospitals of the city, where they are found exceedingly useful. It is difficult to conceive of any other instrumentality for promoting popular instruction and providing improving recreation, which could be accomplished for the inconsiderable expenditure of one penny in the pound on the rates of a city. The blind have been well cared for in the Manchester Public Library, and a selection of books in the Moon and Braille type have been provided. Considerable discussion has for several years taken place in the Public Libraries committee and in the Town Council, as to removing the limitation of the rate by means of a clause in a Local Improvement Bill. In May, 1891, the deputy-chairman argued the question, and stated that the library committee of Manchester were much hampered in their operations by the limitation of their resources prescribed in the Act of 1855, and subsequent amendments. They had long wished to place reading-rooms in a number of populous localities. Recent additions to the population and area of the city by the incorporation of several townships had led to greatly increased demands for branch libraries and reading-rooms. The acreage of the city had been doubled, and over 100,000 persons added to the citizens’ roll, for whom no adequate provision could be made in the required direction, unless the pecuniary means of the committee be augmented. The Manchester Libraries committee was unfavourably situated as compared with other towns. For example, no such disabling restriction as that which impeded their work obtained in Birmingham, Nottingham, Oldham, Brighton, Barrow-in-Furness, or St. Helens; whilst Wigan and seven other towns were legally empowered to expend any sum not exceeding twopence in the pound. In four towns the rate might be increased from one penny to three halfpence by the respective town councils, and in three others by the consent of a ratepayers’ meeting or poll. These exemptions from the narrow limits of the penny rate had been obtained, it was understood, by exceptional legislation through local Acts. But the Manchester committee desired to see this privilege extended to themselves, and indeed to every other municipality. Not only would an invidious distinction be thus removed, but also an apparent distrust of thePublic Libraries in the Northern Counties. 123 operations of libraries committees as compared with other departments of municipal activity. It was the opinion of the committee that no representative body should be restricted in such matters save by the wishes and consent of the town councils, and of the ratepayers to whom they were responsible. It might be pointed out that school boards know no other limitations, nor was it reasonable that Public Libraries committees should be embarrassed with them. They were bound to submit their yearly estimates to the councils which appointed them; their proceedings were always kept under the eye, and, if need be, under the restraint of the ratepayers at large, and thus no abuse of their powers was possible. It was further stated that there could be no doubt that, if Parliament consented to remove such a cramping and needless restriction, a powerful stimulus would be given to all corporations throughout the country to establish and competently to support Public Libraries wherever they were at present unknown. At the following meeting of the Town Council it was reported that the Chairman of the Committee in the House of Lords, which had before them the Bill of the Corporation then being promoted in Parliament, intimated that the library rate should be limited to twopence, and to this it was agreed. This will enable the committee to extend their branches, and as the first step in this extension will no doubt be to open, as a branch, the Longsight Mechanics’ Institute, which in March, 1891, the trustees handed over to the libraries committee. The building is an admirable one. It had hitherto been used as a library, and “this, with its books, fittings, and its balance at the bank, have been presented to the Corporation, for the future use of the citizens as a Public Library. It is also proposed to hand over the Kusholme Public Hall and Library to the Corporation for a similar purpose. The building at Newton Heath—a suburb of Manchester— designed as a Public Library, and which represented a separate adoption of the Acts in 1887, has also been handed over to the Manchester Libraries committee to organize and work. The question of allowing non-residents within the borough to borrow books has been rather a burning one in Manchester, as it has at other places. There has been a natural feeling that they were not under any obligation to grant the use of the libraries to persons not resident within the City boundary, and not employed by any City firm paying the local rates. The byelaws stipulate that non-electors can have the use of the libraries on their obtaining the application-form signed by a person on the municipal list. The matter is a very important one not only for Manchester but for other places. In several large towns where formerly non-residents were allowed to borrow, the privilege has been taken away. It is scarcely fair to expect that residents and ratepayers should provide books free of expense to those who do not contribute to the support of the libraries, or who are not employed by firms paying the rates. Employés of those subject to the local rating should clearly in all cases be allowed all the124 Public Libraries. privileges of the library. As long as large centres give unlimited facilities for non-residents to borrow, the inducement to adopt the Acts in the various districts in which they reside is minimized. In one or two of the districts around Manchester, governed by Local Boards, the question of adopting the Acts has been under consideration, but owing to the liberality of Manchester in providing their reading free the Acts still remain unadopted. Several of these districts may soon become incorporated in Manchester, and so the difficulty will, so far as those places are concerned, quickly disappear. Manchester has thus every reason to be proud of its Public Library system, and one proof of the satisfaction that is felt is the continued demand for its extension. The leading citizens of this progressive city long ago recognized that the elementary education given in Board Schools is not the end for which that education is given. The aim of elementary education is to provide every member of the community with the opportunity for acquiring knowledge and cultivating the mind. It is clear that this capacity cannot be utilized unless the means of obtaining knowledge and intellectual enjoyment are accessible in the leisure hours of those persons who have to employ their days in earning a living. Public Libraries supported out of the rates are the only means by which this can be provided. Their cost is a trifle compared with what society may save by the consequent improvement in the character of its members, and from what it will gain as the result of greater and more universal intellectual effort. Middlesborough. The Public Library and reading-room form part of the handsome pile of municipal buildings situated in the main street. The newsroom is on the ground floor of the building, and the lending and reference departments are on the second floor. The present buildings were opened in October, 1887 ; but although the library is now better housed, the drain on the revenue consequent upon the change has been excessive. The income has been crippled by the heavy rent (£150 a year) charged by the Council for the new „Library in the municipal buildings and other charges incidental thereto, having repaid to the Council quite one-third of the total grant made to them. In consequence of this the committee have only been able to spend 2s. 10|d. per pound of their income upon books, against 7s. 10|d. in their old habitation. Added to this there have been difficulties in other directions, and the reading of a recent report is not inspiring. The result of a special stocktaking by a sub-committee showed that a large deficiency of 935 volumes had been found, of which twenty-seven were books belonging to the reference department, whilst there are a considerable number of pamphlets, Blue Books, etc., in the cellar “ in a condition that reflects the utmost disgrace on those who have had charge of them.” The registers were practically useless for the work of audit until considerably rectified, and there is no possibility ofPublic Libraries in the Northern Counties. 125 any substantial proportion of the 908 volumes missing from the lending library being recovered. The sub-committee appointed to inquire into the matter dealt in detail as to how this deficiency might be partly accounted for, such as the substitution of one-volume copies when replacing three-volume novels, and said it was also probable that the number worn out and withdrawn was largely in excess of the reported numbers. The committee had only to look at the enormous circulation, exceeding 1,100,000 issues in seventeen years, to be assured that the wear and tear upon the lending library would account for a much larger deduction than the former librarian had made. The sub-committee regretted to say that the number of instances they ‘had met with of great carelessness in working the indicator, and of negligence in allowing books to remain in the hands of borrowers for several months, proved very clearly that some portion of the deficiency was due to these causes. And they were entirely at a loss to understand how it was that the simple course of counting all the books on the shelves at the stock-taking in 1887 or in 1888, when the library was closed for the purpose, and there was no longer any want of space, as might have been alleged in the old premises, was not resorted to, and the deficiency—which could not have arisen altogether since the last year’s stock-taking— thereby discovered, andTeported to the committee. It is no part of the duty of one who seeks to record the work being done by these institutions to simply pick out the parts suitable to support the main argument for the extension of these libraries. A truthful historian must take facts as they present themselves, and the confusion worse confounded at one time at Middlesborough will serve a good purpose if it makes other librarians and committees exercise greater care. The rocks upon which both may be stranded are here indicated, and wise men will take a lesson from it. Opponents of these institutions should hesitate before they point their finger. To say that the work at Middlesborough had been a failure would be untrue and a libel on the library and town. A new lease of life has commenced. In October, 1889, out of 444 applications a new librarian was appointed. A large -piece of vacant ground is only divided from the municipal buildings by a street, and it would be gratifying to look from the present rooms of the library on to a museum building erected upon this spare piece of ground; or, better still, perhaps the twin institutions under one roof. The matter has several times been under discussion. The temporary museum has been fitted up, and was opened to the public in March, 1890. The library has good friends in Messrs. Bell Brothers, and the future has in it gleams of promise, but more will have to be spent upon new books before the library is in a very healthy state. This, however, cannot be until the Corporation reduce their monstrous charge for rent. It is cause for surprise to read in the last report that permission had been given to a recruiting sergeant to place pamphlets setting forth the advantages of joining the army on the tables of the library. There is no reason126 Public Libraries. why public libraries should be made recruiting grounds for the army. Middleton. A statutory meeting was held in 1887, at which a poll was demanded. The result was a majority of nearly three to one in favour of the adoption. In March, 1889, the new building was opened. The committee, in their instructions to the competing architects, gave the key-note as to style by suggesting a sixteenth century style of architecture. A rustic porch marks the entrance ; and the vestibule is carried up to a considerable height as a tower or turret, which forms the principal external feature. On the ground floor there are two large rooms—the one to the front being used as a reading-room, and that at the back as a lending library. The upper floor is of similar size, and is so arranged that it can be used as one room, or that half over the reading-room may be divided into three class-rooms by means of sliding partitions. A spacious staircase with stone steps connects the two floors, and this is lighted by a large mullioned window filled with tinted glass of geometrical patterns. The lower floors are all fireproof, and the upper are carried on iron joists resting on rolled iron girders. The principal rooms have plate glass in the lower parts of the windows, and tinted glass in the upper. The subdivision of the total area into rooms of various sizes is quite discretionary, and can be varied from time to time as circumstances may suggest; and this elasticity in plan had great weight with the committee when considering the competitive designs. The library began with 3,223 volumes, and considerable additions have since been made. Sufficient subscriptions were given to erect the building, and as Middleton had only just before the adoption of the Acts been incorporated, it was looked upon as a very happy omen that the library should be established so early in its corporate life. Millom and Penrith. The country is watching with considerable interest what can be done in this movement in small districts and with a very limited income. Millom has a population of about 9,000 and Penrith 9,500. Both places are in Cumberland, and at present these, with Carlisle, Whitehaven, and Workington, are the places in the county where the Acts have been adopted. The question was settled in Millom in February, 1887, and in October of the same year the library was opened. The population is almost entirely engaged in mining, and for the benefit of these more particularly a newsroom has been opened at a village about two miles from Millom. The committee begun with 1,600 volumes, and additions have been made. It is particularly desirable that Millom should show a good example of what can be done in a district where the chief population are engaged in heavy manual toil. The news-Public Libraries in the Northern Counties. 127 rooms are popular, and a branch newsroom has been opened in an outlying district. The privileges of the library are allowed to persons not residing in the Board’s district by a payment equivalent to what the penny rate would be. It is not improbable that a building used as a club and institute will come into the possession of the library committee, and so afford scope for the development of the work which is becoming so patent. Penrith library has been open since 1883. The quaint old building in which it is situated was from 1853 to 1883 a working men’s reading-room, and the library of the Mechanics’ Institute came also ultimately to this library. A good proportion of the books are represented in the library, and are not of a class suitable for general circulation. There are some, however, which might be useful in large town libraries if a system of exchange could be adopted as with museum specimens. The rate produces £133, and Penrith is securing an actual value of it which is scarcely measured by double that sum. The following shows a year’s expenditure:—Salaries and establishment charges, £55 19s. 4d.; newspapers and periodicals, £26 10s. 7d.; cost of new books and rebinding, £42 Is. 2d. ; interest on loan and £5 repaid, £9 15s. Id.—total £134 6s. 2d. The new volumes added for the year were 404. There is a small museum. The museum specimens were the gift of Admiral Wanhope, and are of an interesting character. These are at one side of the large room of which the building chiefly consists, with one or two smaller rooms and house attached for the librarian. Of daily papers taken there are thirteen, twenty-two weeklies, and twenty-one monthlies. In 1884 there was a bazaar in aid of the funds of the library, and over £400 were raised, the interest of which is spent upon new books. Surely a part of the principal would not be misused were it spent for library purposes. There are several hundred volumes in the library which came from Professor F. W. Newman. The work is growing, and the museum is capable of being made more attractive. The writer has a very tender regard for the welfare of libraries struggling with a small rate. But by an enhanced interest on the part of the Penrith people, and another bazaar for the purpose of raising funds to place another storey on the building, Penrith would begin afresh. It is worthy of note that at the time of the adoption of the Acts the general district rate was 2s; in the pound. Now it is Is. 6d. in the pound. Moss Side. There is no doubt about the Public Library movement being a real infection. Directly libraries become established in one centre, other districts seeing their utility and success, are not long before they wish to possess the same facilities. Among the numerous districts around Manchester governed by local boards which have adopted the Acts are the two named above. Moss Side did so in 1887. The population is 18,000, and the ratable value will128 Public Libraries. produce £425 a year, so that the prospects, when once the library does get into operation, should be hopeful. A technical difficulty arose. Permission to borrow for the purpose of building was desired, and the Local Government Inspector sent down to investigate was of opinion that the poll which decided for the adoption of the Acts was not taken in accordance with the decision in the Croydon case decided in the autumn of 1889. As this decision was given many months after the adoption of the Acts in Moss Side, the ruling of the inspector is difficult to understand. There has consequently not yet been any progress made towards the establishing of a Public Library, and the inhabitants must continue to use the Manchester libraries as they have hitherto done. Under the circumstances it would be wise to take the vote again, and the sooner the better. Much Woolton (near Liverpool). The Acts were adopted here on February 17, 1890. The meeting was held in the Mechanics’ Institution. There was a large attendance, and the chair was occupied by the chairman of the Local Board. It was stated that in 1882 a Public Library was formed for the township, and vested in the trustees of the Mechanics’ Institution, on the understanding that if at any future time the Acts were adopted the 1,500 volumes in that library should be transferred to the Public Library. The amount of money spent on the books originally was £238. In October, 1890, the library was formally opened in the evening. The ceremony was a very interesting one, aided as it was by the village band, a profusion of bunting and Chinese lanterns, followed later by an elaborate display of fireworks. Why indeed Should such rejoicing not take place at the opening of a village Public Library P Mr. W. D. James had erected a village club some time previously, and offered to make this building suitable for a Public Library if the Acts were adopted. The library is a distinct ornament to the village, and the generosity of Mr. James was acknowledged by an address presented to him at- the opening ceremony. It is an especial pleasure to record what is being done in this movement in villages. Nelson. This is another of the smaller places in Lancashire where the movement quickly took root and resulted in March, 1889, in the adoption of the Acts. In December of the same year temporary rooms were formally opened by Mr. Ecroyd, who expressed the hope that the youth of the town would put to a noble use that library and every other opportunity offered to them, and show in the coming generation that Nelson contained an instructed, orderly, intellectual, and moral population. Alluding to the hindrances which stood in the way of realizing the ideal he had pointed out, the speaker said he was disposed to regard as the most seriousPublic Libraries in the Northern Counties < 129 the prosperity of the country itself, the very munificence with which in this age they had been endowed with the means of living comfortable lives and enjoying themselves. History showed them that wherever there had been a great nation which had fallen from its high position, the cause had been its internal decay. A man could not look around the country at the present time and notice the great changes for good that he might have witnessed without rejoicing, but he would also have apprehensions that those things themselves might seduce them, might weaken their fibre and moral strength and character, and that they might be drawn into the easiness of life and a continual desire for amusements, which would prevent them using their advantages with success. The greatest difficulty they would have to contend with in that institution was the subordination of so-called pleasure which would be placed before their young people, and which would lead them astray, and root out and destroy all intellectual zest and capacity. It is satisfactory to note that there has been some very generous giving in connection with this library. One anonymous donor gave £500. The first annual report, after the lending library had been opened, and presented in May, 1891, showed that the capacity of the library was severely taxed by the number of borrowers and the number of readers frequenting the large reading-room, and that further accommodation was already necessary. The total number of books supplied to borrowers during the year was 25,251. There had been a very good demand for books of travel and works on textile industries. The reading-room has been well patronized. For some time a scheme has been mooted for establishing a technical school under the same roof as the library, and some time ago the library committee adopted a resolution declaring that such a step was desirable. The scheme has taken definite shape, and a sub-committee has been appointed to consider the ways and means of establishing such an institution. N E WC ASTLE-UPON-T YNE. This large northern metropolis was twenty years considering the adoption of the Acts. This was brought about in 1874, but it was not until 1880 that the lending library was opened. In 1882 the newsroom was ready for the public, and in 1884 the reference library was first thrown open to readers. It is unnecessary to enter now into the causes of delay either in the adoption of the Acts or the opening of the libraries, for during the nine years’ work that the library can now record, whatever lukewarmness on the part of the citizens had been present in the past, has been wiped out by the spirited work which is being done, and by the ever-extending use which the people are making of their library. The last report, ratified by the Town Council in October, 1890, is a particularly encouraging document. This report states that not one single volume or pamphlet is missing, every individual item in the stock books being accounted for either as (1) upon the shelves, (2) in the hands of borrowers, not having been 9130 Public Libraries. returned according to rule, (3) in hands of the binders as patterns, or to bind, or laid aside preparatory to their being despatched to the binders, and (4) withdrawn from circulation by order of the committee, imperfect, or so worn and dilapidated as to require replacement by new copies. As to the completeness and comprehensiveness of the reference department, an interesting fact may be mentioned. When the British Associa- tion was in Newcastle in 1889, the chairman of the Geographical Section, Sir Francis de Winton, sent for ninety-seven books for reference out of the library, and he got ninety-three of them. He stated himself to the librarian that he did not think that out of London, if in London, he could have got ninety-three out of ninety-seven books which he might want. The juvenile library is a very strong feature in the NewcastlePublic Libraries in the Northern Counties. 131 work. During the year 46,309 volumes have been issued. This is an increase of 7,785 on the previous year, and, let this fact be marked, the returns show that the entire stock of books available for the reading of the juvenile borrowers under fourteen years of age has been turned over sixteen times during the year. From the commencement in 1880 of this section to the present time the issue has been about 317,767 volumes, and only two volumes have been lost. Never once during that time has any parent or guardian complained of the character of a book taken out in this department. Another fact must be noted. One of the leading Newcastle papers has a “ Dickey Bird Society ” with thousands of members. Since this society was first formed the demand for books on natural history, travels, and history has largely increased. There is a close connection between this society and the juvenile library. The books are well cared for by the borrowers, as a rule are not kept beyond the time allowed (fourteen days) for reading, and there is a gradual improvement in-the demand for works on subjects just named and biography, travel, elementary science, and kindred subjects, while the so-called children’s books are less and less in request. The chief point in the report is the gratifying increase in the issue of books in the general lending department for home reading, and it must be acknowledged, as a healthy sign of improved taste, that, as compared with the gross issue, a diminution of 10 per cent, has taken place in the issue of works of pure fiction. It now stands at 50 per cent, of the 'gross issues. The presumption is, from what has occurred in Newcastle and other cities, that the reading of mere fiction often impels persons of capacity to higher kinds of reading. The Newcastle catalogue is known as a good example of careful work, and with it the library readers are well instructed as to the books at their command. It is on the index system, but with very full entries under author, title, subject, and numerous cross references. There are also in it selections from contents of serial publications. The feature in the catalogue, as in all dictionary catalogues, is that it shows at a glance everything in the library on any given subject, all that is in the library by any particular author, editor, or pamphleteer, while the cross references are so full and simple that the work- becomes a readable and instructive literary dictionary. Where there has been a joint authorship this is not only carefully noted, but each given in alphabetical sequence, so that, supposing the memory retains only one of the writers, both will easily be discovered by this index. Not only so, but while the nom de guerre of an author is given, the personality of the writer is also revealed. The electric light is now used for lighting the building. So conspicuous has been the progress that the general news-room has for some years been much too small for the demands made upon it. In the autumn of 1890, the committee drew up a scheme of extension. They see their way to obtain the requisite ground, and they obtained estimates which132 Public Libraries. show that the extensions can be carried out for a sum of about £14,000. The question remains, however, how this money is to be come by. The finance sub-committee investigated and reported on the situation, and the conclusion they seem to arrive at is that there is no surplus revenue available for meeting the charges upon such an additional outlay of capital; and that under the limitations of the Libraries Acts, it is difficult to conceive from what quarter the funds are to come. It may become necessary to get new borrowing powers to meet this very necessary extension, but in the meantime the site adjoining the library, which the committee desire to purchase, may be lost. The first bequest came but a year or two ago to the Newcastle library, and as there is some little interest attaching' to this, a few particulars will not be out of place. This old Public, or Town’s, Library was bequeathed to the people of Newcastle by the Rev. Robert Thomlinson, D.D., in 1741, and was open free to the people under certain quaint and curious conditions. After the donor’s death, however, it soon fell into disuse, chiefly caused by the carelessness of the authorities; and, after many vicissitudes, it was transferred, by order of the Charity Commissioners, on April 1, 1884, to the custody of the Public Libraries committee. The books on their transfer were found to be in a very dilapidated condition, and the City Council voted, out of their surplus, the sum of £800 to provide new shelving for and to rebind the books. In 1829 it was estimated that there were between 9,000 and 10,000 volumes. The actual number received at the transfer was only 4,365, and this number has since reached 4,392, a few books having since been traced. It is to be regretted that a century and a half of ecclesiastical and official blundering and neglect has eventuated in losing one-half of this unique library, and in less or more permanently damaging the remainder; but what can be done to repair the past is now rapidly being done, and it is hoped, in the course of, say, two years, that the collection will be once more available for public reference. The Thomlinson library is especially rich in seventeenth century folio editions of the Fathers in the theological controversies of the period, including the disputations on baptism, papists, the Solemn League and Covenant, and kindred subjects. There was more recently another bequest, which takes the form of a library of between 800 and 1,000 volumes of rare and valuable books dealing chiefly with the antiquities, archaeology, and history of India and our other Asiatic dominions. The collection is especially rich in complete sets of the journals and transactions of the Royal Asiatic Societies of Bengal and Bombay, an exhaustive series of department reports together with memoirs of the most eminent Anglo-Indians, military and political. The city of Newcastle is indebted for this valuable bequest to the late Mr. H. P. A. Buchannan Riddell, who was for a considerable time in the Bengal Service, and was a member of the Legislative Council of India. The Walter Scott Library is so-called in honour of a local publisher who presents copies of books published byPublic Libraries in the Northern Counties. 133 him. The number has now reached about 450. It may "also be mentioned that the collection of literature published in the four northern counties reaches oyer 3,000 volumes, and quite as many pamphlets. The date of the earliest is about 1639. Some eighteen or nineteen pages of the report are devoted to letterpress descriptions of the work carried on and the chief features of the various sections. Nearly 180 trades and professions are represented among the users of the lending library, and it would be a most difficult task to mention a trade or profession which is not represented. Even those who were the most active opponents of the adoption of the Acts now see the folly of their action, and are among the best friends of these institutions. The work in Newcastle has many warm supporters among the leading local men, but there are none more so than Alderman Henry W. Newton, the chairman of the Public Libraries committee, who, through the long years of agitation, and now through the nine years’ work, has taken the most lively interest in the institution. It was his father, Dr. Newton, who, in 1854, first brought the question of a Public Library forward, and although defeated on several occasions, the son, imbued with the same spirit, saw it brought to a successful issue. Nouth Shields. The Library was opened in 1870 with about 12,000 volumes. As far back, however, as 1856 there was some talk of a Public Library, when even thus early in the history of the movement the town clerk proposed that the site of the new Mechanics’ Institute should be conveyed to the Corporation as trustees for the members. One of the committee suggested that such an arrangement would facilitate the formation of a Public Library at some future period. The town clerk replied, “That were a consummation most devoutly to be desired.” That idea was never lost sight of by the committee of the Mechanics’ Institute, and in 1868 active steps were taken in this direction. Let it be recorded with satisfaction that the then committee cheerfully invited their members to surrender a building which had cost nearly £3,000, and about 6,000 volumes of books, to the free enjoyment of the whole community. Without a dissentient voice the surrender was made, and the members of the Mechanics’ Institution deserve no little credit for their prompt and cordial response to the mayor’s invitation. It was no effete institution which they handed over, for the Tynemouth Institution was known as a very successful one. But tne managers had long recognized the wider and greater possibilities of success if it was under the Public Libraries Acts, and in July, 1868, the Acts were adopted. The step has been more than justified by the work since accomplished. In the income and expenditure account £113 is set down as being the balance in treasurer’s hands. This is fortunate, providing the library receives the entire amount. There is a book club managed at the library, to which there are about 130 subscribers134 Public Libraries. at half-a-guinea a year. The revenue from this goes to buy new books, and these come ultimately to the Public Library, as also do the monthly and quarterly magazines which are taken by the book club. It is gratifying to note that in April, 1891, the scheme for providing new library buildings for the borough was progressing favourably. The present building is too small for the increasing demands made upon it, and the library committee have had the question of providing new and more commodious premises before them for a lengthy period. It was at one time anticipated that they would come to terms with the trustees of the Howard Street Wesleyan Chapel, and purchase the plot of vacant ground which adjoins the present Library. The negotiations have, apparently, culminated without the committee being able to see their way clear to buy the land, and they have been compelled to look more towards the outskirts of the town for an available site, and a number of influential gentlemen of the borough have promised financial support. Oldham. This thriving manufacturing town rejoices in a special Act, under which the Library, Museum, and Schools of Science and Art are established. Although the rate is unlimited, only 2d. in the pound is levied, and this affords another instance that municipalities may be trusted with regard to the expenditure for these institutions. The clauses of this special Act referring to the library are interesting, and are quoted. It was passed on July 5th, 1865. The three sections referring to these institutions are 193, 194 and 195, and the terms of them are as follows :— The Corporation from time to time may appropriate any Lands vested in them, or by Agreement purchase or take at a Kent any Lands or any suitable Buildings, and upon any Lands so appropriated, purchased, or taken, erect any Buildings suitable for Public Libraries or Museums, or both, or Public Schools for Science and Art, or either of them, and apply, take down, alter, and extend any Buildings for such purposes, and rebuild, repair, and improve the same respectively, and fit up, furnish, and supply the same respectively with all requisite Fittings, Furniture, and Conveniences. The General Management, Regulation and Control of such Libraries, and Museum, and Schools for Science and Art, shall be vested in and exercised by the Council, or such Committee as the Council think fit from time to time to appoint (the Members or some of the Members whereof need not, if the Council so think fit, be Members of the Council), who may from time to time purchase and provide the necessary Fuel, Lighting, and other similar Matters, Books, Newspapers, Maps, and Specimens of Science and Art for the Use of the Library or Museum or School, and cause the same to be bound or repaired when necessary, and appoint Salaried Officers and Servants, and dismiss the same, and make Rules and Regulations for the safety and use of the Libraries and Museums and Schools, and for the admission of the Public. The Lands and Buildings so appropriated, purchased, or taken, and any other Real or Personal Property whatsoever presented to or purchased for any such Library and Museum or School, shall be vested in the Corporation. The entire institution is doing a solidly useful work. A better selected library it would be difficult to find. The entire building has a bright and prepossessing aspect, and will bear comparison with any institution of similar size not only in the United Kingdom, but in any part of the world. During the winter lectures are delivered in the building, and these have largely contributed to direct the attention of the public to the work.Public Libraries in the Northern Counties. 135 Preston. Happy Preston ! With its handsome new building, now nearing completion, the future library and museum work of the town are well assured. Two brothers of the legal profession had amassed a fortune of some £285,000. This they invested in the names of four trustees with discretionary power. These trustees induced the last of the two surviving brothers, Mr. Edmund Robert Harris, to consider the advisability of using a good portion of the amount for the purposes of a Public Library, Museum, and Art Gallery. This, in brief, is the early history of the munificent bequest of £105,000 for erecting and furnishing this building. The two brothers had shown no marked interest in the welfare of the town, and the public spirit of the trustees in directing the attention of the surviving testator to this channel should not be overlooked. The site, valued at £30,000, was granted by the Corporation. Since the commencement of the building, another wealthy Prestonian, Richard Newsham, bequeathed to the town his fine collection of oil-paintings, water-colour drawings, and curios, valued at upwards of £30,000. The collection will form part of a picture gallery at the museum. The next large bequest is one of £100,000 for the Harris Orphanage, which is to provide for the maintenance and education of upwards of eighty children of both sexes. This building is also nearly finished. The trustees originally granted £40,000 as an endowment for the Harris Institute, a school of literature, art, science, and technical education, and have more lately made a further grant of £30,000 for the building and furnishing of a technical school, to be called the Victoria Jubilee Technical School. The Corporation have obtained powers to grant a site worth £10,000, and a sum of money not to exceed £10,000 for the same purpose. Some seven or eight years have been absorbed in the erection of the building, but for a structure of its magnitude that is not too long, although there have been many impatient cries as to when it is to be opened. But there must be wisdom in having the work carefully and well done, with ample time for the building to thoroughly dry. This is essential, considering the nature of the contents which are by and by to be housed in it. The building strikes out a new line of architecture for library and museum purposes so far as this country is concerned, as will be seen on reference to the engraving. The designs were prepared by a townsman, Alderman James Hibbert, who was commissioned by the Harris trustees to visit several buildings of a similar character in this country and on the Continent, the result of his visit and report being that he was appointed the architect to prepare the designs. The building is of the Greek Ionic order, and has four distinct frontages, being completely isolated from the buildings around it. The principal elevation is on the west side, overlooking the market-place, and almost at right angles with the north frontage of the Town Hall. The height of the frontage to the parapet and the apex of the portico is 80 feet, and the extremePublic Libraries, 136 height to the top of the central lantern, 112 feet. The portico consists of six massive fluted columns, with bold capitals. It is surmounted by an overhanging cornice, and the tympanum is fljled in with a group of figures representing Minerya surrounded HARMS PUBLIC LIBRARY, MUSEUM, AND ART GALLERY, PRESTON.Public Libraries in the Northern Counties. 137 by literature, science, and the arts. The frontage is 130 feet. The bases of the columns of the portico and its floor level are about 10 feet above the street level, and the entrance to the building is under the portico by flights of steps on the north and south sides. Immediately under the tympanum of the portico is the carved inscription in large characters,—“ To Literature, Science, and Art.” The eastern elevation of the building faces a fine thoroughfare about 60 feet in width, leading out of the principal street in the town. It is uniform in length with the Market Place frontage. The north and south frontages are each 170 feet in length, and will face two new streets, each 50 feet in width, which are being constructed simultaneously with the Public Library buildings. The collection of models connected with the industrial arts will be placed on the ground-floor portion of the central hall, with the object of bringing them under the daily observation of visitors passing to and from the lending department and the adjacent reading-room and newsroom. The newsroom on the south side, and the reading-room on the north side, are each 29 feet by 55 feet; one of the lending libraries is 50 feet square, and the other 55 feet by 29 feet. The central hall is 54 feet square, and is continued, by the staircase, on all the floors, being lighted by the lantern immediately over a central well. The principal floor contains the reference libraries on each side of the central hall. They are each 30 feet in width, and 120 feet in length. The central hall portion of the principal floor will be set apart as a museum of casts and reproductions from the antique. The whole of the upper floor will be devoted to museum and fine art purposes. The museum galleries are arranged round three sides of the central hall and staircase, one side being devoted to the fine arts, the corresponding side to natural history and physics, and the remaining side between these to the department of general archaeology, ceramics, and the finer kinds of industrial art, and illustrations of ethnology. The building appears well adapted for the purposes for which it is intended, and this opinion may be adhered to notwithstanding the fact that some American visitors have been disposed to criticise, somewhat severely, both the proportions of the building and the general arrangements of the various departments. Until the internal fittings are in place, it is premature to speak so positively on this point, as one or two American librarians have done. A description of the decorative sculptures alone would occupy many pages, and this would be out of place here. The present home of the library is in a large room of the Town Hall— a building designed by Sir Gilbert Scott. During 1888, the library and newsroom was closed for seventy-two days, owing to the prevalence of small-pox in the town. The ingenuity of the librarian displayed itself at this time in the construction of a book disinfector, mentioned in another chapter. The reopening of the library had a great deal to do in restoring the confidence of the town that the epidemic had spent its strength. Among thePublic Libraries. 138 16,000 borrowers, there are a whole army of telegraph boys and policemen; the library, however, seems not only popular with these, but with all classes. A grant of £500 has been made by the Lords of the Committee of Council on Education in aid of the purchase of art reproductions in plaster and bronze for the new museum. Rochdale. The library has been in operation over nineteen years, and is appreciated to a high degree. There are few, if any, complaints about the incidence of the penny rate, and there are likely to be none while the library is used so extensively as it is now. The crush on Saturday nights is great, notwithstanding the Pioneers’ Co-operative Stores Library in the town. The rate yields £967, but of this some £237 is absorbed in interest on mortgage, loans, sinking fund, proportion, income tax, &c. This is a heavy burden, and naturally curtails the expenditure for new books. The new building for which this expenditure was made was completed in 1884. The boys’ library is a very successful department at Rochdale. The cross references and subdivisions in the catalogue are very numerous. In June, 1891, the information comes to hand that a local public man contemplates building a much-needed wing to the library. The number of borrowers is very large, and the position of Rochdale in the movement is distinctly satisfactory. Rotherham. The Acts were adopted in 1876, and on the 8th of October, 1880, a start was made with a stock of about 3,500 vols. Additions were made from year to year, until in May, 1884, all the shelf-room had been appropriated. The culminating point of the library’s usefulness in its old quarters was reached during the next autumn and winter, after which period, to the end of 1887, a continuous decrease in the issues took place, until they had dwindled to an average of only 94 per day. Meanwhile the difficulties besetting the committee in their efforts to obtain more suitable premises had disappeared, and, in conjunction with the baths committee, a large building had been erected, the upper storey of which was assigned to the library. The reference-room is convenient to the book-room, while the interior of the general reading-room—a splendid apartment—is within the view of the librarian. The floor is composed of wood blocks. A feature of the various rooms is the excellent taste displayed in the selection of the stoves and mantelpieces, which are really artistic, and testify to the good work Rotherham can turn out when the occasion requires. The general heating arrangements are on the hot water system. An encouraging fact is that the cost of the whole of the furnishing, and the purchase of the 2,500 books has been defrayed without making a special call upon the rates. There is now storage capacity of 50,000 books. Work began in the new build-Public Libraries in the Northern Counties. 139 ing in March, 1888. In the early part of 1891 the first of a series of meetings was held in one of the rooms of the library to talk generally with the readers about the books of the library. Some of the local members of the Home Reading Union attended, and in this way a connection is being established between the members of the union and the library. Salford. There is a close link between the Museum which existed at Salford prior to the Act of 1850 and the passing of the Ewart Act. Peel Park, so called in honour of Sir Robert Peel, is one of the sights of Manchester, and formerly, before public parks and museums were so plentiful as they now are, excursionists for miles round Manchester and Salford did not consider that they had seen the main sight of all unless they had visited Peel Park and the Museum. The handsome pile of buildings forming the Public Museum and Library are most beautifully situated on a large piece of ground standing much higher than the rest of the park. The situation is thus very picturesque. It is, in fact, doubtful whether a Public Library and Museum in any part of the country has more pleasant surroundings than the group of buildings forming the parent institution in Salford. The park was presented to the people of Manchester and Salford in 1846. About three-fourths of it are used as a playground and cricket-ground, and there are large separate gymnasia for men, boys, women and girls. The museum and library were originated in 1849 by the late E. R. Langworthy, who was then mayor, and the late Joseph Brotherton, M.P. The first part of the library, the reference department, was opened with 7,000 vols., on January 9th, 1850, and one room of the museum in the following June. Then there followed, in 1852, a new wing, containing a reading-room, 80 by 3C feet, and a picture gallery. In 1854 a lending library was opened. Three years afterwards a south wing was added, and in 1864 a new portico was built, and at a later date, the Lang worthy Wing was added. Notwithstanding these various extensions, the whole forms a very attractive group of buildings. A new branch was opened at Broughton, a suburb of Salford, in July 1891. * In 1849, Major John Plant was appointed librarian and curator, and holds the same appointment at the present date. Among the statues in the park there is a beautiful one of the late Joseph Brotherton, M.P., to whom the Public Library movement owes nearly as much as to any other man. He died in 1857, and so passed away before the wide and beneficial results of his work began to be seen. The statue is of bronze, and is 9| feet high. - As it is appropriately placed near the entrance to the park, it forms a conspicuous object to the visitors. On one side of the pedestal are some words spoken by Mr. Brotherton in a speech in the House of Commons, “ My riches consist not in the extent of my possessions but in the fewness of my wants.” A former Bishop of140 Public Libraries. Manchester, at the inauguration of the statue, alluded to Mr. Brotherton’s devotion to the cause of education, especially in the providing of public museums, libraries and parks as places of recreation for the people, that the hours gained from labour might be given to self-instruction, self-improvement, and wholesome, healthy, and ameliorating pursuits. A few months ago Miss Brotherton presented to the library a set of forty-eight volumes of what may be aptly termed “ Collectanea,” made by her father, Joseph Brotherton, M.P. for the borough of Salford. During his long private and official years of connection with Salford, it appears that Mr. Brotherton had in early life a strong love of order and system in his literary habits, and began to keep what in past times was well known to students as a common-place book, where every noticeable event was duly chronicled from day to day, cuttings made from printed papers, tracts, brochures, pamphlets, and such like sources. These were pasted in consecutive order, indexed, and kept ready for use at any moment. These volumes, therefore, contain paragraphs relating to the whole range of events during the last century, either in this locality or the country at large, which appeared to be worthy of preservation by Mr. Brotherton; and from the years 1825 to 1857 almost a clear and connected diary of all that was political, social, and religious in the history of Manchester and Salford, something near 6,000 distinct paragraphs or cuttings, were pasted up in these volumes. It is with no desire to discount the excellent work done for the movement by William Ewart that the statement is made of an equal, if not greater, place which Joseph Brotherton occupies. He grasped most fully all the advantages which in course of time would accrue to the public from an extension of these institutions. The Salford Museum and Library may largely claim to be the seed-germ from which all the rest has grown. Joseph Brotherton gathered information which is embodied in the reports of the Committees of 1849-50, and altogether rendered a service to the movement which should never be forgotten. Manchester popularized these institutions by establishing the first lending library, and availing itself of the Act of 1850; but the place of Salford in setting a good first object lesson in reference library and museum work is very important. The borough is naturally proud of what it has done for the movement, and well it may be. Sheffield. There are few preliminaries about the Sheffield report. After a few brief paragraphs by the chairman it dashes at once into a record of the work. This is chiefly devoted to figures showing the operations for the past year, and the comparisons with the previous year. Mention was made in the last edition of this work of the great need for better accommodation for the numerous readers who frequent the central library. This need has presented itself forPublic Libraries in the Northern Counties. 141 at least twenty years, and the question has often been discussed and allowed to cool down again and again during that time. There is scarcely another large town which has had to conduct its work in its central library under such adverse conditions as at Sheffield. Year after year the building has become more congested. Out of its penny rate Sheffield has had a central library, four strong and healthy branches, and a magnificent museum. There is also an art gallery which would do credit to any town to support, but this is not supported out of the rate. Could a penny have been made anywhere to go further P The framers of the penny clause it is likely did not contemplate that it would ever be expected to do as much in many towns as it has accomplished. Sheffield, however, now sees the end of the congested state of things at its central library, and it is gratifying to be able to state that the application to Parliament for power to levy a sum not exceeding 2d. in the pound for the purposes of the Public Libraries and Museums was successful. It is, however, still more gratifying— taking into consideration the fact, that a meeting of the burgesses, under the Borough Funds’ Act was called—that not a single ratepayer opposed the application. An elaborate plan has been devised for altering the present building, but at the time of writing nothing has been done to carry out these plans. The town has now in course of erection municipal buildings which will, when completed, be a credit not only to Sheffield but to the whole of the northern counties. The meetings of the Town Council are held in the present Library buildings, and nothing can be done until they vacate these for their new quarters. The universal feeling in Sheffield is that a better building for its central library is a pressing need of the town. This need will most assuredly not be met by altering the present structure. The cost of the proposed alterations will be heavy, and when they are completed it may be gravely doubted whether the end desired will be achieved. The clearing of the present site and designing and erecting an entirely new structure suited to the requirements of the town should receive the earnest consideration of the committee. The Library should be as suitable and striking a building as the Art Gallery. An altered and adapted building invariably serves as a good museum, because the requirements are different, but for a library adapted and altered buildings are only in a limited number of cases a success. The work of the four branch libraries in Sheffield and the buildings in which that work is carried on is of the most excellent description. The four branches together issue an average of 1,092 volumes per day, which is a respectable total. The branch buildings are models of convenience and general arrangement. Well situated, as each is in a thriving suburb, there is no wonder that they should be well used and popular with the people. The branch at Upperthorpe is built of red brick, with stone windows, doors, and corners. The entrance porch is 19 feet by 14 feet. After entering the building there is a stone staircase 6 feet wide. The lending142 Public Libraries. 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 is 30 feet by 22 feet. 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 15 feet by 15 feet. From this office there is a door communicating with the librarian’s house. From 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 under that 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 building cost about £6,000. South Shields. Work here has developed very satisfactorily. Special lists of books suitable for the students in the science and art classes are displayed in the library, and it is satisfactory to note that over 1,000 volumes, out of the 13,797 volumes which were consulted, were issued during last year to these students. These classes are particularly strong at South Shields, and the work forms an important part of that of the library. During four years not a single book has been lost. The number of visitors to the newsroom is yearly increasing, and, notwithstanding the alterations, the room is often inconveniently crowded, and there is not sitting accommodation for all those who attend. The room is provided with twenty-three daily, sixty-five weekly papers and periodicals, forty-seven monthly magazines, journals, and reviews: seventy-five of the foregoing are presented. The museum, in the same building, attracts a large number of visitors, more especially strangers who have been staying in the town during the summer season. Lectures are given during the winter months, and from these there is a considerable revenue from the rent of the hall, which more than pays for the interest and redemption of debt. The report consists of four pages, and yet covers the chief ground of the work. The committee state that more accommodation for readers and shelf-room for books is urgently needed. South Stockton. Stockton-on-Tees has its Public Library, and why should not South Stockton be equally progressive ? So thought some of its burgesses, and especially Mr. Thomas Wrightson, a local employer of labour, who in one of the latter months of 1890 offered to buildPublic Libraries in the Northern Counties. 143 a suitable library on a central site at a cost of £1,500 if the town would adopt the Acts. With such an offer before them there was no question about carrying the Acts through. The one or two public meetings held for the furtherance of the object were most enthusiastic, and the reading of the speeches is very interesting. Mr. John Parry, who took all through an active interest in the movement, said that he had for over twenty years been a resident in South Stockton, and it had been his earnest desire to see a Public Library instituted. He was informed that they were going to meet with some opposition to the scheme, and the property owners were going to oppose it. Well, they must tell those landlords that it was the working men and not they who paid the rates. The result of the poll, taken in November, 1890, was overwhelmingly in favour of the adoption of the Acts. Whilst 1,121 said “Yes,” only 71 said “No.” The building is in course of erection, and will shortly be completed. Stale ybbidge. The origin of the Public Library movement was the issue of a circular, in 1886, by Mr. Mark Fentem, during his mayoralty, who has all through been a warm friend of the movement. This set the question moving, and a provisional committee was formed. The work of this committee was performed in an admirable manner, and in the early part of 1888 a statutory meeting declared in favour of the adoption by a large majority. In September, 1889, the mayor formally opened a Public Library, established in some of the rooms of the Town Hall. No newspaper reading-room is provided, the opinion being held that the various political and other clubs provide largely for the public wants in this direction. There is, however, a room for the reading of books of reference and other works. The mayor, in the course of a short speech, dwelt upon the advantages, educational and otherwise, of Public Libraries, and expressed the hope that the new institution would prove a guide to the young, a help to those of mature years, and a comfort to the old and feeble. He moved a vote of thanks to the gentlemen who had rendered financial aid to the formation of the library. Amongst those especially mentioned were Mr. T. H. Sidebotham, M.P., Mr. J. F. Cheetham, and Messrs. Summers, each of whom gave £500, and Messrs. Knott who gave £100. One good feature suggested for the work here is the establishment of a reading class, under the conductorship of a well-read man. The classes are free and open to all. The management of the classes is on similar lines to mutual improvement societies. The course consists of an opening lecture on the value of books by some eminent man; followed on other nights by a person reading a criticism of the work or works of a certain author, showing the style, merits, language, &c., and a public discussion follows.T44 Public Libraries. St. Helens. St. Helens, as a town, would not be described as a beautiful place. The chemical and iron-works in the neighbourhood prevent the artistic in street architecture from boldly asserting itself. But in its library work there has been an extraordinary growth. The library was established under the St. Helens’ Improvement Act in 1869, but was not opened until 1877. The stock of books and issues and the attendances at the reading-room have doubled themselves in seven years. The attendance on Sundays continues to be very satisfactory, the number of visits during the last year being 22,345 against 18,629 for the previous year. This gives an average of 471 per Sunday. On Easter Sunday, 1890, an exhibition of the rare, curious, and valuable books in the library, together with some others kindly lent for the occasion, took place in the Assembly Boom at the Town Hall, when nearly 200 volumes were open for the inspection of the public, and the exhibition was attended by about 1,200 persons, and very much appreciated. One branch library is in operation and doing good work, and another is to be opened during the present year. A large number of printed circulars, drawing the attention of the inhabitants to the Sutton branch, have been distributed. Sunderland. This town has a beautiful building which is an ornament to the whole place. A Public Library, Museum, Art Gallery, and a large conservatory are all under one roof, and from the engraving which appears it will be seen what a handsome structure is this institution for the people. In the vestibule are three superb models of steamers built by Messrs. Doxford of Pallion. One of the models cost close upon a thousand pounds to produce, and anything finer in this line of craftsmanship is probably not to be found in the island. Even the Sunderland people themselves, accustomed to look upon ship models, view the contents of the three glass cases with unconcealed admiration. The reports of the librarian and committee deserve careful perusal. That of the latter notes that the class of literature in demand shows a decided improvement in the taste of readers. They then follow by saying that such authors as Carlyle and Emerson are in constant demand. A book like “ Sartor Besartus ” is seldom found on the shelves. Macaulay here holds his own as first in popularity of our historians, and Justin McCarthy comes next. Then the issue of fiction is noticed, which at Sunderland stands at 59 per cent. Amongst the novelists, Edna Lyall is the most popular, while the works of such writers as Geo. Eliot, Dickens, George McDonald, Charles Kingsley W. M. Thackeray, and the Brontes are in constant demand.Public Libraries in the Northern Counties. H5 The special features of the past year’s work are the publication of a supplementary catalogue, and the collecting of works of a local nature for the reference library. Two other items worthy of note in recent years are, the providing of a special room for ladies, which, judging from the numbers constantly using it, is highly appreciated; and the placing of a glass case in a promi- SUNDERLAND PUBLIC LIBRARY, MUSEUM, AND ART GALLERY.Public Libraries. 146 nent position, in which all new books are placed, so that readers may have before them the latest purchases, till such time as printed slips of these additions are prepared. This has seemingly stored up an interest in the library and called forth several notices of approval on the judicious selection made in the purchase of new books. Perhaps the most important reference is the change made in the condition of borrowing books from the library. Formerly a burgess who was on the list had to get a form of security signed by another burgess before he could become a borrower. Now according to the amended rule, a burgess who is on the current list is able to borrow books on his own security. The committee mention that the newsroom is evidently too small for the crowds of readers who regularly visit it, and the chief want in accommodation is a separate room for the reference library. A word of praise is given to the librarian and staff. Whitehaven. The library is the old Mechanics’ Institute, which was generously offered to the people if they would adopt the Public Libraries Acts. The efforts of the local press in helping to bring about the desired change are here acknowledged, as indeed they ought to be. On February 19,1887, the vote was taken, and showed 1,532 for the adoption of the Acts and 784 against. On May 15, 1888, the library was opened by the late Archbishop of York, who, on the afternoon and evening of the opening day, delivered interesting addresses, which did much to emphasize in the public mind the value of the institution as an educational force, and as a means of rational recreation. He advised the people to use their Public Library for amusement. Amusement was a necessity, and he hoped they would get it in that building rather than by keeping a small book with rounded corners in which they calculated the odds on a horse which they never saw and probably never would see. In their Public Library they had a place of wholesome recreation, and a place which to visit would bring upon them neither remorse nor headaches afterwards. Leave was given by the Local Government Board, in February, 1887, to borrow £650 for structural alterations. The trustees wished to make it £500, but the inspector suggested the larger sum in order that the library might have a better start. “ These libraries,” he said, “ are very useful. You want very good reference books, and you want books for the people to take away with them,” and so the £650 was borrowed, repayable with interest in thirty years. The popularity attained by the library has fully equalled the anticipations of its friends. The last report bears witness to the continued usefulness and abiding popularity of the institution. Whatever may have been the division of opinion which made the establishment of the library a task of some difficulty, it is now, at any rate, a source of satisfaction to its supporters that their confidence in its utilityPublic Libraries in the Northern Counties. H7 has been so fully justified. The history of the library movement in Whitehaven has been that of many similar schemes of popular improvement. Distrusted and resisted at first, it seemed at one time out of the question to hope for any immediate or even early acceptance of the proposal. Even after the Mechanics’ Institute building became available and did so much to render the adoption of the Acts more easy by providing for the main source of expense —the building, the road by which the supporters of the library had to make their way was by no means a clear one. The gift, however, was the first foothold that the supporters of the scheme got in Whitehaven. But it required quite as much determination, and quite as much industry and energy, to carry on the work of conversion when the ratepayers were at last got to consider the subject in earnest as it had done before that to bring them to that point. The advocates of enlightenment and education proved equal to the occasion. They have been rewarded by seeing the full success of the undertaking to which so much energy and industry had been devoted. Wigan. Wigan has an excellent record to give of every department of its work. For its population of 54,000 it has the respectable number of 37,605 volumes exclusive of pamphlets. The additions during the last library year reached 2,248 volumes. The total gifts have reached £14,822, and in addition to this sum pictures and busts to the value of £675 have been given. The memory of the late Joseph Taylor Winnard will ever be green in Wigan. He left by will the bulk of his estate for the purchase of books ; but unfortunately, owing to some indefiniteness in the will, the whole of what the donor appeared to intend should come to the library has not been received; so that instead of 12,000 volumes which the bequest produced, the number should have been 25,000. This serves as another of many proofs why intending donors should make their gifts to Public Libraries during their lifetime, and not give the opportunity for posthumous litigation to harass and curtail their well-meant generosity. Another local townsman adopted this latter plan, and Mr. Thomas Taylor, who still takes a warm interest in the work of the library, purchased the site of the old Grammar School in the centre of the town, and built upon it the present library. So rapidly has its work extended since it was opened in 1878, that already the newsroom and the lending library need extension, and a spare piece of ground in the rear of the building is being used for the purpose of extending the present building. The official opening in October, 1877, was worthy of the town. All things taken into consideration, the reference library is, for its arrangement and the selection of books, one of the finest in the country of any town of its size; and even some towns with double the population of Wigan might well be proud of that department. The day is rapidly approaching when in no Public Library will the reference section take a second place, but will bePublic Libraries. 148 considered of primary importance. A sketch of the reference room on the first floor is shown in the accompanying picture, and it is the most handsome room in the building. The room occupies the same area as the lending library and reading-room below, and one is struck on entering it with its resemblance to some of the old college libraries. Prior to the purchase of the books from the Winnard bequest, specialists in the various departments of knowledge were asked to draw up lists of the best books in each of them. In every division great care was taken to include only books of high merit. It would have been a source of regret if the catalogue of so fine a collection had not been so formed as to entitle it to a bibliographical reputation. Both Mr. H. T. Eolkard, the librarian, and his committee were equal to the occasion, and the catalogue of the 23,000 books in the reference library will be, when finished, one of the most complete and exhaustive of its kind which has yet been published. It will contain altogether about 80,000 entries, and is being published in parts at intervals, the entire subscription for the whole being £1. Mr. G. L. Campbell, a member of the Wigan committee, has written and published a very appropriate “ Note ” to explain the method upon which this catalogue has been compiled. Under the principal heading, the author’s name, or, if anonymous, the leading word in the title, each work has been fully described. When practicable the author’s position, and date of birth and death have been given. Each work appears also under subordinate headings of title and class, and in many cases numerous cross references are given. As illustrating the nicety with which the compiling has been done, it is deserving of mention that where a book contains a portrait, as in many biographies, the fact is noted. Numerous divisional headings appear. Letters A and B consist of some 2,900 entries. The letter B occupies a book of 177 closely printed pages. Several catalogues of portions of the reference library have been issued. One, the Mining Catalogue, has had a most extraordinary demand, it being apparently the only English work of this class relating to this important industry. In this catalogue, extending to 158 pages, and bound in cloth, every book or paper mentioned has been entered both under the name of the author and under the name of the subject. The subjects, moreover, have been subdivided in order to place the work catalogued, when possible, under the country, town, or other locality of which it treats. Works in any manner relating to coal, although not strictly of a practical nature, have been carefully noted. Articles relating to the folk-lore and traditions of mining, works treating of the fossils, &c., of the coal measures, and of obsolete, but rare or curious books connected with the subject, are included. Collateral branches of industrial science important to the mining interest have been inserted, such as papers relating to relief funds, insurance, strikes, and lock-outs. To a district like Wigan the great value of a good collection of mining books, which can at all times be consulted, cannot be over-Public Libraries in the Northern Counties. 149 estimated. The other special catalogues of this department are the cataloge of Wigan books, the Masonic catalogue, and the catalogue of law books. The first named is an excellent sample of what should be done in other towns. The catalogue of the publications of the local presses and all books, pamphlets and manuscripts haying any connection, no matter how remote, with the town, consisting of twenty-eight pages, must have come as a surprise to many of the townspeople, many of whom probably never thought that Wigan could furnish such a collection of local literature. Librarians in other towns should give this plan their attention. The Masonic catalogue is unique. One of the few REFERENCE LIBRARY, WIGAN.Public Libraries. 150 Public Library committees which have a Lord upon it is that at Wigan, which among its burgess representatives has the Right Hon. the Earl of Crawford, LL.D.; to whom this masonic catalogue is inscribed. Some of the entries in it are very interesting, and display much research. The latter statement can also be made about the catalogue of law books. The whole of these special catalogues should tend to create an extended use of this important department of the Public Library. If the town has somewhat dreary surroundings—for the presence of coal mines does not conduce to giving nature play for its beauty—Wigan has in its library an oasis which cannot be too highly appreciated. The annual report contains the welcome feature of the librarian’s report, covering a number of pages. The reports of committees are always acceptable, but as a rule no one can speak so authoritatively upon the working of the library as the man in charge, and the greater prominence of librarians’ reports in these annual publications is very desirable. The eleven years’ Sunday opening of the reading-room has been an unqualified success. In the general reading-room there are about 400 volumes for reading and reference. The public are allowed to help themselves to the books, which are upon open shelves. There is a notice hung up that no books are to be taken out of the room. No supervision is required beyond rearranging the books early every morning. In thirteen years six books only have been taken away. For some years a voluntary rate of a halfpenny in addition to the penny was paid by a large number of ratepayers, as the legal penny was insufficient for the rapidly extending work. In 1889 a special local Act was obtained, which gives the power to levy a rate of twopence in the pound. Lectures have been given during the last few years in connection with the library, and these are becoming more and more popular with each succeeding winter. The local press give capital help. As-new and important books are added in the reference department, short notes written by the librarian, epitomizing the contents, are published. Workington. In December, 1889, the sanction of the burgesses was obtained to the adoption of the Acts. The example of Whitehaven was found to be infectious. The Town Council as a body took a worthy lead in the matter, and this, aided by the step taken by the committee of the Mechanics’ Institute, greatly facilitated affairs. The committee had passed a resolution to the effect that they regarded with approval the proposal to exercise the powers conferred on the Town Council by various statutes for the establishment in the borough of a Public Library, and that if the premises now occupied by the committee be required for such library, the committee would facilitate as much as was in their power the acquirement of the Mechanics’ Institute premises by the Town Council. May many other committees of mechanics’ institutes adopt the same method, and a similar resolution! AtPublic Libraries in the Midland Counties. 151 the statutory meeting all present, with only one exception, voted for the adoption. In the autumn of 1890 the premises which are rented at the Bank for savings were opened. These premises are not well adapted for the purposes of a newsroom, the lengthy flight of stairs being objectionable. But the best has been made of what is but a temporary arrangement; and so large is the number of readers that further extensions have to be provided by the addition of the rooms ere while used as a residence for the caretaker. At the opening of the temporary rooms Mr. C. J. Valentine, Canon Thornley, and others took part. The last-named referred to the starting of winter evening lectures and schools of art in connection with the library. CHAPTER X. Public Libraries in the Midland Counties. Public Libraries are not by any means numerous throughout the Midland Counties. Three counties are without one of these institutions, these being Rutland, Buckingham, and Huntingdon. The counties, in addition to those in the North, West and South Midlands, are Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, Chester, Stafford, Warwick, Worcester, Shropshire, Hereford, Hertford, Oxford, Northampton, Bedford, and Cambridge. Five of these counties have only one rate-supported library each, so that the work yet to be done is very widely distributed. There are several adoptions of the Acts to record since the last edition of this work was issued twelve months ago. Altrincham, Nantwich, and Middlewich. These three Cheshire towns followed each other very closely in the adoption of the Acts. Nantwich was the first to do so, and then followed Altrincham. This was brought about by a short and sharp agitation in September, 1889. The voting showed a majority of 738 in favour of the adoption. As a sample of the gross misstatements frequently made about existing libraries a local public man said that, although ostensibly the Manchester Public Library had an income of only a penny in the pound, they really cost fivepence in the pound. A wilder and more inaccurate assertion about these institutions was never made. The following post brought a letter to show the absurdity of the statement, for fivepence in the pound in Manchester would produce an income of £60,000 a year—a sum which could not possibly be spent on the existing libraries in Manchester. This is mentioned as an illustration of the statements for which friends of the movement must be prepared. All through the discussions respecting the adoption of the Acts, the advisability of an adjoining parish (Bowdon) with identical interests also adopting the Acts, and amalgamating with Altrincham, was kept in view,152 Public Libraries. and references were frequently made towards this desirable end. Steps have been taken with a view of handing oyer the Literary Institution for the purposes of a Public Library. For its pecuniary support the library will be aided by a sum of £200 per annum from the trustees of the Mayor’s Land Charity, which the ratepayers so long ago as April, 1888, unanimously decided should be applied to the maintenance of a Public Library. By the order of the Charity Commissioners regulating the funds of the Charity, the money can only be given to a library that is absolutely free, so that by the adoption of the Public Libraries’ Act the ratepayers can at last avail themselves of the benefit of the income. Beside this, the library committee may draw upon the Local Board to the extent of £207 per annum. The adoption at Nantwich was in August, 1887, by public meeting. Not a single hand was held up against the proposition. Subscriptions flowed in very freely, and over £1,250 was quickly promised. This enabled them to erect a building. The library is well and substantially built, but is not, from external appearances, extensive nor very ornamental. In December, 1888, it was opened by Mr. Brunner, M.P., who contributed largely towards the first cost. Mr. Brunner said there had almost been an epidemic of Public Libraries. He hoped the County Government Bill would be amended to provide for the creation of corporations in every village. He was convinced a large number of gifts were lost on account of the absence of any duly constituted authority to receive them. The first report published shows a good beginning. Among the donors of books is Mr. Buskin, who sent nine volumes. In Middlewich, a district with a population just over 5,000, the Acts were just as quickly adopted as in the other two places named. That nothing succeeds like success is true, and in the Public Library movement as in other departments of life. A meeting was held in the early part of 1889. It was pointed out that Middlewich was in a much better position to adopt the Act than many other towns. They had no land to purchase, no buildings to erect. The books of an old subscription library having fallen into disuse suggested to the friends who took up the movement that no better use could be possibly made of these than to make them the nucleus of a Public Library. The room at present used is not a very suitable one, as it is badly lighted, and is used for other purposes. It is only open two nights per week from six to nine o’clock. In the second half of last year they issued a book for every minute the library was open. Mr. T. L. Drink-water, a local schoolmaster, acts as librarian and receives no salary. The work is making steady progress. Aston Manor. The great borough of Birmingham has been making municipal love to its little neighbour Aston, and has tried to induce the people to become merged in greater Birmingham. But AstonPublic Libraries in the Midland Counties. 153 declines with thanks, for they have long seen that all the outlying wards of Birmingham have had to give way to the huge scheme for the improvement of the centre of the town, and so the suburban wards must wait. Aston is wise in its day and generation, and naturally feels that it is strong enough to continue running alone. And certainly, so far as the library is concerned, Aston has been better served by itself by being a separate parish than would probably have been the case had they some years ago been annexed to Birmingham. The rooms of the library are situated in the Local Board offices, and there are eleven years of steady and useful work behind them. The additions to the books last year, especially in the lending department, are excellent in quality, and nearly every taste has been kept in view. Good and bad trade affects the circulation at Aston as in all other manufacturing districts, and last year’s trade being good the demand was slightly below that of the previous year. The newsroom and reference-room are comfortable and attractive rooms. There is a good light, cheerful surroundings, with a bit of inexpensive art pottery here and there. The furniture was designed to suit the rooms, and is very conveniently placed to allow of freedom of locomotion. The best possible disposal is made of the space, and an additional room for reference has recently been added. A strip of card is distributed to borrowers to serve as a book-mark, and on the back of this the salient features of the library are given. The penny class lists of books are well compiled. One of the Board Schools close by the library is used for lectures during the winter, and the library lectures have given Aston quite a local reputation. The lectures are of a high-class character. Bedford. It was appropriate that the county town should lead the way in the adoption of the Acts, and this it did in August, 1889, by public meeting. The Mayor, in explaining the object of the meeting, said that for some time past a good number of people had been anxious that a museum should be established in Bedford, and he himself thought it absolutely necessary in order to compete with the educational institutions in the town. In addition to that it was known that the Archaeological Society had a great many things which it was desirable to have in a museum, and the society wished these things to be placed in the custody of some respectable body; and, seeing that the Corporation was a body whose continued existence was certain, it appeared to him that the Corporation should become custodians of the articles now in possession of the Archaeological Society, and any articles which were now placed in private libraries by persons who were anxious to hand over the treasures they possessed to some responsible body, who would hold them for the benefit of the donors and the public generally. Thinking that the time had arrived for them to take some initial step in the matter, he brought it before the Council*54 Public Libraries. but was told that it would be impracticable for any public money to be spent in this way unless they availed themselves of the Public Libraries Acts. Although the Acts were adopted so long ago nothing has been done at the time of writing to place them in operation. There is a strong subscription library in the town with a large income. The subscriptions during the last financial year amounted to £890. It is to be hoped that immediate steps will be taken to carry out the wishes of the people. Two years is far too long to elapse before anything is done, and some public-spirited inhabitant should at once take up the question. No credit attaches to any district in allowing the subject to lie stagnant in this way. Bilston, Bbiebley Hill, and Dudley. It is becoming a fortunate thing in the history of the Public Library movement that no town or populous district governed by a local board is considered to be complete without a Public Library. Bilston dates its adoption from 1872. Its number of volumes is not yet large, and it should no longer be possible to lay to the discredit of the large employers of labour in the district that the library is by them a somewhat neglected institution. Their workpeople are large users of the newsroom and library. The number of borrowers—7,205—is extraordinary, considering that there are only 7,145 books, and what are these among so many people P A few twenty-guinea gifts for new books from the large firms in the district would tend to place the library on a much better footing. The burden of debt is telling rather heavily too, for out of a rate of £170 an annual amount of £74 is devoted to the repayment of the loan. Bilston wants a refresher in the shape of a few generous gifts, and it is to be hoped that it will not go long without them. And so does Brierley Hill, for during its twelve years’ existence the enormous sum of £10 has been contributed by a supine public towards its library. This is a disgrace which surely the manufacturers of the district will no longer allow to exist. The population is a straggling one, but their reading proclivities cannot certainly be met by less than 2,000 volumes. On the two nights a week when the lending library is open some 300 books are lent. Our sympathy goes out for these small libraries struggling with a very limited income; and where the better-class people stand aloof from it, as appears to be the case at Brierley Hill, the difficulties of the work are increased. Two rooms are allotted in the Town Hall buildings for the work, and £40 a year is paid to the Local Board for rent, heating, and cleaning. Will the people of Brierley Hill allow us to urge them to show an enhanced interest in its Public Library P Why so high a rent should be charged is not clear. In May, 1891, the proposal was made to utilize the Market Hall as a library. Bibkeniiead. This may certainly be included among the live libraries of the country. Birkenhead was one of the pioneer towns in the adop-Public Libraries in the Midland Counties. 155 tion of the Public Libraries Act some 35 years ago. Like many libraries, Birkenhead Library had a very small beginning. The committee at first took temporary premises in a shop, but finding they had under-estimated the amount of public patronage they would receive, they were compelled to seek a more commodious building, and they removed to the rooms over the old post-office. Almost as soon as they had opened these premises, it became perfectly plain to the committee that it was not a very suitable building for carrying on the work of the institution. The desirability of a building planned for the special purpose of the library was evident, and a movement was made to secure a permanent building of their own. This resulted in the opening in 1864 of their present abode. In the middle of 1890 the building was closed for complete renovation and considerable improvement. In August of that year it was re-opened, and a more appropriate way of carrying through this ceremony could not have been decided upon, than asking Mr. May, the librarian, to deliver an address. This he did to a considerable audience, and in the course of his address he remarked that it might be said there was a great fault with libraries because a man was lost in the wilderness of books, which reminded him of the enormous extent of the literature of the day; or if he was not surrounded by the books in the library he was perplexed with the same feeling on perusing the catalogue to choose the most suitable books to read. Probably in the future library science would remove this difficulty. Librarians had done a great deal for the public, and may solve this difficulty. But the reader who had decided upon a subject, and had a desire to further analyze it, was not in the difficulty referred to. He was not perplexed with the wilderness of books around him. He had a subject upon which he desired information, and by coming to the library he would be sure to get assistance in ascertaining what were the best books on the subject. The librarian urged the necessity of children making use of the lending library and growing up in the habit of reading, and he impressed upon the mechanic and artisan that they should make themselves well versed in matters connected with their trades, remarking that a mechanic who read about his trade was much the better mechanic than the man who did not. The hand-lists of the Birkenhead Library, giving for a penny the additions to the library and also the books in the special sections, are a model of what such lists should be. Birmingham. To any one unacquainted with the Public Libraries of the country, a visit to the Birmingham Public Libraries is a liberal education ; and to those familiar a visit to these institutions in the capital of the midlands is a source of inspiration. Their ever-extending work is the best of all possible proofs of the utility of the libraries. This could not have better evidence than is afforded156 Public Libraries. by the decision of the Town Council in August, 1889, with a unanimity worthy of them, to erect three new branches. Any one who has visited the existing Birmingham branch libraries at Constitution Hill, Gosta Green, or Deritend, who has seen the crowds of quiet and orderly readers in the rooms, and the crowds of borrowers at the counters, could not come away without feeling that these institutions are doing a valuable and important social work. The use of such libraries and reading-rooms depends largely upon the facility of access. The workman after his day’s toil cannot travel two or three miles to a reading-room, nor send his child the same distance to fetch a book to be read at home. All ratepayers have to contribute to the cost of these institutions, and all should as far as possible have equal opportunities of enjoying their advantages. In October, 1890, one of the Local Government Board Inspectors held an inquiry with respect to an application to borrow £63,690, of which £15,300 was for the building of these additional branch libraries. The statement was made in the presence of the inspector by one of the town officials that the expenditure on account of the libraries was the most popular which the corporation made. Leave to borrow was granted, and in April, 1891, the foundation stones were laid with due ceremony. The Spring-hill library, situate at the corner of Icknield-street, will cost about £4,500. The library will consist of one large reading-room on the ground floor. An arcade will be formed along one side, which will support and partially inclose a gallery on the first floor, which will be used as a lending library. There will also be a small room over the entrance hall for the librarian. The entrance is at the corner of two roads, under a clock tower. The library will be warmed by hot water circulating in iron pipes. The material is of brick, with terra-cotta dressings, in the Gothic style. The clock tower will be surmounted by a terra-cotta spire.—The second library is at the corner of Saltley-road and Lingard-street. The reading-room is 82ft. long by 32ft. wide, with a recess on one side 40ft. wide, divided from the principal room by an arcade of five arches. This recess is irregular in plan, to adapt the area to one of the irregularities of the site. Here are the greater part of the shelves for books, and space for attendants and the librarian. The roof-timbers are partly exposed, with a deeply-coved ceiling at about half the height. The room is lighted on one side by a row of eight elliptical arch windows, divided by mullions into three lights. Adjoining the attendants’ recess is a room for the librarian, with a strong-room, a hat and coat room, and lavatory. Externally the whole is of red pressed bricks and terra-cotta; the two elevations divided into bays by pilasters supporting a cornice, beneath which is an enriched frieze. The windows have mullions and transoms of terra-cotta. Over the porch, at the junction of the two streets, will rise a clock tower 72ft. high, finished by a dome covered with lead. The third of the branches is in abeyance at the time of writing, owing to a difficulty with regard to site.Public Libraries in the Midland Counties. 157 As so many misconceptions have, from time to time, arisen and been placed before the public it will be as well to state what is the simple fact with regard to the rate. In one town where the movement was in progress, the statement went forth that the library rate was threepence in the pound. Until recently the rate has been but one penny, but by desire of the ratepayers power was obtained by means of a Local Improvement Act to raise it if necessary. This was necessitated by the demand for new branches. The limit of expenditure of the Ewart Act will not provide for an unlimited number of branches, and it is to meet the needs of these new branches that a fraction of another penny has been found necessary in Birmingham. There is no town where the library rate is more cheerfully paid than in this large midland centre of activity. The work here is a remarkable record of rapid growth and expansion. In 1861 the library sprang into life with the respectable collection of rather more than 6,000 books. In four years the number of books had considerably more than doubled, and they were borrowed by over 130,000 readers. Then in 1866 a great advance was made, for the reference library was opened with a collection of 16,195 books, and the volumes in the lending library were increased from under thirteen to over twenty-five thousand. Year by year the tree which had been, in its origin, a comparative grain of mustard-seed, waxed mightily, so that by the end of 1877 the reference library contained 44,519 books and the lending library 41,568, a total of 86,087 volumes, of which no less than 658,030 readers made use, for recreation or instruction. Then came the disastrous fire, in which the records of the year 1878 were lost. On that January morning in 1879 half Birmingham seemed to be standing in a kind of mute despair while its goodly volumes were being reduced to ashes. But, great as was the disaster, it served a useful purpose. The energy and promptitude with which Birmingham set to work to retrieve its loss are a memory which may be handed on with pride to succeeding generations, and, as with the fabled Phoenix, from the sacred ashes has, starlike, risen a fairer and nobler successor. Year by year the library has been rendered more and more perfect by the acquisition of valuable and interesting books, keenly appreciated by an ever-widening circle of readers. The average number of visits each day to the Birmingham libraries and reading-rooms may be roundly stated as not less than 14,000—a very respectable portion of the population. It is a well-known fact that thousands of men during the year get employment through reading the advertisements in the large numbers of papers to be found in the newsroom. Indeed, at nine o’clock any morning it is most interesting to see scores of men go straight—not to the news, but to the advertisements to get employment. A few months ago the Spanish and Italian residents of the town, and others who do business with these countries, were informed by means of the local press that in addition to the daily French and German papers the “ Journal des Debats” and the “National Zietung,” the Spanish daily paperPublic Libraries. 158 “ La Correspondencia de España/’ and the fortnightly Italian paper “ L’ Amico del Popolo/’ had been placed on the tables. The reference department is a very strong feature of the Birmingham work. The catalogue for this section has many details of special interest, and affords further example of the soundness of the plan on which it is compiled, and of the handiness and usefulness of the work as a “ finding index” to the BIRMINGHAM REFERENCE LIBRARY. hundred and six thousand volumes which the library now contains, and which are constantly increasing from the munificent donation fund, which has not yet been exhausted in the purchase of high-class books. The form of the catalogue is practically alphabetical as a list of authors’ names. But under various important headings the principal books are collected, so that it is also aPublic Libraries in the Midland Counties. 159 classified catalogue for ready and general use. The experience of years has shown that not only for the references of the student, but for the prompt delivery to readers of any book or pamphlet, the catalogue has proved to be a remarkable success. As an example of the detail of the work it may be mentioned that the great u Harleian Miscellany/’ in ten quarto volumes, is fully catalogued on eleven pages, the contents of each volume being described, thus enabling readers and students to look up many rare, curious, and neglected pamphlets, whose existence is little known, but whose contents are historically valuable, and often highly interesting. Even so small a subject as “ Hats ” is represented by six pamphlets ; while “ Heraldry ” has more than a page of rare and costly works. Under “ History,” the principal books on general history are classified, each country being catalogued separately under its own proper heading, to which part the reader would naturally first refer. The Shakespearian library at Birmingham is noted far and wide. The shelves are stocked with editions in English, and in all languages into which the plays have been translated. The total number of English editions or selections is 2,010, and of separate plays and poems 814; the “ Ana” make up 2,005 volumes. There are complete editions in Polish, Russian, Hungarian, and Spanish; but in Greek, Portuguese, Finnish, Croatian, Frisian, Eoumanian, Welsh, Flemish, Ukraineian, and Wallachian there are only separate plays. Of German editions and selections there are no fewer than 663 volumes, and the other Shakespearian literature in German numbers 1,577 volumes. France has only one-fourth of the number of editions and separate publications. The catalogue of the Shakespeare Library will ever be the magnum opus of Mr. J. D. Mullins, the well-known librarian. It not only catalogued what there was on the shelves, but what he wanted to possess—in fact, was a catalogue of all then known to exist. It gave the titles of all the chief works classified under English and foreign, and under the heading of each play the title and date and size of all known editions, thus forming a literary as well as a library memorial of Shakespeare. This catalogue was a labour of love. His duty as a librarian in no way required so elaborate and learned a work. It was the outcome of his own knowledge that no full work had been done, and of his own energy and industry that it should be done. The reference library was first opened on Sundays in 1872. In order to show the work being done on this day by this department the table which follows is very instructive. Altogether the use made of the library on the Sunday is most encouraging. Between five and six hundred orderly readers visit the reference library on the day of the week which, as much as any day, should be devoted to intellectual pursuits. Their demand is, in the majority of cases, for books of an instructive character; and who shall say that in the quiet reading of a book within the four walls of a Public Library on that day is a violation of the sanctity of the Sabbath ?i6o Public Libraries. Volumes issued on Sundays during 1890. Months. | Sundays open. | | Theology, Moral Philosophy, and Ecclesiastical History. History, Biography, 1 Voyages, and Travels. Law, Politics, and 1 Commerce. Arts, Sciences, and Natural History. j Poetry and Drama. Bound Periodicals. Current Periodicals. Miscellaneous. Totals. Daily Average. January 4 17 329 13 164 28 94 732 87 1,464 366 February 4 56 304 15 219 53 114 840 79 1,680 420 March 5 87 392 25 264 51 102 1,001 80 2,002 400 April 4 53 240 39 201 40 59 727 95 1,454 363 May 4 51 249 10 166 30, 75 661 80 1,322 330 June 5 59 328 13 210 63 105 873 95 1,746 349 July 4 40 203 13 145 33 85 590 71 1,180 295 August 5 23 319 13 195 27 68 727 82 1,454 290 September 4 30 285 16 196 61 62 743 93 1,486 371 October 4 30 413 6 213 55 85 878' 76 1,756 439 November 5¡ 43 464 28 290 63 129 1,125 108 2,250 450 December 4, 24 322 20 194 49 65 721 47 1,442 360 Totals 52 51313,848 1 1 1 211 2,457 553 1,043 9,618 993 19,236 369 The number of cases of misconduct on the part of assistants is very small. A year or two ago the authorities of the Birmingham central libraries discovered that about three hundred books had been stolen from the reference department. The thefts were carried on in a systematic manner for twelve months, but they were not discovered until a junior assistant disappeared. Most of the books missing were duplicates of expensive editions of Shakespeare, and valuable tomes on history and travel. The duplicates were not stamped, as were those first in the library, and there was nothing to render them unsaleable. Over two hundred of the books were discovered at second-hand booksellers’ shops in the town. The assistant was in receipt of sixteen shillings a week as wages. He produced, it appears, when selling the books, a letter purporting to be written by his mother, who alleged she was selling her husband’s stock. The stamping of every book and regular and systematic stock-takings should be the rule at every library. It is impossible not to feel that Birmingham is certainly a model town in the matter of books. The annual report of its Libraries Committees proves this in every way. Mr. John Morley, in his address on the study of English literature, said that the average issue of novels in English libraries is about 70 per cent, of the whole. But at Birmingham the percentage of novels is veryPublic Libraries in the Midland Counties. 161 considerably less than Mr. Morley’s estimate. Utility real and vast is the conclusion to which one naturally arrives, and if the present rate of progress is maintained what the proportions will be in another half-century who can predict ? Buxton and Chesterfield. These are the only two places in Derbyshire, in addition to Derby, which have so far enfranchised themselves. The beautiful watering-place of Buxton has done credit to itself in its library movement. The whole district is surpassingly beautiful, with an air as clear and bracing as could possibly be desired. Now its mental air has become impregnated with a people’s collection of literature, and the health-seekers and pleasure-seekers who go from all parts of the country will have a cheerful reading-room to which they can resort. The pile of buildings in which the Public Library is housed is well situated, and forms, in fact, a landmark for the whole district. In planning accommodation for the municipal offices the leaders of the library movement argued that they could not do better than adopt the Acts and provide accommodation in the Town Hall. And the people showed their sense by not requiring much persuasion. For an outlay of some £11,000 the people have a handsome Town Hall. The reading-room of the library is 40 feet by 25 feet, and there is also a smaller room. At the end of the reading-room is the lending library. The building was opened in June, 1889, by the Marquis of Hartington. Well might he say, in declaring the library open, that an admirable policy had been pursued in Buxton in making provision for the wants of all classes. The prosperity of the town depended very much on the support of the rich and well-to-do, but that had not led the authorities to neglect the other classes, who necessarily increased in numbers with the growing prosperity of the place. He was glad they had seen their way to the adoption of those very useful Acts the Public Libraries Acts, and it was a happy idea, when the town needed additional public buildings, to include a place for the library. He hoped it would be a source of improvement and recreation for the people of all classes. The lending library was opened in November, 1889. What better attraction can a watering-place provide for its visitors than a reading-room well supplied with papers and periodicals P The watering-places are rapidly recognizing this fact, and we are within measurable distance of the time when no inland or seaboard watering-place will be considered complete without its rate-supported reference library, reading-rooms for the visitors, and the lending library for the residents. Five of such places have within a comparatively short time of each other adopted the Acts. Buxton has reason to be proud of having done so. Some of the members of the Local Board appear to have been a little unreasonably ruffled about the catalogue. Catalogues do not grow spontaneously, and mature like fungi. Some librarians wish they did. Another proof is afforded at 11162 Public Libraries. Buxton of what has been so frequently stated. Directly these libraries get into operation they encourage gifts. There is at once a responsible body to take charge of them. Buxton has never hitherto had a public local museum. Antiquaries and archaeologists have pillaged many interesting relics and added their finds to distant collections. Geologists have pursued their researches, but without giving any local interest to sermons in stones. It has often been remarked that the natural sciences have few devotees in Buxton, and the fact is scarcely one for wonderment when we consider that there is no antiquarian collection open for the inspection of young and old, and whereby enthusiasm in the pursuit of science might be aroused in receptive minds. Gross ignorance, and a slavish hankering for utility alone, have destroyed many interesting relics, and there is, therefore, the greater reason why such as may yet be rescued should be deposited in a place of safety for public inspection. Within recent years antiquarian research in Derbyshire has received a great impetus, and the town evidently possesses one antiquarian in the person of Mr. William Millett, who has intelligently and thoroughly examined the old Deep Dale Cave, and offered to the town the results of three years’ labour, and these are to be placed in cases in the newsroom. Chesterfield is rather feeling the pinch of having to make bricks without straw. Out of a rate which only brings in £182 they are making the very best use which can possibly be made of this sum. The librarian has to be content with £65, which cannot be looked upon as a princely income, but he is devoted to his work. The shoe pinches in the repayment of a loan, the annual sinking fund of which amounts to £64. The time will come in places where the rate produces but a small income, that the cost of the building will have to be borne wholly or partly out of the general rating. The present debt on the Chesterfield building is £920, and as long as this exists the shelves must remain very much as they are at present. There is a subscription library in connection with the Public Library. This numbers one hundred members, who pay half-a-guinea a year. It is worked and housed free by the committee of the Public Library, on condition that the books are periodically handed over to the library. The issue from this subscription section last year was 7,305, and the books form a useful addition when they become available for general circulation. A short time ago the system was introduced of allowing outsiders to borrow by paying a small subscription. These borrowers must, of course, be guaranteed by a ratepayer. Prior to adopting this plan they had over 300 applicants for books from outside the borough limits. The income from these subscriptions will be a useful contribution towards the interest on the building. The legality of allowing outsiders to borrow on payment of a subscription was questioned in Chesterfield, as it has been elsewhere. As stated in another chapter, the spirit and rendering of the Acts are against this innovation, but each individual place must really settle the question for itself. By thePublic Libraries in the Midland Counties. 163 adoption of the plan it is no loss to the ratepayers, but, on the ontrary, a benefit, and it should be permitted by the Acts. Cambridge. In presenting their thirty-fifth report to the Council the committee say they have satisfaction in recording the continued success of the institution. They aim at making the library as efficient as possible, so as to meet the educational want of all classes of the community. In furtherance of this object, the librarian, Mr. John Pink, addressed a circular to all head masters and mistresses of public and private schools in the borough, calling their attention to the many valuable works of reference in the library, and soliciting any suggestions, or lists of books, that would be of service to themselves or senior scholars in their schools. As a result, a number of educational works were purchased. Courses of lectures were given and classes were held in connection with the Cambridge University Extension Lectures, and the library committee provided duplicate copies of all the text-books required. These proved of much service to the students, as was gracefully acknowledged by the secretary. The reading-room continues to attract a large number of readers. There is an open reference library at Cambridge. Visitors to the library are much struck with the large number of books in the reading-room, which are freely accessible to all persons entering it. Constant demands for such reference books as dictionaries and encyclopaedias led first to one and then to others being shelved in the reading-room, so that the readers could help themselves, and so satisfactory did this method prove that other works were added from time to time. The commencement was made in the year 1858, when a copy of Webster’s “ Dictionary ” was placed in the reading-room, and at the end of six years the number of volumes had increased to 322. Now they number 1,372, and they are largely and carefully used. Two volumes were stolen during the past year, but they were of small value. In 1887 a new rule was established, to the effect that the wife or child of any burgess who resides with him beyond the precincts of the borough shall be entitled to borrow from the library, and in such case such burgess signs the following declaration in addition to the voucher :— I declare that my resides with me at Burgess’s name in full occupation Dated the day of 18 By order of the Library Committee. Some discussion has taken place as to the opening of a new branch. A four-page circular giving the salient features of the library has been distributed from house to house throughout the borough. The last registration of 882 borrowers shows the ages as here given:—164 Public Libraries. Under 14 years . . 88 » 20 ,, .. 299 ff 30 ,, . . 271 » 40 ,, .. 100 1 f 50 ,, .. 59 ;> 60 ,, .. 35 Over 60 ,, .. 30 Total .. 882 This may be taken as an indication of the reading ages as illustrated by the returns from most libraries. Carlton and Hueknall Torkard. These two Nottinghamshire districts, both under the control of Local Boards, are showing fairly good work. Carlton, with its few thousand inhabitants and a rate producing only about £50, was rather proud of haying done, in the adoption of the Acts, what Hull had refused to do. The 1,000 volumes with which they began were classified and catalogued by Mr. J. Potter Briscoe, of the Nottingham libraries, as were also the books at Hucknall Torkard. The opening took place in October, 1888. The building which was handed oyer on the adoption of the Acts was formerly used as the Local Board oflices and as a temperance hall. The only structural alteration necessary was the throwing of two rooms into one, and the work was carried out, together with the furnishing of the room and the purchasing of some books, at a cost of £40. A Nottingham alderman performed the opening ceremony. He observed that they were taking an important step in the history of the village, which he hoped would have good results in the future. They sought to place before the people books of an entertaining, amusing, and instructive character. That library was part of the great educational wave that was sweeping over the country. He believed that education was opening the minds of the people. The library was in their village an illustration of the way in which one step led to another. He looked upon it as a necessary consequence of the good schools they had in the village. What was the use of teaching children to read unless they provided them with the means of turning their knowledge to account? If they wished their children to retain their knowledge, it was absolutely necessary that they should find some way of gratifying their taste for reading. He hoped they would supply, as far as possible, books of a healthy description, which were likely to improve the character. He had no objection whatever to fiction, provided it was of a healthy kind, but many novels now published should not be read. At Hucknall Torkard, where the tomb of Byron is, there is a capital new building, presented to the town by Messrs. J. E. Ellis, M.P., and H. B. Paget, two of the proprietors of the Hucknall Colliery. The building is well situated, and is built in the Renaissance style of architecture. It consists of a library havingPublic Libraries in the Midland Counties. 165 provision for 4,000 volumes, with capabilities for extension, a large reading-room, a reference library, a smoking-room, and a librarian’s house. The library is placed in the centre of the building, so that the librarian has supervision over every room. The reading-room is 40 feet by 22 feet, and the reference library 23 feet by 16 feet. The opening ceremony of the lending library was in January, 1889, a year after the other parts of the library had been opened. Help in filling the shelves has been derived from a variety of sources. The committee of the old mechanics’ institute presented the library with 228 volumes of their best books. The co-operative society too was generous, and a bazaar aided in the same direction. Carlton and Hucknall are typical cases where a Government grant of £30 or £40 a year would prove of material help, and would be money well and legitimately spent. Coventry. The Public Library here was founded upon the remains of a much older institution—the Coventry Library Society—formed in 1790-1. For almost half a century this library was supported by nearly all the best-educated inhabitants, and was the nucleus around which gathered the literary and intellectual tastes of the day, when books were costly and popular education in the modern sense was unknown. In the course of time the habits and tastes of a much more numerous reading public and the coming into existence of other literary institutions, which provided libraries for their members, operated greatly to the prejudice of the old society and its material interests; so much so, that in 1864 matters were brought to something like a crisis. At a general meeting of the Library Society in the year just named, the following resolution was adopted with only one dissentient:—“ That a transfer of the library, building, books, &c., subject to the liabilities thereon, be offered to the Town Council of this city, for the purpose of establishing a Public Library.” The communication of this resolution to the City Council was accompanied by a statement that the library comprised about 17,000 volumes, and that the building was charged with a mortgage debt of £1,200, but that the mortgagee had consented, on condition that the proposed transfer was accepted by the Town Council, to forego the sum of £200 as part of her lien on the building, and to accept £1,000 in discharge thereof, provided her claim Was satisfied before September 29 of that year. The matter was referred to a committee of the whole Council, but ultimately the offer of transfer was declined. Three years later the question of adopting the Acts came again forward. Two special facts were put forward why the town should do this. One was that Coventry had just been freed from a gaol rate of twopence in the pound, and it was thought that the people might reasonably be asked for one penny of that rate to such a purpose as a library. There had never been, and singular to say there never is, any complaint against the gaol twopence, and it was urged that,Public Libraries. 166 as the people had borne this without grumbling, it did not seem much to ask them to pay half that amount for the so much nobler purpose of a Public Library. The other special reason was the offer of the aforementioned subscription library. The vote was carried at this statutory meeting by three to one. In the Town Council an alderman gravely proposed that the council should ignore the expressed decision of the burgesses. Various motions for the delaying of the appointment of a library committee were brought forward, and it was not until the Town Clerk had informed the Town Council that if they did not carry out the resolution of the statutory meeting it would be competent, upon an affidavit of the facts, to move in the Court of Queen’s Bench for a mandamus requiring them to carry out the resolution. This facilitated matters, and by 26 votes to 6 the council agreed to the appointment of a library committee. In 1868 the institution was opened by the then mayor, Mr. Gulson, who has from then down to the present time been a warm and generous friend of the work. In 1871, by his liberal aid and that of others, the site of the old disused gaol was bought, and in the following year a new library was built at a cost of about £6,000. In twenty-two years the number of volumes was quadrupled and the issue of books doubled. The middle of 1890 saw the completion of a new Reference Library, another gift of Mr. Gulson, whose total benefactions amount to over £11,000. The large reference room is 64 feet by 52 feet, and in the building are a number of smaller rooms. Altogether, Coventry may be proud of its library, and there is an encouraging expansion about the work. Darlaston and Oldbury. The Town Hall, Public Library, and public offices of Darlaston form one block of buildings, which were opened in October, 1888. The buildings are handsome and compact, and stand out prominently in the town. The Town Hall is the largest in the district, it being 90 feet long, 50 feet wide, and 25 feet 6 inches high to the wall plate, the height in the middle of the roof being 34 feet. It was thought by some that a too costly and elaborate structure had been erected, but it is well to prepare for future growth as well as present needs. The entire cost was £6,000, of which nearly £2,500 was voluntarily subscribed. A little temporary difficulty was experienced, but this has been met by the generous action of the chairman of the library committee and other townsmen. A bazaar was held in December, 1889, in the Town Hall, and this was taken up very spiritedly by the ladies of the town and district. It was felt that the incubus of the debt of £1,500 could be wiped out by a combined effort, and at the close of the bazaar some £1,700 was in all received. In November, 1890, there was a celebration conversazione, and nearly 500 of the leading inhabitants accepted invitations to be present. The rooms of the library were beautifully decorated, and, altogether, a very pleasantPublic Libraries in the Midland Counties. 167 evening seems to have been spent. The local paper, in its report, impressed upon the people that it was a duty incumbent upon every person concerned in the welfare of the town to lend a helping hand to a movement which has been so auspiciously begun, and not allow its work to be curtailed, or even hampered, by the want of a few pounds. For the social interests and commercial industry of their busy little town it is necessary, they said, that the work should continue, and become enlarged by the addition of Science and Art Classes, to enable artisans and others to get a scientific and technical training. The writer then referred to the social advantages, the reading-room, the library, the opportunities of association for the interchange of ideas, the means of pursuing researches and experiments, and a spirit of emulation in the pursuit of knowledge which a well-managed and appointed institution never fails to afford. The fruits of these facilities will be reaped by the people in the increased skill and knowledge which will be brought to bear upon their industries, and, besides offering to its supporters recreation and amusement, as well as instruction, will infuse new life and colour into the community, and constitute to the young a stronger argument against the grosser and more debasing pleasures of life than many pulpit homilies. The sentiment deserves sympathy, and the idea of holding conversaziones in public libraries is good, provided that a too exclusive spirit is not manifested in the distribution of invitations. The institution belongs, of course, to the whole of the people, and not to a section. The opening ceremony took place at the end of last July. The Acts were adopted in Oldbury in July, 1888, The movement becomes, in fact, infectious, and the adoption of the Acts or the opening of a new library in a near town at once causes the inhabitants of towns not similarly favoured to look around and ask themselves why they should not have one of these citizens’ institutions of their own. The question was decided by public meeting, and the requisition was signed by 174 inhabitants. The subject of a public library had been mooted in Oldbury several times previously, and the great hindrance to putting the Acts into operation before had been the feeling that the ratable value of the town was so small that the amount raised by the penny rate would not be sufficient to cover the expenses. Now that difficulty had been overcome, inasmuch as during the last few years the ratable value of the township had increased very considerably, the chairman of the opening meeting said he felt satisfied that the penny rate would bring in an income sufficient to meet the expenses of a library and reading-room. The question was brought forward more particularly in connection with another scheme for erecting public buildings and public offices for the town. It was felt that the most economical way of putting the Acts into operation would be to join it with the scheme for public buildings, as it could be done at a less cost. The resolution was carried unanimously. It will soon be possible to record the work being done by the library.Public Libraries. 168 Derby. It is always a pleasure to turn into the handsome block of buildings forming the Derby Public Library and Museum. There is no public institution in Derby that can compare in any way with the Public Library and Museum, presented to the town by its late representative, Mr. Michael Thomas Bass, It was essentially a DERBY PUBLIC LIBRARY AND MUSEUM. gift to the working classes, and is a more genuine mechanics’ institute than the so-called establishment which arises in immediate juxtaposition thereto, which is a mechanics’ institute replete with everything but the mechanics themselves. One has only to watch the stream of working-men visitors to the lending,Public Libraries in the Midland Counties. 169 the reading, and the reference departments of the library, and to the museum, to observe the extent to which the magnificent generosity of the donor is taken advantage of by his whilom constituents. There is one matter of regret about the reading-rooms, and that is, that among all the costly fittings, the ornamental iron screens, the stained glass, the oriel windows, and the polished granite, the light is defective. Half the rooms are in a state of perpetual gloom, and, unless the reader have the nocturnal sight of the owl or the bat, it is almost impossible to decipher print. The same fault should be avoided in the many new buildings now being erected. At Derby it does, unfortunately, detract from that cheerful aspect which the rooms otherwise have. This only applies to the daytime, for in the evening when the gas is alight there is brightness everywhere. One of the most notable features in the Derby work is the enormous number of boys and youths who frequent the library. The place literally swarms with young people, and on each visit which the writer has made to the library there has been among these perfect order and silence. The nineteenth report describes an admirable work being done. The librarian’s remarks in it are pithy and to the point. New borrowers are constantly being added, and, to meet the evergrowing expansion of the work, the new additions of books are large. The museum is attractive in every way, and this popular institution always receives its full share of visitors during the Whitsuntide and other holidays. The museum was crowded both on Whit Monday and Tuesday, the number of visitors being about 7,000, and some 1,700 visitors passed the turnstiles at the Art Gallery. Over 1,000 books were bespoken last year at the cost of one penny per book, a post-card being sent to the borrower when the book is in. This post-card simply informs the borrower that “ the book (giving title) is now in, and will be retained for you until to-morrow evening. Please produce this card when you make application for the book.” This plan is in operation at other libraries, and is well worth extending still further. The librarian again places on record in the report his sense of the high service which is rendered by the newspaper press of Derby, and thankfully acknowledges its hearty co-operation in, all that tends to the welfare of the institution. Will other librarians please copy this paragraph? Newspaper men are human enough to care for a word of thanks for the aid they render in popularizing these book-homes of the people. Handswobth. As little reference has been made to the inquiry of the Local Government official where a loan is desired, it will be opportune to here mention the case of Handsworth. This will serve to show the method of procedure, and the opposition which has at all times to be met. On February 25, 1890, an inquiry was held by Colonel Henry Luard, R.E., on behalf of the Local Government Board,170 Public Libraries. into the application of the Local Board for powers to borrow £2,000 for the purpose of extending the Public Library. There was a large attendance of ratepayers, and a strong party opposed the granting of the application. The clerk to the Local Board opened the case for the library committee. He said the Public Libraries Acts were adopted in 1876, and from that date up to the present the movement had been most popular in the district. Evidence of the public interest taken in the matter existed in the fact that upwards of £500 was subscribed towards the library when it was first opened. The lending library was opened in May, 1880, with 5,120 books. Now there are over double that number. In 1882 they introduced a musical department into the library, and at the present time they have all the standard works in this musical library, and they add to them yearly. As many as 600 issues have been made in one day. In 1886 the committee organized a series of lectures during the winter months, all of which were well attended, and have been continued up to the present. In 1885 the attendance averaged 300 per day, and the insufficiency of the accommodation in the reading-room would be understood when it is stated that the room was only 31 feet by 20 feet. Since then the average attendance has increased considerably. With regard tp the shelves for the books, they had no more room, and there were 2,000 books unshelved. The newsroom was also too small for the newspapers. It would be submitted that the large assembly room in the buildings should be used as a reading-room. In the original plans it was included as a reading-room. An objection to this was that it was upstairs, and consequently not on the same level as the present library. Some of the opponents of the scheme objected to the extension upon the grounds of elevation. The rector of Hands-worth presented a petition signed by 852 ratepayers in opposition to the scheme. The petitioners were entirely opposed to the scheme, and to the spending of so large a sum for that purpose. They considered that the large room upstairs could be altered at a small cost, and used for the purposes of a reading-room. Dr. ftandall, the rector, who led this opposition, said he considered the proposed expenditure altogether unnecessary. At the same time he believed that the members of the Local Board were desirous of promoting the welfare of the parish. He believed that they were ill-advised in intending this outlay. The large room was used for all sorts of purposes outside library matters, and he denied the right of the Local Board to use it for any other purpose than as a library. The Local Board had plenty of work to do by attending to the state of the roads and so forth. The Inspector: But, Dr. Bandall, you could not spend the library rate on the roads. The chairman of the Highways Committee said the extension was a public necessity. There were then over 30,000 people in the parish, and the number was rapidly increasing. Permission to borrow the amount was granted, and the alterations have now been made, so that Handsworth starts again under improved conditions.Public Libraries in the Midland Counties. 171 Hereford and Leominster. Herefordshire contributes two towns to the gross number of adoptions. The Hereford Library is now in its nineteenth year. Few statistics are given in the report, but in place of the usua. returns there are given some interesting particulars about the museum and the lecture work in connection with the library. The additions last year to the lending library were of very useful literature. During the agitation for the adoption of the Acts in Gloucester a most extraordinary statement was made by an ex-mayor of the city to the effect that “ he knew that in a neighbouring city, Hereford, where a gentleman of extreme generosity subscribed a sum of £6,000, the citizens of Hereford also subscribing a large amount, they really obtained what might be termed a Public Library. But what was the result P That, after taxing the citizens one penny in the pound, they were not in a position to carry on their Public Library.” The statement was so at variance with fact that one wonders how any one could make such an assertion. The speech in question coming from such a source, and the entire lack of organization, cost Gloucester the failure of the adoption of the Acts. The incident serves to show that the most vigorous opposition comes from those who should be leaders of public opinion, instead of being dragged in the tail of the movement, as this ex-mayor of Gloucester will surely be if he lives a few years longer. In the last report just issued, an increase is recorded in each department over the previous year. The nineteenth report records good progress. Leominster affords an example of a double adoption of the Acts under considerable difficulties. Mr. Bankin, M.P., offered £1,000 on condition of the Acts being adopted. This helped the matter greatly, and, notwithstanding the beer trade opposition, led on by a local brewer, the forces of progress were too much for these gigantic powers everywhere as well as in Leominster. Mr. J. B. Dowding skilfully organized the provisional committee. He was aided in this work by the ex-mayor, Alderman Alfred Lewis, and praise is due to this body for the dogged persistency which they displayed. The first vote was taken at the end of September, 1889, and proved successful in securing a most triumphant majority. Out of a total of 1,200 voters 1,078 returned their papers, and this shows the wide interest which had been created. There were only 199 votes against the adoption. Some technical points having been raised with regard to the taking of the vote in the first instance, the vote was taken a second time, and on this occasion the success was most marked. A library committee have scarcely, at any time, a more important question to discuss, or one upon which there are sure to be reasonable differences of opinion, than that of a suitable site for the proposed building, and the sum which shall be spent in its erection. Leominster, in common with many other places, has had this difficulty, and a report lies at hand which evidences how numerous are the points necessarily raised. One of the members of the committee172 Public Libraries. urged upon his colleagues that they had obtained the unanimous feeling of the town in favour of the library, and, that being so, argued that they ought to have a really creditable building which would be an honour and credit to the town. They were living in an age in which great assistance had been promised by the State to education, which was not so much for the benefit of those around this table as for those who had not the means and could not make any advance in the world for themselves. If they wanted money to carry out the scheme they need not fear they should not easily get it. He could see no reason why, in case such a proceeding was necessary, they should not mortgage the building, or obtain money in some other way. They borrowed money for providing waterworks, sewerage, and for their public institutions generally. Why should they not borrow money, therefore, for the mental culture of the people? In providing library buildings they would be providing for the future. The dairy school would require room, so also would the carpentering and other classes. He thought that it would be a mistake not to do the work well while they were about it, and do it once, and not have to do something again in another two or three years. There is no doubt that this speaker took a most practical view of the matter. It is always safe to allow for growth in planning buildings of this nature. Hertford, St. Albans, and Watford. Hertford occupies a rather singular position. The Acts were adopted in 1855, the town being about the first small borough to take advantage of the then new legislation. But for twenty-nine years the Act, although “ adopted,” as the Hertfordians pleasantly termed it, was a dead letter. In 1884 the intrinsic value of the books was trifling, but in 1887 some 9,000 volumes were got together, including some of the very best books in the language, Of these 5,000 were contributed by a local institution that had been forming a library since 1832, and during the three years between the periods named above an altogether new life was experienced, mainly owing to the enthusiasm of the librarian, who, it appears from the returns, is rewarded with the princely stipend of £30 a year! In the Jubilee year it was thought that the best way to celebrate the event would be to build a library and school of art. This was done, and there is now for use a new building, but which might have been better designed. For a population of 8,000 there are now 11,000 books, and so the point has been reached of having more than a book per head of the population. Many of the committee, notwithstanding this, naturally feel that their book-buying is a long way from being complete. The Kt. Hon. A. J. Balfour, M.P., opened the new building, and made an excellent speech. For some time past the St. Albans Library has not been in a particularly flourishing condition. The full rate is levied, but the library apparently does not receive the whole of the income, forPublic Libraries in the Midland Counties. 173 out of a small rate some £24 a year has been absorbed in the working of the Society of Arts rooms. A loss has also been experienced in the working of a select subscription room for readers. A charge of a penny a volume is made on a number of books which were transferred from a small private library. It is in no captious spirit that these matters are referred to here; but it should be recognized by the committee that the subscription reading-room and the penny per volume are distinct violations of both the spirit and wording of the Acts. It was again never intended that the penny rate should be impoverished by the support of science and art classes. That these classes at St. Albans are doing a useful work is admitted. All recognize clearly the difficulty in carrying on an extended library work with a limited income, but freedom from congestion will not come by departing from the spirit and purpose of the Acts. Some change has of late taken place with regard to the subscription newsroom, and there is every prospect that before long it will be possible to record an improving state of things. For public utility the Watford Library has a capital record. The institution was built by public subscription nearly twenty years ago. There are fewer books than at Hertford, but the turnover is good, and fiction is kept down to a respectable figure. The Watford Public Library is a distinctly educational institution, and to so important an extent has its work grown that it has been found necessary to enlarge some of the rooms. Considerable attention is being given to the organizing and developing of the reference section. The committee wisely recognize that though the circulating section is now most popular, the credit of the library and of the town demands that the other section just referred to should be properly arranged and accommodated. For years a charge was made in the lending library to the borrowers, but about three years ago this charge, which an impartial critic must be compelled to designate as illegal, was wisely discontinued, and the forward movement of issuing the books free of charge resulted in almost at once quadrupling the number of borrowers and the number of books issued. In appealing for gifts of books in the various departments of literature the committee need not apologize for asking for copies of the ever popular novel, and all true lovers of the best English fiction will agree with them in saying that the novelist is the accepted teacher of the nineteenth century. In the educational sections the school of art is strong, and the day and night classes are well attended. The school of music is perhaps unsurpassed for health and vigour by any public library in the country. The income in this department for one year was £888, but the expenses were of course heavy. The school ot literature is popular, and in this department the University Extension lectures and classes continue to be well supported. Not content with all these various avenues of work, the committee have considered whether it was practicable to launch con-174 Public Libraries. tinuation or night schools and recreative classes. To illustrate how the town has grown it may be mentioned that in 1874 the penny rate produced £80, and now it realizes £245. A very few months ago a bequest of £1,000 was made to the library. This was left by the late J. W. Robin, who was for some years one of the principal residents in Watford. It has been suggested that this bequest shall be devoted—£500 to the enlargement and furnishing fund, £250 to the book department, and £250 to the educational department, to be voted from time to time in a manner to be hereafter determined by the committee. That body have recognized that in administering the sum they ought to take care that it goes distinctly to enlarge their work and expand the institution. If they wanted to encourage others to follow Mr. Robin’s example they had^better show that it helped them to make their work larger and more prosperous than it was before. The last report breathes altogether an earnest spirit of work. With a local press which supports them, a committee who have real interest in the work, and a Local Board ever ready to support them, the wonder would be if it were otherwise. These two bodies act largely on the principle that in educational matters the supply often has in these things to create the demand instead of waiting for it. Hinckley and Loughborough. These two places with Leicester are the total number of adoptions in Leicestershire up to date. Hinckley drewT into line as a sort of Jubilee movement. On May 16, 1888, the building was opened by that warm friend of this movement, the Duchess of Rutland. A special building has been erected by Messrs. Atkin Bros., at a cost of £1,500, in memory of their brother, Arthur Atkins, who for many years had taken a warm interest in all that concerned Hinckley. The Ecclesiastical Commissioners, who seem to be the most ubiquitous of all ground landlords, sold a piece of land for £250, and the furniture and fittings were bought from a general subscription fund, a local patriot bequeathing £500 for books. So altogether Hinckley holds up its head and feels proud of its Public Library, and is using it well. A Leicester architect designed a pretty structure in a species of Flemish architecture. Throughout there is neatness and taste. The library provides another of the now rapidly increasing number of buildings erected at a cost of from £1,000 to £3,000, and these are the sort of places which all friends of the movement wish may grow so plentiful that it may be difficult to count them all. The Duchess of Rutland always talks and writes about these institutions in a way which is as invigorating as a flood of sunshine on a spring day. It was just like this distinguished lady to say that if she had the power she should like to have a reading-room in every village with which she is in any way connected, be it large or small. Would that the same spirit animated more of the representatives of our highest families! Hinckley is in a rather singular position. The ActsPublic Libraries in the Midland Counties. 175 have been adopted, but for five years a committee have guaranteed that it shall not be a burden to the town, and have made themselves responsible for its maintenance during that time. There were local reasons why this was practicable and easily adjusted, but it is not a plan which should be copied. The catalogue has in it a page devoted to one , of Professor Ruskin’s many pithy sayings about books and reading. Loughborough library is making steady progress. The ratio of borrowers runs about one in ten, and the ratio of issue of books to the population is 2*51. An enterprising member of the committee calculated that had the borrowers purchased the booksPublic Libraries. 176 they have had out during the year it would have cost about £6,000, whereas, after deducting the expense of the reading-room, the cost to the ratepayers has been under £90. This fact illustrates the gain which accrues to the town by co-operation. The local press supports the library well. Now that Loughborough is incorporated the work will occupy an even more important position than it has done in the past. The building is a neat structure, as will be seen from the sketch. Last year’s income reached £262, and was made up as follows :— Sale of newspapers and magazines, £8 17s. 9d.; sale of waste-paper, 11s. 9d.; sale of catalogues, £9 3s. 6d.; sale of tickets, £2 7s. 9d.; fines, £17 4s. 5d.; miscellaneous receipts, £1 17s. 6d.; advertisements in catalogue, £17 9s. 6d.; contribution from borough rate, £256; from contribution box, 2s.; science class fees, £5 17s. 6d. A scheme for small libraries lent among the Board Schools has been talked about. Kidderminster. Kidderminster and Worcester are the only two towns in Worcestershire which have up to date adopted the Acts. Both places have from the beginning of their libraries had to carry on their work under considerable disadvantage. Kidderminster has now entered on its tenth year, and the unhealthy condition of the reading-room and the great discomfort caused to frequenters of the library by the inadequate space have naturally hindered the development of the work. But the town is now within sight of a better state of things. In the autumn of 1890 a resolution was moved in the Town Council empowering the committee to proceed with the erection of library and reading-room premises on the site adjoining the Schools of Science and Art, the cost to be met either by public subscriptions or raised by a loan on the security of the borough rate. The member of the committee who moved it said that it was clearly their duty as representatives of the town to do something to improve the present condition of things by erecting buildings which would be worthy of the borough. It was estimated that the cost would be about £2,000, the site having already been given. It was most desirable that they should not mortgage the rates in that work, and he hoped the public would come forward and subscribe all that was needed. The library needed revision. Many of the books were in a worn out condition, and a large number of new books were needed. They wanted to get rid of a good deal of ridiculous trash which was now found on the shelves, and to supply the spaces with novels and other books of a strong, vigorous, and healthy tone. There was no narrow feeling among the members of the committee on that matter. They believed that the reading of healthy novels was conducive to good. Then there was the reference library, which was growing in importance and needed support. The desire was that generous donors would come forward with suitable books for that sectionPublic Libraries in the Midland Counties. 177 A considerable sum had already been raised towards the estimated expenditure. Mr. J. K. and Mr. Parkes Goodwin had each offered £100 towards the fund, and the borough member promised £200, the Mayor £100, Mr. Grosyenor £200, Messrs. Tomlinson and Adam £1,000, and promises of assistance had also been received from other inhabitants. The plans have been decided upon, and within reasonable time the new structure will be completed, and matters now look bright for the future. Leamington. Leamington presents another case where the summary of the monthly and the annual meeting of the committee are reported, as a rule, in the press. It is satisfactory to note that the daily attendance at the libraries and reading-rooms is becoming larger year by year. The public suffer great inconvenience for want of light, air, and space in all departments of the library. The reading-rooms are too small, and are for such numbers quite inadequately ventilated. The premises upon which the business of the lending library is carried on are too small, and occasion great inconvenience to the borrowing public. The room in which the reference library is situated is scarcely large enough at present, and there is insufficient shelving accommodation, and no room to erect more, it cannot be long before better provision for all these departments must be seriously considered by the Town Council, especially now that the borough is extended, which will give a larger income ; and when it is under discussion the hope may be expressed that they will see fit to provide a permanent home in which very ample space shall be allotted, together with abundance of light and air. One hundred pounds was spent for books. The average cost of the books for the lending section was 2s. 7^d. per volume. For the reference library some expensive books of reference were bought, and the cost per book reached 12s. A town councillor eulogized the last year’s work by saying that to speak upon the advantages of the Public Library would be an attempt to paint the lily or to gild refined gold. Town councillors in other districts might be frequently a little less sparing in their adjectives when the work of the local library is under discussion. Leek. Leek acted wisely, and has given the fullest scope of usefulness to its Nicholson Institute by adopting the Acts. This they did in November, 1887, at an enthusiastic statutory meeting, without a voice of dissent. The Nicholson Institute was the noble gift of a noble townsman of Leek, the late Joshua Nicholson, who spent some £30,000 on the building, furnishing and stocking it with books and works of art. The donor died in 1885, leaving behind a record of public usefulness and a stainless private life. The spirit in which he built and furnished that institution was forcibly, though modestly, set forth in some remarks which the founderi78 Public Libraries. made at the opening ceremony. He said—“ I have known what it is to struggle in life : I have known what privation is; but I have always recognized one grand fact, viz., that we ought not only to think of ourselves but to regard others, and I never knew a time when out of the smallest income I possessed I could not afford something for somebody else.” Prior to the adoption of the Acts some difficulties had arisen as to the obtaining of loans from South Kensington. These will go less and less to institutions which do not belong to the people under the Acts, and will ultimately be discontinued entirely. An intimation to this effect had reached the Nicholson Institute, and the Nicholson family, who as trustees for the founder were bearing the expenses of the institute for a stipulated term of years, co-operated with the Town Council and other leaders of public opinion for the bridging of this difficulty in a way which reflected the highest credit upon them. The spirit which pervaded the whole of the negotiations was excellent, and may well be copied in other districts which have at present libraries given by private individuals, but which are not yet under the Acts. The building is of an exceedingly appropriate design. Every point of detail has been carefully attended to, and Messrs. William Sugden and Son, the architects, of Leek, are to be congratulated on producing an artistic building with excellent internal arrangements. The work being accomplished by the institute is rapidly extending. For the convenience of those who wish to read the newest books soon after publication, a book club has been formed in connection with the library, for which a slight subscription is charged, and the committee have contributed a sum equal to the aggregate amount of members’ subscriptions. Four-fifths of the whole amount will be expended in new books, and the remainder go to a subscription to Mudie’s for the loan of new books that may be too expensive to buy, to be exchanged as often as required. The members of the club have the exclusive use of these books for twelve months, after which they will be added to the general library. Leicester. The work at Leicester is making distinct advances, and, after a trying experience extending over some years, the library seems to be again in the full enjoyment of a renewed and well-sustained public popularity. The central library has its quarters in a building which is well situated, but which from many points of view is not well suited for a Public Library in a large and important town like Leicester. It is an adapted building, and, like most altered buildings, it can never meet all the requirements of an ever-widening sphere of work. Leicester is one of the most progressive towns in the country, and in the course of a few years there is a reasonable hope that it will have as a chief library a building worthy of the town and of the work being done. So many new buildings have been erected of late years in thePublic Libraries in the Midland Counties. 179 immediate neighbourhood of the library for business purposes that the modest structure used as a library and reading-room looks somewhat insignificant in comparison with them. A public building which should be indicative of the intellectual life of the town, ought not to be placed in the shade by premises devoted to commercial purposes. The newsroom and lending department are on the ground floor, and the reference room is on the first floor. The ventilation of the latter is anything but good. For the lending department the books are all stocked on wall WESTCOTES BRANCH PUBLIC LIBRARY, LEICESTER. shelving, and this goes to a height of twenty to twenty-four feet! This absorbs a great amount of labour and time in finding the books, as well as being positively dangerous to the assistants who have to race up and down the ladders for the books. There can be no wonder that a serious accident should have occurred some time ago, when the ladder fell while an assistant was upon it, and who was so injured that he had to be taken to the hospital. The ladder in its fall struck another assistant on the head, causing a very serious wound. It is almost criminal to placei8o Public Libraries. the shelving so high as this in any Public Library. The books are destroyed more quickly by the heat and vitiated atmosphere, and only those who have had to do the work know what it means to go up even fifteen or sixteen feet in a room where the gas jets are all lighted, and which is full of people. Some of the Leicester borrowers have rushed into print and complained of the delay in being served. So far as the writer could see at the time of his visit there was no unreasonable delay, but if such had been the case there could be no wonder, considering the height from which some of the books had to be obtained. Leicester has two branches, and the latest of these, opened in March, 1889, is a model of what a small Public Library should be. The site was given by the Rev. Joseph Harris, owner of the estate. The building, of which the ground plan is given, is in the style of the Renaissance. It forms a prominent architectural feature of the neighbourhood, the front elevation being such as can hardly fail to arrest the attention and attract the admiration of visitors to the locality. It is built of brick, with white stone dressings, and over the main entrance is a low tower with spire. In planning the various rooms, care has been taken to make them easily accessible, economically managed, and abundantly lighted. The principal entrance is through a vestibule, which gives access to a spacious hall, out of which opens, facing the doorway, the lending department, with the newsroom on the left, a ladies’ room to the right, and the librarian’s room or reference department adjoining the lending library. These rooms are divided from the hall by glass partitions, and so arranged that the librarian at his desk can have supervision over them all, whilst it appears impossible for any one to enter or leave the building without passing his line of sight. The newsroom is 50 feet long by 24 feet wide. It has a lofty open ceiling, is splendidly lighted, and decorated in a manner which gives it a most cheerful and airy character. Newspaper stands are arranged round the walls, and there are large tables with racks in the middle for periodicals up the centre of the room. The lending library is in the centre. The other rooms are suitably furnished. The heating is by means of hot water, the ventilation has been particularly attended to, and there is every convenience and accommodation for visitors. The cost of the building was about £2,000, and for fittings £400. Both the Westcotes Branch Library and the catalogue may be taken as excellent models for small libraries. The librarian has placed a few pots of ferns about the rooms, and these give a prepossessing finish. The work being done at Leicester and its two branches is thoroughly useful, and the committee are justified in stating in their last report that it is the most satisfactory that has been issued during the twenty years which have elapsed since the library was opened. Mansfield. The question had been considered here for several years, and a statutory meeting on March 31, 1890, settled the question withPublic Libraries in the Midland Counties. 181 acclamation. The probable injury which might result to the Mechanics’ Institute was very fully discussed, but it is deserving of note that the members of that institution, as a body, would not oppose the project, but rather do what they could to carry it through successfully. A commendable local spirit displayed itself. Speakers urged that Mansfield had stood still long enough, and that this was one of those questions, the carrying through of which would prove that they were in the forefront of progress. At the time of writing the building that is to be used as the library is being altered. Newabk. The Gilstrap Library is very beautifully situated in the public gardens, with the ruins of the old castle forming a sort of back- ground to the library and grounds. The castle dates back to 1123, and its history is closely linked with that of this ancient town. It was visited by Cardinal Wolsey in 1530, and by James I. in 1603 when on his way to London to take possession of the English throne. Sir (then Mr.) William Gilstrap built this handsome library, and endowed it with an a-mount which produces £90 a year. The same ----ground floor plan— donor has very recently ■ ■ - • - given £1,000. The accommodation provided is on one floor, and consists of general, reference, and ladies’ reading-rooms, library, librarian’s room, &c. The public entrance is in the centre of the front towards Castle Gate, and gives access to a well-lighted hall, between which and the library are placed the library indicator and the borrowers’ counter, with the reading-rooms to the right and left. In arranging the several rooms care has been taken that each is well lighted, and so placed as to be easily supervised. The gift of the building in every way reflects the highest credit upon the donor. The stock of books is not yet large, but it is steadily growing. So beautiful a building should be thè home of a good stock of books. N ewc astle-undeb-Lyme. Events have moved slowly in the Newcastle of the Midlands. In 1884 the Acts were adopted, and the setting of them in opera-182 Public Libraries, tion was left very much in the background. The scheme which had to be dealt with was a large one, and this, no doubt, accounts for the delay. In October, 1890, the building was opened with great ceremony. The new buildings occupy an historical site in the vicinity of the birthplace of Major-General Thomas Harrison, to whom was committed the custody of Charles I. during the period immediately preceding his trial. Adopting a GILSTBAP PUBLIC LIBBABY, NEWABK. free treatment of the Renaissance, the architects have succeeded in obtaining a fine effect. On the ground floor are comprised a council chamber, a spacious library and reading-room, and a suite of rooms to be used as a school of science and art; while the upper floor is wholly set apart as a municipal hall, with the requisite appurtenances. The library department comprisesPublic Libraries in the Midland Counties. 183 library proper, or book stores, 24 feet by 40 feet, divided into 8 feet lengths by open iron galleries round the walls, connected by spiral iron staircases, thus dispensing entirely with ladders. The reference, reading, and general newsrooms are each 25 feet by 30 feet, approached by an ample corridor, and with the necessary conveniences. These rooms are divided by lofty glazed screens, which denote at all times the extent of the apartments in this NEWCASTLE (STAFF.) PUBLIC LIBRARY AND MUNICIPAL BUILDINGS. connection, whilst affording facilities for oversight. The reference room was opened for the first time in May, and the lending department was opened at the end of June, 1891. A few months ago a ball took place for the purpose of aiding the funds of the library, and a sum of over fifty pounds was realized. Tripping on the light fantastic toe to raise funds for the purchase of books is a novelty.184 Public Libraries. Northampton. The Acts were adopted in 1860. It was deemed advisable, however, owing to the small amount that the penny rate produced, only to open a museum at first. In 1876 the library belonging to the Mechanics’ Institute was handed over to the Town Council to form the nucleus of a Public Library, and at the same time the Taylor collection of books written by Northamptonshire authors was bought for the library. It shortly became evident that the rooms in which the library was housed were quite inadequate for the purposes of a reading-room and library. Part, therefore, of the old county gaol was purchased by the committee, and, after being reconstructed, the contents of the museum and library were transferred to their new home in 1884. In the following year the library of the Religions and Useful Knowledge Society was handed over, and a collection of Northamptonshire books, purchased by public subscription, was added to the reference department. In 1889 further necessary alterations were carried out, the result being a new wing containing the present lending and reference libraries, and which enabled the committee to report—“For the first time in its history, the committee are able to say that the library is in such a state that will justify some feelings of satisfaction.” The money required to furnish the new rooms was raised by an appeal to the public. Many books have been added during the last six years by means of the Markham Memorial Fund, a gift of £1,000 in 1885 by the late C. Markham, invested by him in the purchase of £1,050 debenture stock, the income to be devoted solely to the purchase of books. Mr. Alderman Gurney’s gift in 1889 of £100, also to be spent in books, came at an opportune moment. The committee trust that, now such an excellent start has been made, they will continue to receive support towards such an important institution. When the alterations last made in the building were under consideration, the question was raised by the committee as to whether the Town Council could not give some financial aid outside the penny rate. They issued, in 1889, a statement through the press, in which are several important features of interest in the present condition of this question. They stated that their income from the penny rate is about £720 a year. Then follows the information that they have no doubt that it was the intention of the framers of the Public Libraries Act that this penny rate should be simply a maintenance rate, and that the site, buildings, &c., for the Public Library should be provided by the municipal authorities. In support of this opinion, the following towns have given sites for the Public LibraryLiverpool, Nottingham, Swansea, Cardiff, Reading, Wolverhampton, Derby, and Southport. The Corporation of Hereford made a contribution of £1,500 towards the cost of their buildings. At Nottingham the Corporation gave the site for the library, and assumed the cost of erecting the building without any charge fallingPublic Libraries in the Midland Counties. 185 on the library rate. At Swansea also, in addition to giving the site, the Corporation have granted from their ordinary funds an increased yearly sum towards paying the interest on the capital borrowed for the erection of the building. The Corporation of Wigan also have granted £500 for printing the reference library catalogues. These are only a few instances of what has been done in other towns. The library committee, therefore, felt themselves quite justified in asking for further help from the finance committee of the Town Council. The members of the finance committee were very favourably disposed to do this, but the town clerk ruled, and also supported his ruling by some eminent authorities, that in Northampton, at any rate, whatever may be done in other towns, they could not have anything from the borough funds over and above the penny library rate, for the reason that they have no rents of property, or profits, or any income whatsoever, but what is bound to be used for the reduction of the rates. Still, feeling that although the ruling of the town clerk may be strictly according to the letter of the law, yet it is not according to the spirit of the Act, the committee relied upon the assistance of their fellow-townsmen to help them out of the difficulty, remembering that this difficulty is caused by the fact that in Northampton they had not only to provide for a Public Library and reading-room, besides making grants to the science and art schools, but also have had to pay for the buildings in Guildhall Road, the conversion of which froih a gaol into a museum, &c., cost £3,500. This entails upon the museum committee a heavy annual charge of some £245, thus taking away more than one-third of the total income, for the purpose of paying for, and maintaining in proper repair, buildings which are just as absolutely belonging to the Corporation as the town hall, the police station, or any other public building. This only leaves them the sum of £470. Out of this again gas and water cost £44, so that to maintain the library, museum, and help the science and art schools for a town of over 60,000 inhabitants, they have about £440. The difficulties in Northampton are illustrative of the difficulties which are being experienced elsewhere, and hence the reason for going rather fully into them. It is not unreasonable to expect that town councils and other governing bodies should, without taxing the penny rate, do more in the providing of sites and buildings than is at present the case. This is a matter of serious importance to the future of Public Library work, and one to which municipalities will have to devote in the future considerable attention. The unwisdom of adapting buildings, except in very special instances, is shown in what has resulted at Northampton. The buildings are now better suited than before for the library and museum, but it is safe to predict that the town will require within ten years an entirely new building specially erected for the purpose. At the present rate of progress in the work of these institutions this is placing the inevitable at a later date than will probably be sustained by events. There is life and expansion in the public use made of the library and museum, andPublic Libraries. 186 a bold scheme and public spirit, encouraged by a few generous gifts, would have enabled the council and committee to erect premises which would have met all the requirements for the next twenty years. The selection of books is admirable. Librarians often make interesting discoveries when on bookhunting expeditions, and many individual libraries have benefited by the acute sight and practical experience of the librarian in knowing the value of old books and pamphlets. At a book sale a year or two ago Mr. Quaritch purchased a tract sent for sale by the committee of the Northampton Public Library. The description was given as follows:—“ Hamor (Raphe), A True Discourse of the Present Estate of Virginia, and the Successe of the Affaires there till the 18th of June 1614: together with a relation of the several English Townes and Forts, etc. The Christening of Powhatan’s daughter and her marriage with an Englishman. Hf.-bd. fine and perfect copy, very rare sm. 4to, Lond. John Beale for William Welby 1615.” This tract was found by Mr. George, the librarian, between the pages of another book. As will be seen from the description, it was of little interest to Northampton, and the committee are to be congratulated on receiving so handsome a sum as £33 10s. for it, which was spent in new books. Earl Spencer is one of the burgess members of the committee. North wich. The library here has four years’ existence behind it, and the library and museum grow in favour each succeeding year, with old and young. An interesting half-page of the report is devoted to a statement of the number of times that certain works have been issued since the opening of the library to the middle of 1890. As a similar item of information is not given in many reports, the issue of these one-volume books of well-known literature for four years is quoted:— Swinburne, A. C., “ Poems and Ballads,” 9 ; Forster, J., “ Life of Charles Dickens,” 18; Macaulay, Lord, “History of England,” 20; Proctor, R.A., “Other Worlds than Ours,” 32 ; Shakespeare, W., Works of, 32; Handel, “Messiah,” 32; Darwin, 0., “ Origin of Species,” 36 ; Aikin, L., “ Court of Elizabeth,” 41 ; Ward, T., “ Pamphlets on Salt,” 41; Byron, Lord, “Poetical Works,” 64; Drummond, H., “Natural Law in the Spiritual World,” 65 ; Brassey, Lady, “Voyage in the Sunbeam,” 70; Farrar, F. W., “Life of Christ,” 72; Tennyson, Lord, “Poetical Works,” 72 ; Mitchell, J., “ History of Ireland,” 74 ; Reed, T., “Engineers’ Handbook,” 77; Stanley, H. M., “How I Found Livingstone,” 79; Beethoven, “Sonatas,” 86; Lyall, E., “Donovan,” 104; Francis, F., “Book on Angling,” 105; Gilbert and Sullivan, “The Mikado,” 110; Ainsworth, W. H., “Tower of London,” 118 ; Haggard, H. R., “She,” 123; Besant, W., “Dorothy Forster,” 154; Collins, W., “Woman in White,” 159; Reade, C., “Foul Play,” 165 ; Yonge, C., “Heir of Redclyffe,” 177; Wood, Mrs. H., “East Lynne,” 182. The museum is now free to visitors, and the displaying of soPublic Libraries in the Midland Counties. 187 many specimens of salt in the museum has formed a particularly interesting incident in the historical record of the town. The number of persons who visit the museum is evidence of the interest taken in the specimens of salt collected from all the known salt fields of Great Britain, America, and India, and in the large number of books and pamphlets dealing with salt from the earliest ages down to the present day, which have been collected and placed in the museum for the convenience and instruction of visitors. Nottingham. There is an old adage that the water is not missed until the well runs dry; and the people of Nottingham never seemed to miss their central library so much as during the time it was closed. Owing to structural defects and a settlement in the building, it was found necessary to close the library to the public during eighteen months, and turn it over to the builders. This gave rise, in a few distant towns, to a strange rumour. In December, 1889, and just prior to a meeting of the St. Leonards Town Council, a representative of one of the wards started the report that the Nottingham and Clerkenwell Libraries had been closed by the wish of the people. The gentleman who was to bring the question forward wired to the writer to know if this was true or not. This is only one sample of the many methods adopted by those who oppose the Acts. No statement about these institutions could have been further from the truth. It is no unusual thing to hear in Nottingham that the people would rather be without the post office than dispense with their Public Libraries, for in no town is the work healthier and more vigorous. There was great rejoicing when on New Year’s day, 1890, the building was again thrown open to the public, and the re-opening ceremony was of a very pleasing character. So many library and museum buildings are being erected in different parts of the country that a few particulars of the mishap at Nottingham may serve as a guide to what to avoid in other places. About fifteen years since the Town Council received an offer from an anonymous donor of £10,000 if they would erect buildings for educational purposes. It was determined by the Town Council to spend £40,000 in putting up the buildings. Eleven firms sent in tenders for the erection of the buildings. Nine were local contractors. Two tenders were from firms not associated with Nottingham, and one was from Swansea. The lowest tender amounted to £41,500, and the highest was £51,920. A sum of £10,000 would, of course, make all the difference between good material and bad material, and properly paid labour and poorly paid labour. In 1877 the plans were sent in, and the appointed builder, whose estimate was the lowest, proceeded until June, 1881, when the buildings were supposed to be completed, and were opened by the Duke of Albany in June in that year. They had good ground for believing that they were in possession of a substantial building, but it turned out,i88 Public Libraries. after two years had expired, that there were very grave signs of decay and defect in the buildings, and before 1883 the committee of the Corporation appointed a special committee to inquire into the defects of the buildings. That committee asked the surveyor to look into the matter and report upon what defects he observed. He gave some very startling statements, seeing that the buildings had been completed only two years. In one of his paragraphs he said, “ Corbels in library and museum. Signs of fracture were visible in the plaster and brickwork under the corbels at the north and south ends of the recess in the public library and museum, and the corbels showed that they were by some means being tilted forward, and the whole superincumbent weight wasPublic Libraries in the Midland Counties. 189 brought on to the toes of the corbels, thus causing fracture to the walls.” In another place he said, “ A departure from the specification was made in the case of nearly all the corbels, as the bed, instead of being three feet six inches, as specified, ranges from two feet four inches to two feet ten inches.” The committee who had charge of that building found that, instead of serving the people with literature they had to serve bricks and mortar, and for a long time they expended their resources, as far as they possibly dare, in remedying these defects, until at last they went to the Town Council and stated that the building was in such a dangerous condition that they could no longer grapple with it. At the time that the building was closed it was positively unsafe. The beams across the ceiling, which was supposed to hold up the floor above, were rotten, and if they had attempted to carry on much longer the roof would have fallen in and the walls gone out, and they would have had an enormous expense to meet. If they had put a few thousands more into the building at the time it was erected they would have been saved the disgrace they had incurred by putting up a building of that kind, and also closing the place for eighteen months, and so excluding the people of the town from the benefits of the institution. The moral is that the lowest tender is not by any means the most likely to give good work, and, as a further lesson, every care should be taken to see that no part of the work is scamped. The educational work being, carried on by the Nottingham Libraries is of so solid and real a nature that it may challenge comparison with the work of any other town of a corresponding size, both in this country and in America. Not only with regard to the library, but in other departments, Nottingham is rapidly becoming one of the most attractive educational centres in the entire country. University College, the name given to this large group of buildings, is, for its various organizations, the brightest gem in all the public buildings which Nottingham contains. Here under one roof are the libraries, natural history museum, literary and scientific class-rooms, and the technical schools, with laboratories and lecture theatres, while in a building, now in course of erection, adjoining the museum are the trade schools, where engineering, carpentering, and other trades can be learned. In no town in the country is the sense of the duties and privileges of citizenship more acutely felt than in the capital of the lace trade, and this is largely owing to the important place which University College, with its vast ramifications of work, occupies in the municipal life of the people. Nottingham may well be proud of these institutions, and of the universal interest which the citizens show in them. It is impossible to visit the central library or any of the branches and not feel convinced that the entire work is pregnant with far-reaching utility. If Nottingham originally missed its way in the plans and erection of the building it has not in its work. ' So many applications for a record of the work being done are reaching libraries from centres where the Acts have not yet beenPublic Libraries. 190 adopted, that there has been for several years past a card printed, for placing in envelopes, a brief epitome of the working of the central library and its branches. A copy of this card is given below. It records the work from March 26,1890, to March 31,1891. 1 Volumes. Issues. Daily- Average Issues. Attendances. Daily- Average Attendance. Central Lending Library ... 26,369 24,524^ 213,407 688 619,733 1,999 Reference Library New Basford Lending 47,892 154 148,171 477 Library 5,433 28,809 97 70,224 226 Bulwell Lending Library ... Children’s ,, ,, 3,358 12,619 84 50,000 161 3,525 27,972 93 27,972 93 Lenton ,, ,, Sneinton Reading Room ... Mayfield Grove Reading 2,099 15,430 85 105,440 352 794 16,308 55 157,684 529 Room Dame Agnes Street Reading 595 6,295 21 94,546 313 Room 470 24,361 79 137,828 445 Old Basford Reading Room 499 1,770 5 40,849 131 Hyson Green ,, ,, 707 25,375 83 200,976 659 Carrington ,, ,, Popham Street (opened Oct., 360 11,457 37 102,350 330 1890) Reading Room 425 2,104 14 35,067 246 Totals 69,158 433,805 1,495 1,790,840 5,961 The children’s library is excellent in every way. The books are all carefully selected to suit the requirements of the juveniles, and they are located in very convenient quarters close to the central institution. This library was founded in 1882 through the liberality of the late Samuel Morley, M.P. Its position was originally unique, but the example has since been followed in more or less detail in various parts of the kingdom, since the reading of a paper by Mr. Briscoe, the librarian, on “ Libraries for the Young,” at the Library Association meeting at Plymouth. This library is open from four to eight p.m. daily, and when the present writer arrived there shortly after the hour of opening he found the librarian (a lady) besieged by a number of eager boys and girls, who, with clean faces and clean hands (two qualifications insisted upon), were bent on securing volumes to take home to read. Only two books in seven days are allowed to the children, so that they may not be tempted to neglect their home lessons. Seven is the minimum age, and the children proudly designate it as “ our library.” About 2,000 children make use of this library. Some interesting pictures are hung on the walls. The penny catalogue of the children’s lending library may well be taken as a guide for other places in forming a juvenile section. The referencePublic Libraries in the Midland Counties. 191 library class lists published at a penny up to sixpence are models of what such class lists should be. Section D, which gives the literature on sociology in the reference library, is particularly complete. The subjects are classed under commerce, education, emigration and colonial affairs, jurisprudence and law, political economy and finance, politics, public health, social movements, sociology (general), and statistics. In the entries of the books giving speeches, a complete synopsis of the subjects of the speeches is given. Music and the special literature for the blind, and the Notts Collection are departments in which the Nottingham Library are particularly strong. In the former section the Nottingham Collection comprises 250 volumes, of which more than one-half are constantly in the hands of borrowers. These collections of books of music consist of anthems, ballads, fugues, glees, masses, operas, songs, and symphonies, and are not of an expensive character. The Nottingham Collection, which was carefully formed, was chiefly made up of Boosey’s and Novello’s octavo editions, and some of the publications of Augener, Chappell, Cramer, and Metzler. These books of music were obtained in the cheapest form. Before circulation, and after careful consideration, they were newly bound in a style peculiarly suitable for music, and being half-bound in hog-skin, are made as lasting as binding can make them. The nucleus of the Nottingham Collection of 550 volumes cost, including substantial binding, about £125, or an average of 4s. 6d. per volume. This may be taken as a basis for other collections. In order to facilitate the formation of such, the names of publishers are indicated in the list of music in the fourth supplementary catalogue of the Nottingham Public Central Lending Library. This large town is well supplied with public reading-rooms, and they are well used, as the record of work shows. Petebbobough. This is the second adoption of the Acts in Northamptonshire; and when in March, 1891, the poll was taken, the result stood, “ Yes/’ 2,258; “No,” 1,131; majority in favour, 1,127. The question was ably championed, and especial praise is due to the Peterborough “ Advertiser,” “ Standard,” and the “ Express ” for the powerful advocacy which they gave the question. Here, as at other places, a threat had been made by some of the compound landlords, that if the Acts were adopted they would advance the rents of their houses. Seven years previously the question had come to a vote and the promoters were defeated. But, said the “ Express,” in a leader on the eve of the poll in March last, the question was not so well understood as it is now. “ It is true,” says a paragraph in this editorial, “some wild rumours about threatened increases in rents of working men’s houses, but we cannot think that any compounding houseowner can have dreamt of anything of the kind. The Library rate will amount to but half a farthing per iveek—four weeks to a halfpenny—upon a house paying four shillings per week. How can a landlord increase rents by a half-ig2 Public Libraries. penny per month P Any landlord who mentions raising rents should at once be asked by the tenants why nothing has been said about the seven or eight shillings per house which landlords have saved every year by the reduction in rates during the last two or three years.” As an illustration of some of the vagaries of popular voting on this question it may be stated that one well-known resident said neither yes nor no, but wrote “ neutral.” Of course the vote was not counted. Several of those opposed to it threw considerable emphasis into their vote by writing “ No, no, no.” On the other hand, some voters in favour of the library endeavoured to throw a little of their own enthusiasm into the vote by writing “certainly” after the word “yes.” Some printed a big “No,” so that it occupied almost the whole of the blank space. The signatures, too, were rather curious in several instances. There was no doubt that in a number of cases the wives had filled in the paper for their husbands, and had then signed the paper with their own Christian names. As these signatures were not the signatures of the voters, and as there was no guarantee that the voter had given his authority to the wife, the votes, whether they were yes or no,were rejected. Some signed no Christian name, but merely put the word “ Mr.” or “ Mrs.” before their surnames, as “ Mr. Jones ” and “ Mrs. Robinson.” Several, who no doubt intended to write “No,” had written “Now.” The question cropped up as to whether this was meant to be an affirmative answer, and that the voter was in a hurry for the library, or whether it was a misspelt negative. It was, however, agreed in most cases where it occurred that it was intended to be a negative vote, and was so allowed. One voter voted conditionally, writing in the space “Yes, so long as the rate does not exceed one penny.” This was accepted as a genuine vote. Another mar ked his paper “ No, the rates are to (sic) heavy now.” This was allowed as a negative vote. Almost all the voting papers that were spoilt were rejected chiefly on the ground of not being signed. The name of the voter was on the back of the paper, but that did not guarantee that he had himself filled it in, and, therefore, all the unsigned papers were rejected. Considering the large number who voted the spoilt papers were very few, and if they had been counted they would not have affected the result in the least. Several meetings were held and everything was done to educate the town. At these, Dr. T. J. Walker, Alderman Thompson, Mr. D. Glenn, who acted as secretary to the movement, Mr. Briscoe, and others took part. A site has been selected. Potteries. The pottery towns have quite a cluster of libraries. At Hanley in 1864 there was an attempt to carry the Acts, but the people gave a very emphatic “ No,” and the question lay dormant until 1882. In the following year a memorial bearing 3,000 signatures was presented to the Mayor, requesting him to call a public meeting to discuss the question of the adoption of the Acts. This was not the statutory meeting, for this did not follow until the middle ofPublic Libraries in the Midland Counties. 193 1884. Nearly £2,000 in subscriptions were promised in advance, and by an overwhelming majority in favour the question was settled. An effort was soon afterwards made to arrange with the trustees and committee of the mechanics’ institution and governors of the working men’s reading-room for the use of the library and reading-room—in fact, for the transference of the same to the library committee. The opposition was sufficient for the time to prevent even an approach to an arrangement, and it soon became necessary to incur a considerable expenditure in adapting the old borough offices to the purposes of a library, a process which was found an extremely tedious one. Accommodation has been provided for a lending department, a reference reading-room, and a small reading-room has been set apart for ladies, while provision is also made for a museum. In April, 1887, the building was opened by the late Earl Granville. In connection with the science classes the chemical laboratory has been completely fitted without encroaching on the penny rate, and it is now the best appointed room of the kind in the district, and places the chemical classes at the institution in the front rank as a centre for imparting instruction in chemistry. It is fitted up so that thirty students can work in it at the same time, and students are accommodated in all stages, from elementary to honours. The provision of a counter case to contain the new additions has aided materially to create a demand for the higher classes of literature. Longton was not content to be left out in the cold, as it was the only one of the pottery towns that had not adopted the Acts. In May, 1891, a meeting was held, with the mayor in the chair, who made a good speech. He remarked that they had in Longton natural advantages which no other town in the district possessed. They had a most beautiful rural district, and in the question of a park they were ahead of other towns. They had baths and washhouses which none could excel, and they had every institution which could compare with those of any other town in the neighbourhood. But they were behind some towns in education, not because they were short of schools, but because they had no Library or School of Art. They had the offer of a building, and by accepting that offer of the Athenaeum, they would be taking over something like three thousand books, some five hundred of which, if they were too ancient, might be eliminated and replaced by a thousand more. This might be made to answer the purpose until they had the new Municipal Buildings, which would afford them an opportunity of having a Library, School of Art, and a Central Technical Education School. If there were no crimes, they would not want so many prisons and police, and ignorance was a frightful source of crime. Besides that, they should think that the educated nation was the most powerful nation; and it was the reading nation that became the manufacturing nation, and one of invention. Shortly after this meeting the vote was taken, and the Acts were carried. Striking proofs of the progress which the Stoke Free Library 13i94 Public Libraries. has made since its establishment in 1878 are given in the annual report issued in May last. The 3,000 volumes transferred from the old Athenaeum, with which a start was made about a dozen years ago, have been gradually added to until now a respectable total has been reached. It is encouraging to find that 381 new borrowers’ cards have been issued during the twelve months. This is far above the average number, and shows that the library is becoming year by year more widely appreciated. The new borrowers, too, belong chiefly to the working classes. The foundation-stone of the Tuns tall permanent building was laid in May, 1889. The library and reading-room are upon the ground floor of the new town offices in the principal front. The school of art rooms are on the next floor, and the science class rooms at the top. The formal opening of the Victoria Institute will be in September. Rugby. Rugby was the last place where the Acts were adopted by statutory meeting prior to the passing of the Amendment Act of August 18, 1890, which abolished the settlement of the question by show of hands. At the statutory meeting held on June 30, some convincing speeches were made by the chairman of the Local Board, Dr. Percival, head-master of Rugby School; Mr. Robert Over, Mr. J. W. Kenning, and others. The offer of a generous townsman, Mr. R. H. Wood, J.P., brought the question prominently forward. Mr. Wood, having made noble provision for the bodily needs of the town by the gift of a magnificent hospital, which he endowed with £10,000, thought that he could not better serve his town than by a gift of a Public Library, and his offer was of a commodious four-storey building, 2,000 square yards of land, and £100 towards the cost of altering the building, if the town would adopt the Acts. At a former date an attempt had been made to carry the Acts, but without success. In addition to the offer just named the Rugby Institute, which had been in existence some forty years, dissolved, and the whole of the books, amounting to some 2,000 volumes, and worth about £400, together with the bookcases, were offered towards the library. For the necessary alterations in the building the Local Board obtained permission to borrow £400. These alterations were expeditiously completed, and early in February, 1891, the building was opened to the public amidst the popular rejoicing of the entire town. Dr. Percival said that the present generation was marked by the growth of the desire in the minds of most persons to do good service to those amongst whom they lived, and especially to the poorer amongst them. It was very striking and gratifying to see how different a spirit had taken possession of their younger people in this respect as compared with thirty or forty years ago, and how far more common was the feeling that they had a duty and a service to others to perform. That spirit was just what was represented in the occasion which had brought them together that day. The gift of a library to a community like theirs was anPublic Libraries in the Midland Counties. 195 inestimable gift. A place where the poorest as well as the richest might gather and study all that was best of past times was of incalculable value, and there was no form of liberty and equality to be compared with that which made all that was best of the past accessible to every one of them, whether they lived in cottage or palace. We were becoming more and more a reading people, and happily the popular books of the country were for the most part of a thoroughly wholesome kind, so that they could throw the library open without fear, and with the best hopes as to the influence which it would exercise. Rugby is now turning its attention to possessing a museum which may be built on the spare ground given by Mr. Wood. The use of the library is steadily growing, and the town means to show good work. Runcorn and Winseord (Cheshire). Runcorn was the first of the group of small towns in Cheshire which adopted the Acts. This they did eight years ago, and WINSEORD PUBLIC LIBRARY. the example has proved contagious, seeing that six places very near Runcorn have within the last two years followed suit. Cheshire and Lancashire had each had six adoptions of the Acts in three years, so both counties have contributed their share to the progress of the movement. The subscriptions from nonresidents only reach 12s., so this is not an important section, and if people outside the area of the rate really wish to avail themselves of the library they would do so to a larger extent than this. The working people use the place well. Winsford makes its living out of salt, and it has now a littlePublic Libraries. 196 seasoning in its local life. The manufacturers upon whom the rate falls heaviest came up well. Mr. Brunner, M.P., gave £500, and there were other gifts, amounting to nearly a thousand pounds and 3,000 books. The library was opened at the end of 1888 free of debt. This is a pretty little building, and cost £960. The design is of old English character with modern work. The front is of terra-cotta, worked with side mouldings and cornice. For downright enthusiasm over the adoption of the Acts, getting out plans, erecting and throwing open their building, Winsford would take a medal. In April, 1887, the Acts were adopted, and by the end of the following year the new building was opened to the public. There are scores of places with about ten thousand people, and a rate which w'ould produce the same as at Winsford. These districts could not do better than take the Winsford plan and building all through. Through the front door is a vestibule some 6 feet wide, with inner swing door, and nicely designed panels of cathedral and tinted glasses. Then there is a second vestibule, as it were, from which are the entrances to the main room and to the side rooms for the librarian and the reference reading-room. These side rooms are about 15 feet by 13 feet, with a window at the front. Through the main building is a room 31 feet by 41 feet, whilst the building is 12 feet 6 inches high to the eaves, and about 26 feet to the lantern. The librarian’s counter is along the left hand side, and extending nearly the full length of the building, the book presses being behind this. On the opposite side of the room is the newspaper stand, with the titles of the papersPublic Libraries in the Midland Counties. 197 —the reading tables being in the body of the hall. The light in the daytime is derived from a lantern, which runs along the full extent of the roof of the main building, the lights having ornamental arches, and being altogether 6 feet high. The inside woodwork is painted green and pink, relieved by maroon, whilst the roof timbers are simply lightly stained and varnished. Passing out SALE PUBLIC LIBRARY. of this room is the art class room, 31 feet by 17 feet, with a separate entrance. The floors throughout are composed of wooden bricks so as to reduce the noise to a minimum, and the whole building is upon massive pitch-pine logs, so that if subsidence should unfortunately find its way to this portion of the district, it can be more easily dealt with. Sale. Sale, a suburb of Manchester, opened its Public Library in March, 1891. The building has been erected and furnished at a cost of £1,800, the whole of which was raised by public sub-Public Libraries, 198 scription. The building is in the old English half-timbered style of architecture, so prominent in Cheshire. The lower portion is faced with red Ruabon bricks with Rainhill stone dressings, and the roof covered with red and green Penrhyn slates. Entering by the main entrance, a large vestibule is at once reached, with double folding doors to the right and left, that to the left giving access to the reading and newsroom, and that to the right to the library and borrowing departments. The newsroom is fitted up with tables and newspaper stands for about 60 readers, and the library will have shelving capable of holding 15,000 volumes. Adjacent to the library and reading-room is the librarian’s room, enclosed within an ornamental glazed screen. By this arrangement the librarian will have full control of the whole floor, either from his place behind the counter, or from his private room. By means of private stairs he also has direct access to both the first floor and cellars without going outside the counter. The bookshelves and reading tables are placed at right angles to the windows, so that the light will have full play down all aisles and to all readers alike. From the vestibule and wide staircase leads to the upstairs rooms, which comprise reference libraries. Ample cellarage has been provided for stores, packing and unpacking books, &c. The whole of the building is heated with hot water pipes, having ornamental radiators on what is known as the low pressure system. The ventilation is excellent, fresh air being admitted by inlet pipes, and the foul air extracted by two large ventilating cowls on the roof. The interior of the building is suitably decorated, the woodwork being stained and varnished, and the walls painted. A pleasing effect is also produced by the ornamental lead lights in the windows. Shrewsbury. Shrewsbury has not made much noise with its library. The references to it in the local press are not numerous. The Acts were adopted in 1882, and the library was opened in 1885. The building, which comprises library and museum, is admirably adapted for the purpose. The sum of £2,000 was obtained on loan from the Treasury, and this is rather a burden upon the rate. For the population the number of books is small. A glance at the returns and particulars will show that there are towns with a smaller income which have a larger stock of books, and a very much larger turnover. The difficulty of maintaining two institutions, a library and a museum, on a penny rate is perfectly clear, and a penny for each should be permitted where there are twin institutions. The museum is in the hands of honorary curators, who take a very active interest in its work. It is visited daily by a large number of people. This is the only instance in the county of the adoption of the Acts up to the present time, and it would be cheering and encouraging to see it in every way a success. Shrewsbury has such a good record behind it of earnest municipal life, that the lack of public interest in its library and museum inPublic Libraries in the Midland Counties. 199 these educational days should not be continued. In such a wealthy town there should be no difficulty about clearing off the remaining debt, and so lift the incubus from the rate. It augurs well for new vigour being infused into the work, when it is seen that within three months and up to the end of February, 1890, of the debt of £2,000 as much as £1,600 had been promised in donations, and the promises of annual subscriptions reached £50. Several methods have been adopted for augmenting this fund, but few of them have been more pleasing than that employed by Mrs. G. B. Lloyd. This lady conceived the idea of giving a concert in support of the library, and so ably was the idea carried out that a fashionable audience filled the Shrewsbury Music Hall, and were entertained with vocal and instrumental music of the most charming description. The proceeds of this concert produced about £30. The press can very materially aid the work in Shrewsbury, and its help should at once be secured. An enhanced public interest would be sure to follow. Smethwick and West Bbomwich. The Smethwick committee report having purchased property for a new branch reading-room, and hope soon to be able to meet a long felt want of better accommodation in the locality where it is situated. The report gives a list of the books added during the year. This is an improvement on any extension in the number of statistics usually given in annual reports. Smethwick with its chief library and two branch reading-rooms is getting value from its penny rate. The sixpenny catalogue runs to over 200 pages, and is bound in stiff covers. The library is strong in Buskin’s and B. A. Proctor’s books. The West Bromwich committee had under consideration in February, 1891, a scheme of enlargement which has met with much unanimity. It is proposed to re-construct the present building completely, and make an extensive enlargement on the land at the rear of the reading-room at a cost of £1,000. For a long time the present buildings have been inadequate to the requirements of a growing population. The committee, in recommending the outlay, which will not involve more than £50 a year on the rates, are inspired by a wish to keep this popular institution in an efficient state. Tipton. In 1883 the Acts were adopted, and nothing seems to have been done to put the Acts in operation until 1890. Why there should have been this delay is not by any means clear, and it is not improbable that the remarks made in the last edition of this work may have had something to do in rousing up the authorities in this matter. The Hon. P. Stanhope, M.P., performed a very interesting ceremony in December, 1890, when he opened two reading-rooms. In opening the first of these he said that the money raised from the rate was not much to provide for the200 Public Libraries. different rooms, but he hoped that other means would be found to supplement the efforts of the Board. There were many ways of doing this, and he believed that if they went the right way to work they would find that there were a great many of the inhabitants of Tipton who would give them substantial support in the way of donations. He would go further and say that outside Tipton there were rich people who, having heard of the somewhat melancholy conditions under which the population of Tipton existed, would also be anxious to extend a helping hand to that noble enterprise. He trusted that the shelves would ,’soon contain volumes that would instruct and interest the people who frequented those rooms. He would be glad to give some little impetus to a fund of this character by subscribing the sum of one hundred guineas. Having started the movement, he hoped to see books purchased which would help the toiling artisan of Tipton to improve his skill as a workman, as well as books to amuse and interest him when weary. Walsall. Walsall is fortunate. The profits on the local gasworks, the property of the Corporation, pay their School Board rate. The town is comparatively lightly taxed, and the people are willing to pay more than the penny rate for their Public Library, but at the penny they must remain until they get their Local Improvement Bill passed. Several new branch reading-rooms have been opened since the issue of the last edition of this work. One of the local newspapers recently put the matter of additional expenditure on behalf of the libraries very pithily, and there is reason to think that it expressed the views of a large number of the people. The paragraph in question stated:—By express restrictions of the statute the Public Library committee can take no more out of the borough rate for Public Library purposes than Id. in the £ per annum. This has always seemed to us an arbitrary, an injurious, and an unnecessary limitation. So far as we know there is no restriction put upon the council in the matter of its ordinary expenditure for purposes sanctioned by law, excepting the expenditure incurred for the specific objects of the Public Libraries’ Acts. It may be that books and newspapers were, thirty years ago, looked upon as luxuries to be taken in moderation. But books and newspapers are now a necessity of our daily life, and a librarian holds a much higher position in public estimation than a butcher or a cook, both of whose callings are legitimate and honourable. But as in all that relates to local taxation the people are self-taxed, no pecuniary burdens being imposed from without, there is no .reason why the limitation to the spending powers of a Public Library committee, or of a Town Council for Public Library purposes, should not cease. There is a consensus of opinion in Walsall that no institution in the town is of greater benefit to the public than the library and newsroom, and that benefit is most quietly and unobtrusively conferred and as quietly enjoyed. The thirty-second report exhibits distinct progress.Public Libraries in the Midland Counties. 201 Wednesbury. Wednesbury has felt for some time the pinch somewhat of a limited income. An annual flower show has been started to raise an additional income, and the last donation from this floral and horticultural society was £20, which was spent in books. The plan is deserving of imitation. A subscription library was started about eighteen months ago. The principle on which it is conducted is that after two years the books are handed over to the shelves of the Public Library, in return for which the subscription library gets a home provided for it within the walls of the public one. Perhaps all librarians would not be willing to add to their labours in this way, but that it can be made worth their while is shown by the fact that the Subscription Library committee could afford to offer their secretary a small honorarium for his pains. There are forty-three subscribers to this section. In April, 1891, a much needed and greatly appreciated gift came to the library in the form of a cheque for £500 from Messrs. James Russell & Sons, of the Crown Tube Works, who are large employers of labour in the town. It is a double pleasure to record a gift like this. Wr OLVERHAMPTON. In every social movement, Wolverhampton exhibits a determination to keep abreast of the times. A reasonable hope may be expressed that before many years have passed the town will have a handsome new building adapted to the growing requirements of the library. The call upon the newsrooms is especially heavy, and frequently there is not a vacant chair. The reading tables were specially designed by the librarian. These are about 8 feet long, with sloping tops, and on these the periodical is fixed by means of a brass rod running down the middle of the publication, and preventing the reader from removing it. A ridge of woodwork at the top of the table has painted on it the name of the periodical. This keeps the whole room orderly, and the effect of seeing these long tables filled by readers from end to end is very striking. This particular form of table does no doubt prevent the reader from flitting from paper to paper, but is perhaps a little trying where the sight is not particularly good. Of the last thousand new borrowers the ages were distributed as follows:—From fourteen to twenty, 466; from twenty-one to fifty, 413; over fifty, 37 ; ages not given, 84. Three hundred of these new borrowers were mechanics and artisans. Two special features of the work at Wolverhampton are the lectures and the evening classes. The library has well established its position as a centre of evening educational work. Its classes form a continuation school, and the comprehensive character of the educational programme of each winter has well earned for it the designation of the People’s College. These classes grow in popularity with each succeeding winter, and the work accomplished is of a very satisfactory character. The Saturday evening concerts in connection with the library202 Public Libraries. are becoming quite an institution. A nominal charge is made for admission, and both the vocal and instrumental music is usually of a high order. Six hundred is an average attendance at them. The series of Gilchrist science lectures have been very successful. Lord Wrottesley, in presiding at a lecture by Professor Miall, “ On the Life History of the Earth,” said he hoped he would be permitted, as an outsider, to refer for a moment to the Public Library of the town. Very many had watched with much interest the great progress and development which that institution had made, and he ventured to think the audience present would, if appealed to, by an overwhelming majority give their testimony as to the value which they had received from it. He thought the committee of the library had increased their claim upon their gratitude for identifying themselves with the important educational treats they had afforded through the course of lectures now in progress. No wonder that the work at Wolverhampton should have caught hold of the people, percolating as it does into their social and educational life to so large an extent. The Improvement Bill about which there was so much discussion in Wolverhampton, and of which such a handle was made in some towns against the adoption of the Public Libraries Acts, referred chiefly to the Municipal School of Art and Art Gallery. Pictures to the value of £20,000 were bequeathed to the town, and it was to provide a suitable building for these that an additional rate was found necessary. A penny is still levied for library purposes, and an extra halfpenny, under the Improvement Act for the art gallery. Unfortunately there are many who object to all rates on principle, and who, when a library rate is proposed, pour out the vials of their wrath upon the proposal, and frequently the most untruthful statements are made by these opponents. Worcester. The work here has long been cribbed, cabined, and confined. But after much discussion and very careful consideration of plans the committee are erecting a building to accommodate the library, museum, art gallery, and schools of art and science. The whole of these institutions will be under the control and management of the Public Library committee, and supported under the Libraries and Technical Instruction Acts. There can be no doubt that such a combination of educational institutions will be of the greatest possible benefit to the city, and the Town Council of Worcester have acted wisely in deciding to carry out such a scheme. The new building is to be called the Victoria Institute, and is to cost about £23,000. At the meeting in May, 1891, it was reported that the architect had sent in a revised plan of one elevation. The discussions over the competing plans of so large and important a building have, of course, been long and numerous. Praise is due to the committee, the Town Council, and the citizens generally, for the spirited and unanimous wTay in which they havePublic Libraries in the Eastern Counties. 203 taken up this question of a new and greatly needed building. Worcester will have, when the Victoria Institute is completed, a handsome continuation school for the use of the entire population. In all something like £10,000 has been contributed by public subscription. Worcester bids fair to surpass everything which has yet been done in the West of England and most of the Midland counties, and its action in this respect should be an incentive to Bristol, Plymouth, and Wolverhampton to see whether a similar scheme is not possible for each of these places. The local press at Worcester deserve praise for the aid given in their columns to the movement. CHAPTER XI. Public Libraries in the Eastern Counties. The work is developing but very slowly in the Eastern Counties. Lincoln has not a single Public Library in its whole extent. ,Norfolk has two only. Suffolk two, Essex three. The other counties, included in these brief notices under this chapter for the sake of simplification, are Surrey, Kent, Sussex, Hampshire, and Berkshire. In Kent and Surrey, in particular, the movement makes but very slow progress, and there is a considerable amount of work to be done before these counties are won over to the movement. Two new adoptions of the Acts are to be recorded. Barking (Essex). Barking has the distinguished honour of being the first place in Essex to adopt the Acts. At the end of 1888, by a majority of four to one, and by means of voting papers, the question was settled. There were many earnest workers, and the great success in securing the adoption was owing to the excellent organization. The town was divided into districts and actively canvassed. Hence the reason why more than the average number of ratepayers voted. In March, 1889, a temporary reading-room, comfortably fitted up and furnished, was opened, and has been open on all week days from ten a.m. to eleven at night. With a moderate income there is every prospect of a useful work. Colchester and Chelmsford will now have to set their house in order, or they will be left behind in this movement. In both places, especially in the former town, the question has been discussed. Brentford. A splendid organization brought about the adoption of the Acts here in the middle of last year. A strong committee was formed, and this body of workers had no intention of permitting the question to rest for lack of meetings and arousing public interest. The Acts were carried with enthusiasm, and in January, 1890,204 Public Libraries. the opening ceremony took place. The conversazione for this pleasing object was in every way successful. Mr. James Big wood, M.P., performed the ceremony. Many liberal gifts of money and books flowed in, and the library is now in full operation. Judging from the statistics which are contained in the report, it is safe to assert that the efforts of the committee, in behalf of the public, have been very highly appreciated. The appreciation of the inhabitants has been manifested in various ways: large donations of books have been made; many new borrowers have been enrolled; and continual streams of new readers show an intelligent interest in the work which has been inaugurated. In addition to the donations of books from residents in the town, the librarian has been successful in obtaining grants of books from the Master of the Bolls and the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press. In each case the donation has consisted of works of exceptional value. A handsome donation has also been received from Mr. Leopold de Bothschild. Brighton. Brighton has a local Act dating back to 1850, enabling them to levy a rate for library and other purposes. This was amended by another Act in 1876. The rate for the Pavilion, in which the library and museum are situated, is jd., and produces about £1,310. For several years a local storm waged about the Public Library. The reference department was opened in 1873, and some of the more active spirits of the Town Council and among the residents had ever since that time been agitating for a lending section. This, however, did not become an established fact until October, 1889. Columns upon columns of matter appeared in the local press respecting the library, and the reports of several of the discussions in the Town Council as to whether there should be a lending library occupied as much as four columns of closely printed type. It is doubtful whether another town, except perhaps Warrington, could supply such an example of two opposite contending forces vigorously fighting the matter out to the bitter end at this celebrated watering-place, which bears the name of London-super-Mare. But the principle was worth fighting for, and praise is due to those members of the Town Council who championed in so able a manner the cause of the reading section of the Brighton people. An argument very frequently brought forward at watering-places, where it is sought to adopt the Acts, is that a Public Library would injure the private subscription libraries. This statement was advanced in Brighton, and in reply to it Mr. W. J. Smith, bookseller, North Street, and a member of the library committee, said: “ I have sent down a contribution of 1,300 volumes to the library, and if it is once started and placed under proper management I shall do what I can for the library in the future. But the primary object must not be lost sight of: that is, the provision of literature. If we cannot dispense books in a building which we should like, wePublic Libraries in the Eastern Counties. 205 must do with what accommodation we can get. The sum of £2,000 would purchase 16,000 volumes, reckoning them at 2s. 6d. a volume. This, with the books we have, would form a very serviceable library.” Mr. D. B. Friend, proprietor of a subscription library and bookseller, Western Road, is another member of the trade whose daily avocations do not narrow his opinions on the subject where the benefit of others besides himself is concerned. “ Of course there are the subscribers to private libraries/’ he said, “who would take advantage of the opportunity to get their books for nothing, when they can afford to pay for them out of their own purse. But I don’t anticipate that the establishment of a Public Lending Library would have any disastrous effects on private enterprise. I am decidedly in favour of the movement myself. What traders lose in one way they gain in another. The perusal of books leads to a desire for their acquisition, and this desire once implanted is not often eliminated. It grows by what it feeds on.” On September 12, 1873, the building was opened to the public by the Mayor as a library, a picture gallery, and museum. The backbone of the collection was 3,000 volumes of the library of the late Rev. H. Y. Elliott, and 7,000 volumes of the Library of the Royal Literary and Scientific Institution, presented by the proprietary. In the sixteen years which have elapsed since the opening many donations have been made, both large and small, and of very different value. From the day of opening till October, 1889, as already stated, this library was exclusively a reference library, not as containing only books of reference properly so-called, but from the fact that the public were privileged to read the books only in the library rooms and not to take them away to read at home. Within more recent years it was widely felt that this indiscriminate restriction of books to the library rooms was prejudicial to the interests of both library and readers. It was not only inconvenient to numerous habitual readers, but it deterred a large number of would-be readers, who would have been glad to take books away to read at home, from making use of the library at all; and it was also felt by those who were acquainted with the contents of the library and the wants of modern readers, that, if the reference library were to be transformed into a lending library with any prospect of success, it would be necessary to add to those contents, valuable indeed as they were, a large supply of modern literature, and especially wholesome fiction, in which the library of the past was sadly deficient. Early in 1891 the committee issued their first report since the opening of the lending section. This report demonstrates that the institution was needed, and that it has at once proved of benefit and convenience to all classes of the inhabitants. Taken altogether, the report of the committee may be regarded as most gratifying. It amply justifies the prophecies of those who so persistently carried on the agitation year by year, and the public generally cannot fail to recognize and welcome an establishment possessed of so many striking advantages. At any rate this is206 Public Libraries. the opinion of the committee itself, for the report contains a suggestion that the library should be extended by the addition of a juvenile lending department, which, it is expected, would soon be an immense attraction. Canterbury. The library at Canterbury dates back to 1825, but it was not until 1858 that it was taken over by the Corporation. It is a museum and library combined, and hence the reason why the committee have not been able to provide the shelves with more than a very small number of volumes. In the early part of 1889 an offer was received from an old Canterbury resident, Dr. Beaney, of Melbourne, to build new premises for the Public Library, and to include in it a working-men’s institute. In March, 1889, when the question was discussed in the Town Council, it was determined that a letter should be sent to Dr. Beaney suggesting that, as there was no need for another institute in Canterbury, the city would be much benefited, and his name brought into permanent connection with the place of his birth, if he would give them a new Town Hall. The entire letter sent to Melbourne was a piece of the coolest presumption that has' been ever known in connection with such a proposal. A distinct offer was made for one thing to be done, and this offer is treated indifferently, and something of quite another character was put before the gentleman making the offer, and the offer was withdrawn, as it deserved to be. There is an old standing charge that the cathedral cities are, in their municipal and educational institutions, far behind other towns, and there is much truth in the statement. Canterbury, in its action over this offer to build a Public Library as a new home for the existing one, illustrates this point very clearly. The incident will serve as a useful lesson to other places, when there is an offer to build them a new Public Library, to accept it, and not spoil the intending donor’s mind by foolishly suggesting something different. The Corporation evidently thought that a dwelling for their noble selves was of infinitely more importance than a suitable dwelling for books and museum objects. Dr. Beaney has since gone over to the majority, and has left by will £10,000 for a working-men’s library. This amount, it is hoped, will be available for the extension of the Public Library, as the best means of attaining the end of the donor. Folkestone. Folkestone rejoices in a new building, which was opened by Sir Edward Watkin, M.P., in April, 1888. He remarked, in the course of his address, that when Lord John Russell introduced what was called the Municipal Corporations’ Act it was said that it would be inefficient, and that the management of everybody by everybody was a cardinal and radical mistake. He (Sir Edward) thought, however, that they could look all round the municipal boroughs of England without seeing, except in one or two casesPublic Libraries in the Eastern Counties. 207 —they, as human beings, did sometimes make mistakes—magnificent monuments of such popular institutions as the one they were opening that day. Who would have thought it possible fifty years ago that an effort of this kind would have been realized by a body of town councillors elected by the people P In order to erect the Public Library and Museum the sum of £6,500 was borrowed by the Town Council in 1888 at £3 15s. per cent. The amount required annually to meet the interest on, and the repayment of, the £6,500 borrowed is £364 11s. 4d. There therefore remains annually only about £117 to defray the cost of maintaining the building, providing newspapers and periodicals, and purchasing books for the library. The committee, however, foresaw this difficulty, and from the first recognized the almost utter impossibility of maintaining the town institutions of library and museum on the one rate; and, under these circumstances, the Town Council have sanctioned the collection of a voluntary rate of another penny in the pound. The building is a great attraction to Folkestone, and will be well used by visitors as well as residents. Every watering-place might do many worse things than imitate Folkestone, which is ahead of Margate, Ramsgate, Dover, Deal, and Hastings. Folkestone has begun the plan of excluding all but ratepayers from the use of the lending library, and this in a town like Folkestone naturally prevented a great number of shop assistants from becoming borrowers. A few members of the committee have, it seems from the local press, been opposed to this privilege being granted to non-ratepayers but resident in the town. One of the members of the committee, who has opposed it, was willing to grant the extension if he could be convinced that there were enough books. Another member, a reverend gentleman, opposes it on different grounds. He is of opinion that the young people of the town should not be allowed that privilege, because they would indulge in works of fiction. The reverend gentleman assumes the tone of the preceptor. He takes upon himself the arduous task of guiding the youthful mind in the ways of virtue. He would limit their reading, so far as the library is concerned, to works of travel, biography, or the sciences. Splendid literature, no doubt, but unfortunately the minds of the community are not all constituted alike. All are not hard thinkers. One man may read “Locke on the Human Understanding” and consider it light, while another could not read ten lines of a biography, even though it were written by a Boswell. This member of the committee, who is, no doubt, well-meaning, ought to have found out by now that any attempt to prescribe bounds, or to define a particular branch of reading, has failed. It is perfectly right to withhold from a half-educated mind works which have a tendency to raise a morbid fancy, or debase the intellect in the slightest degree. But surely he does not class all fiction in that one category. Many of these shop assistants are employed by large ratepayers, and it is a pity that in this case, as well as in some208 Public Libraries. other districts, the use of the lending department should be confined to ratepayers. Non-residence or non-employment within the library district should be the only restrictions. Gospobt. Although the Acts were adopted in 1886, it was not until the summer of 1890 that the committee were able to secure a sufficiently central site to meet the requirements of the scattered district. At the time of the agitation for the adoption of the Acts £700 was raised by public subscription, and, in addition to this, a resident gave £50 for the special purchase of the “ Encyclopaedia Britannica,” and other works of reference. About 600 volumes have also been contributed from various sources, some of these coming from the old Gosport Literary and Scientific Society. An iron building has been erected, and opened as a newsroom early in 1891, and soon a library will be in operation. Hove, neab Bbighton. The marked success of the lending library at Brighton has had an influence on districts immediately near. More than this, Hove w^as not content to accept at the expense of the ratepayers of Brighton the benefits of free literature for her more leisured residents to the practical exclusion of the working classes. By the adoption of the Acts the people of Hove shook themselves off from these trammels, and will now provide rich and poor alike with the means of literary study and recreation in the least expensive and most accessible form. In the latter part of 1890 a sub-committee were appointed by the Hove Commissioners to consider and report upon the desirability of establishing a Public Library. While there were, of course, many outside the Commissioners who took an interest in that question, it is a creditable reflection that within the body efforts were taken to bring about the adoption of the Acts. As there were points in this report which may be useful for sub-committees appointed by other governing bodies part is here given. The sub-committee made inquiries into the cost of erecting buildings for a Public Library, and find that the sum so expended varies very considerably in different towns ; occasionally the library forms part of some large building used for art and science, or as a museum, and sometimes in connection with the public offices of the town. In many instances the cost of erection has been defrayed through the munificence of some one or more donors—this is the case at Cheltenham, where the building cost £15,000, and also at South-port, where the building cost £12,000. At Folkestone, the building cost £6,300, Great Yarmouth under £3,000, and Bichmond under £6,000. Later on in the report they said that from inquiries carefully made, the sub-committee are of opinion that if a Public Library were to be established in Hove it would be very extensively used by all classes of the residents.Public Libraries in the Eastern Counties. 209 Following this several meetings were held, the chair at some of these being taken by Mr. A. G. Henriques, J.P. Mr. J. Darbyshire, Mr. Howlett, and many other gentlemen took part in the proceedings. At the end of March, 1891, the vote was taken, and Hove declared itself in favour of a library. The scrutiny showed that the burgesses were as two to one in favour of the adoption of the Acts. The actual majority in favour was 695, those who voted “yes” numbering 1,197, and those who voted “no” 502. The number of voting-papers issued was 3,240. The valid papers amounted to 1,699. There were 666 spoilt papers—65 were marked “ yes ” but not signed, 70 were- marked “ no,” but not signed, 32 were otherwise invalid, 499 were returned not filled up in any way. Adding the valid and spoilt papers together, they amount to 2,365, leaving 875 papers not returned. The result at Hove will have an influence on Hastings, St. Leonards, Dover, and the other places on that coast, especially as one of the arguments put forward was that the library would be an additional attraction at Hove for visitors. Premises have been taken for the library. Great Yarmouth. A five years’ experience of their Public Library has made the Yarmouth people regret that they did not avail themselves of the advantages of such an institution at an earlier date. The new part of the premises, opened in January, 1889, provides additional accommodation, and was erected at a total cost, including fittings and furniture, of about £2,400. These new quarters are very conveniently arranged, and are well lighted, warmed and ventilated. A new reading-room 50 feet by 25 feet, has been provided, affording extra accommodation for 100 readers and shelf-room for 4,000 more books. The lending department is also utilized as a reading-room for boys and girls between the ages of twelve and sixteen. The people themselves say that no other library in the kingdom enjoys the use of so picturesque and delightful a building—to those of an artistic and antiquarian taste—as that of Great Yarmouth. The old Tolhouse, intelligently restored, is a most inspiring place in which to read. Built early in the thirteenth century, it has served as council-chamber ever since, save in later years when it did duty as a law court. The ancient hold, or gaol, of great strength, lies beneath, and is daily visited as one of the most interesting sights in the town. The debtors’ prison lies just beyond, and both are now disused. The principal entrance to the hall, where the library is established, is by an open external staircase, which with its covering of quaint old timbering leads from the street to the first floor. This arrangement is all but unique in England, although it is apparent, by the study of other ancient buildings, that it was of common occurrence in Norman and somewhat later times. The fine hall, with its oak wainscoting and great timbered, pointed roof, and its Gothic windows, is furnished as a reading-room,but the almost grotesque old civic chair still stands in its place, together with many another curiosity of a bygone age. 14210 Public Libraries. The official opening of this extension at once created an immediate increase in the number of borrowers, and in the attendance at the reading-rooms. In fact, so heavy was the drain upon the resources of the library that the permanent staff were glad of the help of five townsmen, who, in the evening, gave their assistance. In one year there have been added 2,084 volumes, more than half the number being gifts. The issue of fiction is declining, and those of the higher classes of literature going up. The Yarmouth people recognize, with regard to fiction, Tennyson's saying that “ . . . . truth in closest words shall fail, When Truth embodied in a tale Shall enter in at lowly doors.” Special attention has been devoted to the securing of books relating to the town and county. If all committees would do this, as suggested in another place, they would render a national as well as a local service. England is an old country, and there is scarcely a town or a village in it—with the exception, perhaps, of some of the recently founded centres of industry—which cannot boast of being the birthplace of some individual or the scene of some event which entitles it to share in the heritage of the ages. The volumes issued by the Historical Manuscripts Commission, and the annual reports of the Deputy-keeper of the Public Records should be carefully scanned by local librarians, who would frequently find in these compilations references to matters of antiquarian interest which have escaped the attention even of the most painstaking local historians. A good local library, in addition to works of archaeological, historic, and biographic interest, should also contain a collection of the best books illustrative of the local flora, fauna, geology, agriculture, and meteorology. The juvenile department bids fair to become very popular so far as the reading-room and lending department are concerned. Places like Tunbridge Wells, Bournemouth, and watering-places on the South Coast should observe what is being done at Yarmouth. The inmates of the local workhouse are to have a library. Some 300 of the disused books from the Public Library have been bought by the Guardians at the nominal cost of £5, and these will form the nucleus of what will perhaps one day grow into an interesting library. There is no reason why the inmates of the House should not be able to beguile the tedious hours by reading, and it will no doubt make their days in the House pass more pleasantly away. The Yarmouth Workhouse is mostly made up of the infirm, and anything that can be done to relieve their weariness must be rightly done. The increased attendance at the reading-room, as shown in the last report, is a satisfactory feature. Blended with the very natural curiosity about the news of the day there is a quiet collection of knowledge which improves and gives point to the opinion of citizens. The morePublic Libraries in the Eastern Counties. 211 men read about current events, the wiser will be the votes cast when elections come round. The newspaper and the ballot box are oftentimes weighty cause and effect. It is not unlikely that as the years go by, a more commodious reading-room will be provided, the present building being devoted to what it is more suited, a library department. Ipswich. The adoption of the Acts here took place early in the history of the movement, for it dates as far back as 1853; but the library was not opened until April, 1888. Three separate reports are submitted by the committee, dealing severally with the museum, lending library, and schools of science and art. With the first of these only is it necessary to deal at present, beyond saying that the evening attendance at the museum, which is a particularly good one, has greatly increased during the past winter. During the last library year 1,000 volumes were added, by purchase 761, and by donations 259. These purchases had been chiefly made from a fund specially raised for the purpose. As the demand for books far exceeded the supply, and as no funds were available from ordinary sources, the committee had endeavoured to raise £200 a year for three years for the purpose exclusively of purchasing new books. Their appeal was generously responded to, many gentlemen promising £5 per annum for three years. Some of the books have been issued fifty times during the year. In June, 1888, the number of books issued was only 363. In June, 1889, the issues reached 2,684. The largest number issued in any one month was in March, 1889, when the books borrowed were nearly 5,000. The committee express their regret that the demand for novels was so largely in excess of other and more useful literature, but they have carefully excluded all works of fiction, which, in their judgment, would have a tendency to demoralize the minds of readers. In order to increase the attractions and usefulness of the library, the committee purchase all the new books they deem suitable as soon as they are published. As early as 1660 there was a parochial library in Ipswich, of about 500 volumes, chiefly theological in their character. Many of these are now valuable as being first editions or otherwise rare books. Topographical and antiquarian books are also well represented, all of them early issues. The interest on the loan reaches £188, and out of the rate the museum absorbs £285. As bearing upon the question of guarantors referred to on another page, a sensible letter appeared in one of the local papers a few months ago, signed “A Voice from the Workshop.” The writer complained that the obtaining of a guarantor forced upon workmen a disagreeable obligation, besides being an unwarrantable imputation on a man’s honesty. Why cannot, he asked, every householder be responsible for himself or herself? It is easy, he remarked, to conceive cases where it would be hard to exact a penalty, but such extreme contingencies212 Public Libraries. Public Libraries should risk, which after all would be a very trifling cost, without abusing their power and seeking to make matters unfair and unequal betwixt man and man. The task of obtaining guarantors is really not a burdensome one, and it would be a very extreme case where any one desiring to become a bor- rower could not meet the requisite requirements in this direction. Still the time is fast approaching when the production of a rate receipt will entitle a citizen to all the privileges of a Public Library, and guarantors will be the exception and not the rule.Public Libraries in the Eastern Counties. 213 Lowestoft. The question was not new here when it was reintroduced at the end of 1890. In December Mr. Spurgeon brought forward the question in the Town Council by means of a resolution. This motion was carried, although an amendment was duly moved and seconded. In the course of the discussion the Mayor said that Lowestoft needed a Public Library. If they were to have less crime and better morality let them educate the people more. Handbills were distributed, and the uses of a Public Library to the town were well set forth. In February, 1891, the vote was taken. One or two of the local papers contained statements that circulars were distributed giving reasons why the people should vote for a “ free ” library, and on one of these circulars there was a supposed copy of the voting paper, and the term “Free” Libraries Acts was placed. The inference was that this invalidated the vote, because it misled the people into the idea that they were to have an absolutely free library. The charge is a very weak one, and has nothing whatever to do with nullifying the vote. The final counting of the votes showed “Yes,” 972, and “ No,” 955, giving a majority of seventeen. In the following March an indignation meeting was held, admittance to which was by ticket, and these had been distributed only to those known to sympathize with the objects of the meeting. One speaker, in the course of a short speech, made a great many misstatements. He said that “ the working men knew that their rents must be raised, and they showed their responsibility by opposing the scheme. Further, that the library would, if established, be used only by the upper and middle classes.” 3 Statements were made that some libraries ran up to 91 per cent, in their issues of fiction. Then libraries were carried on under certain regulations, one of which was that any person must give up a newspaper in ten minutes. And the speaker capped this by asking would they have the nerve to demand a paper at the end of ten minutes from any swell person such as a lord, and should they get it ? “ Cheers and applause ” followed this extraordinary statement. Waxing still more eloquent he asked, “ What would become of their errand boys when sent out on messages when the library was established P They would loaf about the place, and the people might wait for their meat and fish!” Members of the Town Council were among the speakers, and the examples given will illustrate the line of argument pursued. These various statements were combated in the press by Aider-man J. L. Clemence and others. A slight difficulty has arisen with regard to the electing of a library committee. If the vote was taken in accordance with the statutes—and there is no proof to the contrary forthcoming at the present time—the Acts were duly adopted, and there is no alternative but to put them into force. An application in the Court of Queen’s Bench for a mandamus can be resorted to, but it is to be hoped that such a214 Public Libraries. step will not be necessary. Lowestoft is an attractive place but its attractiveness will be increased when the library is in operation. Maidstone. The adoption here was as early as 1855, but a lending library was not opened until 1890. The building is a fine one, but the library department occupies a secondary position in the institution. The museum supported out of the penny rate is the chief section, and this is one of the finest in the whole of the south of England. In September, 1890, the Bentlif Wing of the valuable museum and library at Maidstone, which has been erected at a cost of about £30,000 to perpetuate the memory of Samuel Bentlif, a deceased townsman, was opened by the Mayor, in the presence of a large company of residents and visitors. The wing has been built for the reception of the pictures which the late Mr. Bentlif and others have presented to the town, and which are valued at upwards of £40,000. Now that a lending department is in operation it is to be hoped that the library will receive more attention. A Bentlif for the library is needed. The books both in the reference and lending sections have been chiefly the gift of townspeople. Norwich. This ancient city rejoices in having had a library open to the public, under certain restrictions, as early as 1608. A citizen writing not long ago from Norwich says that he can remember the time when the Norwich Library seemed the fit haunt of ghouls and ghosts. But now, he says, the place is seething with life, and every succeeding year the people of Norwich are learning more fully to appreciate their valuable bookerie. This is a well-earned testimonial, for on the evening of the writer’s visit the place was full of people in every department. A little while ago the committee set themselves the task of obtaining some £300 for books for the juvenile department. This they accomplished, and in September, 1889, the work of distributing the boxes of books among the elementary schools of the city commenced. The books have been selected with a special regard to their attractivenes and interest for school children in the advanced standards. The choicest works of the world’s authors are represented in the catalogue of the library—the modern and the ancient writers have alike been laid under contribution. The goody-goody books supposed to enforce some sickly attenuated morals have been rigorously banished. Works of fiction are in strong force; but science, history, and travels are not by any means entirely unrepresented. The work which the comparatively small outlay will permit the Public Library to perform will be gathered from the fact that the books which are being put into circulation are sufficient to maintain for each school a fresh supply for a period of five years, and that during that period every child in or above the fourth standard will have an opportunity of obtaining periodically a fresh volume for perusal. By the expiration of five years the children of any school in and above thePublic Libraries in the Eastern Counties. 215 ourth standard will have passed out of the school, and a new generation will have arisen. Therefore, the library has simply to be recruited with such additions as occasion may require. The success in this juvenile section is unmistakable. The arrangements made for the circulation of the books, and for their safe return, have been carefully thought out, and are of the most complete character. The head teacher of each school is responsible for the issue of the books. Cards containing a list of the contents of each box are enclosed with each consignment, and issue books are provided. For the purpose of forwarding from the library to the different schools four boxes have been provided, two for the use of the Board Schools, furnished by the Board, and two for the use of the Voluntary Schools, provided by the library committee. The books are apportioned to each department of a school according to the average attendance of the scholars in the fourth standard and upwards. About 100 volumes or so are retained in hand to meet any unexpected demand which may arise for greater supplies. It is pleasing to hear that it is found these juvenile books are largely used to promote regular attendance, by issuing them on days when formerly the children least attended. Further than this, they allow children to take books, or to choose books when taken, by the number of attendances made. This is a work which should extend to other libraries. The room for the gentler sex is designated the “ women’s room,” and why should it not be ? Only we are so very punctilious over these frequently meaningless phrases, such as “ ladies ” and “ gentlemen.” The plain Saxon “ men ” and “ women ” is infinitely better. New departures, especially if they are good and deserving of imitation, are helpful. A Nonconformist minister gave a short time ago a series of plain talks. One of these talks was on “ What people read.” He called attention to the fact that “ it was a coincidence that on the very week of this plain talk about reading, the annual report of the Norwich Public Library should have been published. It is not a large library, but somehow or other the right spirit has got into the library, and a real effort is made to put it fully at the service of its members, and it cannot fail to effect great educational good in the community.” Will other preachers please copy this method of taking occasional opportunities of referring to the elevating power of Public Libraries? Ten years ago eighty-six a day were issued. Now it has reached 387 in the lending section alone. Norwich has a large subscription library, well managed and efficiently officered. It dates back to 1784, and contains now over 35,000 volumes. The income reaches nearly £700 from subscriptions alone. Other towns where the Acts have not yet been adopted, owing, perhaps, to the fears of the existing subscription libraries, should note the fact that the Norfolk and Norwich library is healthier than it ever was. At Norwich worn-out and disused books are sent to the city asylum, and some of the out-of-date illustrated periodicals to the children’s wards in the workhouse.2l6 Public Libraries. Portsmouth. In the sixth report distinct progress is shown. During last year the increase in the issues in the lending department reached 11,244. Under the heading of science, art, biography, poetry and the classics, natural history, religion, and philosophy, the advance in the issues has been very marked. Under these headings the increase in the year was nearly 3,000 volumes. Portsmouth is content with a halfpenny rate, and the following gives the income and expenditure for the last official year:— |d. in the pound raised with the £ Borough s. d. Rate .. 1,217 19 10 Sale of Library Catalogues .. 25 2 i Fines and Damage to Books 41 3 9 Duplicate Cards ,. .. 1 2 0 Balance .. 32 2 9 Total £1,317 10 11 jExpenditure. £ s. d. Salaries and Wages .. .. 480 3 11 Books and Binding .. 563 8 3 Papers and Periodicals .. 58 15 4 Fuel, Gas, Water, Rates and Taxes Printing and Stationery .. 99 17 0 .. 16 7 7 Subscriptions 3 3 0 Repairs .. 28 9 9 Rent .. 50 0 0 Miscellaneous 17 6 1 £1,317 10 11 Reading. The only adoption in Berkshire up to the present is the one in the county town, and so good an example is being set by Reading that the wonder is the larger towns of the county have not vigorously taken up the question. The adoption was in 1879, and the library was opened in 1882. The visit of the Association to this town of biscuit and seed fame in 1890 naturally calls forth a considerable amount of attention to the library and museum. Mr. W. I. Palmer has long been an earnest friend of the movement. The library and museum are housed in a very handsome block of municipal buildings, towards the erection of which Mr. Palmer contributed about £25,000. A ground plan is shown in the sketch below of the library which is well and conveniently planned. One of the main features of the work is the juvenile section opened in January, 1889. A timely gift of £100 from the Mayor, Mr. G. W. Palmer, was the beginning of this department. The library isBLACRAVE ST Public Libraries in the Eastern Counties. 217 open from four to eight in the evening, and on the date of the last returns being made there were 1,464 borrowers, of which 966 are boys and 498 are girls. The daily average is 180. In five months 20,600 books were borrowed in this department, and all were accounted for at the stocktaking. The Reading School Board have granted the use of rooms at two of their schools as evening reading-rooms. The rooms are open on weekdays from six till ten o’clock, and about sixty daily, weekly, and monthly periodicals and newspapers are provided. For a payment of 2s. 6d. a year non-residents are permitted to borrow, and of these there are about 120. Two thousand visitors a day is a very average attendance at the library and newsroom. This is exclusive of those visiting the museum. There is no doubt about Reading getting good value of its library, and it is to be hoped that Maidenhead and Newbury, where the question has been forward for discussion, and other neighbouring towns, will quickly see their way clear to adopt the Acts. The electric light has been installed, and the arc and incandescent lamps are used for the library and reading-rooms. Sittingkbouhne. The Acts were adopted in Sittingbourne in the latter part of 1887, and in October, 1889, the library was opened. A neighbouring township of Milton was invited, under the Act of 1887, to join with them, but the inhabitants resolved to wait until they could have a similar institution of their own. One of the local papers, in referring to the opening of the library at Sittingbourne, has given us a somewhat new argument. The writer prophesies that the Public Library will be a great power for good in the town. It will provide a fund of pleasure for all who use it. It is to be commended2l8 Public Libraries. says the paragraph, on “ physical as well as intellectual grounds. Medical experts tell us that the brain requires light and exercise, and that the state of mind reacts on the state of the body ; hence it follows that that which benefits the mind must also improve the bodily health. To the other reasons in favour of the institution of the library, we may therefore add the argument that it is a sanitary measure of the highest order.’’ A library on sanitary grounds is capital. The library is growing in popularity, and several members of the committee are giving sets of books of leading authors. Southampton. Southampton is proud to be able to issue its second report. This is so satisfactory that it serves to prove the libraries have met a great want, and would have been established years ago but for a bigoted opposition. The Acts were adopted on June 13, 1887, and the library was opened in January, 1889. The organization was well planned, and many voluntary workers placed their shoulder to the wheel. The Mayor gave the tone to the meeting in an earnest speech, in which he referred to the question before them being an educational one; and in any movement for the advancement of knowledge and the improving of the condition of fellow-creatures every one should be interested. The speech of the proposer, an army surgeon-general, was earnest, and to the point. He said that the nineteenth century had so far advanced that it was rather an awkward thing for him or anyone else to speak on such a subject as the advantages of knowledge, of which Bacon said, “ It alone doth clear the mind of all perturbation.” The seconder, among other advantages, said that Public Libraries created a feeling of good fellowship among all classes, and in times of distress it was not an uncommon thing to see men out of work waiting outside a public newsroom for the doors to be opened, so that they could get an early look at the advertisements in the morning papers. It was not by any means a farfetched argument to say that when a municipality had done right to those suffering from want of work, there was a feeling of brotherhood between man and man, and those out of employment felt that they were not left out in the cold, but that there was a place where they could go for information. This is no small matter. The proposition was carried with the greatest enthusiasm. At the opening of the library, Mr. W. E. Darwin, a son of the famous naturalist, recalled a saying of his father’s that it was wonderful what reading a man could do if he only devoted half an hour a day to it, but it all depended upon his regularity in so doing, and that he believed any man who had read half an hour a day regularly, at the end of a year or two might have read extensively on any subject. The work has progressed in a way which could scarcely fail to convert the most honest opponent, so much so indeed that a new building has become imperatively necessary. In March, 1891, a Local Government Board Inspector held anPublic Libraries in the Eastern Counties. 219 inquiry at the Municipal Offices into an application from the Mayor and Corporation for permission to borrow various sums of money, including £11,202 for street improvement, £1,500 library site, £8,521 baths and wash-houses, and other sums. The library site was the first matter dealt with, and the subject was discussed very fully. There was no opposition to the erection of a building, but a difference of opinion prevailed as to where was the best and most suitable place to erect a library in order that it might be near the majority of the people. The reading of the entire report illustrates how thoroughly the various uses of a Public Library have taken hold of the people. The site, secured at a cost of £1,500, stands high, and there will be plenty of light and air. A subscription list for the erection of the new building has been opened, and is being well supported. A most important step has been taken by the Town Council in the defining of the powers of the Public Library committee. This takes the form of a constitution granted by the Corporation to the Public Library committee. It is of so important a nature that it is quoted in its entirety:— 1. That the Council hereby resolve that the general management, regula- tions and sole control of the Public Libraries to be established under the Public Libraries Act 1855, and the Acts amending the same in the Borough of Southampton according to section 21 of the Public Libraries Act 1855, shall from time to time, during the pleasure of this Council, vest in and be exclusively exercised by the Free Libraries Committee of the Corporation. 2. That the Council do yearly at the usual time of appointing the General Committees of the Council, appoint the Free Libraries Committee. 3. That the existing Committee as well as any Committee to be here- after appointed shall be subject to such terms, stipulations, limitations, and conditions as the Council shall from time to time deem necessary. 4. That the Bye-laws and ordinances of the Corporation shall apply to and be made subject to the Acts and proceedings of the Committee. 5. That all salaried officers and servants be subject to the laws relating to Municipal Corporations. 6. That the Committee have power to admit the local press to all meet- ings except upon such occasions as the Committee shall otherwise determine. 7. That the Committee do appoint such sub-Committee as they may consider expedient, but the Acts of every such Committee shall be submitted to the General Committee for approval. 8. That 5 do form a Quorum of the Committee, and 3 of every sub- Committee. 9. That notice of every meeting be issued by the authorised party, and shall state the business to be transacted there. . That the Committee be empowered to appoint a Deputy Chairman at the first meeting after its annual Election and at such other times as they may find necessary. The Mayor is Chairman of all Committees.220 Public Libraries. 11. That the Accounts of the receipts and expenditure be audited by the Corporation Auditors and printed with the general accounts of the Corporation. 12. That the Corporation Treasurer for the time being be the Treasurer >t the Committee. The Library Committee have a separate account. 13. That the Committee do prepare a yearly Report of their proceedings in August in every year for the previous twelve months, and print the same and send a copy to each member of the Council and to the Town Clerk. Every such report shall be submitted to and considered by the Council. 14. That these regulations be subject to such alterations, variations, additions, or amendments as the Council may from time to time deem necessary. 15. That all cheques be signed by three members of the Committee and secretary, and be made upon the Treasurer. It cannot be too strongly urged upon library committees to get a constitution on the lines of the foregoing passed in the early stages of their work. Southampton claims to be the first to adopt such a course, but there is some doubt about this point. Southampton has had, since 1862, the Hartley Institution. The building, with the site on which it stands, cost upwards of £20,000, and comprises the following departments:—Circulating library, reference library, reading-room, museum, the art gallery, lecture hall, school of science and engineering (including the chemical and physical laboratories, &c., school of art, department of general literature, evening classes, and the reading-room of the Southampton Chamber of Commerce. Its work has been real and useful. But it was for many years patent that the Hartley Institution could not supply all the wants of a Public Library under the rates. The educational departments are very strong, and in every way possible the Public Library is doing all it can to help and supplement the work at the Hartley. The lending department provides books for the use of the students at the institution in the science and other classes. The subscription to the library and reading-room is half-a-guinea a year, but on a declaration being made that the income of the intending subscriber is under £200 per annum, he is let off by paying the reduced rate of 5s. 3d. annually. The council have latterly adopted the plan of allowing the inhabitants of the borough to become free borrowers from the library upon presenting a guaranty form, duly signed, according to the regulations. It is noteworthy that tifie council of the Hartley Institution aided the adoption of the Acts most materially, and it is a pleasure to record the fact. The Hartley Institution is well known to the writer, and there is the hope that it may have before it years of such useful work as it has accomplished in the past. In these progressive days there need be none but the most friendly rivalry and emulation among these institutions of similar aims and works. Only there is still the conviction, which becomes deeper and deeper, that for far-reaching utility, and value for money, there is none at all comparable with the rate-supported institutions.Public Libraries in the Southern and Western Counties. 221 CHAPTER XII. Public Libraries in the Southern and Western Counties. The old adage, that “ Westward the course of empire takes its way,” is not yet fully exemplified, so far as this movement is concerned. Dorsetshire has one adoption of the Acts. Cornwall and Somerset have one each, and Devon is content with two. Gloucestershire boasts only of two. Wiltshire has begun its Public Library course by adding one to the number in the west. Bidefobd. Bideford has only a very small income, and in May, 1891, a windfall came in the form of £500 from the late William Rooker. The gift is most opportune. The library committee discussed the best means of placing some permanent record of their late townsmen, and it was decided that the most fitting place either for a portrait or a bust would be the Public Library. In course of time libraries will universally become the repositories of this nature for the local worthies who pass away and leave good memories behind them. Bbistol. The writer never enters the Bristol Public Libraries without being struck with the cosmopolitan character of the frequenters of the newsrooms and libraries. An active business man, desirous of seeing some of the many newspapers, will be in close proximity to the boys who frequent the room, and who conduct themselves in a very orderly manner. Near to them again will be some ladies quietly perusing the papers, and so throughout the rooms there is an air of public utility, which is commendable to the city of Bristol. The history of the Public Library movement in this large centre of the west is deeply interesting. In a local pamphlet, dated November, 1871, entitled “ The Cry of the Poor,” being a letter from sixteen working men of Bristol to the sixteen aldermen of the city, there is named as one of six pressing requirements the accommodation of a Public Library and newsroom. “ We should be glad,” say the petitioners, “to be able to sit in our own room and read a bit out of an interesting book to our wives and families, or to get one of the children to read to us. Such a book would keep our boys from idling at street corners, where they learn no end of mischief and wickedness, and would, maybe, prevent many of them from going to the public-house, the dancing rooms, and to the bad. We wish our children well, just as you do yours, and should be glad for them to know a great deal more, and to make a better use of what they learn than we have done, so that if they have got the ability they may not all of them always remain poor, ignorant working men Now, by the newspaper accounts, we find that Bristol is far222 Public Libraries. behind such towns as Cardiff, Newport, and Hereford in this matter, to say nothing of Liverpool, Manchester, and Birmingham, which were little villages, we are told, when Bristol merchants were giving a library and books for the use of their poor fellow-citizens. Gentlemen, though we work for our bread, we do not believe in ignorance any more than we do in bad air or in dirty skins, so we ask that Bristol may be placed under the Public Libraries Act.” This request of Bristol working men practically took effect by the adoption in 1876 of the Acts in Bristol, the present chairman, Sir J. D. Weston, being president of the public meeting which sanctioned the local application of the Acts. Since that time the work has made great progress, and as Bristol dates its earliest Public Library to 1613, the city, so far as the actual work accomplished by the central library and its five branches are concerned, is determined to hold its own. The buildings comprising the central library are quite historic, and for a full account of this old structure it is a pleasure to turn to a history of the Bristol Library by the late Charles Tovey, published in 1855. This worthy Bristolian died in 1888, after seeing the fifth of the branches opened. His interest in the movement never flagged, and long before the adoption of the Acts, and down to the time of his death, he never ceased to take an interest in the work of the libraries. Mr. Tovey was as a prophet crying in the wilderness, for his little book of 1855 was received with an apathy not by any means creditable to such a city as Bristol. He says, “ the citizens could not be aroused from their indifference to the advantages resulting from Public Libraries, and my book remained unsold.” He was before his time, and the world will never overtake its indebtedness to the men who are in advance of their age and generation. Chiefly through his action the Town Council in 1853 appointed a committee to inquire into the subject, and negotiate with the possessors and occupants of the citizens’ building, called the City Library, and now used as the central library. Thirty-five to forty years ago Mr. Tovey was told that he could do nothing with the present generation. Their habits and manners, he was considerately told, were formed, and they would not use Public Libraries and-museums if they were established. The opposition came from those in high authority, and when a comparison is made with the objections raised in Bristol in 1853 to the vast use the people are now making of their libraries, the gain in the history of the movement is at once apparent. A more powerful appeal for a city or town to adopt the Acts and take under its municipal wing a library building was never penned. The whole pamphlet breathes a spirit of earnest purpose, and when Bristol gets its new central library—a consummation devoutly to be wished—the committee will see that there is placed in it a bust of Charles Tovey, and, if possible, some room or section of the library bearing the name of this warm friend of Public Libraries and their work. It is needless to remind the reader that in 1853 to 1855 the movement was a mere bantling, but even then somePublic Libraries in the Southern and Western Counties. 223 eleven towns had adopted the Acts, and most of the libraries were then in operation. The old building, known as the City Library, has, as already staged, a quaint history. There is no doubt that Bristol dates its earliest Public Library from 1613, and the present central library is in premises, part of which’came down from that date. Additions have, of course, been made at various times, and it has now somewhat the character of a rabbit warren. But, with its old oak staircase, bookcases, and a marvellously fine old carved mantel, it is a building in which the archaeologist would linger ; and when the time comes for a new home for the central library, it is to be hoped that something will be done to preserve this old building as a library. Perhaps as a separate juvenile library and reading-room, and, say, a patents library, it would have its best and most appropriate use. But we have seen that Mr. Tovey had to agitate for nearly a quarter of a century before he saw the Acts adopted, and now everybody in Bristol who knows anything of the working of the libraries is asking why were the citizens so foolish as to shut themselves off from so real a boon for so many years P Other towns, especially the many towns of the West of England, may well look closely and seriously at the long struggle in Bristol, and put the question as to whether it is worth while their committing the same mistake. Taunton and Gloucester may take heart and gather strength from the experience of the capital of the west. The operations of the libraries are of a very solid nature. Each of the branches is well situated in a thickly-populated suburb, and it is noteworthy that each of these offshoots from the parent stem has surpassed in its operations the work at the central library. Very full statements of their working are sent periodically to the local press by the city librarian. As a representative month the following speaks for itself:— Report for Four Weeks ending April 28, 1891. Library. Books Read on Premist s. Issued on Loan. Returned as Read. Users of Magazine and News Room. Readers’ Medals Issued. Borrowers Tablets Issued. Central 1,333 2,975 2,907 17,100 0 47 St. Philip’s ... 6,705 4,475 4,462 23,000 0 57 N. District ... 3,121 5,522 5,392 14,950 0 70 Bedminster ... 2,887 4,477 4,399 19,675 0 61 Redland 1,218 9,850 9,783 32,200 1 116 Hotwells 1,574 3,627 3,379 12,075 1 78 Totals ... 16,838 30,726 30,322 119,000 2 429 Cash taken—Central, £4 15s. 9Jd.; St. Philip’s, £6 13s. lid.. North224 Public Libraries. District, £6 8s. 7d. ; Bedminster, £8 13s. 9d.; Redland, £10 13s. lOd. ; Hotwells, £4 2s. 6d. Total, £36 8s. 4Jd. The analysis of the six Libraries is as under :— BOOKS BEAD UPON THE PBEMISES BY Apprentices 576 No Occupation, Males 1,017 Artisans ... 2,792 ,, Females ... Professionals 502 Assistants ... ... 1,108 ... 1,055 409 Clerks Schoolboys 6,313 1,371 Employers 399 Students Errand Boys 604 — Labourers 692 Total 16,838 CLASSES OF BOOKS ISSUED FOB HOME BEADING. Theology 407 General Literature 523 Poetry, Drama, &c. ... 2,447 History, Biography, Juvenile Literature ... 6,345 ... 18,515 905 Travels, &c 1,584 Fiction Science, Arts, &c.... Total Volumes 30,726 Apprentices CLASSIFICATION 554 OF BOBBOWEBS. No Occupation, Males 621 Artisans ... 2,354 ... 3,567 ,, Females ... Professionals 10,476 Assistants 1,183 Clerks ... 2,553 778 Schoolboys 6,904 Employers Students 1,273 Errand Boys Labourers 253 210 Total 30,726 The visitors to magazine and newsrooms amounted to 119,000. The first of the branches which was opened—the one in St. Philip’s—has long ago outgrown in its work the accommodation provided, and the people in that district would like to see a new and commodious building; but the claims of St. Philip’s are not so great as is better provision for a central library, convenient for city men and others who pay a large proportion of the expenses incurred in relation to the Act, but have neither reading-room nor library suitable for the centre of the city. At the central library there are a considerable number of juvenile books which are lent out to boys to read in a room by themselves. Anyone sceptical of whether boys really care for such an advantage as this would be made a convert by looking in at the room on almost any weekday evening. The boys are orderly, and require little or no supervision. They quietly go on with their reading, and this from a class of books which have been selected with great care and discrimination. The Redlands branch is the best of the branch buildings. The cost of the ground and structure was £8,000. The drain is heaviest in the lending section at Redlands of any of the branches. Some twenty-five young ladies find employment at the various Public Libraries, and give the utmost satisfaction. The Bristol committee are great believers in the humanizing power of the gentler sex in library work, and they are no doubt right. ThePublic Libraries in the Southern and Western Counties. 225 salaries paid vary from 12s. to 21s. per week, according to the position. One very important feature of the work at Bristol is that at the central library a set of each weekly, monthly, and quarterly serials is bound up and kept for reference. The more popular magazines are retained also at the branch libraries. But in each of the six libraries duplicate numbers are utilized by being dissected and classified into distinct volumes under names of authors or subjects, so that the special contents of some forty or fifty numbers or volumes of periodicals can be consulted in each single volume thus treated. About a thousand volumes have been so made up, the contents of each of which is entered in the catalogue of each library. Mr. Taylor, the city librarian, is the first to have adopted this plan, and it is one which has been of much service to his readers. The volumes cover a large variety of subjects, and are in much request. One may be taken as a sample of the rest. In the catalogue it appears under “ Evolution,” and the articles on the subject from reviews and magazines bound up in this 8vo vol. are as follows:— Darwin’s Theories—“ Westminster Review.” Darwinism—“ Unitarian Review.” Descent of Man—“ Quarterly Review’.” Quatrefages on the Human Species—“ Catholic World.” Human Resemblances to Low’er Life— “Longman’s.” Our Origin as a Species—“ Ibid.” Darwinism and Evolution of Man (Dr. March), Philosophy of Evolution—“ Quarterly Review.” Struggle of Science—“Ibid.” Physical and Religious Knowledge—“ Ibid.” Religion and Science—“ Ibid. ” Degeneration—Andrew Wilson. Fish to Reptile—“ Cornhill.” Animal Development—A. Wilson. My Cousin the Gorilla— “ Tinsley.” Germ Theory—“Nineteenth Century.” Origin of Species and Genera—“Ibid.” Evolution v. Socialism—“ National Review’.” Nature and Thought—G. J. Romanes. Man’s Place in Nature — “Nineteenth Century.” Animals and Plants—“Contemporary Review.” Form and Colours of Living Creatures—“Ibid.” Relation of Darwinism to other Branches of Science—“Longman’s.” Before Birth —“ Nineteenth Century.” Evolution and Ethics—“ National Review.” Theory of Heredity—“ Contemporary Review.” Hereditary Conscience— “Ibid.” Evolution and Religion—“Ibid.” Natural Selection and Natural Theology—“ Contemporary Review.” Evolution of Theology— T. H. Huxley. Darwinism and Religion—“Macmillan’s.” Evolution, Ethics, and Religion—“Church Quarterly Review’.” The interest and value attaching to these volumes to the essay writer, lecturer, preacher, author, and general reader is incalculable, and the plan should be extended to every Public Library in the large centres. If the publishers and printers of magazines and reviews.would make the articles separate one from another, in their publications, mutilation of context would be avoided. The delivery of a series of lectures on “ What and How to Bead ” has been talked about. What is more important is a new central library, and Bristolians should not rest until this is an accomplished fact. Cheltenham. This beautiful inland watering-place is a town to be envied in its Public Library. The new building, opened in April, 1889, is226 Public Libraries. the result of a local effort to commemorate the fifty years’ national progress. The library is one of the finest buildings the town of Cheltenham possesses, and being spacious and commodious is exactly the place for a flourishing Public Library, and schools of science and art. The architecture is in the Italian style, into which has been imported by the architects a considerable amount of general detail in the Elizabethan style. The building is 144 feet in length, and the height from the basement to the parapet is 45 feet. In the centre rises what may be described as a gable, and below is an arch terminating in plain pilasters. Beneath the arch is the portico, with three fine'entrances separated by Ionic columns, and surmounted by a balustrade of tracery, on which in the future it is hoped to place some statues. On the extreme right of the front of the building is a handsome tower which serves to give a finish to it on the one side, while on the left hand is a pinnacle which serves a similar purpose on the other side. Inside the premises, the whole of the ground floor, with the exception of the entrances to the schools of science and art, is devoted to the library. There is a fine vestibule with conveniences of many kinds, and furnished with clock, barometer, and busts of Shakespeare and Milton. Passing through swing doors, communication is obtained with the reference library, the lending library, and the newspaper and periodical room, the latter of which is a most spacious room, and admirably adapted to the purpose for which it is intended. The library departments are also well suited to the requirements of such rooms, and are well lighted and ventilated. Near the reference library is the librarian’s room, and part of the basement is intended to be set aside for the use of the caretaker, and for the reception and classification of the new books. With regard to the science and art schools there are separate entrances in the tower, and the staircases lead to a floor on which are cloak rooms and other offices. The art schools contain four class rooms, which are approached by a corridor, while the school of science contains a physical laboratory, a lecture room, a chemical preparation room, and a chemical laboratory, all of which are fitted with the latest appliances for this class of study and for the convenience of preceptors and students. The entire cost of the new buildings, including the site, is about £15,200, and to meet this there is a total, including the loan of £10,000 and sums from various sources, of £13,487 4s. 8d., or a deficit of £1,712 odd. All the work was carried out locally. It was most appropriate to ask Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, Bart., M.P., to perform the ceremony of opening. In declaring the library open Sir Michael gave an address on the advantages of Public Libraries. These institutions, he said, were in England comparatively a recent outgrowth of our modern civilization, and this fact was one with regard to which, he thought, we might take some little shame to ourselves. It was an axiom amongst us that every child ought to be taught to read. But what were the children to read? Were they never, as theyPublic Libraries in the Southern and Western Counties, o.'i*] grew up, to read anything except that which was improving to the mind ? He did not see why in this or any other matter they should expect the poorer classes to have different tastes to themselves. On the contrary, he should hold it as an undoubted fact that the hardest-worked men and women, be their labour physical or mental, were those who stood most in need of mental recreation. And what mental recreation could the poorer classes have ? What were they tempted to have ? Look at the floods of vicious and socialistic literature, unhappily now too cheap in our country, with which they might be tempted to poison their minds if something better and purer were not offered them in its place. Wrork-228 Public Libraries. ing men had now more leisure than formerly, and that was another reason why an effort should be made to elevate and refine their tastes, so that that leisure might be devoted to something better than the gross sensual indulgences of the working classes of former generations. If they wished people to become good men and good citizens, they must think not only of their serious pursuits but of their pleasures as well; and, to his mind, great as the good might be which was to be gained from the solid and improving literature found in Public Libraries, there was also a good quite as great to be gained in the moral and intellectual recreation found in the writings of the best novel-writers of all the ages of English literature. The paying off of the debt is at present rather a tax on the income, but the rateable value being large it is not as great a burden as it would be in some towns. In providing themselves with a handsome structure for their rapidly extending work, the Cheltenham people have acted wisely. They have the finest Public Library of any inland or seaboard watering-place, and this is a fact of which they may be reasonably very proud. Other watering-places, like Malvern, Tunbridge Wells, Scarborough, Weymouth, and Cowes should note the fact that some 1,200 residents and visitors use the institution daily. With an existence still short of seven years the library may well be satisfied with the position it occupies. Gifts have flowed in, and among the official bodies from whom they have received books are the Trustees of the British Museum, the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury, and the Delegates of the Clarendon Press. There has also been a gift of 1,200 volumes, on Fish and Fish Culture, from Dr. Francis Day, who spent some years in India as a Government official. Some of the books are exceedingly rare, and have added lustre to the reference section. Outsiders are permitted to borrow on payment of a five-shilling subscription. The report in Cheltenham is that they would rather be without the post-office than without their Public Library. The issues show over three books per head of the population each year. Two gifts of £50 each for books for me lending library are noted. Exeter. Exeter has a beautiful building, but the library has to take a very secondary place to the museum and schools of science and art. The charge on the rate for this building is some £225, which greatly impoverishes the work, and in few places is an extra penny for museum purposes more needed than in Exeter. The library is evidently being starved in order to feed the museum section. Newport (Mon.). Newport has now had eight years’ life in its new buildings. These were erected at a cost of about £3,500. They are designed in a free style of English [Renaissance, and have frontages on one sidePublic Libraries in the Southern and Western Counties. 229 of 66 feet, and on another of 108 feet. On the ground floor, a reading and newspaper room, 58 feet by 36 feet and 30 feet high, is placed in the centre of the block, lighted entirely from the roof. This room has, placed on the left, 20 feet wide and extending nearly its whole length, the lending library, designed with shelves to accommodate 15,000 volumes, and with the side next the reading-room fitted with sliding sashes, making it accessible on this side to borrowers. The south side of this room extends to the lane, from which light is obtained. The curator’s rooms are placed on the immediate right of the main entrance, and comprise living- NEWPORT PUBLIC LIBRARY. rooms, while at the left of the entrance comes first a committee-room, 25 feet by 16 feet, occupying the corner. Between this and the end of the lending library is the reference library, 26 feet by 23 feet, completing, with former buildings retained, the whole of the ground floor accommodation. The first floor covers the whole area of the rooms below, except the newsroom. This floor is devoted entirely to the accommodation of the science and art classes, the rooms of which are so arranged, communicating with each other, as to be thrown open as a gallery of art on special23° Public Libraries. occasions, if required. There is on the second floor a large cast and modelling room, and a suite of rooms for the curator. The entrance is flanked with red polished granite columns, fluted and moulded. On the left-hand corner is placed a circular turret, domed on the top, and covered with lead, which assists externally the character of the building. There is a strong juvenile section of good literature to the extent of 1,100 volumes. Newport, in harmony with many other towns, is extending its boundaries, and has added a new district to the borough. There is now a considerable addition to the £850 formerly yielded by the rate. Other towns are looking to the extension of borough boundaries as likely to aid them financially. At the beginning of 1890 a new branch library and reading-room for the Pillgwenlly district was opened. For many years it has been one of the leading aspirations of the district to possess a branch library worthy the name; and the residents are now placed in possession of a building which is in every way creditable to all concerned. The three-storeyed building has a frontage of 34 feet, and abuts on Temple Street, the thoroughfare in which the Sailors’ Home and Institute has its local habitation. The roof line is broken by a central pediment, the tympanum of which is enriched by carving, and the panel below is charged by the appropriate motto, “ Knowledge is power.” The front is red brick, with Bath stone dressings. On entering the building the magazine and chess room, 27 feet by 14 feet, is seen, and on the opposite side of the entrance is the caretaker’s room, so placed that he may command the entire building. The main stairway next adjoins, leading to class-rooms which will probably be ultimately used for science and art purposes. Then, in the rear of the building, is situated the general reading-room. It is ample in every respect, being 46 feet by 25 feet, and lighted by windows at the side, and by a large bay at the end. The museum and school of art and science are departments the work of which, like that of the library, is rapidly extending. Plymouth. It is always a pleasure to take a peep into the work at Plymouth. In August, 1876, the library was first opened, and since that time it has grown steadily in public favour and usefulness. The library is housed in the old Guildhall, and thirteen years ago this building answered the purpose fairly well; but the requirements of the library have long since outgrown the capacity of the building. At present it contains a good stock in all branches of literature, and not only so, but the reading-rooms are frequently crowded to inconvenience, and the work has to be carried on under considerable difficulties. Another objection to the building is that it abuts on one of the noisiest quarters of the town, and the squalid appearance of the surroundings, added to the dinginess of the building itself, render it altogether an undesirable place for a Public Library in a town like Plymouth. For the credit of the town itself, and for the health’s sake of those who serve, and arePublic Libraries in the Southern and Western Counties. 231 served at the library, this state of things calls for early remedy. Mr. Wright, the borough librarian—a good designation, by the way, which might be adopted for general use—has long kept before his committee the need for a new library building, and some of his townsmen are kind enough to say that, like the boy in the soap advertisement, he won’t be happy till he gets it. In July, 1891, overtures were made to the Town Council for a portion of a site adjoining the Technical Schools. The last report gives sufficient to show that there is plenty of work for the library staff, and that the desire of the public for reading of all kinds keeps up steadily. The report of the librarian covers some seven pages out of thirty-two. Perhaps the most interesting part of the report is where he gives particulars of the conditions under which about 1,000 volumes had been sent out on perpetual loan to eleven of the Board Schools of the town ; and in continuation of that report he stated that the new departure had given thorough satisfaction. He had visited the whole of the schools in which these branch libraries were placed, and found the books in uniformly good condition—very few missing, and the privilege highly appreciated by the children. In nearly every case the teachers took a warm interest in the matter, and were doing their utmost to preserve the books in good order, and to encourage the children to be punctual in their return, as well as careful in their use. After observation and consultation with all the head teachers he was of opinion that the experiment had proved most successful, and that its extension would prove a boon to the town. The Plymouth School Board warmly supported the suggestions, and the members are to be congratulated on the results, so far, of their efforts. Both in the boys’ and girls’ schools substantial bookcases have been provided, and the librarian has prepared a list of books especially suited to children of school age, and which there is no reason to doubt will be largely read by the young people in whose interests this new departure has been made. On certain days of the week the children, both boys and girls, have the privilege of taking home a book each from the library, and when these have been read an exchange of books takes place between the different schools, so that the children are always having some new and fresh, with which to interest themselves and add to their stores of knowledge. Care has been observed in the choice of books, the object being to combine instruction with amusement, and the system is not to be confined to the Board Schools alone, but will be equally at the service of other elementary schools in the town. It is anticipated that great advantages will accrue to the cause of education, as a perusal of the books provided for the children can scarcely fail to prove a valuable adjunct to the instruction given in the schools during the day. It is suggested that in further extension of the movement evening reading-rooms should be started at some of the Board Schools, where working men might have the opportunity of spending a profitable hour or two in reading the daily newspapers and magazines that could easily be provided for such a purpose.Public Libraries. 232 Poole. Poole has a beautiful and well planned building, the gift of a townsman, Mr. J. J. Norton, at a cost of £5,000. The first part of the building was opened in 1886, but the new adjuncts of a gymnasium and museum were not opened until September, 1890. Lady Wimborne performed the ceremony, and on the same day the freedom of the borough was presented to the donor of the building. Poole is to be congratulated on having acquired two such useful institutions, forming an appropriate addition to the Library and School of Art. What these latter institutions are doing, and have done, for the moral and intellectual welfare of the rising generation of Poole, the gymnasium may reasonably be expected to do for their physical advancement and well being. Salisbury. There is every reason why the county town should lead the way in the carrying of the Acts. This was the case in Wiltshire, and the way the battle of the books was conducted reflects credit upon Old Sarum and some of its citizens. The opposition was strong and active, and the two contending forces worked together with a will. The “ Western Chronicle ” and the “ Wiltshire Times ” rendered valuable service, and it is a pleasure to here place it on record. Local parliaments have had many uses, and one of them has certainly been helping on in many districts the agitation for a Public Library. At Salisbury the question was first discussed in their Parliamentary Debating Society. Mr. J. B. Gullett, a clerk in a tradesman’s establishment, who introduced the subject in the parliament, set to work outside and found a warm supporter in Sir. Goodere, of the “ Western Chronicle.” A committee of working men was formed, a preliminary meeting held, and the motion expressing the desirability of a library carried. Influential gentlemen joined the committee, pressed the question forward, and, in the face of extraordinary difficulties and opposition, carried the cause to victory. In May, 1890, the vote was taken, and showed, out of an electorate of 2,838—in favour of the Acts, 984 ; against it, 856; papers improperly filled up, marked neutral, or otherwise not returned, arising from deaths, removals, and duplicate qualifications, 998. Another difficulty arose, the point being in doubt whether “ the majority of the ratepayers,” as specified in the Acts, must be literally interpreted as a majority of all the ratepayers, in which case the project was defeated, or construed to mean a majority of those voting. After several weeks’ delay, precedent and competent authorities, supported by the Local Government Board, held that a majority of those voting was sufficient, and the Mayor declared the Acts to be adopted. In December, 1890, the library was opened by Sir M. E. Grant Duff, the Mayor and Corporation attending in state. The address of the baronet was full of pith, and worthy of the occasion. ThePublic Libraries in the Southern and Western Counties. 233 Dean of Salisbury, in the course of his speech, related an interesting experience of his about twelve years ago, when on taking Dean Stanley through the Birmingham Public Library they were rather curious to find out what those present were reading. They went to four young men, who were reading such works as Walter Scott’s “ Guy Mannering,” Shakespeare’s tragedy of “ Othello,” a translation of Pascal’s “ Thoughts,” and Butler’s “ Analogy.” Dean Stanley humorously remarked that he thought the gratifying discovery must have been specially prepared for him. He (the Dean) did not know whether he should ever find anything similar in that room, but he was glad the movement had been inaugurated; it would supply a long-felt want, and he trusted that in a few short years they would have a building standing by itself as the Public Library, and representing the centre of all that was attractive in literature. It is cheering to find so excellent a beginning in this movement in Wiltshire. The gifts have been encouraging. Mr. E. II. Hulse, M.P., gave 500 books, and a promise of a similar number at a later date. If it were possible for the numerous small villages to have their own library a most desirable end would be accomplished. Truro. Cornwall has only one rate-supported library, and the cathedral city of Truro may hoist its library standard and call upon the towns in the county to set their house in order. The library was established in the beginning of 1886. The cost of fitting up the rooms was £35. The nucleus of the library books was presented by Mr. Norton, who took a leading part in the foundation of the institution. The estimated cost of magazines and newspapers to the reading-room is £27 10s., and many are presented. The rent of the present rooms is £25 per annum, and the accommodation has already become utterly inadequate to the requirements. The librarian’s salary is £30 per annum, for which the services of a painstaking officer are secured. The cost of coal, gas, and cleaning is £18 per annum; printing, stationery, and postage, £5 ; and binding, repairs of books, furniture, &c., another £5. This, roughly, is how the Truro Library exists on £116 a year. The work done with their stock is not by any means slight. Mr. Passmore Edwards, of London, has during the last year or two been showing his interest in Public Library work. Among some thousands of books which he has presented to various Public Libraries were 250 volumes to the Truro Library. These included sets of good standard literature. The library in this Cornish city has had a struggle during its first four years’ life ; but Cornish-men are too great lovers of progress to see it languish for lack of support. A Mr. Ferris, a native of Truro, but residing in London, offered a few months ago part of his library. There was, in the early part of 1887, an effort made to get the Acts adopted in Penzance. The difficulty which led to the refusal on the part of the ratepayers to accede to the proposal,234 Public Libraries. was the improbability of being able to maintain a library on an income of £150. Penzance has a Public Library, but not under the Acts. Here there are 16,000 volumes. Some time, perhaps, this institution will become a real Public Library. It would have a very wholesome effect upon the movement in Cornwall if the county town would adopt the Acts. Weston-super-Mare. The Acts were unanimously adopted some time ago by a town’s meeting. An ample central site has been purchased at a cost of £500, partly by subscription and partly by rate. It was intended that the rate should be allowed to accumulate, so as to form a fund for the erection of a suitable building, but it was discovered that the amount of rate levied during a year must be expended within that period, and the scheme for accumulation had to be abandoned. The Town Commissioners have covenanted with the lord of the manor to rent on perpetual lease his late residence, “ The Grove ” estate, comprising a mansion beautifully situated in about eight acres of finely wooded grounds—the whole being intended as a park for free public use—and a portion of the mansion is devoted to the purposes of a Public Library. In June, 1890, the room in this mansion was opened for public use without ceremony, and ever since has been well used. CHAPTER XIII. Public Libraries in Scotland. The operation of the Public Libraries Act of 1850 was extended to Scotland and Ireland a few years afterwards, but the power of assessment by it and the subsequent Acts was so limited as to render its provisions practically inoperative for small towns unless some generous benefactor came forward and presented to the community a suitable building, equipped in whole or in part with a sufficiency of books. Subsequent legislation has modified the conditions under which the Acts may be adopted, and also the procedure. The most important amending Acts are that of 1866, applicable to England and Scotland, and that of 1877, applicable to England, Scotland, and Ireland. The law, as it applies to Scotland, begins with the Act of 1867, the previous statutes of 1854 and 1866 having been by it repealed. By the Consolidation Act of 1887 the Acts from 1867 to 1884, so far as they relate to Scotland, are repealed. By this Act, upon the requisition in writing of ten or more householders in any burgh or parish, the chief magistrate of such burgh, or in the case of a parish, the sheriff of the county in which such parish or the greater part of the area thereof is situated, shall ascertain the opinions of the householders in such burgh or parish as to the adoption of this Act in the manner setPublic Libraries in Scotland. 235 forth in Schedules A or B, provided that where in any burgh the number of householders exceeds three thousand, the chief magistrate shall adopt the procedure, by way of voting paper, set forth in Schedule A, but in any other case it shall be optional to the chief magistrate or to the sheriff, as the case may be, to adopt such procedure by way of voting paper, or the procedure by way of public meeting, set forth in Schedule B. When the Acts have once been rejected in any place, two whole years must elapse before the proposal to adopt them can be renewed. In a burgh the initiative rests either with the magistrates and council or with any ten householders, either of which bodies may present to the chief or the senior magistrate a requisition in writing, asking him to ascertain the opinion of the ratepayers on the question whether the Public Libraries Acts shall be adopted in the burgh. It rests with the acting chief magistrate absolutely to determine whether the opinion of the ratepayers shall be ascertained at a public meeting called for the purpose, or by the issue of a voting paper to each ratepayer. Of the eight largest towns in Scotland—Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, Aberdeen, Greenock, Paisley, Leith, and Perth—only four have yet adopted the Acts. Twenty-two towns have now adopted these Acts, and it is instructive to observe when the chief impetus came. Between 1851 and 1860, only one town; 1861 to 1870, three; 1871 to 1880, five ; 1881 to 1885, four; 1885 to the end of 1890, eight. This is a very creditable record, and bonnie Scotland may well hold up her head and be proud of the part she has taken in this movement. True, there is the sad case of Glasgow; but outside this the recent failures to carry the movement are confined to two, Leith and Falkirk. But for a long time Scotland has been better off for small libraries than any other part of the United Kingdom. In travelling from time to time north of the Tweed, the author has been amazed at the number of parochial libraries, people’s clubs, literary and scientific institutes, so that there is every ground for saying that Scotland has held her own. A cynic might say that there is a great deal of hum an nature in the ratepayers of the Scottish towns. Poll a northern town on the Public Library question on the simple merits of the case, and it is not usually successful. But let some generous citizen present a library to the town, or offer to do so on condition that the Acts be adopted, and it is surprising how speedily and unanimously the movement becomes an accomplished fact. But this is only a good proof that Scotchmen know how to appreciate a practical gift for the benefit of the general community. As stated elsewhere the history of the Public Library movement in Scotland is a history of Mr. Andrew Carnegie’s generous gifts to these institutions. Most of the Scotch Public Libraries close their buildings for cleaning, and to give a holiday to the staff, from two o’clock on one day in the week. This is done at Paisley, Dundee, and other places. It would be a good thing for the Scotch Public Librarians toPublic Libraries. ¿36 form a small association among themselves, as the Mersey and North Midland districts have done. There are many points of detail and library economy which could be discussed in a friendly way by occasional gatherings. Aberdeen. The rejection of the Acts in Aberdeen was a matter of considerable surprise, considering that the refusal came in the face of the all but certain prospect that a suitable building for a library would be provided rent free, that preliminary subscriptions to the amount of £4,000 would be forthcoming, and that the stock of the Mechanics’ Institute Library, numbering upwards of 12,000 volumes, would become public property. In spite of these advantages, the citizens of Aberdeen, in public meeting assembled, rejected the Acts in 1872. The meeting was attended by more than 1,500 persons; but of these little more than one-third took part in the vote, which was taken by means of signed papers. The majority against was 354. The result was generally attributed to the opposition of the proprietors of small houses, and of the shopkeepers. But among the leading hard-headed spirits of the Granite City the matter was not likely to rest here, and at the end of 1883, on its becoming generally known that the members of the Mechanics’ Institution were disposed to hand over their building and library to the town, provided the citizens adopted the Acts, a distinct impetus was given to the public feeling in favour of the step. Thus strengthened, this feeling found articulate expression at a meeting convened at the instance of a committee representative of the Mechanics’ Institute and the Trades’ Council, and the practical result was the presentation for a second time of a requisition to the chief magistrate of the city. The Provost convened and presided at a meeting of householders, held on March 25,1884. On this occasion, the adoption of the Acts was moved and seconded in presence of a large assembly. A poll being again demanded and taken, it was announced that of 1,155 qualified householders present at the meeting, 891 voted for the proposal, and 264 against it. The Acts were accordingly declared to be adopted. The first duty of the committee was to enter into communication with the directors of the Mechanics’ Institute on the subject of their proposed gift. After some negotiation, it was arranged that the Mechanics’ Institute building, together with the library there and its furnishings, should be transferred to the town for the Public Library, subject to certain reserved burdens, amounting to about £2,500. Another thing to be done was to make an examination of the whole of the volumes belonging to the Mechanics’ Institute with the view of gauging the probable requirements of the library, the aim being to raise the stock in the meantime to about 15,000 volumes. Of the 16,944 examined, as many as 3,467 were found to be so seriously imperfect from various causes that they had to be entirely set aside. With regard to the remainder it was evident that time and money would require to be largely expended before theyPublic Libraries in Scotland. 237 could be made available for public use. In view of these facts, as well as of the desirability of enabling the citizens to enjoy the privilege of the lending library as early as possible, it was concluded that the best course to pursue would be to concentrate every effort on the work of organizing and establishing the latter. As soon as access could be got to the large hall, on its being vacated by the school of art, one-half of it was adapted as a reading-room, the other half being reserved for the use of the lending department. The former was opened in August, and the popularity of this part of the library is well shown by the ever-increasing number of readers that throng the room from day to day. The apartment is well lighted and comfortably furnished, and, as indicated, is largely frequented, particularly in the evenings. Every endeavour was made to increase the stock of books as expeditiously as possible, in order to meet this increasing demand. It may be of interest to mention that the standard of reading is remarkably high, the amount of fiction read being, relatively, compared with other libraries throughout the country, very low ; and this is all the more observable from the fact that under the heading of fiction is included all juvenile books and all poetical works. These rooms, with a reading-room on the opposite side of the street, have, from the time the Acts were placed in operation down to the present, been in use. But the committee were early satisfied that the building, however it might be made to meet the more pressing needs of the library, was not, and could not with any satisfaction be, adapted as a place of permanent occupation, and had under their consideration the propriety of selling that building and of obtaining a suitable site elsewhere on which to erect one specially designed for the purposes of the library. The committee arrived at the opinion that of all the sites proposed one on the east side of Union Terrace combined the most advantages, and was well suited for such a building. This new building is now rapidly nearing completion. It is in the Renaissance style of architecture, and has three storeys. The ground floor is upwards of 18 feet high, and contains a public reading-room 66 feet by 46 feet, conversation room 20 feet by 14 feet, and also a room for the attendant. These rooms are contained within the walls of the main building, while the janitor’s dwelling-house, unpacking, and storerooms, &c., occupy the ground floor of the two west wings. A separate entrance gives access to the janitor’s house and unpacking room. The heating chamber is placed in the east wing under the main staircase. The first floor is 19 feet high, and contains the lending library, an apartment measuring 76 feet by 46 feet, being the whole of the floor space in the main building. Immediately adjoining are the committee room, 24 feet by 16 feet; librarian’s room, 15 feet by 12 feet; and rooms for the staff. The west entrance is intended specially for members of committee and the working staff, and to allow the main entrance to be kept closedPublic Libraries. 238 while the public are not admitted to the library. The second floor, which is 20 feet high, contains the reference library, 76 feet by 46 feet, and an attendant’s room, so arranged as to admit of the attendant commanding a view of all who enter and leave this floor. The whole of the rooms throughout the building are abundantly lighted. The front elevation is built of finely axe-dressed Kemnay granite above a rustic base of the same material, and the height of this wall above the level of the ground floor is 66 feet. The Skene Street elevation is built of squared ashlar, the lower portion being rock-faced, and the upper portion hammer-blocked, with picked dressings. A lift is provided for conveying the books to the various floors and to the binder’s workroom^ and there is also a spiral staircase for the convenience of the attendants. There are speaking-tubes on each floor communicating with the librarian’s room. The internal arrangements and fittings of the building appear to have been well considered, and are of the most simple and easily worked kind. The new buildings will provide accommodation for 150,000 volumes, being 75,000 in the reference room and 75,000 in the lending room. The entire cost of the building is to be about £7,500, and of this sum a very handsome portion has been promised by the citizens. Mr. Carnegie contributes £1,000 and the Town Council a similar sum. Aberdeen has been also fortunate of late in the receipt of gifts of books of an important and interesting character. A gift has been made by Mr. James Walker of his unique musical collection. The collection, which is the fruit of long years of devotion to the subject of music, and more especially Scottish national music in all its phases, in addition to works in biography and on the science and practice of music, is peculiarly rich in musical publications of a local character. The Aberdeen report always affords interesting reading. The marked decrease in the percentage of fiction read during the year deserves a further reference. Although the total issues have increased nearly 10 per cent., the issues in fiction have fallen 12 per cent.—from 60 to 48 per cent, of the whole number issued. Altogether the library in Aberdeen is worthy of the great city to which it belongs, and the prospects, when the new building is opened, are bright in the extreme. Airdrie. To Airdrie belongs the credit of having been the first town in Scotland to adopt the Public Libraries Acts. This it did in 1856, by the all but unanimous voice of the ratepayers; and the library was started, in temporary and inadequate premises, within a few months of the resolution being adopted. The growth of the library has been slow, owing to its limited income from the rate, which is only £115 a year. Yet the library is doing good work. Alloa. An interesting ceremony took place in December, 1888, when the building, which comprises a public hall and library, wasPublic Libraries in Scotland. 239 formally handed over to the burgh commissioners by the donor, Mr. J. T. Paton, the preparation of plans and specifications for the new hall having been entrusted to Mr. Waterhouse, R.A. Gothic in style, the hall, which has been built of sandstone, presents externally a stately appearance. The extreme length of the building is 165 ft., the length of the front portion is 87 ft., while the breadth of the main portion, which consists entirely of the hall, is 54 ft. The height of the front portion from the ground line to the ridge is 66 ft., while the extreme height of the hall from the ground line to the ridge is 40 ft. The central block of the front portion projects fully 8 ft. beyond the general line of frontage. The upper part of the frontage, being broken off with pilasters, projects from the wall line, and terminates in moulded corbels; while that of the centre terminates in an ornamental gable top. The main entrance is placed in the centre of the block. Being three feet above the level of the roadway, the entrance door is reached by means of a flight of steps; but the floor Of the hall being almost on a level with the roadway, the area is reached by a descent of several steps. Internally, the hall presents an aspect of chasteness, and perhaps in this respect it has few, if any, rivals in Scotland. From floor to ceiling the building measures 36 ft., the hall proper being 95 ft. in length and 49 ft. broad. Starting from the main entrance door there is, first of all, an ornamental vestibule, and a staircase leading to the galleries and rooms above. On either side of the main entrance there are hat and cloak-rooms, retiring-rooms, and lavatories. The hall is also fitted with side and end galleries, with commodious platform. On the first floor, in the front block, are situated reading-room, library, and reference library. The bookcases are affixed to the walls, and are reached from galleries. On the second floor accommodation is240 Public Libraries. provided for an art school, which includes master’s room, elementary room, model room, &c. Indeed, the whole of the second floor is devoted more or less to the purposes of an art school. The hall is lighted by fourteen windows on each side, the only roof lights being those for staircases. At the extreme north end there is an ornamental ventilating shaft, rising to a height of 88 ft. from the ground, which will effectively ventilate the hall and carry the smoke from the heating apparatus. The internal decoration of the building is of an elaborate character. The entrance hall and staircase are finished in faience work, the arched tops being painted in colours which harmonize. A massive organ (also the gift of the donor of the hall) has been constructed in the organ chamber. Mr. Paton contributed £1,100 towards the library. The reading public of Alloa will find the library one of the greatest boons imaginable. Every kind of book is found upon its shelves, from those containing light and entertaining literature to books which require much study and deep thinking before their full contents are mastered. Books for boys and girls have also a prominent place, and will do much to eradicate in that district the “ penny dreadful ” style of reading, which is so much sought after by our young people of the present day. The library committee are to be congratulated on their choice of books, and the librarian also for the compilation of the catalogue. The library was opened on February 11, 1889. The catalogue, compiled on the dictionary plan of authors, subjects, titles, and cross-references, is, as a catalogue following this method, a model of what a catalogue should be. Where a small library of 7,000 to 8,000 volumes is being formed the selection of books made for Alloa may with every confidence be followed. The donor has provided a billiard room; and the librarian, in the first report, remarks that this room vies with the newsroom in popularity. Mr. Paton’s gift is of so noble a nature that any criticism would be quite out of place. If, however, the attention of intending donors can be caught, it would be to urge them not to add a games department to a Public Library. It is unnecessary to own taa belief in wholesome relaxation in the way of games, but a billiard room will, and ever must be, a stronger inducement for use than a reference library or a news-room. The second annual report, issued in July, 1891, gives some interesting particulars. Aye. Happy Ayr! What town or district will not adopt the Acts if an offer of £10,000 for a building is forthcoming? Again the prince of library-givers came to the rescue, and no wonder that letters are continually reaching the author with a wish expressed that they could “ Carnegise ” their movement for the carrying of the Act. In August, 1890, Ayr adopted the Acts by a majority of votes sufficient to constitute all but absolute unanimity. A few years ago an effort was made to induce the community to take this step, but a strong opposition was formulated, and the result was that the project was, to all appearance, indefinitely delayed.Public Libraries in Scotland. 241 Mr. Carnegie’s offer, however, proved itself a veritable light in the darkness; and those who were formerly in the front rank of hostility have discovered that the Libraries Acts are a capital thing in themselves and worthy of all assimilation. The only public library possessed by Ayr has pursued a struggling and eventful career. Without the aid of lectures and entertainments it would have succumbed ere now. So little interest, indeed, has been exhibited, that the contents of a museum, once an adjunct of the library, lies in hopeless confusion in a small attic, hardly recognizable under the accumulated dust of years. A site has been selected, and the building, which will bear the name of the Carnegie Public Library, has been begun. The architectural style chosen for the front is a free treatment of Classic, which may be called Renaissance, as probably giving the greatest amount of dignity, without compelling the use of such large cube material as would be needed for a more severe type of Classic. It also admits of dispensing with the picturesque treat- 16Public Libraries. 242 ment of dormer windows, &c., which, although very nice to look at, are apt to require more repairs in plumber work than is agreeable. The plan consists of two wings, and a central part, occupying the whole of the frontage, with a back wing, or jamb, lighted from north and south. The librarian’s house occupies the lower half of the north wing. The main entrance is placed at the centre of the west front. The librarian’s room is on the left hand, and the lending library on the right. The hall itself is 30 feet by 27 feet square, spacious and handsome, thoroughly lighted in every part by two large triple windows facing the north. These windows contain between them about 240 square feet of glass; the stair itself is placed in the north-east angle of the hall. Passing straight through the hall the general reading-room is reached. The lending library is placed on the ground or street floor for the convenience of the public. It is a large room, well lighted from the front and back, but in addition the back part, equal to nearly one-third of its floor space, and which has no building over it, is provided with large additional roof light. The public enter from the south side of the hall at the middle of the library into a space allotted to them about 30 feet by 14 feet, which is surrounded by a counter, on which are placed six indicators. Six spaces in the counter, amounting in all to about 32 lineal feet, are reserved for the use of the public when taking out books. Going straight through the hall is the general reading-room set apart for newspapers, magazines, &c. Seats are provided for 103 readers, allowing fully 15 square feet of floor space to each. It is about 52 feet long, with an average width of 30 feet, and is provided with eight tables of various lengths, placed longitudinally with the length of the room, so that all the light from the windows in the north and south ends can pass uninterruptedly along the length of the tables. For newspapers there are four double stands projecting from the walls, besides thirteen single stands placed against the wall, providing accommodation for twenty-one newspapers. Ascending by the staircase in the hall to the upper floor we reach a roomy landing 17 feet by 14 feet square, on the right of which is the entrance to the museum and picture gallery. Facing is a lobby 7 feet wide entered by two doors, the one on the left leading to the ladies’ reading room, while that on the right leads to the reference library. This latter is about 43 feet long. The attendant is within the counter at the middle of the north end, and in a line with the lobby which connects this room with the ladies’ reading room, so that he can command a full view of every person who enters or leaves either room. The reading-tables are placed so that the attendant can look along each table. At the west end, and communicating with the lobby, adjacent to the reference library, is a stair leading to the roof for access to the ventilating arrangements. The remainder of the upper floor is devoted to a museum and picture gallery 55 feet long,Public Libraries in Scotland. 243 provided with abundance of light. Messrs. Marshall, Wane, and Allan are the architects. The editor of the “ Ayrshire Post ” has lent the block of the building. Brechin. The little town of Brechin received in 1889 an offer of £5,000 for Public Library Purposes. A firm of Edinburgh solicitors, acting for an unknown donor, offered on behalf of their client that £3,000 of the £5,000 be applied to the purchase of a site and the erection of the necessary buildings, the money to be paid when the site and plans are agreed on, the balance of £2,000 to be paid only after the building is furnished with at least 6,000 volumes paid for by the inhabitants out of funds to be raised by them by subscription or otherwise, the balance of £2,000 to be invested as arranged, and the income thereof applied in purchasing new books, &c., from time to time, in meeting the cost of repairs, insurance, &c., leaving only the management and the other necessary expenses to be raised by taxation under the Acts. The assessment rate produces about £105 a year. At a public meeting for the consideration of the question a banker was bold enough to assert that a public gymnasium and a recreation room, where the young men might go and smoke their pipes and play at dominoes, and the young women go and knit stockings, were more required in Brechin than a Public Library. The Acts were adopted in the early part of 1890. The site has been selected, and the building is in course of erection. It will embrace a lending library, reading and newsroom, reference room, and a librarian’s house. The rooms are arranged so that no space is lost in passages or corridors; and the whole will be supervised by the attendant at the borrower’s counter. Care has been taken to provide easy and direct ingress and egress to the different rooms, sufficient and well-lighted lobby room for borrowers, ease of administration and supervision of the lending, news, and reference rooms and hall; ample light in every part, and a comfortable temperature, and good ventilation, &c. In the lending department the bookcases will be arranged on the alcove system. The elevations have been designed in a phase of the Classic Renaissance, with the view of giving the building a semi-municipal, rather than a domestic, appearance, as being more expressive of the purpose for which it is intended. To increase the accommodation the building, which will cost about £3,000, may be extended in any direction. The building is expected to be finished in the spring of 1892. Dumbarton. The Acts were adopted in 1881. The usefulness of Public Libraries in small places such as this must necessarily remain hampered so long as there is no aid from other sources. The committee are looking forward to better times for this library. In the early part of 1892 the library will be much better housed in the new institute in course of erection to the memory of the latePublic Libraries. 244- William Denny, shipbuilder. The building is expected to cost about £6,000, and will be two storeys high. The library, reading-room, committee-room, &c., will occupy the whole of the ground floor, while in the upper portion of the building there will be a recreation-room, billiard-room, card-room, &c., with caretaker’s house. The library expects to enjoy an immunity from rent after removal, and this will place it in a good position. The funds for the erection of the building have been raised by public subscription. Dundee. From whichever point of view the work in Dundee is viewed it comes out well. The group of institutions shown in the engraving represents in fact the present high water mark of Public DUNDEE PUBLIC LIBRARY, MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY. Library and Museum progress in Scotland, and Dundee may be bracketed with the best and most progressive in England. From first to last these buildings have: cost over £50,000, and not a fraction of this respectable sum has come out of the pockets of the ratepayers. The origin of these institutions dates back to 1862, when Dundee, in common with other parts of the United Kingdom, was looking around and considering what was the most suitable monument to perpetuate the memory of Prince Albert. The citizens of Dundee, with that practical character which has always distinguished them, decided that their monument should not be merely monumental brass or sculptured marble, but an institute specially devoted to the furtherance ofPublic Libraries in Scotland. 245 the objects which for many years had interested Prince Albert, and which he had done not a little to promote. This was the birth of the Albert Institute, and the pile of buildings will ever remain, not only as a monument to him whose name it bears, but to the foresight and wisdom of the Dundee people. Other minds had been active, at a time contemporaneous with this, but quite independent of it, to see if it were not possible to get the Acts adopted. The resolution to adopt the Acts was taken in 1866, and it is to the credit of Dundee that it was taken unanimously, and that a preliminary expenses fund of £4,000 was at once subscribed. This may have been due, in some measure, to the fact that the Albert Institute was then in course of erection, and that provision had been made in its title-deeds for accommodating a Public Library within its walls. A splendid site was given by the magistrates at a nominal price, on condition that room should be provided in it for the Public Libraries, museum, and art galleries. The late Sir G. Gilbert Scott was entrusted with the work of designing a suitable structure, and in 1867 the whole of the buildings were completed, and the first use to which they were placed was for" the meetings of the British Association, which visited Dundee that year. The reference and lending libraries were opened in 1869, and in 1873 a large wing, now used for a museum and art galleries, was erected. So rapidily has the work developed since that time that largely increased accommodation was absolutely essential. Very generous have been the gifts of the leading citizens of Dundee. In 1887 Mr. Keiller came forward with an offer of ten thousand guineas, and during that year, and since then, £25,000 has been raised to free the Institute from debt, and to build the new wings. The whole forms a magnificent pile. Efficiency in every department appears to be the order of the day. The entire work of the Albert Institute, and Victoria Galleries, now comprises reference library, lending library, subscription library (one guinea per annum), museum of natural history, antiquities, art, and fine art galleries, annual fine art exhibition of works by living artists, and the Dundee Art Union. The establishing of one or more branch libraries has been discussed by the committee, but nothing has yet been done. Dunfermline. To die rich, to “ cut up well,” to devote a large fortune made by a combination of other people's work and business ability to the founding of a family—these are the pet ambitions of most men who have made money. One noted exception is the Scottish-American millionaire, Mr. Andrew Carnegie. At a Glasgow meeting, he and his wife were congratulated on the great good they had done in assisting to establish Public Libraries. Then said Mr. Carnegie, with the fire of resolution glowing' in his eyes, “ My wife and I are determined that we will not die richVy And it is a very fortunate thing, not only for Scotland but other places, thatPublic Libraries. 246 Mr. Carnegie and his wife have come to so worthy a decision. The Carnegie Public Library at Dunfermline was the first gift of this kind which Mr. Carnegie made. This was appropriate, as Dunfermline was his native place. In December, 1879, shortly after his gift of baths to the town, Mr. Carnegie signified his willingness to give £8,000 to found a library, provided the town adopted the Acts. These Acts having been adopted, Mr. Carnegie entrusted several gentlemen with the preliminary arrangements, MB. ANDREW CABNEGrIE. and afterwards a committee of management was appointed in accordance with the Acts. On July 27,1881, the memorial stone was laid by Mr. Carnegie’s mother, and a banquet given to celebrate the event. On August 29, 1883, the institution was formally opened by the Earl of Rosebery, the number of volumes in the library being then 11,926,Public Libraries in Scotland. 247 Mr. Carnegie has several times since the building was opened shown his interest in it by gifts of money. During his visit in 1890 he gave £200 for the purchase of books. A good sign was the large number of orderly youths and boys in the newsroom at the time of the writer’s visit. An acceptable present came a few months ago from Mr. Thomson, the proprietor of the “ Pall Mall Gazette,” wko sent four exquisite pictures for the reading-rooms of the library. The largest picture represents a scene in the time of Charles II.; in the second, a sw^eet old lady is overjoyed at the pranks of two grandchildren; and the third and fourth pictures represent two stages in the courtship of a pair of lovers. Edinburgh. There is some evidence that there was in Edinburgh a small library open to the citizens as early as 1580, and the fact is of bibliographical interest. It is unnecessary now to do more than glance at the ancient history of the two previous attempts to adopt the Acts. The movement of 1868 took practical shape at a meeting of citizens held on November 19, 1867. The attendance was small, but it was certainly influential, and the speaking was admirable. The Lord Justice-General was in the chair. The resolutions were supported by some of the leading citizens. It is worth noting that one of the most earnest promoters of the scheme was Mr. T. J. Boyd, who, as Lord Provost of the city thirteen years afterwards, did his utmost to induce the citizens to adopt the proposal which was then rejected. Opposition to the movement was at once organized, and was carried on with great vigour, chiefly by the shopkeepers of the leading thoroughfares. The statutory meeting was held on May 18, 1868, and the meeting was a crowded and excited one. The Lord Provost was in the chair, but it can scarcely be said that he presided, for the meeting defied all restraint, and gave itself up to disorder. It was evident from the first that the opponents of the movement had taken possession of the hall in force. A more discreditable meeting has rarely been held in Edinburgh. When the names of the leading requisi-tionists were read out they were received with hissing, hooting, and groans. That was the temper in which the meeting conducted itself throughout. The objectors made little use of argument: their strength lay in quenching all argument with howling and groaning. Free or fair discussion there was none; and probably it would have been thrown away on such an audience. The resolution in favour of adopting the Acts was moved by Mr. William Todd in an earnest speech, and seconded by Mr. W. H. Muir. When the vote was taken, the result showed 1,106 against the proposal and only 71 in favour. An interval of thirteen years passed before another attempt was made, and in the interval the law had been altered, to the effect that the vote might be taken by a poll of the whole body of ratepayers, and not merely of those who were able to attend a public meeting. The electorate had also been greatly extended, so as to include a considerable proportion of those whom the ActsPublic Libraries. 248 were designed to benefit. Moreover, many large towns in England had in the meantime taken advantage of the Acts. On these grounds the promoters of the movement were hopeful of success. A public meeting of citizens favourable to the project was held on January 16,1881. The requisition having been presented, voting papers, in the shape of post-cards, were issued to the ratepayers. Taking the “Yes” and “No” papers, which were duly signed as the test of the opinion of the ratepayers, this vote showed a clear majority of 8,089 against the proposal to adopt the Act. There the matter rested in 1881. The third and final attempt was brought about in the autumn of 1886 by the munificent offer of Mr. Carnegie of £50,000 on condition that the city adopted the Acts, and provided the additional money required for maintaining the library. The enthusiasm with which the last attempt was conducted did much to wipe off the stigma of apathy which attended the two previous efforts. All classes joined together in promoting the movement, and so securing for the city so splendid a gift. The main lever came from the “ Scotsman,” and never since the Ewart Act of 1850 was passed has there been in any newspaper articles so pungent and so ably written, urging upon the citizens the advisability of adopting the Acts, as were printed in that paper. Columns of matter were given describing the work in various parts of the country, and these were accompanied with forceful leaders, which must have aided most materially in educating public opinion upon the question. It was also a noticeable fact that some who had been vigorous opponents in the two previous attempts now gave their aid, and worked heartily with the promoters. It was stated that the cost of a plébiscite of Edinburgh would be £500, and although at first there were doubts as to the wisdom of deciding the question by a town’s meeting, it was ultimately settled to adopt this method, as the opposition was of so trifling and insignificant a character. The meeting was called for October 26, 1886, and will remain as historic in the annals of Edinburgh. Sir Thomas Clark, Bart., the Lord Provost, presided, and it was estimated that some 2,500 people must have been present. The letter of Mr. Carnegie, of which the meeting was the outcome, was brief and to the point. Able speeches were made. One gentleman, referring to the large percentage of novels taken out of Public Libraries, remarked that he did not see why a poor man’s life should be one whit duller than his by depriving him of that he should not like to be deprived of himself—a volume of Walter Scott, or Dickens, or of Thackeray. Moreover, he had noticed that people who learn perhaps the habit of reading only through an interest in romances, by-and-by also learn that they must have something deeper and more solid to satisfy them. It is the way in which deeper regions of thought are opened to the reader. The Lord Provost put the question to the vote, calling upon those in favour of the amendment to stand up first. This call was responded to by about twenty in all, most of whom quickly re-Public Libraries in Scotland. 249 sumed their seats in some confusion, caused by the outburst of laughter with which they were greeted. The Lord Provost then called upon the supporters of the motion, and immediately the audience rose in a body, waving, hats and sticks, and cheering most enthusiastically. A cablegram was forthwith sent to the donor announcing the almost unanimous adoption of the Act. This is briefly the history of the three occasions when the vote on this question was taken in Edinburgh. The purpose will be gained if it should stimuj ate the friends in other districts where the movement has been unsuccessful to go on trying until they ultimately carried the adoption of the Acts. The design for a suitable building was thrown open to public competition, and the one sent in by Mr. Washington Browne was selected. The plans of this were subjected to some modifications and alterations, such as further consideration on the part of the architect and committee seemed to render desirable. On July 10, 1887, the foundation stone was laid amid great demonstrations of popular approval. Mr. Carnegie laid the stone, and in doing so said that that was the fifth Public Library250 Public Libraries. which he had been permitted to found, and he could wish for himself no happier lot than that he might be permitted to add infinitely to the number ere his race was run, and he lay down to rest upon the bosom of his mother-earth. Beginning at the basement floor, the library is artificially lighted by means of electricity. The installation combines both arc and incandescent lamps, the arc light, fitted with Thomson-Ilouston lamps, being employed as the main lighting agent in the large halls. Each arc light is of 2,000-candle power. Of these there are four in the newsroom, one in the juvenile room, four in the lending department, and five in the reference library. On the second floor is situated the workroom and the stores for magazines and newspaper files. The newsroom, on the third floor up from the Cowgate and the first floor down from George IY. Bridge, is a handsome hall, well lighted on its four sides by large three-light windows. Its panelled roof is carried on eight massive Ionic columns; its walls are lined to a height of eight feet with faïence tiles—an admirable arrangement for securing cleanliness ; and round the top of this dado as centre to a deep moulding are tiles in different colours, carrying appropriate mottoes setting forth words of proverbial wisdom. Two large doorways with raised faïence ornamentation give a finish to the room. Opening off the newsroom is a room EDINBURGH public library. for juveniles under fourteen years of age. On two of its sides are shelves filled with books—5,000 volumes in all—including history, travel, biography, and fiction. On the tables will be magazines and papers, and illustrated periodicals both interesting and instructive. In the large newsroom are fifty stands for newspapers. They are of ash, dark stained, with a brass rail in front, and fitted with a patent holder. The lending library is on the George IY. Bridge level. The pillars carrying the roof, the panelling of the roof and the book-shelves are stained to resemble American redwood. The counter is made of oak, 110 feet in length, and in shape may be said to resemble the letter B, so as to enclose the three sides of the hall in which the book-shelves are erected.Public Libraries in Scotland. 251 The reference library, on the top flat, is a very fine domed hall —the dome carried on a series of three arches on each of the four sides of the room, haying an imposing appearance. The square space in the centre is occupied with tables and chairs for readers ; behind the arches on three sides are nine large alcoves, in which are placed shelves for books to a height of about 18 feet. The space behind the three arches next to the entrance door is left clear, the shelving being placed only on the wall. Half-way up is a light gallery, which is reached by iron winding stairs in the four projecting angles of the room. Each alcove is set apart to a special department of literature. Books relating to Scotland are in one bay, history in another, fine arts in another, and so on. A special section is the Technical Department, the books in which were purchased by the vote from the surplus of the International Exhibition of 1886. The committee ascertained the number of persons engaged in the different trades in Edinburgh, and, as far as lay in their power, provided books bearing on these handicrafts. The books altogether in the lending and reference departments have cost £15,000. This expenditure has been defrayed from the produce of a rate of one halfpenny in the pound for two years, and one penny in the pound for the last year. The building, site, and furnishings have been provided, as already indicated, out of the £50,000, very little of which remains unexpended. The original building contracts amounted to £19,385, and the rest of the money has been absorbed on the purchase of the site, furnishings, heating and ventilation, electric lighting, &c. The heating is effected by means of coiled steam pipes placed in radiators, which also play an important part in connection with the ventilation of the building. Fresh air is taken through gratings from the outside, but before it is admitted to the different rooms it is conducted through the radiators and warmed by contact with the hot pipes. For carrying away the vitiated air a powerful exhaust shaft has been constructed, into which the spent air from the various departments of the building passes. This shaft is carried from basement to roof, over the latter of which it rises in the shape of an ornamental towerlike structure. By this system it is estimated that the entire air in the building is changed four or five times an hour. Large fireplaces have also been introduced into the chief apartments, the flues of which are utilized for ventilating purposes. Lord Bosebery performed the opening ceremony in June, 1890. In the course of his address he asked what would Burns have given, what would Hugh Miller have given, what might they both have been had they had access from their birth to such a library as the one he was then opening. It was said once that every French soldier bore in his knapsack the potential baton of a field-marshal. In this library there lies, he said all the means of potential eminence,—of potential greatness. There lies much more—the arsenal of the weapons of civilization. During the first day that the library was opened to the public, Mr. Morrison the librarian, and his assistants, were kept busy handing out over 2,500252 Public Libraries. borrowers’ forms. During the first year’s work 44,774 readers’ tickets were issued. The delivery of books both for home reading and reference has been phenomenal, and the citizens of modern Athens feel and acknowledge that the reputation of their city has been greatly enhanced by the library and its operations. In June, 1891, the committee had under consideration the desirability of establishing district call offices, to which books desired by readers could be conveyed in delivery vans from the library. This is a plan which is much in use in the United States, but has not yet been tried in this country. Edinburgh has a Public Library admirably designed, substantially built, of which not only Scotland but the whole library world may be reasonably proud. And foremost in importance even to these qualities is the use made of the books, and this is of the highest order. Not only Edinburgh, but the whole of Scotland, has for some time been discussing the future of the Advocates’ Library. This library has long been the Scottish counterpart of the British Museum. Like that valuable institution, it is the great home of literary lore, and, like it also, enjoys the privilege of possessing a copy of every book published in the United Kingdom. In one important particular, though, the Advocates’ Library is unlike the British Museum—it is not a public institution. There is, too, this further difference, that the care and expense of housing and maintaining the collection have not been laid on the public purse, but have fallen upon the Faculty of Advocates. Valuable to Scotland it undoubtedly has been, but for that advantage the nation has simply to thank the Faculty, who, if it chose so ungenerous a course, has a right to close the library to the lay consultant. As a matter of fact, it is a fear that the closing of the institution may ultimately become necessary that has occasioned, in the first place, the action of the Edinburgh Town Council, and, in the second place, of the Scotch newspaper press generally. The universal desire beyond the Tweed is to see it become the national library of Scotland. And in this view many on this side the border heartily join. Such a collection of books should not be open to the public as a matter of favour but of right. If Scotland can secure an annual grant for the maintenance of this library, providing that it is thrown open to the public, there will be room for congratulation. Elgin. As hinted in the last edition, two years would suffice to cause Elgin to reverse the vote taken in February, 1889. The majority against the Acts on that occasion was eighty-seven only. Through no fault of Mr. Carnegie, an offer of £500 if the Acts were adopted arrived just after the plébiscite was taken, or there would no doubt have been a large majority on the other side. One or two meetings were held at which there was a good attendance of all sections of the Elgin public. In the early part of April, 1891, the vote was again taken, and resulted in a decided victory for the promoters of the movement. Some 856 papers were collected, of which 13Public Libraries in Scotland. 253 were rejected. There were marked “ Yes ” 539, and “ No ” 304, giving a majority for the adoption of the Act of 235. That the Act would be adopted at this time was the opinion of most people, even of those who were opposed to it, but that the majority would be so large was anticipated by few. The promoters canvassed keenly. On the other side there was canvassing also, though not on the same extensive and well-organized scale. Moreover, many who voted against the adoption of the Act two years ago, though they had not changed their minds on the question, recognized that there was a growing feeling in favour of a library in Elgin, and thought it best, in the circumstances, to abstain from voting altogether. To these causes are probably to be ascribed the promoters’ victory. This is the third time that an effort has been made to introduce the Acts into Elgin. On the first occasion the Act was ignominiously defeated. On the second occasion, two years ago, the movement had gained immensely in public favour, as already stated. The working classes voted for the library much more numerously on the taking of this last vote than they did two years ago. Forfar. Forfar has struggled from the first with limited space. Now the committee see an end to the disadvantages. In 1879 a Miss Meffan bequeathed a legacy of £5,000 to trustees for the erection of a public hall, museum, and library, or other kindred subjects and objects for promoting the moral and intellectual improvement of the community of Forfar. Those trustees, for some reason or other, have allowed the trust to lie undisturbed since then, notwithstanding several appeals that were made to them. In 1882 a joint committee of the Library and School Board met to consider what was the most desirable form which the bequest should take, and they reported to the trustees in favour of building a “ Meffan Institute ” for Public Library purposes, providing accommodation for the present circulating and reference libraries, along with reference room, reading-room, museum, committee rooms, and librarian’s house, as well as accommodation for a science and art school or drawing classes. The trustees were unable to proceed with its execution, and nothing further was heard of the matter until 1887, when it was deemed a very fitting time to carry out the objects of the testatrix; but even then the trustees were indisposed to the scheme put forward, much to the disappointment of the community, who began to imagine that they should never be able to reap the benefits of the trust. It appears that a committee of the trustees met at the end of 1888, when they resolved to suggest that the bequest be applied in the purchase or erection of a building to be called the “ Meffan Institute,” and that the cost of the building, with necessary fittings, &c., should not exceed the sum of £3,000 inclusive of site ; that the remainder of the bequest be invested, and that the annual revenue therefrom, together with any revenue derivable from any part of the proposed building which it might be deemed advisable254 Public L ibrarics. to let, should be devoted to the maintenance of the Public Library. Forfar will thus soon have its work carried on under happier conditions. Galashiels. The Jubilee was a small windfall for this town, the reputation of which rests on Scotch tweeds and its close proximity to Abbotsford. Some £1,300 was raised, and what better way could there be of spending this than on an extension of the Public Library, providing a new reading-room and an extension of the lending library? The new reading-room has a floor space of 42J ft. by 37 ft., equal to 1,582 square feet. Its main feature is a very large arched window in the end of the wall, which, along with lights on each side of the roof, floods the room with light. The walls, up to a height of 5 ft. above the floor, are faced with glazed tiles, disposed in a good and chaste pattern, and topped by a heavy cornice. The public access to this room is by a lobby, which has been taken off two sides of the original library room. This lobby, both in walls and ceiling, is lined with wood painted and varnished. The library room has been greatly altered. Formerly it was nearly a square, of which two sides were occupied with book-shelves, and the floor-space was used as a reading room. But to get a 6 ft. wide lobby from the staircase to the new reading-room it was necessary to put up new walls for the library proper at that distance inward from the original walls. This has contracted the size of the room on two sides. But this diminution of wall space for books has been more than compensated by the new arrangement, and by the erection on the floor of the library room of five standards for books. These are the gift of an anonymous contributor. The work is decidedly growing. An interesting ceremony took place at the re-opening. The building stands well on an eminence, and the view from its windows over the Melrose valley and hills is very picturesque. Within the shade of those hills Adam Smith lived and wrote his “Wealth of Nations.” In April, 1891, an interesting gift was made to the library in the form of some plans of the ancient buildings of the surrounding neighbourhood, which formed the originals of the plates in a book of domestic architecture of Scotland. The appointment of the librarian seems to be an annual one, but is this a good plan anywhere ? Grangemouth. Another of Mr. Carnegie’s gifts helped to bring about the adoption of the Acts here. An offer of £900 quickly assisted to decide the matter, and on October 1, 1888, the memorial stone was laid. A temporary building was opened until the new structure was ready for the public. Grangemouth is somewhat proud of the fact that a modest seaport town of less than 6,000 inhabitants should, with practical unanimity, have adopted the Acts, when other towns and cities of greater pretensions have hesitated to do so. It is a matter to be placed to its credit. The manner in which the promoters of the scheme carried it outPublic Libraries in Scotland. 255 supplies a worthy and instructive example to other communities whose reading facilities are as yet undeveloped. The proposal for the adoption of the Act originated among the police commissioners of the town. The building is of two storeys, designed in a pleasing style which most resembles the Italian order of architecture. The lower part of the frontage is plain, and contains the two doors, one at each side of the building, which give entrance to it, while between them are three front windows, two giving light to the reading-room and one to the staircase. The upper part of the frontage is ornamental. There is a clear space all round the site, and this ground has been laid out ornamentally. At the opening ceremony Mr. Carnegie, referring to a little episode in his history while a boy in the city of Alleghany, said he would not take a fortune or give a fortune to a boy any more than he would leave that boy a curse. There was nothing in the world so grand a legacy as honest poverty. He next told of a Colonel Anderson who had lent him and other boys, from week to week, volumes from his private library. That man, continued Mr. Carnegie, would have a monument in the Public Library in Alleghany, because he had opened up to him the intellectual wealth of the world. He learned from the books what he could not have learned elsewhere; and could they wonder that, when he had wealth, the noblest use to which he could put that wealth was in establishing Public Libraries P The first lessons he learned, the sentiments that were graven on his heart, were those that came from the brain into the heart. Books taught him that to put an enemy into his mouth was to steal away his brains, and he had never entered a bar-room. Then he soon learned the grand sentiment, “ To thine own self be true,” and it must follow as night did day, “ Thou can’st not then be false to any man.” Another lesson he learned was that no man can be cheated out of a reasonable success in life unless he cheats himself. The cost of the building with furnishing reached £2,139, and on going over it, there was cause for surprise that so handsome and substantial a structure could be built for so reasonable an outlay. This was the total cost—£2,032 being for the building, and £107 for furnishing and fittings. As a library for villages and small towns the building at Grangemouth would form a good model. Inverness. It was necessary to record in the last issue of this work a state of congestion in this library, and an extraordinary number of books which were not accounted for in the stocktaking. Now there is a very much better state of things. Here, again, Mr. Carnegie came forward with a gift of £1,750 to discharge the burden of debt upon the building, and this placed the whole work on a healthier basis than it had for some time occupied. In the autumn of 1890 the freedom of the city was conferred upon him. As an indication of the motives which actuate him inPublic Libraries. 256 devoting so much attention to the aid of Public Libraries, a few words from his speech on the, occasion just referred to should be stimulating to wealthy men in this country. “ In my opinion,” he said, “ the generous rich have hitherto bestowed altogether too much attention, and too great a portion of their means, upon so-called charitable work. I have no faith in almsgiving, for every thousand pounds given in what passes for charity I believe that nine hundred and fifty pounds of it had better be thrown into the sea, for it tends to promote the evils which it aims to cure. There is no possible pauperization of the people in placing within their reach the means of knowledge, because these only yield their fruits to such as cultivate them by their own exertions. It is not the valueless portion of the race that Public Libraries reach; not the drunken; not the slothful; not the miserably contented; but the active, ambitious, self-respecting. The only true charity is that which aids the aspiring, who long to ascend to better things; aids which help those who are first willing to help themselves. It is in this respect that I think Public Libraries take foremost rank. Of the large sums hoarded by rich men which they should have administered during lifetime for the good of the community from which it was so largely acquired, I think the law should provide, as the law of Venice did for its Shylock, that at least one-half should go to the private coffers of the State. Thus would society place its brand of disapproval upon the rich man who failed to perform his duties to the community during his life.” It would be well if these words could find an echo in the aspirations of other wealthy men. The future of the Inverness library will be watched on many hands with careful attention. The re-opening took place in March, 1891. Kirkwall. In this far northern town the Acts were adopted in March, 1890, by means of voting papers. The voting was as follows :— Out of the 497 papers which were issued, there were 264 for the adoption, and only 29 against. Pive papers were returned as spoiled. Mr. Carnegie offered to give as much towards the library as could be raised locally, and all classes worked together with a will and raised £516 15s. lOd. In March, 1891, a cheque for this amount was received by the provost, and so the library has started under very favourable conditions. It was opened in August, 1891, with 3,000 volumes. Paisley. Although Paisley cannot claim the distinction of being first to adopt the Acts, having to give precedence to Airdrie and Dundee, the enterprising spirit of its inhabitants and the munificence of its merchant princes did not allow them to be left very far behind. Stimulated by the offer of Sir Peter Coats (then plain Mr. Coats, and who died in the spring of 1890), to provide a suitable building, the ratepayers adopted the Acts by an overwhelming majority in 1867, with the result that a substantialPublic Libraries in Scotland. 257 edifice, designed to give accommodation for both a museum and a library, was erected in High Street, and opened four years afterwards. Gifts of antiquities and curiosities poured into the museum in abundance, and its possessions soon became sufficiently extensive and valuable to make a very interesting display. The nucleus of the lending library was formed of about 7.743 volumes, presented by the curators of the Paisley Library, which was founded in 1802, and to this 1,481 volumes were added at the opening, making a total of 9,224 volumes, which number has been augmented from time to time. The formation of the reference library was undertaken by the local philosophical society, the members of which obtained subscriptions to the amount of £1,612, which, after furnishing, enabled them, with the aid of the library they already possessed, to place in it 5,037 volumes. Although a sum is annually voted by the society for the purchase of books, the reference library has not increased very rapidly. This department was originally on the same floor as the lending library and reading-room, but some years ago the space allotted to it was found to be insufficient, and Sir Peter Coats again came forward, and had an addition built on the higher ground behind, to be exclusively devoted to the reference department. In all Sir Peter cannot have given less than £30,000 towards the library and museum. This is one of the cosiest reference reading-rooms in the whole of the north of England or in Scotland, and should be the paradise of the student. There is one peculiarity of the work at Paisley, and that is, no newspapers are taken. The line is drawn at weeklies, of which seven are taken; of monthlies there are thirty-nine; and of quarterlies three. The library reading-room has a studious appearance, but this does not deter the working classes from using it, for, on the morning of the writer’s visit, a navvy in corduroys sat at the same table as a young miss who had apparently come to consult some book before going to school. The entire buildings are conveniently designed. The rooms and halls open out of each other in a way providing convenience and effect. There is a splendid lecture hall, and all through the winter lectures are given, which frequently cause reference to be made to the books by those who attend the various courses. A curious and interesting find was made some time ago. A large number of bundles of manuscripts were found in a barrel, and presented to the Public Library on condition that they should be bound. On inspection the bundles turned out to be the manuscripts of the “ Bibliotheca Britannica,” by Robert Watt, M.D., who resided in Paisley at the time the wrnrk was being written. The late Thomas Coats had them bound in sixty-eight volumes and placed in the reference library. A very valuable work presented by Sir Peter Coats is Audubon’s “Birds of America,” consisting of four volumes of life-size coloured illustrations, and five volumes of ornithological literature, the whole valued at £150. These books, being very large, are kept in specially made cases 4 feet by 2J feet, with sliding shelves on which the books are placed. An interesting relic is the minute 17258 Public Libraries. book of the Paisley Society for the Reformation of Manners from its foundation in 1757 to the final meeting of 1871. This was the year of opening the Coats Library, so evidently the old Society for the Reformation of (Paisley) Manners thought that the work and objects of their society might be now safely bequeathed to the Public Library. Other towns where these old. societies for the Reformation ©f Manners exists and where there is not a library under the Acts, please note. On account of the rapid growth of Paisley’s population since the Public Library was founded the amount realized by the assessment has increased from about £500 in 1871 to almost £1,000 in 1886, and it is still going up. . The Paisley press do not seem to give much attention to the library and its work, and this is unfortunate. Petebhead. The matter was raised here by several reporters of the local newspapers writing to Mr. Carnegie to ask his aid. He cabled back to say that he was a great believer in helping those who help themselves, and that if Peterhead adopted the Acts he would give them monetary aid. This set the question in motion, although prior to the action of the reporters others had for some months been of opinion that the time had arrived when the Acts should be adopted. In January of 1890 the plebiscite was taken. There were 1,672 electors on the roll. Of these 1,250 answered “ Yes,” and 76 “No.” Some 304 were absent or dead, and 42 were neutral. In February, 1891, the design for the new building was selected, and the structure is now in course of erection. In the monthPublic Libraries in Scotland. 259 just named the financial condition was as follows:—Liabilities— Site, £1,000; building, £2,800; furniture, £100—total, £3,900. They had—as subscriptions—£1,200; bazaar fund, £1,200; Mr. Carnegie’s promised subscription, £1,000—total, £3,400; leaving a deficiency of £500, for which it is proposed that there should be a bazaar next year. A sketch of the building is given. The building is designed in the English Renaissance style of architecture, and is being built of Peterhead granite. One of the chief features of the design is the tower, which rises to a height of 73 feet, and is finished with a dome of octagonal shape with a minaret over. Each corner of the tower has long pilaster lines rising to the main cornice under the level of the proposed clock and capped with graceful dome-shaped pinnacles. The tower is ingeniously utilized for part of the main staircase and other purposes. Their windows being of various sizes and styles have a pleasing effect. The entrance to the building is by a porch with moulded bases, pilasters, and caps, with frieze and moulded cornice. The windows throughout are a feature of the design. Those in the first floor are divided into three lights and have elliptical curved arches and tracery of the same form. The whole building rests on a granite rustic base about 4 feet high, and above this the masonry is hammer-blocked ashlar relieved at intervals with dressed string and belt courses. A moulded cornice and parapet at eaves run along both fronts. From the entrance hall, which it is proposed to lay with tiles, access is had to the lending library, the reference library, the reading-room, the conversation room, and to the staircase to the first floor, the steps of which are to be of granolithic stone. The reference library, reference reading-room, and recreation room (chess, draughts, &c.), and the conversation room are to the back. Mr. Duncan McMillan, of Aberdeen, is the architect. The foundation stone was laid with great ceremony by Mrs. Andrew Carnegie in August, 1891. Selkirk. This town has the distinction of being the native place of a number of literary Scotsmen. It has the further distinction of having turned a county prison into a Public Library, and in this respect the spirit of emulation cannot be carried too far. In the autumn of 1888, Mr. T. Craig-Brown offered the buildings. They had undergone alterations with the view of making the prison available as a Public Library and reading-room, care having been taken to preserve as far as possible the original and picturesque features of its architecture. In altering the prison to a Public Library and reading-room care has been taken to leave untouched its original architectural features, the only alteration on the outside wall being the addition of an oriel window with corbelled base and roof. This window commands fine views of the valley of Ettrick. The interior was originally filled with three storeys of arched cells constructed of stone and brick. The upper floor has26o Public Libraries. been removed with the exception of a portion at the western gable, which has been retained to form a gallery overlooking the reading-room. This gallery has an artistic appearance. Resting on three ground arches, it is adorned in front with mouldings, cornices, and panels, and will have a handsome balustrade. The reading-room, which is on the second floor, is lofty, symmetrical, and in every way suitable for the purpose for which it was designed. The ground floor, which is used as the library proper, has been treated in a unique and original manner. By removing the divisional walls of the cells and effecting other alterations, this lower part of the building has been converted into a species of crypt, with groined roof and massive pillars. The rooms previously used as offices by the prison officials have been converted into house-accommodation for the librarian. The space between the library and Ettrick Terrace is occupied by a narrow lawn or shrubbery, in which garden seats may be placed, commanding a beautiful view of the hills and river. Mr. Craig-Brown stipulated in his offer that the Acts should be adopted, or, if they were not successful in carrying the Acts, the Provost should, on behalf of the town, undertake to maintain the library for two years. In October of the year named a statutory meeting was held, and so unanimous was it that the Provost, who presided, said that there was no occasion to count the votes. To Mr. Andrew Lang, himself a Selkirk worthy, was entrusted the duty of declaring the Public Library open to the public. The honour was well deserved, and the duty was gracefully discharged at the end of May, 1889. Tarves (Aberdeenshire). Tarves is a purely rural parish. The only village is the Kirk-town, with about 150 inhabitants. It is the only rural parish that has a library under the Acts. An old parish schoolmaster left a few hundred pounds and his books to the parish. A hall was built with the money, and the books formed the nucleus of a library. An attempt was made to keep up the library by lectures and by levying a small subscription. This was done for about seven years, but the income from these sources became gradually less. Some of those interested then bethought them of the Public Libraries Acts, but doubts were expressed as to their applicability to rural districts. The opponents insisted on this point that the Acts were merely intended for towns, as they had no precedent of a rural parish adopting them. In reply, the Acts were quoted, and the promoters bravely said that they would make a precedent. In this way several meetings were held to discuss the matter, and it was agreed to take the vote by voting-papers in the legal way. Some time before this, the existing library committee issued to every ratepayer a printed circular explaining the state of matters, as well as showing the incidence of the rate. The population of the parish is about 2,400, and they wanted a little over £20 a year. For this purpose, and to make sure of carrying, they limited the rate to two-fifths of a penny.Public Libraries in Scotland. 261 But when the vote was taken the adoption of the Acts was carried by more than six to one. This was done in December, 1883. If the amount paid by farmers, who are almost the sole ratepayers in such a district, is compared, it will be found that they pay quite as much as classes with the same income do in towns. For example, a farmer paying £300 of rent, has his income reckoned at £100 per annum. Such a farmer pays five shillings of library rate. A person with the same income in Aberdeen, when the full rate is taken, does not pay nearly so much of a library rate. Some have doubted the practicability of Public Libraries in rural districts, and the ground of objection is, that they could not be managed economically in such places. This is quite a mistake. They can be managed more economically than in large towns. For instance, in the town of Aberdeen there is just one-fourth of the income available for pure library purposes, viz., for books and binding, the remaining three-fourths being required for working expenses. In some large towns the working expenses amount to seven-eighths of the income. In the case of Tarves, the working expenses never exceed one-fourth of the income. So the argument cuts the other way. The Acts were adopted in Tarves about the same time as in the city of Aberdeen, Tarves having the priority of a few months. If efficiency may be estimated by the relative supply of books, they can compare favourably on this head. In Aberdeen they have about one volume to every five of the population. In Tarves they have four volumes to every five of their population. Two adjoining parishes have been thinking of following their example. In the parish of Meldrum the vote was taken about three years ago, but the adoption was lost by ten votes. Another parish close to Tarves is contemplating taking the vote. Here they have a library, but like the one which existed at Tarves, they find it very difficult to keep it up on its present footing. Thurso. The Thurso Library, after a considerable number of years’ work, seems as fresh and vigorous as ever. This no doubt arises from the periodic additions of fresh literature, which from time to time the committee have been enabled to add to the literary bill of fare. Of course, in such a small concern as the Thurso Library, with its circumscribed income, the committee are handicapped by the want of funds ; but in this case it is gratifying to report that many friends from time to time have given of their abundance, and thus, in a great degree, helped those who, in this case, have been endeavouring to help themselves. To outsiders it is a continual marvel how a Public Library in any form or with any success can be carried on with an income of less than £40; but seeing that the Thurso one manages to exist with all the freshness of its early years on this slender income, the wonder is increased. It is conducted perhaps on as rigid lines as any that affect the most rackrented crofter in the county, though there is no claim for a literary commission to adjust economic arrangements, The income is utilized to the best advantage, and because262 Public Libraries. it is not a squeezable quantity matters must remain till a wider area be found in which to levy the tax, or better still, till a Government grant be obtained, for the support of this much-valued institution. It is opened three times a week for giving out books. Wick. The extreme north of Scotland is not going to be left out in the cold. Thurso adopted the Acts in 1872. Wick followed a long way behind, for that event came about in 1888, when it was carried unanimously. This is an instance of the Acts being adopted in the midst of a nest of conflicting authorities. There they had the Wick Town Council, the Pulteneytown Commissioners, the local authorities, and the parochial board to win over. Contributions in cash and books quickly flowed in, and within a very short time three local libraries were handed over. It was opened in November, 1888. To refer to the Wick Public Library and not to refer to Mr. William Todd would be an unpardonable omission. Wick owes its Public Library, not to its own wishes and enterprise, but to the quenchless zeal, the unswerving faith, and the untiring and almost unaided efforts of this gentleman. The library is to a large extent his creation, and for what it is and further promises to be he is entitled to the chief credit. The parish of Wick runs sixteen miles by six, and they purpose serving the extreme limits by fortnightly boxes which are carried to and fro by the mail coaches. They have a library for the blind and a museum. Other places where the question of the adoption of the Acts is now in progress or has been discussed are the following:— Abbboath. Arbroath disputes with Edinburgh and Glasgow the distinction of having twice rejected the proposal to adopt the Acts. The first rejection took place in 1873. It was preceded and led up to by efforts to get a subscription library, which had existed in the town for many years, popularized by a reduction of its rates. These efforts failed, and then it was proposed to obtain the consent of the ratepayers to the town’s being placed under the Acts. The proposal was supported by the leading manufacturers, but the opposition was strong and well organized, and at the public meeting called for the consideration of the question the opponents of a library rate were triumphant. About £1,100 was subscribed by the leading citizens for the purpose of increasing the stock of the subscription library, and the subscription was lowered from half a guinea to half a crown. The success of which the scheme at first gave promise was of short duration, as has frequently been the case in other towns. The number of subscribers fell rapidly, and in 1879, after the experiment had lasted four years, the members resolved to appeal once more to the ratepayers. The promoters of the movement felt warranted in repeating the appeal,Public Libraries in Scotland. 263 because in the meantime the Act of 1877 had allowed voting by signed papers. It was accompanied, moreover, by the offer of advantages which were not forthcoming in 1873. The whole collection of books in the subscription library, reaching 14,000 volumes, was to be transferred to the rate-supported institution, along with the remainder of the sum of £1,100 just named. But the citizens of Arbroath were indifferent to these advantages, and hardened their hearts against the appeals made to them by men on whom the chief burden of the rate would have fallen. They preferred to be guided by agitators who told them that, in spite of the words of the Act, the rate could not stop at one penny on the pound, and would certainly be much more than that in Arbroath. The result was that when the vote was taken the majority against was 666. That was in 1879; and we are not aware that, since that time, the people of Arbroath have shown any signs of repentance. A report lies at hand explaining the present condition of the subscription library. The membership is rapidly declining, and the local newspaper says that the “ unseemliness of the present state of matters needs only to be mentioned to bring about effective attention to it among the members.” Safety and future usefulness alone lie in bringing this institution under the Acts. Will the friends in Arbroath not make another attempt during the current year ? Falkiuk. The attempt in Falkirk would appear to have been a little premature, as it came at a time when increased local taxation for other purposes was contemplated. By the munificence of Mr. Robert Dollar, of Margnette, Michigan, U.S.A., a native of the town of Falkirk, the burgh has been placed in possession of a library of considerable dimensions for the free use of the inhabitants. Three years have elapsed since Mr. Dollar intimated his desire to present his native town with such an institution. Selecting the Young Men’s Christian Association, he handed over a sum of £1,000 to be administered by them in that direction. This body resolved, on the failure to carry the Acts, to assume the responsibility of carrying on the library, and, with this object in view, a subscription was set on foot to raise sufficient funds to extinguish a debt of £600 which rested on their institute, and to enable them to dispense with the annual income derived from letting the ground floor as business premises, the intention being to devote the space to the library. In due course this object was secured, and a committee were entrusted with the furnishing of the library. Under their direction a collection of over 5,000 volumes has been brought together. The books are placed in an apartment on the street floor of the institute. In honour of the donor, the library has been named the Dollar Library. The library is open every evening (Sunday excepted), from six till ten o’clock. It is safe to predict that Falkirk will on the next occasion adopt the Acts. Mr. Dollar visited Falkirk in September in 1890.264 Public Libraries. Fraserburgh and Golspie. At a meeting of the Dalrymple Hall and Café Company held in July, 1891, it was suggested that a Public Library ought to be formed at Fraserburgh, and that no place would be more suitable than in the buildings gifted by the late Captain Dalrymple. At the meeting there were one or two prominent citizens, some of whom expressed themselves favourable to the idea. Mr. Carnegie having offered to assist the inhabitants of Golspie in their efforts to establish a Public Library, a meeting was held in the school in August, 1891, at which resolutions in favour of the proposal were unanimously adopted, and a committee appointed to collect local funds and to report to a future meeting. Glasgow. “ Fallen is Carthage ! The gloom of desolation hangs over the defeated, and the unquiet spectre of Public Libraries has been laid at rest for a time. Three years ago we stood alone amid the press in our antagonism to the proposal to adopt the Act, and the project was defeated by a substantial majority. At this time it was again our mission to oppose, in the interests of heavy-burdened ratepayers, the Public Librarians.” Thus wrote the editor of a very influential Glasgow evening paper in April, 1888, when the result of the plebiscite was made known. In no town or city in the entire United Kingdom and Ireland has the organization been stronger and more comprehensive, and the fight better marshalled than in Glasgow, and yet in no place has the result been more crushing and disheartening. Every point of detail had been most carefully studied, the ground and plan of operations exceedingly well mapped out, a regiment of friends and workers putting a hand to the wheel, with all the vigour which characterizes a Scot with an eye to the main chance—which happened in this case to be for the good of the community. But Glasgow again refused, by a large majority, to adopt the Acts. The rejection was more emphatic than it was three years prior to that time. The number that took part in the voting was much smaller, and the majority against the proposal considerably more heavy. Those who took the trouble to vote against adopting the Acts were 7,000 fewer than in 1885, and yet they exceeded the number of those who desired to see Glasgow enjoying, like other large cities, the advantages of a Public Library, in the proportion of about five to three. The figures appeared to make it clear that the movement is making the reverse of headway, and that the interest taken by the ratepayers in the subject is dwindling. The actual numbers were—For the adoption, 13,550 ; against, 22,987. Majority against the Act, 9,437. The total number of post cards sent out was 88,886, but of these 6,625 papers were returned, on account of the parties not being found. One of the most striking features about these figures is the amount of indifference manifested upon the question. Not half the people who received papers took the trouble to fill themPublic Libraries in Scotland. 265 up. The neutral people outnumbered the voters for and against put together. The first attempt towards the adoption of the Acts was originated in 1874, the prime mover on that occasion being Mr. J. Oleland Burns, who, with many others, has remained a firm and consistent friend of the movement down to the present time. From 1874 to April, 1876, the supporters were quietly at work educating the people. The decision was to be by statutory meeting, the voting power being at that time limited to those residing within the Parliamentary constituency. Notwithstanding this the meeting was swamped with non-voters, and there was altogether a lively time. At the close a vote was taken, and the result against was 786. For eight years little was heard of the movement, but early in 1884 some ninety gentlemen convened a meeting of citizens favourable to the adoption of the Acts, to consider the propriety of forming a society for promoting the object in view. The signatures to the document convening this meeting included the whole of the city members of Parliament and the member for the University, ten members of the Glasgow Town Council, and many other influential citizens. The meeting was held and a constitution submitted, but, out of deference to the opinion of some present who were sanguine enough to suppose that an arduous campaign was not required, the idea of a formal association was abandoned, and the meeting thereupon resolved itself into a general committee for the purpose of promoting the adoption of the Acts. An executive was thereafter appointed, who met fortnightly and devoted themselves to the education of the community by the publication and free distribution of statements, tracts, and leaflets, explanatory of the objects and operation of the Acts. They, however, found the work to be much more serious than was at first contemplated. They had to contend against ignorance and apathy, and soon recognized the fact that without extended ward and district organization it was hopeless to make an impression upon so vast a community. Funds were given freely to the fullest extent asked, and, in addition to the continued publication and distribution of literature, they organized central and district meetings, which were addressed by leading citizens and local gentlemen. They also set on foot a system of ward organization which was most successful in calling forth enthusiastic and earnest work on the part of the various ward committees. Following an enthusiastic public meeting a requisition was presented to the Lord Provost, which, instead of the statutory ten names appended to it, contained no fewer than 1,200 names. In the meantime the Association had, with the aid of one of the representatives of Glasgow, promoted and placed upon the statute book the Scotch Amendment Act of 1877; but, while this Act permitted a plebiscite in lieu of a public meeting, it did not provide any machinery for the taking of a plebiscite. The Lord Provost decided, after taking legal advice, to issue to each householder a circular enclosing a post card addressed to266 Public Libraries. the Lord Provost, which, after being filled up in the affirmative or negative, should be signed and posted by the voter. A copy of this post card is given below :— As to whether the Public Libraries Acts should be adopted by the Burgh of Glasgow I vote Ratepayer’s Name. °n the 0fficiaLCard Sign here- As there was not much sign of opposition the promoters felt confident of success, but when the post card votes were counted the result stood, Ayes 22,755, and Noes 29,946. Nothing daunted the old committee readjusted themselves, and in March, 1886, came before the local public as the Glasgow Public Libraries’ Association. Of this body Mr. R. Brown has long acted as the honorary secretary. The uncertainties and omissions of the Scotch Acts were felt to be a grave hindrance to the progress of the movement, and Mr. Brown was asked to frame an Amendment Bill. The bill thus drawn up was in May, 1886, circulated among the Scotch members, and in the session of 1887 it was introduced into Parliament by Mr. Caldwell, M.P., one of the vice-presidents of the Association. The bill passed into law in September, 1887, and is now the ruling statute for Scotland. The main change effected by this Act was to give to all householders, male or female, and also to all citizens paying rates upon £10 of rental, and residing within seven miles of any part of the city, a voice in the question of the adoption of the Acts. The result of the plebiscite has been already stated, and in face of the fact that there was a powerful incentive for Glasgow to adopt the Acts by bequests of great value, which would come under the administration of the Town Council Committee immediately the Acts were adopted, there was utter failure. The amount was made up as follows:— Mitchell Bequest [greatly reduced on account of new buildings] .. .. £66,998 10 6 Bailie Bequest ....................... 36,009 16 8 Stirling Bequest (including Glasgow ) 17000 0 0 PUBLIC LIBRARIES (SCOTLAND) ACTS. VOTING PAPER. Moir Bequest Logan Bequest Public Library) 17,000 0 0 11,460 2 9 500 0 0 £131,968 9 11Public Libraries in Scotland. 267 The value of these handsome gifts is seriously impaired by many drawbacks, which would be removed when once they come under the Acts, as will be seen on reference to the chapter on Object Lessons. The cost of a plebiscite in Glasgow is about £500, so that on each occasion it has not been by any means an inexpensive proceeding. On February 5, 1890, a meeting of the General Council of the Glasgow Public Libraries’ Association was held. Dr. Ross, the chairman, said that during the two years since the plebiscite was taken the Association had done little except keeping an eye on public opinion, and trying to direct it as well as they could. They had also had the Exhibition, and the disposal of the surplus had created a considerable amount of inquiry into other endowments in the city available for certain purposes. It had been proposed that a great art gallery should be built in the West End, where the art treasures should be brought. The secretary said that the proposal of the Lord Provost contemplated a building in the West End, and the question for their consideration was whether that was a desirable site for such a building; and whether, if an art gallery were to be erected at all, there should not be combined with it a Public Library—at all events the central premises of a Public Library and Museum—so that, as in other large cities, they would have the three combined, as contemplated in the Acts. Another scheme was that of having the central building in George Square or other central situation. There might also be district libraries, and gentlemen might be got who would found these, conditional on the Acts being adopted for revenue purposes. An essential to the carrying out of such a scheme was that the Acts should be adopted. They had been twice defeated on this matter, but he trusted that the citizens would repair the error, and place themselves on a level with the other large cities of the kingdom. Jedburgh and Motherwell. At the end of May last a joint meeting of the directors of the Jedburgh Public Reading-room and of the Mechanics’ Institute was held to consider suggestions for transferring to the burgh the properties they hold with a view to the adoption of the Acts. That meeting unanimously recommended these institutions to surrender their properties for that purpose. No further steps have yet been taken. At Motherwell, a growing town near Glasgow, the question was prominently forward in November last year, but the vote has not yet been taken. It is not unlikely that during the current year this place will carry the Acts. Leith and Perth. The question came forward here last winter, but the time did not seem opportune for bringing it to a successful issue. The town is mostly composed of the working classes, but they and the268 Public Libraries. other inhabitants require educating upon the question. Efforts are being made in this direction, and Leith will before long be added to the list. The same can be said of Perth. In December, 1890, at a soirée of the Ratepayers’ Association, the member for Dundee delivered an address on Public Libraries. This association have taken up the question, and the fair city will not be content to be left long out of the list of adoptions. There is a quaint and interesting old library at Innerpeffray, which lies between the towns of Crieff and Auchterarder. The library of Innerpeffray was founded by David, third Lord Madderty, whose family is now represented by Viscount Strath-allan. His grandfather, James Drummond, was the second son of David, Lord Drummond, and was created Lord Madderty on January 31, 1609. The first Lord Madderty was educated along with James VI. ; was esteemed by that monarch as a man of parts and learning, and became a special favourite at the Court. When the library was founded, early in the seventeenth century, the endowment included a provision for the schoolmaster, who was made custodian of the volumes. This portion of the foundation was taken over by the School Board some time ago, but the library has remained till now under the terms of the original deed. The library has from the first been quite free, and some time ago a dispute was pending betwixt the towns of Crieff and Auchterarder regarding their rights to the custody of this famous library, and so attention was directed to that institution. Its present position, secluded from immediate contact with the world, and somewhat difficult of access, has made it less familiar to Scotsmen than its valuable contents warrant. There are in Scotland a very large number of institutions called “ Public Libraries ” which are really subscription libraries. To give anything like a comprehensive list of these would occupy too much space, but particulars of a few may be given. Rutherglen, near Glasgow ; Knockando, near Elgin ; Smailholm, near Kelso ; Haddington, Greenock, Wishaw, Dunbeath ; New Aberdour, Banffshire ; Bridge of Allan, Inverurie, Strathnairn, near Inverness; Newtown, Kelty, Rothesay, Pollokshaws, Dumfries, Gartmore, Hamilton, Blairgowrie, Montrose, and Crail, all possess their “Public” Libraries. Keith has one with over 250 members; the income is about £120 a year. Kilmarnock has a library, which claims to be the largest of its kind in Scotland, but it has to exercise the greatest economy to make it self-supporting, and it barely reaches that point. Many of these institutions and others scattered throughout Scotland would form an excellent nucleus for turning themselves into Public Libraries in the full sense of the term, and securing the adoption of the Acts. This is especially the case as regards the parochial libraries, of which there are hundreds capable of being transformed into comparatively large and vigorous institutions, after the pattern of pioneer Tarves.Public Libraries in Wales. 269 CHAPTER XIY. Public Libraries in Wales. Gallant little Wales, considering that there are not many large towns in the Principality, does not come out amiss in its Public Library work. The total number of adoptions of the Acts is yet short of a dozen. Wales and Scotland had a national system of education long before in England we had reached the same stage, and the people of both countries have for generations been known as earnest and eager friends of educational and social progress. As will be seen at the end of this chapter, the movement is spreading in quite a number of places in Wales, and in course of a few years the number of adoptions is likely to increase. In no part of the United Kingdom would a small Government grant be more acceptable and useful than in Wales. The penny rate in the small districts is not sufficient to stock and maintain a Public Library. Wales should agitate this question of a state subsidy, and urge the point upon its parliamentary representatives. It is a matter of surprise to many visitors to the Welsh coast that more of the holiday resorts have not adopted the Acts. Take the flourishing watering-places on the Welsh coast, good-sized commercial towns. Llandudno rates itself for School Board purposes, Id. in the pound. A single penny would raise £210 a year; for want of a library for the young £830 a year in rates is largely wasted. Beaumaris is less wealthy, and pays £340 for the purpose, in a 7|d. rate, but she could raise £50 a year as a beginning. Several county boards in the country have school rates of treble theirs, and one raises £1,000 under a rate of about 14d. Yet here are a university and a great normal college, and there is no getting a healthy book, as far as the students are concerned if not in the college, save at a bookstore. Rhyl has no school board, but a numerous young population, and no library. Colwyn Bay, in the parish of Llandrillo yn Rhos, is a rising place, with 400 scholars, and raises £520 under a 5|d. rate ; she could for a single penny raise over £100 a year. By the important town of Holyhead £670 is paid in a rate of 5s. 5d. in the pound, and here over £100 could be raised, but the art of reading must be largely lost by many hundreds for want of a library. Bakry and Cadoxton. This is a district near Cardiff, and the Acts were adopted in March, 1891. The voting was as follows:— Number in favour of the adoption of the Acts .. 392 Number against „ „ „ „ .. 87 Number of voting papers returned unsigned or in blank or not properly filled up .........179 The Public Libraries Committee, to whom the Local Board have270 Public Libraries. delegated all their powers under the Acts, consists of seven members of the Board and six of the general public. It has been determined to build a Public Library at Barry Dock, the centre of the district, and to have branch reading-rooms at Barry and Cadoxton. The work has been warmly and spiritedly taken up by the committee, and the library will soon be in operation. Cabdiff. It is here among the Welsh towns that we see the best example of what is being done. Cardiff was the first town in Wales to adopt the Acts, and from the first report down to the twenty-eighth the progress has been steady and very satisfactory. It was mentioned in the last edition of this work that the operations of every department of the library had become congested owing to its ever-increasing popularity, and it became a question of rebuilding on a new site or making extensive additions to the existing building. The latter plan was decided upon, and the alterations have been made. The extension shows an effective elevation, and forms a distinct local attraction as a public building. The site was of a character that did not lend itself to very effective treatment, and no little difficulty has been experienced in combining practical results with architectural harmony. The ultimate design, however, evidences conspicuous ability. At the end of April, 1891, Mr. J. Thornhill Harrison, C.E., Local Government Board Inspector, held an inquiry concerning the application of the Corporation for the sanction of the Department for an additional loan of £5,000 for the purposes of the Public Libraries Acts. The present library building was erected in 1881, at a cost of £10,000, under the sanction of the Treasury. In consequence of the rapid growth of the town, the Corporation made application in July, 1889, to the Local Government Board for approval of an extended scheme, and on July 1,1889, after an official inquiry, the Department gave their consent to the site and the loan. The present inquiry was merely formal, the principle of the extension having been once approved of. A question was raised about the museum being put on the top floor, and that the under floors are not to be fireproof. Mr. Harrison: Yes, that is worth serious consideration. The Architect: The only reason why the committee decided not to have the building entirely fireproof was a pecuniary one. The cost would be about £1,000 or so more. Mr. Harrison: But you have single pictures of this value, haven’t you P—Yes, sir. Mr. Harrison : Personally, I think the suggestion a good one, and if the committee like to make application for the extra money I will readily recommend its being granted. Mr. Ballinger, the librarian, stated that in his opinion it would be wiser to carry out the scheme, the estimated cost of which was £15,000, because it would provide book storage for the library department for at least 30 years, whereas the accommodation for the book storage shown upon the smaller scheme would requirePublic Libraries in Wales. 271 further extension in about 10 years. The amount of space given to the public in the newsroom, ladies’ room, lending library, reference library, and magazine room, would be very much increased by the expenditure of the additional £5,000, and that these public rooms could be all thoroughly lighted by daylight would be an impossibility. The internal arrangements of the larger scheme were of such a character that the cost of administration would not be any greater than for the smaller scheme. He had also carefully considered whether the income from the penny rate would be sufficient to meet the payments on account of the further loan of £5,000 now applied for, and yet leave a sufficient sum for the maintenance of the institution. The produce of the penny rate which would meet the necessary payments (the basis of his estimate), assuming that the buildings would be completed in two years, was as follows :— Income, Id. rate as at present ................................£3,006 Estimated increase, two years, at £183 (the average of the last eight years) ................................. 366 Library receipts ........................................ 150 Museum ................................................. 10 £3,532 Expenditure. Loan of £10,000 (1881) .......................... £422 Loan of £10,000 (1889) .......................... 543 Loan of £5,000 (at 3J per cent, for 30 years) .... 271 Library maintenance as at present ... ... ... 1,193 Museum maintenance as at present ................. 354 Estimated charges as at present................... 319 Estimated increased cost of establishment ........ 130 Branch reading-rooms ................. .. . . . 300 £3,532 Mr. Harrison suggested thatlthe committee should endeavour to acquire possession of sites in^the centre of the various districts, and build permanent reading-rooms in the localities where the population was fixed, such as the Docks, Roath, Canton, and Grangetown. This question of branches has been a burning one in Cardiff. The borough covers a large area, and some of the suburban districts are very thickly populated. One of the local newspapers printed a series of articles going minutely and fully into the subject of the central institution versus branch libraries, and much was said for both sides. It was pointed out that if a branch lending library as well as reading-room were opened in one district the other suburbs would naturally cry out to be similarly served. The matter of means entered, of course, fully in the discussion. It was felt that to erect branches would cripple the central institution, and wisely the decision has been arrived at to avoid so272 Public Libraries. undesirable a result. It is natural that outlying districts which see the utility of these institutions should wish to see one of them placed in their midst, but the ability to maintain one good central library and a number of branches, in a perfect state of efficiency, out of the nimble penny should be looked fully in the face. Cardiff has seen its way through this difficulty, and three branches are projected. A reading-room at Cathays, to be called the north branch, was opened in July, 1891. Everything which can be done to maintain the popularity of the work in Cardiff is carefully and promptly carried out. In order to make the public better acquainted with recent books added to the lending department and available for issue, an ingenious arrangement has been adopted. A board is hung in the library, on which are placed tickets containing the author, title, and number of such books as have been added during the previous three months. If a borrower wishes to obtain one of these, he removes the card and hands it to an assistant, who, when he has found the book, puts the ticket in a box. The entry is thus removed from the notice board, to be replaced when the book is returned, and so on until the book has been in circulation three months, when it is altogether removed to make way for more recent additions to the stock. The work in the reference library is of a very solid and useful nature. History, biography, and travel represent the largest issue in this section. There are in the reference room four of the prettiest and most appropriate stained windows which can be found in any Public Library. They were presented by Mr. James Ware. They represent respectively poetry, fiction, travel, and history. For the first-named the subject is Milton dictating “ Paradise Lost” to his daughter. The other portraits are of Scott, Raleigh, and Gibbon. A set of similar windows in every Public Library in the country would be a decided gain. The Public Library committee have a separate banking account —a step which should be taken by most committees. The catalogues are very carefully prepared. For a penny the borrowers in the juvenile section—which is largely used—have a twenty-four page catalogue of books selected with great discretion, and a sixteen-page supplementary catalogue is sold for a halfpenny. A new catalogue of the reference department was issued recently. A local printing firm undertook the entire responsibility of producing it, having the privilege of taking advertisements for it. The catalogue sells for 6d., and copies are paid for periodically to the printers as sold. The cost of printing catalogues is so great that the plan is deserving of being copied. There are separate catalogues of the books on music and books for the blind. A glance at the latter shows that fifty-five volumes in the Braille character are at the disposal of those to whom sight is denied ; printed in Moon’s type there are about 150 volumes, whilst seven are printed in ordinary Roman embossed type. The different books of the Bible can be had in either Moon’s type or in the Braille character, and in the selection of other works on the list carePublic Libraries in Wales. 273 seems to have been taken to secure only those of an elevating and entertaining character. Altogether the work at Cardiff is in a healthy state, and with a growing rate the developments of the future will no doubt be more marked than during the past. In seven years the yield of the rate has nearly doubled. What a capital thing it would have been for the Public Library movement if this could be said of all towns of equal size to Cardiff! The Tonn Library, which has just been secured for Cardiff, is, probably, the most important collection of Welsh books likely to come into the market for a great many years, and the fact that it has been obtained for the Metropolis of Wales is, therefore, one which the inhabitants might well congratulate themselves upon. The manuscripts form an important feature in the library, and are of inestimable value. The most interesting is probably that of the notorious Twm Shon Catti, which contains a large number of Welsh pedigrees. The earliest printed book in the collection is an early history of Troy, and is ascribed to Dares Phrigius. The type is beautifully clear. It was printed in Venice in the year 1472, before printing was introduced into England. The book is in a perfect state of preservation. The number of volumes in the collection is estimated at 7,000. Mr. H. M. Thompson has purchased some books, including a complete set of the Challenger Deports, from the late Professor Kitchen Parker’s library, and presented them to the Cardiff Public Library. The passing of the Technical Instruction Act gave considerable satisfaction in Cardiff, and quickly after the Act was placed on the statute book a committee was formed. The effect of this Act has been to relieve the library committee from the necessity of maintaining the science and art schools from the Public Library rate. The committee established these schools in the year 1865, and they have steadily risen in public estimation up to the present time. Many of the students now occupy important positions, in consequence of the instruction and encouragement received. The committee feels that its efforts to supply technical instruction, which has been successfully carried on for a quarter of a century, is now justified by the passing of this Act, and under the new conditions the schools have entered upon an extended career of usefulness. Carnarvon. The Acts were adopted here in 1887. Through the exertions of Alderman Lewis, who initiated the movement during his mayoralty, a commodious building was erected by public subscription and handed over on the adoption of the Acts. At one of the meetings for the promotion of the Acts some good speeches were made. A clergyman who made a strong appeal for the adoption said: “ I do not care for a penny rate, but I do care very much for a Public Library for Carnarvon; and let me tell you why—when a young lad in Liverpool, a Public Library kept me from the theatre, the j. ublic-house, the singing saloon, the gambling hell. A Public Library supplied me with food for the mind —made me a reader, a thinker, a public man—a preacher of God’s 18274 Public Libraries. Gospel. I owe a debt I can never repay to that Public Library, and that is why I am here to-night.” There are many others who could render a similar testimony. A lending library has not yet been opened as the income is less than a hundred a year, and the wherewithal to purchase books for this department is not yet forthcoming. Would that we were within measurable distance of that small parliamentary grant! Carnarvon thus spends its income of £90:—in salary, £40: cleaning, £7; gas, £10; papers, £26; and periodicals, £7. Oswestby. The question had been several times mentioned in Oswestry, and on May 19,1890, the adoption of the Acts was unanimously carried at a town’s meeting. The friends of education in Oswestry have for several years had their minds on the establishing of a Public Library. The local press rendered excellent aid. A large town library, which has been under the control of trustees, was handed over to the Town Council on the adoption of the Acts. In response to an appeal for subscriptions towards the new municipal buildings at Oswestry, which are to include a Public Library, Mrs. J. T. Jones, of Brynhafod, offered a subscription of £1,000; the Mayor, Mr. A* Wynne Corrie, £500; Mrs. Corrie, £200; and Mr. Edward Woodall, £100. The amount required for the erection of the buildings is about £6,000. Temporary premises are now being used. Oswestry is so near, although not in, Wales, that it is included in the present chapter. PONTYPBIDD. In November, 1890, the Pontypridd Public Library was opened with becoming ceremony. The building, which was erected at a cost of £2,000, is situated in a pleasant spot. The site was given by the late Mr. R. LI. Thomas. The entrance to the library consists of a tiled poreh and an inner lobby with two sets of swing doors, effectually cutting off any draughts. Directly in front, on entering the inner lobby, is the borrowers’ counter, fitted with an indicator. On the left-hand side is the staircase leading to the mineralogical museum and the caretaker’s apartments on the first floor. On the right is the newspaper and reading-room, having an area of nearly 1,500 square feet. This room is amply lighted by a skylight extending the length of the room, with an inner ceiling light to prevent down draughts. On one side is the counter of the lending library with an entrance to the committee-room, and the other is taken up by the magazine and reference library and ladies’ room. These are separated from the reading-room by a glazed screen about 7 feet high. The walls are lined with bookcases, giving, together with those in the lending library, accommodation for about 12,000 volumes. Under the entrance porch and lobby is the heating chamber for warming the building by means of hot-water pipes. Between the ladies’ room and the porch is a small room for the use of the bookbinder. The whole of the site has not been utilised, a space having been left at the back for a school of art,Public Libraries in Wales, 275 the designs for which were made at the same time as those for the library. A sum of £1,500 was borrowed on the security of the rates, and the contributions amounted to about £650. Swansea. The Acts were adopted here in 1870. Some bold spirits a few years ago urged upon the Town Council the need of new and more commodious buildings for the Public Library and Art SWANSEA PUBLIC LIBRARY, ART GALLERY, AND SCH.OOL OF AEi. Gallery. The scheme was a large one. The building, of which a view is given, is an exceedingly handsome one, and was erected at a cost of £20,000 in a central part of the town. This was opened by Mr. Gladstone in 1887. Owing to the heavy drain upon the rate to pay the interest on the loan of £18,567, too small a balance was left to keep the twin institutions in a state of efficiency. This difficulty has now been met. The history of the library movement in Swansea is intimately connected with the name of Ml G, B, Brock, the late chairman of illilllltlilllllilMPublic Libraries. 276 the library committee, who laboured assiduously for many years for the adoption of the Acts by the borough, and, assisted by Sir John Jones Jenkins and others who have since filled the office of mayor of the borough, was successful not only in this preliminary step, but in subsequently advancing the movement to its latter and complete stage—that of providing a habitation for the institution which should be worthy of it in every respect. The first Public Library was opened in 1878. In a very few years the institution far outgrew the anticipations of its promoters, and the capacity of the building in which it was housed. Branch libraries were in due time established. The stock of books, through the efforts of Mr. Deffett Francis and many other patriotic townsmen, rapidly increased, whilst the borrowers and users of the reference library increased in like proportion. The Deffett Francis Library, long before leaving the old institution, contained over 4,500 volumes, and hundreds of rare pamphlets. The collection is rich in the departments of poetry, the literature of the drama, fine art and biography, and Welsh history and topography. Then there is in connection with the institution the Rowland Williams’ Reference Library, full of rare works in Welsh literature and theology, besides a general reference library of a very copious character. The extreme length of the front of the building shown in the sketch is 160 feet, and the extreme depth, to the back of the circular reading-room, 91 feet. The front portion is four storeys in height, and the back portion three storeys, with the exception of the circular reading-room, which is one storey only. The style of architecture adopted is Italian Classic, the front being divided by projecting bays at either end, and finished with pavilion roofs. The main entrance is in the centre of the facade, and the interior is reached through a vestibule 17 feet wide, with an inner hall of the same width. Both these are laid with a mosaic flooring of a beautiful floral design. The ground floor is devoted solely to the purposes of a Public Library. Right and left of the inner hall is a corridor 8 feet wide running the extreme length of the building, and communicating with the whole of the rooms on the ground floor. On the right of the inner hall is the newsroom, 61 feet long and 21 feet wide, and to the left of the inner hall is the magazine-room, 20 feet by 22 feet. Adjoining this room are the librarian’s private rooms and committee-rooms. At the rear of the inner hall is the reading-room and reference library, which is circular in shape, and 56 feet in diameter. It has a domed top, with outer and inner lights, which is 25 feet high in the centre. The presses and shelving for books are arranged round the walls, and divided into alcoves radiating to the centre. The room is capable of storing 30,000 volumes, arranged in two heights, with light cast-iron ornamental gallery round for access. The gallery is approached by geometrical stairs. Some of the presses are fitted up with glass doors and rollers for the larger and more 'valuable works. Blinds are used in all cases to protect the books. The reading tables are arranged in the centre of the room, and at the entrance is a catalogue desk. All the wood fittings are ofPublic Libraries in Wales. 277 American walnut. The angular recesses of the room are utilized and used as apartments for the attendants. On either side of the circular room is a room measuring 40 feet long by 27 feet wide. One is used as the lending library, and is fitted up in a similar manner to the reference library, with the addition of a book-counter for borrowers, with indicators and the usual arrangements for borrowing and returning books. This room provides book spaces for about 20,000 volumes. The second floor is appropriated to the use of the science and art department. It is approached by a separate staircase at the north-west end of the building, and comprises elementary rooms, painting-rooms, modelling-rooms, a large antique room, and a master’s room. These form the art department. The remaining rooms are reserved for the science department, and consist of a lecture-room, class-room and laboratory, and balance-room. The art section is fitted up throughout with desks and diagram boards, and the antique room is furnished with drawing tables and curtains, with pedestals for casts. The third floor is arranged as an art and picture gallery, and is lighted by top lights. All the rooms, including the curator’s, are en suite. The wall space for pictures is about 12,000 feet. A separate staircase is provided for this floor at the south-west angle of the building. There is certainly nothing to equal this gallery in the West of England or South Wales. The reference department receives careful attention. In the early part of the present year a sub-committee was appointed to inquire into the means of increasing the use of this department. In a report afterwards presented, they recommended that a number of books in the reference library be so placed that a reader might take down the book he required without going through the formality of first filling up an application form. A member of the committee, in support, said that at present the reference library appeared to be not for working men, but for the more cultured. If a few hundred books that men could select from were placed within their reach, they would find the risks from dishonest persons exceedingly small. Now the committee estranged from the library the very people they wished to attract. He scarcely thought the notion of a public library was that of a chemist’s shop, where a man with a disease went for a remedy. If they gave to the institution too much medicine, and guarded the books too sedulously, a practical divorce would be created between the library and the men it was intended to benefit. The student came for some particular book ; the working man wanted something to read, and was obliged to search for it. Another member of the committee said, those who knew the instincts of the working man knew he would rather walk a mile than fill up a form. They were frightened at the formalities of the reference library. If they gave readers greater facilities for obtaining their books, they would find a larger number to take advantage of them. Workmen had told him over and over again that the reference library was not for them. The sub-committee did not intend that the more valuable books should be freed from thePublic Libraries. 278 application form, but only those which would interest the casual reader. It was ultimately decided not to make this change immediately. Swansea rejoices (?) in a committee of twenty-four members of the Town Council and fourteen members from outside the council. The attendance of these thirty-eight gentlemen is given in the report in tabulated form—a plan which is adopted in very few reports. The figures are instructive, and illustrate very forcibly the absurdity of having large committees. Of the thirteen monthly and special meetings, four only from outside the council attended twelve, and one from the council attended ten of the meetings. Eight members of the council did not appear at any of them. Four were present once, and others two, three, or four times. From outside the council the smallest number of attendances was three. This was in one case only, and the others were present at from seven to eleven of the meetings. There is evidently something wrong about these council members of the committee ; some three-fourths of them might be very reasonably relieved of serving. So large a committee is, in any case, utterly unnecessary, and the experience at Swansea is proving this to be so. The prospect in Swansea for the Public Library work is brighter than it has been for some time, and its future will be watched with considerable interest. The following clause is embodied in the Swansea Corporation Act of 1889:—“ For the better and more effectually maintaining and improving the Swansea Public Library, Museum, and Gallery of Art, and otherwise carrying into execution the powers and duties of the Corporation under the Public Libraries (England) Acts, 1855 to 1887, those Acts shall be read and have effect as if the limit on the rate thereby imposed were twopence in the pound. Provided that such rate shall not be increased beyond the sum of one penny in the pound, unless a notice of the resolution of the council authorising such increase shall have been published in some newspaper circulating within the borough. And if, within fourteen days after the publication of such notice, fifty ratepayers or more, by writing under their hands, require the mayor to take the opinion of the burgesses as to the expediency of increasing the said rate, he shall proceed to ascertain the opinion of the ratepayers of the borough by the 'issue of voting papers in accordance with the Public Libraries (England) Acts, 1855 to 1887, and no such increased rate shall (in the event of the opinion of the ratepayers being so required) be levied unless consented to by a majority of the ratepayers of the borough voting on the question/ Welshpool. Welshpool has done and is doing itself credit. In September, 1887, a public meeting of the inhabitants was held to consider a proposal to adopt the Acts. The Powysland Club had offered to transfer their library and museum, the most valuable in the Principality, to the town as a free gift, upon condition that the Acts were adopted. The Town Council undertook to limit the rate to Jd. in the pound. Lord Powis warmly supported the pro-Public Libraries in Wales. 279 posal, which was, however, opposed by the residents in the outlying agricultural parts of the borough, and was defeated. A poll was demanded. On this being taken a few weeks later, and after there had been time to bring the question prominently before the public, the majority in favour was 291. Mr. Morris C. Jones, to whose services the institution was so greatly indebted, and who for twenty-one years had not been absent once at the annual meetings of the institution, had most actively supported the proposal of handing over the institution to the town. Mr. T. K. Morris, the mayor for that year, also threw in the weight of his influence. After a few years’ working under the enlarged scope, the increasing amount of success which has attended the opening of the institution to the public is very patent. The reading-room is well attended, and is supplied with newspapers and magazines. The museum has been visited by a large number of persons. A considerable sum was obtained from a fund raised during the year for defraying the cost of fitting up the library. The towns and villages in the Principality will receive, it may be wished, quite an accession to the number of adoptions of the Acts from institutes, such as the one at Welshpool, being handed over for the free use of the people for ever. Wrexham. Wrexham adopted the Acts in 1878, but after thirteen years’ existence the number of volumes reaches short of 4,000. It was not until 1889 that a lending department was established, the books being bought out of £400, the sum received out of the National Eisteddfod. The £184 which the rate yields is heavily taxed by a rent of £30 a year repaid to the Corporation for the use of the rooms in the Guildhall. This ought not to be. An odd £5 or £10 at the most, as an acknowledgment, would be ample. Two ladies of title are on the committee. It would be gratifying to see the work at Wrexham making more rapid progress. So many towns in Wales are inquiring about the Public Libraries Acts that they want all the encouragement they can get from existing successful libraries. Sir Edward Watkin, M.P., and Mr. G. Osborne Morgan, M.P., have lectured on behalf of the funds of the library. Haverfordwest and Llandudno have made attempts to carry the Acts, but without success. The vote was taken in the former place in 1888. In Llandudno the vote was taken in 1889, but the whole attempt was still-born. The steps taken to bring the matter clearly before the people do not appear to have been numerous. The attendance at the statutory meeting was very small, and the taking of the vote was postponed. At a later date twelve voted for the Acts and twenty against. A poll was demanded, and the result of this showed 771 against and 626 in favour. An institution with a library worth altogether about £2,000 would have been handed over on the adoption of the Acts. With some organization, Llandudno should easily adopt the Acts, but it is unwise to bring the question forward anywhere in a half-hearted "way. The following are the places in Wales where the question has28o Public Libraries. come less or more to the front of late. In several of these districts the vote will probably be taken before long. In 1887 the question was mooted in Aberdare and Cardigan, but fell through in each town from lack of support. In March of the same year the subject was also introduced in Carmarthen. Both these towns should have their Public Library. Llangollen has a library, but not under the Acts. It sadly needs enfranchising, and the town should set an examjde to Llandudno. In Mountain Ash a vote was taken some four years ago, but the result was unfavourable. Since then the question has been mentioned several times, but nothing further has been done. Other places are Rhondda Valley, Ystrad, Penarth, Treorky, Barmouth, Dolgelly, Portmadoc, Aberayron, and Towyn. In Merthyr Tydvil the question has come forward several times, and very prominently in the autumn of last year. Some seven years ago when Mr. Gwilym James was high constable of the town a movement was set on foot for putting the Public Libraries Acts in force there. The meeting, by resolution, adopted the Acts. A poll was demanded, and the result was a heavy vote against the adoption. The whole parish of Merthyr Tydfil forms a local board area. It contains over 17,000 acres, total length of parish about nine miles, average breadth three to four miles, and the population 58,000. As the law stood seven years ago, and as it stands now, the Acts can only be adopted for the whole local board area. The local board area comprises Dowlais, Merthyr (Troedyrhiw, three miles from Merthyr), Merthyr Vale (five miles away), Treharris (seven miles away), besides several small mining villages. At Dowlais the late Sir John Guech established for his workmen a reading-room and institute, the best and most imposing structure in Dowlais. There are, however, but few books at the place, and these are not renewed. Daily papers are supplied. This place is free to Dowlais workmen only. Seven years ago the Dowlais men outvoted the movement for adoption of the Acts. To-day there is a feeling in favour of a Public Library at Dowlais if a scheme could be agreed upon with Merthyr and outlying towns and villages. This is one of the cases where a change in the law is desirable, whereby the Acts might be adopted by a ward as well as by the whole local board area. In this board there are several wards— Dowlais Ward, Merthyr Ward, &c. The Merthyr Ward would, if they could, adopt the Act at once, and have a sufficient ratable Value to carry out the Acts efficiently, and to the great benefit of the town. At the present moment under the Public Health Acts a ward can be separately rated for a sewage scheme, water supply, and one or two other sanitary matters. Why not for a Public Library P The ward adoption of the Public Library Acts should be extended id municipal bodies as well, and so far as rural sanitary authorities are concerned. Ward systems are not in existence. It appears that it would be better to say “ hamlets ” as areas, as well as parishes. The whole matter requires very careful consideration.Public Libraries in Ireland. 281 CHAPTER XY. Public Libraries in Ireland. The general awakening wifeh regard to Public Libraries has spread to Ireland, and the time is rapidly approaching when the interest in these institutions in the sister country will be as keen and universal as it is in any part of the United Kingdom. This is as it should be, and all friends of education and social progress will rejoice that such is the case, no matter to what party they belong. It has been the present writer’s privilege to travel repeatedly from end to end of Ireland, and the spirit and desire to have every educational advantage in their midst which is to be found on the opposite side of the Irish Sea to their own, is permeating all classes of the community. The great drawback is that so many towns and districts in Ireland have a ratable value insufficient, with a penny rate, to stock and maintain a Public Library. This will prevent for a time any wide extension of these institutions; but surely some monetary aid from friends of the country among all shades of opinion will be obtained. A gift in starting a library, if the Acts are adopted, would be to many an Irish town a windfall. If those who have the true interests of the country at heart, and are able to render assistance, will remember this, and do what they can, they will render a useful service to a part of the realm where it is greatly needed. In several places the Acts have been adopted, but, for lack of funds to make a beginning, no steps have yet been taken to put them in operation. One generous gift and consequent adoption of the Acts is to be recorded, and in several places at the present moment the question is being discussed. A generous benefactor would confer a lasting boon upon Ireland. An appeal has been made during the year for a hundred thousand pounds, and there was a prompt response. It is remarkable that those efforts which seek to lift the people by helping them to help themselves do not receive the same support which is bestowed on the distribution of soup and blankets. Some time in the near future the wealthy will see the utter folly and waste of bestowing pauperizing charity, and will devote their attention to other sources which seek to elevate, by means of eyes and heads, rather than those which demoralize by means of the stomach and the creature comforts of life. When we are within sight of this time the Irish libraries will receive some substantial gifts. One of the most powerful appeals for the extension of Public Libraries in Ireland appeared in the “ Irish Times ” in July of last year, and the Irish newspapers generally have not been one whit behind the British newspapers in lending their powerful aid for the advocacy of these institutions. The newspapers published across the Channel have from time to time expressed a desire to have some authentic information in regard to the working of Public Libraries in Ireland. Unfortunately no formal reports are published282 Public Libraries. except in Belfast, and the fact is the more to be regretted, since, if they were satisfactory, the operation of the Acts under which they are constituted would be likely to find a salutary extension. There is no reason why weekly or monthly returns should not be put before the public, showing, as in the case of other public institutions of the kind, the number of readers in comparative tables, and such extensions as may be provided in the way of literary opportunity. This is a matter worthy of careful attention, for unfortunately the particulars at disposal are not by any means as full as could be wished. In every way one would like to see the Irish Public Libraries drawn into closer touch with those on this side the Channel, and whatever tends in this direction will perform a very important and necessary service. Banbridge. In July, 1890, a letter reached the author from Belfast making some inquiries as to the process for the adoption of the Acts in a small country town in Ireland. A lady and gentleman, on whose behalf the correspondent was writing, were desirous to erect and stock a building if the Acts were adopted. This fortunate place which had such an offer was Banbridge, a small town with about 6,000 inhabitants, and not far from Belfast. In the middle of the year the chairman of the Town Commissioners addressed a public meeting which was large and representative. He said the donation of such a magnificent sum as £6,000 or £7,000 to provide a library for Banbridge was an offer that he was sure would be unanimously accepted. The lady and gentleman who offered this large contribution had thought it right to keep their names from the public, and would do so until they were apprised that the townspeople would adopt the Acts. That was the sole object of this meeting. The town was improving daily, and this, along with other good works, would place Banbridge above many of the neighbouring towns. In July, 1890, the Acts were unanimously adopted. Some unavoidable delay took place in the selection and purchase of a site, and in the interim the death of the intending donor suddenly took place. In March, 1891, the Rev. J. B. Wylie, of Belfast, wrote to one of the local papers to say, in answer to a paragraph referring to the delay in securing a site, that Mr. Matier, the intending donor in question, was most anxious to get on with the work, and that he had been in readiness for months past to proceed had they only been able to secure such site as Mr. Matier thought desirable. One such site did offer, and on it Mr. Matter’s mind was fixed, but for some unexplained reason they were kept waiting for months for the owners to fix the price. This ground of delay was well known in Banbridge. He then went on to say that he regretted extremely if the Banbridge people were to be disappointed. “ I know how contrary that would be to the intention of the deceased. In the presence of a call so unlooked for, so solemn, and so startling, however, it is idle to attempt charging blame on individuals. Had Mr. Matier been spared a few months longer, or had he had even a few days’ warning of thePublic Libraries in Ireland. 283 approaching end, no such disappointment could have been.” For the present the matter thus remains in abeyance, but it is much to be hoped that some plan will be practicable to help the town out of the little difficulty which has arisen. Belfast. The people of the city of Belfast began to get the impression that they never would see their Public Library an accomplished fact. In June, 1882, the council were memorialized in favour of the establishment of a Public Library, and they determined to take steps to ascertain the views of the ratepayers as to whether they desired the adoption of the Acts. Voting papers were accordingly issued, and resulted in 5,234 votes for the adoption of the Acts, and 1,425 against. No action was, however, taken until 1884, and it was then resolved to make the contract fdr the building terminable in 1886. The builders were not to blame for the delay ; the want of sympathy among the members of the Corporation was the chief element in bringing "about the unreasonable delay. Leading articles and correspondence in abundance appeared in the local papers about the delay, but it was not until October 13, 1888, that the opening ceremony took place, which was performed by the Lord-Lieutenant, the Marquis of Londonderry. It was a far cry from this to 1881, when a deputation, headed by Mr. William Gray and others, brought the matter first before the Corporation. This body very ably tookPublic Libraries. 284 up the question, and have not allowed their interest to decline, notwithstanding the long delay, and the many disappointments which they have experienced. In the early part of 1888 the committee had in hand the task of appointing a librarian, and they had no reason to complain of any lack of candidates. The list of applicants contained 160 names of persons, ranging in age from 24 to 48 years. They came from all parts of the four kingdoms. The occupations of the applicants were varied, and the qualifications relied upon to secure the appointment were of a still more miscellaneous character. There were graduates of Oxford, Glasgow, Aberdeen, London, and the University of Ireland. There was a medical doctor, a dispenser at a lunatic asylum, a confectioner, the son of a newspaper correspondent, several schoolmasters, a retired head constable, a contractor, a missionary, a factory manager, a draper’s assistant, an auctioneer, several authors and translators, a captain, a colour-sergeant, a corporal, and a canteen steward. One candidate had travelled in Europe and America, and was accustomed to the management of men, and as these are more difficult to manage than books, he apparently had no doubt of his success in any position where either the writers or readers of books are concerned. Another was a railway and steamboat clerk, whose command of facilities for locomotion may have helped him, for he stated that he had visited the principal libraries in the United Kingdom, and was acquainted with their management in theory and practice. Another gentleman rejoiced in the varied experiences appertaining to a graduate, an adjutant, a paymaster, a chief constable, and an insurance secretary. A solicitor laid stress upon the fact that he had been five years in Africa. One of the most juvenile of the applicants was the younger son of an M.D. An adventurous spirit who wrote from Yeadon evidently had but vague ideas of the philological and social aspects of the North of Ireland. He stated that he “ could not speak the real Irish language ; but if correctly informed, the people in general in Belfast speak what we term here ‘ broken English,’ that he can understand.” As there is one thing at home that he could understand, it would have been a pity to transplant him. Among such a choice selection of would-be librarians the committee wisely and well determined to appoint none but a man of experience in Public Library work. The building, which cost about £20,000, is a handsome structure, as will be gathered from the view. The main entrance opens into a wide corridor, the opposite end of which terminates at the rear of the building. To the right of this lobby is a large room used as the lending department. To the left of the main corridor is the reading-room, which can be entered from the street by a separate door adjoining the main entrance. The first floor is reached by a broad stone staircase, and here the reference library is located. There is one grand central apartment, lighted from the top by a beautifully carved dome, through the glass of which a flood of light penetrates to every nook and corner of thePublic Libraries in Ireland. 285 room. To the left of the doorway leading into this portion of the edifice a small room has been fitted up for the convenience of those who wish to be more secluded while prosecuting their search after knowledge than they possibly could be in the larger apartment. Here any gentleman can retire with the books which he has selected to enable him to complete his task, and with the exception of a few others similarly disposed he will be, to all intents and purposes, in his own private library. Another flight of steps brings one to the other floor, which is divided into two parts, one being a museum and the other an art gallery. It is needless to add, the most perfect lighting, ventilating, and sanitary arrangements have been made throughout the entire building. Nor have the ladies been forgotten, for a special room has been provided for them in connection with the reference library department. In July, 1890, the Art Gallery was formally opened by Sir David Taylor, chairman of the Library Committee. The display embraced marble and cast figures, bronzes, pottery, porcelain, enamels, old iron and brass work, textile fabrics, carving, ivory and wood work, electrotypic reproductions, and photographs, besides a large number of choice oils. In one of the rooms there was a good collection of casts, which will be very useful to local art students, and in another a selection of works of art loaned by the South Kensington Museum. In the following November the Reference Department was formally opened by the Mayor. In doing so he said he would remind them of the importance of an occasion like that. In looking round the room it might appear somewhat poorly furnished for the portentous title it bore; but everything must have a beginning, and more particularly a library of that class. They would readily understand that a reference library of any worth must contain works of great value and often of comparative scarcity, and to furnish its shelves the expenditure of time and trouble and money was required. They must therefore look upon what they saw around them as merely a beginning of what he hoped in time would develop into a library which would do Belfast credit, and be of that use to its inhabitants it was intended to be. The second annual report exhibits a steady progress. A full table is given of what the people of Belfast read, and in Section A, embracing Theology, Moral and Mental Philosophy, Education and Philology, Smiles’ “ Character ” heads the list, and following it almost in order come the same author’s “Duty,” the “ Works of Josephus,” Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress,” Beard’s “Self-Culture,” Newman’s “Idea of a University,” Spencer’s “First Principles,” and Arnold’s “ Literature and Dogma.” In History and Biography the books that had the most fascination for the reading public were “Hodson’s Horse,” Burton’s “History of Scotland,” Carlyle’s “French Revolution,” A’Becket’s “Comic History of England,” Allan’s “Battles of the British Navy,” Ilu^ae’s “ Student’s History of England,” and Napier’s “ Peninsular War.” Sir George Trevelyan’s “ Life of Macaulay ” had twelve readers, and Sir Charles Gavan Duffy’s “Four Years of Irish286 Public Libraries. History,” thirteen. Thackeray’s “ English Humorists ” was fairly well patronized. Ranke’s “ History of the Popes ” had twenty readers, O’Conor’s “ History of the Irish People,” ten; Walpole’s “ History of Ireland,” twelve; and'the late Professor Witherow’s “ Derry and Enniskillen,” fifteen. In the Geographical department, and in that of Voyages and Travels, Bourne’s “ Heroes of African Discovery,” Brassey’s “Voyage of the Sunbeam,” Bird’s “ Rocky Mountains,” and Stevens’ “ Around the World on a Bicycle,” were taken up with alacrity. Novello’s “Music Primers ” had the largest issue in Section D ; Hall’s “ Scenery of Ireland,” and Benn’s “ History of Belfast,” were in request beyond the average; while Knox’s “ History of County Down,” “ Irish Pictures,” by Lovell; Milligan’s “Glimpses of Erin,” McGrath’s “ Pictures from Ireland,” and Father James O’Laverty’s priceless compilation on the Diocese of Down and Connor were, judging by the table before us, undoubted favourites. In Science and Natural History perhaps the most popular volumes were those bound by Messrs. Cassell and other firms. Homer, Shakespere, Byron, Burns, and Moore were in demand ; and Pope, Tennyson, Lover, Allingham, and, among the satirists, Barham and Gilbert, had a small following. Froude’s “Short Studies on Great Subjects,” De Quincey’s “ Opium Eater,” and Montaigne’s “Essays,” are prominent in the Miscellaneous Section. In Juvenile Literature Henty’s “ Facing Death,” Fenn’s “ In the King’s Name,” Verne’s “Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea,” and Ballantyne’s “The Middy and the Moors,” stand out with distinction. The library is fast becoming a pivot for intellectual energy. The Rev. Canon Grainger, D.D., of Broughshane, has presented his valuable collection of British and foreign antiquities to the museum of the Public Library of Belfast. It will be necessary to build an addition to the Public Library buildings in order to properly accommodate the collection. Coleraine. The Acts were adopted here in 1881, but they have not yet been put into operation. The penny rate would yield only an income of £50, and Coleraine feels that it cannot start with so limited a sum. A small grant would help the matter and make the carrying into effect of the wishes of the citizens, expressed ten years ago now, a possibility. Or, as the eve of these grants has not yet been reached, is there not some friend of Ireland who will step in and fill the breach? Cork. The Acts were adopted in Cork many years ago, and applied in aid of the local School of Art. In 1883 the Act as amended in 1887, so as to include music, was further adopted, and the Corporation has since then been allocating the proceeds of the penny rate to the purposes of science, art, and music, for which schools have been provided, partly by the adaptation to those purposes of the old Royal Cork Institution, now the property of the Corpora-Public Librañes in Ireland. 287 tion, but mainly by substantial additions thereto by the late W. H. Crawford, of Cork. In the matter of providing a Public Library little or nothing has yet been done. The rate yields only about £600 a year. A city like Cork should not now wait long before it sees a start made in establishing a library, and some one should at once take up the subject. It has been a mistake to allow the question to so long lie dormant. Dublin. The circumstances of Dublin are a little peculiar. On December 1st, 1883, the Municipal Council named a libraries committee to carry into effect the recommendations of a special committee on the subject of establishing and maintaining general libraries. The report upon which this suggestion was based was one which pointed out that while the City of Dublin possessed some valuable library collections, the facilities for reading for the general public were insufficient, being limited to the libraries in the eastern side of the city. It was recommended that in the west of the city, in which no facilities existed, two general libraries should be established and maintained at an annual cost of £1,000, which sum should be allocated from the borough fund. So that while a special rate of a penny is not levied, which would produce about £2,500, the two Public Libraries are rate-supported. In October, 1884, at the opening of these two libraries, which are situated in Capel Street and Thomas Street, the members of the Library Association of the United Kingdom were present. The acquisition of these premises was approved by the Treasury. It should be noted in passing that the Public Libraries Act (Ireland) of 1855 was, on the initiative of Mr. E. Dwyer Gray, adopted by the people of Dublin in March, 1877, and was also, owing to his exertions, shortly afterwards so amended as to give powers to local authorities in Ireland similar to those enjoyed in England, such as the power of borrowing the necessary capital for buildings, fittings, and books, and the power of forming committees which might in part consist of persons not members of the council. No steps were taken under the Act in Dublin until last year. This delay may be attributed to the passing in 1877 of the Dublin Science and Art Museum Act, which transferred to the Imperial Government the library of the Royal Dublin Society at Leinster House, with power to establish in Dublin a National Library and Museum. A very interesting ceremony took place in October, 1884, when the Lord Mayor declared the building open. He remarked in his speech that the libraries were intended for every class. The humble workman and the son of the wealthy merchant, if they chose, could sit side by side while improving their minds by the study of the best authors of all ages. Since then the work has gone steadily along. Printed reports have not been issued since 1887, but a large number of statistics in manuscript have been supplied by the librarian. So large is the attendance (especially at the Capel Street288 Public Libraries. library) that in April, 1891, the Corporation instructed the Public Libraries Committee to consider the advisability of providing an additional library, and several reading-rooms in various parts of the city. The crowding of the present institutions is ever increasing, and a branch establishment would no doubt do much to relieve the inconvenience now occasioned. At the end of August, 1890, the noble pile of buildings comprising the National Museum and Library, the foundation stone of which was laid a little over five years ago, was opened formally by the Lord Lieutenant. The buildings, which are of thirteenth century style of classic Renaissance, are a splendid ornament to the Irish capital, and a magnificent gift to Ireland from the Government, which has expended on them £120,000, exclusive of the cost of the electric lighting and much of the internal fittings. The library contains a reading-room, capable of seating 200 readers, and is distinguished for a novel and ingenious arrangement for the storage of the books, designed by the librarian, by which such great economy of space is effected that in an area about the size of the reading-room of the British Museum 600,000 volumes can be stored, and each one be accessible almost at a moment, and with the smallest amount of physical exertion. Dundalk. This town has the distinction of being the first in Ireland to adopt the Acts. This was done in 1858, immediately after the extension of these Acts to Ireland. The number of books at present is growing, as, although the income from the rate is very small, more or less are added annually. A penny per week subscription is charged for home reading to help out the rate. A small grant would at once remove this necessity, which is at the same time an innovation. Ennis. The Acts were adopted about 1860, and some efforts were made to organize a public reading-room, but nothing has been effectually done; and although the majority of the commissioners would be anxious to establish a reading-room and library, there are no funds applicable, and they are unfortunately weighted heavily for repayment of loans for water works, &c., so that they could not with propriety increase the present taxation. Limerick. In May, 1889, a motion was adopted in the Town Council to give effect in the city to the Acts, and to provide a rate towards the working of same, with a portion of it to be subsidized for the benefit of the School of Art, and a strong committee was appointed to carry out the necessary arrangements. In September of the same year the mayor referred at a council meeting to the terms of the title under which the Athenaeum had been held, pointing out that the lease under which the committee had taken the place from the Corporation, at a nominal rent, had been nonexistent for a num '»er of years, and that no representation wasPublic Libraries in Ireland. 289 given to the Council, in accordance with the original deed. He further pointed out that the objects for which the committee had been formed—to get up lectures and promote schools of art and science—had been practically abandoned. The Corporation were now endeavouring to avail themselves of the Acts, and had set aside a sum of £120 out of the rates for the purpose ; but it was necessary that they should clearly understand what was their position, as regards the present occupiers of the Athenæum, to the Corporation, and they were quite willing to enter into any arrangement by which the place could be utilized for the benefit of the citizens. There is certainly a great opening for such an institution in Limerick, and to the commercial and artisan classes in particular it will be an immense advantage. The rate will produce £240 a year. A nucleus to a library is found in the collection of nearly 2,000 volumes at the Athenæum, which is the property of the city. The Mayor anticipated that the project would be as great a success in Limerick as it has been in other cities, and there is not the slightest doubt that such will be the case. Several influential citizens and gentlemen connected with Limerick have wârmly taken up the idea, and by-and-bye we shall soon see Limerick in the full enjoyment of a citizens’ institution. A deputation waited upon the Corporation not long ago to urge the advisability of at once placing the Acts in operation. As nothing seems to have been done some effort should be made to wake up the authorities. Luhoan. In Lurgan the subject has been prominently forward for some time. The “ Lurgan Times ” has been vigorous and outspoken in its advocacy. A writer in its columns in last January said that all who had given the subject serious thought were in favour of the Acts. Then the writer went on to say that it is rather late in the day to cavil at the reality of the boon it confers on a community. Its elevating and ennobling effects have been placed beyond the reach of question by the touchstone of experience. The prospective advantages of the measure were so great as to induce the collective wisdom of the nation, in Parliament assembled, to pass it. Widespread satisfaction has been given to the peoples of the enterprising towns and cities that have availed themselves of its provisions ; while, in different places, some of those who most loudly opposed the adoption of the Act,, were and are diligently working for the establishment of branch libraries in suburbs. Our experience of Mechanics’ Institutes has taught us that the working man, feeling himself out of place, has a repugnance to joining subscription rooms where he may sit side by side with better-class people ; but in a Public Library room all men are equal, and the working man feels he has as indefeasible a right to be there as the member of Parliament. These libraries indubitably spread a taste for healthy literature amongst the toiling masses, thereby leading up to a higher ideal in life, and, by lessening the attractions of the public-house, conducing to a better performance of work, and ultimately to the maintenance of a more peaceable and orderly civic life—in the advantages of290 Public Libraries. which all law-abiding citizens share. The industrious and aspiring artisan can there read what the most skilled men of his calling have to say about the ways of doing work; while the inquiring mechanic may learn all about the ins and outs of machines from their inception. The fruits of many a bright idea have been lost to the world through the want of knowledge on a practical man’s part of abstruse mechanical principles, such as are set forth in text books. The effect of this vigorous advocacy, and the quiet work of a committee, aided by Messrs. John McCaughey, J. Gilchrist, and J. A. Thompson, was that the Acts were adopted by a large majority in August, 1891. A little difficulty has arisen with regard to the question as to wdiether, according to the Irish Act, a majority of those polling or a majority of the ratepayers carries the Act. Rathmines and Rathgar. This is a township adjoining Dublin, and the Libraries Acts have been in operation since 1887. Only a three-farthing rate is levied for its maintenance. The premises are temporary ones, but a new Town Hall is about being built, and this will include accommodation for the library. The supply of newspapers and books is not large, but there is a useful work in store for the Rathmines library. If it sets other townships near Dublin to determine that they also will have one of these institutions a good end will be served. Sligo. There was great difficulty in getting the people to adopt the Acts in Sligo. Had it not been for the deep interest which the late Alderman McDonough displayed in the subject the Acts would never have been adopted here. He was at considerable expense and loss of time in securing the means of having the library opened under the Libraries Acts. It is now much appreciated by the public, and as soon as the Corporation are able to assist it a little better the library will flourish, and be of much usefulness to Sligo. Here is a case where heavy taxes are already imposed, and where, if the Government could by any means be induced to assist, it would very much help to forward the movement. Those who know the town well say that it is a fact that the Sligo library has done more to counteract crime, particularly drunkenness, than any other influence. A room in the Town Hall is allowed for use, but up to the present books are not lent for home reading. The reading-room is open on Sundays from 2 to 7 p.m. Londonderry. The adoption of the Acts has been under consideration in this city. The question of providing a park had been before the people, upon which some £3,000 or £5,000 should be spent. The writer of a letter, recently received, referring to this proposal said that what the artisan classes want is a building like that in Belfast, an institution independent of any ism,” and conducted on such free principles as to be open to all conducting themselves properly; an institution with some “ grit ” in it; not a makeshift.Public Libraries in London. 291 If the town had had an institution of the kind years ago, with a Public Library and a hall for free lectures from our numerous doctors on “ common things,” it would have been a great central neutral point, checking wretched divisions. There are reading-rooms. Yes, with a half life ; and the artisan will never take to any institution where there is the restriction of ballot-box, and where he has to pass committees. If a philanthropist gave the artisan classes of Derry a Public Library and reading-room he would receive their lasting thanks. Douglas (Isle of Man). The Douglas Library is the only rate-supported library under the Acts up to date in this tight little island. The Acts were adopted and the library opened in 1886. It occupies the first floor over some shops in a central part of this thriving watering-place. The Isle of Man is a favourite resort for Lancashire and Yorkshire people, and as the denizens of these counties know how to use a Public Library the reading-room is greatly appreciated by the visitors. The selection of books is good, all tastes having been consulted. As new books are added they have been intimated in the public press. Eamsey, Castletown, and Peel should not be long before they adopt the Acts. For their own pleasure and advancement this should be done, but as a further reason there is no doubt that visitors to watering-places do largely use public reading-rooms, and in not a few cases select pleasure resorts where this advantage is afforded. So that as an investment the adoption of the Acts should be attempted immediately in every inland and seaboard watering-place not at present possessing these institutions. CHAPTER XYI. Public Libraries in London. In no part of the United Kingdom has the progress of this movement been so rapid and the development so general as in the Metropolis. For thirty-six years the large provincial towns had been pointing the finger at London, and consoling themselves that in this movement, at least, they were not as the sluggish folks in the Metropolis. London might, they said, be the hub of the universe, so far as wealth, size, and importance were concerned, but in the Public Library movement, the capital was apparently content to be left far behind. Londoners who had drifted up from some of the large provincial centres, and who had been accustomed to use the libraries in the towns they had left, were often stung to the quick when reminded in their old haunts of the dearth of Public Libraries in London. Place after place in the Metropolis had, up to 1886, tried to carry the Acts, and had met with failure so utterly disheartening that the movement seemed to have lost all its friends. Up to the end of 1886 only two parishes within the metropolitan area had adopted the Acts. The number at the time of writing (August, 1891) is only just short of thirty, out of the sixty-seven parishes292 Public Libraries. into which the metropolitan area is divided. In addition to this, many London parishes which have not yet adopted the Acts have given some thought and attention to the question. It has been to the writer a source of inspiration to compare the letters bearing upon this question received by him, prior to 1886, and those to hand since that time. The tone of those of a few years ago was in some cases that of utter hopelessness. The forces of ignorance, apathy, and the utter indifference of the average Londoner to anything outside his very limited circle constituted obstacles so great, that to attack these seemed almost like leading a forlorn hope. But the work of the Board Schools had in the meantime been going steadily forward. An extension of the means of locomotion which had enabled many Londoners to see provincial libraries, and especially the increasing power of the newspaper press, had been so thoroughly preparing the soil, that when the movement did once take root its growth was rapid, until now London, so far as these institutions are concerned, is like a giant Oliver Twist asking for more. On all sides there are buoyancy and hopefulness, and those who have stood by the movement all through feel that the battle has been worth fighting, because it has helped to place these libraries on such a solid footing that nothing can now retard their extension and development. The number of these earnest friends who, through evil and good report, have for a long period been like prophets crying in the wilderness, is large; and now that success is assured, the highest praise which can in connection with the movement be bestowed, is due unreservedly to those who have in the various parishes held aloft the torch of educational advancement. They are witnessing the result of their labours, and it is something of which to be proud to have borne a part in a cause which has brought elevating amusement and useful instruction to thousands of lives and homes. The parish of St. Margaret and St. John, Westminster, to its everlasting credit, was the first to adopt the Acts. This it did in 1856, and no further adoption took place until 1883, when Wandsworth followed. A lapse of twenty-seven years represents a far cry, and during that period there was much quiet sowing of seed, which was of unquestionable benefit when the break did come in 1886, the year of the issue of the first edition of this work. At the end of that year Lambeth and Fulham followed each other quickly with unmistakable verdicts, and gave us the turning of the tide which will ultimately lead on to the fortune of nearly every parish in London adopting the Acts. The progress has been so rapid and solid that it now requires but little force to help it onwards, and a few more years will see the circle fairly complete. In the first two editions, a chapter on the London Public Libraries was only practicable by going outside the metropolitan area for examples. The extreme suburban districts, such as Richmond, Kingston, Twickenham, Wimbledon, and Ealing had taken the lead, and had adopted the Acts. These places, in order to help out the arithmetic and so prevent the barrenness of the land from being too apparent, were includedPublic Libraries in London. m among the London Public Libraries. Now it is no longer necessary to do this. Credit is due to the places named for having been in the very front rank to move in the matter, and their example had a most useful influence. It was an example of the question working from the outer limits of the circumference to the heart of the Metropolis. While, however, there is much to give pleasure and satisfaction to the friends of this movement, there is still much to be done, and it is desirable that all who have the question at heart should do what they can to rouse the districts where the Acts have not yet been adopted. We still compare badly in point of number with Paris and Berlin. The statement is made, on the authority of Professor Paloczy, that there are in Berlin twenty-five Public Libraries, with more than 100,000 volumes each. This gives a proportion of over two volumes per head of accessible literature for every man, woman, and child in the Prussian capital. There is nothing corresponding to this in London or Paris. The library of the British Museum contains over 2,000,000 volumes, the great National Library in Paris also over that number; but the former, though fairly accessible, is not so in the sense that a Public Library is; while at the latter the facilities for consultation and reference, even when the necessary credentials are obtained by the applicant, are very unsatisfactory. The Germans have long enjoyed the reputation of being the most “ bookish ” people in Europe, and it is pleasant to know that even amid their present devotion to militarism they are not inclined to lose this reputation. Still, we are not disposed to yield up this character as being the exclusive boast of the Teutonic race. Paris is equally well off in the number of its Public Libraries. There are in the French capital some sixty-four popular libraries distributed over various parts of the city. The total issues of these libraries during 1890 amounted to 1,386,642 volumes, of which about one half were fiction. Many of these are municipal libraries, and are located in the town halls or in schools, and are supported by municipal funds. The more intelligent of former scholars of primary schools constitute their chief readers. Of the total number named there are about fifty-eight municipal libraries. Seven districts or arrondissements possess two of them, eight have three, and five four. The most populous districts have the largest number. The city spends yearly £4,480 (112,000 francs) in purchasing new books and in binding. The salaries are £3,880 a year. For 1887 the number of books consulted on the premises or taken home to read is given as 1,994,000 ; in 1888 it was above two millions; but in 1889 there seems to have been a decline in the number. The establishment of these libraries has been very rapid. Under the Empire they do not seem to have existed. Between 1871 and 1878 a number of libraries were established, but it was not until the later date, and the years immediately following, that the municipal authorities determined to plant libraries in the various districts. Paris and Berlin have thus taken the lead, but neither in the total number of these institutions, nor in point of the use made294 Public Libraries. of them by the public, shall we, after a short interval, be behind these cities. Londoners need ask for only very limited grace, and we shall be able to show a better and more extended use of the Public Libraries than is the case in Paris or Berlin. The libraries in London are chiefly now in course of erection and organization, but it will never be needful to add the returns of eighty libraries together to reach a total of two million issues in the year for reference and lending. We are on the eve of great things in Public Library work in London, and all arrears will be quickly overtaken; and, if we are not mistaken, both Paris and Berlin will be left very much in the rear. In neither of those cities does the Public Library system appear to develop, and it may be gravely doubted whether there is the same widespread interest in these institutions that has now been awakened in London. The impetus which was given to the municipal life of London in the passing of the Local Government Act, and the subsequent elections for the County Council, cannot be over-estimated. The utter absence of interest in local affairs in London up to the passing of that measure was the despair of all reformers. Now, while there is still a mountain of apathy and indifference to overcome, there is a spirit of inquiry and interest in the work of the County Council. In the securing of open spaces, and the administration of the public parks, and in other sections of its operations, the County Council have done real and lasting service. Those who captiously criticise the work of the Council have really not gone minutely into the matter, or they would recognize that out of the sea of talk there has been a solid residuum of useful work which is quietly revolutionizing London municipal life. The most pressing need which is now felt is for the formation of district councils, and then will begin the real municipal life of the Metropolis. Such a bill is now within measurable distance. An excellent plan for advertising the library has been adopted in Clerkenwell. A neat opal tablet is placed on the gas-lamps in the leading streets, calling attention to the library. The London vestries have been the butt of every reviler. So many metaphorical brickbats have been thrown at them that it is impossible for some of them not to have had a valid and reasonable cause for such castigation. But the intelligence of the vestrymen, and the quality of the work accomplished, have taken a step forward. It may be said with truth that, as governing bodies, they have caught the spirit of the day, and are determined to lift their administration into a position which will prevent them dying the ignominious death of the Metropolitan Board of Works. When their end comes they seem to have determined that the transference of power shall be done with dignity, and a consciousness that local public spirit in these days shall not suffer in their hands. The formation of the district councils is perhaps yet several years distant. It should be urged upon the members of the vestries in parishes where the Acts have not yet been adopted to give this question of Public Libraries their serious and earnest consideration. The vestries can simplify the whole process of adoption by their action, and inPublic Libraries in London. 295 no movement for the well-being of their neighbourhood could they more usefully devote their remaining days than to this of Public Libraries. It would be well if we could see one-half of the remaining metropolitan parishes adopting the Acts before the district councils are launched. This ought to be possible, and it certainly is most desirable. The district councils will have to take the libraries as they find them, and individual parishes are likely, in many instances, to be far better served by the commissioners elected by their own vestry deciding the preliminaries of where the library or libraries are to be erected. This is a matter of serious importance, and if the attention of the members on the vestries can be secured, and action towards the putting in operation of the Acts be decided upon, an excellent purpose will have been gained. In many of the London vestries there has been the heartiest co-operation in this question; but in a few others every species of obstacle has been placed in the way of gaining the adoption, or, where this has been secured, every obstacle imaginable has been raised to thwart the wishes of the majority. This spirit of opposition is clearly declining, and that it may speedily disappear is greatly to be wished. How much still remains to be done is shown by the following table. It must be borne in mind that the parishes are full of anomalies with regard to their existing areas and governing bodies. The following is a general summary, the particulars for which have been supplied chiefly by the clerks of the various vestries. In cases where the clerk has not replied to the questions sent him, the ratings as given in the Parliamentary return of 1889 have been used. The gross rates in the pound vary with each quarter in many parishes, and the amount given as the yield from the penny rate is approximate, and may vary from the actual amount. Sixty-seven parishes are here given, and the inequalities in the gross rates in the £ are very marked. Most of the parishes are increasing in ratable value; some few are declining. The parishes marked with a t have less than a penny rate, and this is the yield from the rate levied. Parish. (The parishes marked with an * have adopted the Acts.) Acts Adopted. Population according to Census of 1891. Eatable Value, according to the County Council Return. 1 Total amount of rate in the £ for the year ending Rady Day, 1891. A rate of a penny in the & per year 1 would yield £ s. d. £ St. Mary, Strand .. .. 5,706 ! 41,604 3 7 173 St. Saviour, Southwark. 18,898 224,255 3 11 934 St. James, Westminster 24,998 879,628 4 2 3,665 St. Olave, Southwark .. 12,694 109,540 4 2 I 456 St. Thomas, Southwark. • • 16,651 4 2 69 St. Clement Danes ! 7,193 194,335 4 2 ! 809 Horselydown 1 8,928 82,276 4 3 342296 Public Libraries. Parish. {Theparishes marked with an * have adopted the Acts.) Acts Adopted. Population according1 to Census of 1891. Ratable Value, according to the County Council Return. Total amount of rate in the £ for the year ending Lady Day, 1891. A rate of a penny in the £ per year would yield £ S. d. £ *St. Margaret and St. 1 John, Westminster ( 1856 55,760 766,516 4 Si l,530f Paddington 117,838 1,322,982 4 Al 5,512 St. John, Wapping 2,225 52,640 4 54 219 *St. George, Hanover Sq. 1890 78,362 1,841,761 4 5è 3,500f Soho 16,608 117,387 4 6 489 St. Paul, Covent Garden 2,919 94,717 4 6* 394 St. Paneras 234,437 1,615,915 4 8 6,732 #Stoke Newington 1890 30,913 191,579 4 8 763 *St. Martin-in-the-Fields 1887 14,574 516,487 4 9 2,100 Ratcliffe 16,107 65,052 4 10 271 * Christ Ch., Southwark 1888 13,264 119,823 4 : 10Ì 460 Hampstead 68,425 669,765 5 0 2,785 *Wandsworth 1883 46,720 271,562 5 0 860 Islington 319,433 1,686,385 5 Ob 7,026 St. George-in-the-East.. 45,546 186,826 5 1 778 * Kensington 1887 166,322 1,999,763 5 lì 3,300f Marylebone 142,381 1,510,051 5 u 6,291 *Chelsea .. .... 1887 96,253 689,542 5 2 2,798 *Battersea 1887 150,458 759,008 5 2 2,800 * Shoreditch 1891 124,009 - 678,428 5 3 2,120f *Holborn(S. Andre w& ) St.Grge.-the-Mrtyr.) j 1891 33,503 234,972 5 3 489f Hackney 229,531 962,592 5 4,010 *Cler ken well 1887 65,885 361,910 5 4 1,400 Saffron Hill 4,506 84,304 5 4 351 * Bloomsbury (St. Giles ) and St. George) j 1891 39,778 403,587 5 5 1,681 *Bermondsey 1887 84,688 423,843 5 6 1,460 Deptford (St. Nicholas) 7,901 55,851 5 6 232 *Newington (Surrey) .. 1890 115,663 462,297 5 6 1,926 *Poplar .. 1890 56,317 317,673 5 6* 1,300 Woolwich 40,848 222,965 5 7 929 Christ Ch., Whitechpl. 1 (otherwise Sptlflds.) ) 22,456 86,640 5 7 361 *Streatham 1889 48,742 324,648 5 7 1,150 *Putney 1887 17,771 160,626 5 7i 600 ^Whitechapel .. 1889 74,420 403,282 5 8 1,680 Mile End (Old Town).. ., 107,565 377,255 5 8 1,571 Minories 8,278 5 8 34 Limehouse 32,Ì81 129,045 5 9 537 #Lambeth 1886 275,202 1,517,810 5 94 5,200 Deptford (St. Paul) .. .. 101,326 482,829 5 10 1 2,011Public Libraries in London. 191 PARiSH. {The parishes marked with an * have adopted the Acts.) Acts Adopted. Population according to Census of 1891. Ratable Value, according to the County Council Return. r Total amount of j rate in tne £ for the year ending Lady Day, 1891. A rate of a penny in the £ per year would yield j £ S. d. £ St. George-the-Martyr, ) Southwark .. j 59,712 273,815 5 10| 1,140 * Stratford (Bow, West 1 Ham) J 1890 97,732 775,181 6 0 3,230 Bethnal Green 127,134 425,504 6 0 1,772 ^Camberwell 1889 235,312 1,030,046 6 0 3,800 *Clapham .. .. *.. 1887 43,698 270,565 6 0! 1,000 *Lewisham 1890 72,274 487,355 6 1 1,015+ St. Sepulchre (Ilolborn) 2,404 46,463 6 2 198 Lee 14,435 134,593 6 2 561 Eltham 5,682 50,856 6 2 211 *Fulham 1886 91,640 426,511 6 2 1,680 Mile End (New Town) . 10,673 30,898 6 2 128 * Hammersmith .. 1887 97,237 538,255 6 3 931f Greenwich ., 165,417 289,716 6 3 1,207 *Botherhithe 1887 39,074 214,372 6 4 680 *Bromley-by-Bow 1891 70,002 223,564 6 4 931 St. Luke, Finsbury 42,411 309,225 6 4 1,288 Kidbrook 2,166 23,260 6 7 97 Shadwell 10,490 46,416 6 8 151 Tooting 6,000 26,937 6 8 112 Plumstead 52,436 170,072 7 0 708 Charlton 14,040 64,903 7 0 270 Analysis:—1856, one; 1883, one; 1886, two; 1887, ten; 1888, one ; 1889, three ; 1890, six; 1891 (up to September), four; total, 28. At the present moment so many libraries in London are in course of erection, and these are of such a character architecturally, and others are in the stage of designing, that in course of a very few years the street architecture of the metropolis will be so improved by these additions of public buildings that a material improvement in our thoroughfares is now within measurable distance. The outsides as well as the insides of buildings may have an educating influence, and this is likely to be the result with the new libraries now being built in so many parts of London. Battersea. Within three years after the adoption of the Acts, the Battersea people saw their new central library completed, and duly opened to the public. In 1883 a committee was formed, with Mr. George Harris as honorary secretary, for the purpose of promoting the adoption of the Acts, and in a quiet way this committee rendered good service, by bringing the question before the constituency.Public Libraries. 298 While not leading to the immediate adoption of the Acts, there is no doubt that it contributed towards that desirable result in 1887, when, out of a large poll, a very satisfactory majority declared in favour of the adoption of the Acts. The commissioners lost no time in appointing a good practical man as a librarian. The scheme of the commissioners was for a central library and two branches. In October, 1888, the first of these branches was opened. Prior to this, a temporary reading-room had been opened, and was much appreciated. At the Lammas Hall five rooms were rented by the commissioners, and about 4,600 books, with which the branch was opened, collected from various sources. The chairman, on that occasion, a well-known local man, said that he really could not understand how it was that London was so much behind the provinces in the matter of Public Libraries and other forward movements; while the reading-room. He regarded the Public Libraries now. being established, as not only useful as places of instruction, but as affording means of recreation, as people who have been working hard all day might be more benefited by reading something light and entertaining, than by perusing more scholarly books. This branch is being exceedingly well used. In January, 1889, permission was given to borrow for the purpose of building and stocking a central library. This was followed, in May of the same year, by the laying of the foundation-stone. On March 19, 1890, this building was opened by Mr. A. J. Mundella, M.P. The library has been erected from the designs of Mr. E. W. Mount-ford. There are on the ground floor a newsroom, magazine room, and lending library, and on the floors above a large handsomePublic Libraries in London. m reference library and book stores. The two reading-rooms will accommodate 200 persons, and the reference library 100, making a total of 300 readers for whom provision is made, and the lending library is equal to the wants of 5,000 borrowers. The total cost of the building and site was about £10,000, which sum was borrowed, together with £2,000 for the Lurline Gardens building, and £2,000 for books, making a total debt of £14,000. The newsroom at the Central Library, in Lavender Hill has 1,034 ft. super., the magazine room 890 ft. super., and the reference library 1,900 ft. super, of floor space. The accommodation is equal to 150,000 to 200,000 books, and so there is room in the library for growth. The style is Renaissance, but so designed that the building does not contrast in too marked a degree with the houses around the library. The Lurline Gardens branch was opened in October, 1890. The site was found too ample for the accommodation required, so the premises do not cover the whole area of the site, and the buildings are only one storey in height. All the walls are built of thicknesses to admit of extension and raising at some future time. The whole of the work has been designed by Mr. Henry Branch, aided by the librarian, Mr. Inkster, on economical lines, the total cost, including heating, ventilation, and internal fittings, not exceeding £1,750. The fourth report, issued in June, 1891, provides very interesting reading. The educated classes are well represented among the borrowers, and not less so are the labouring classes. The charges for interest upon, and repayment of, the loans absorb a large portion of the annual produce of the rate. In these circumstances the commissioners thought it right to bring the matter to the notice of the vestry, and that body promptly and generously recognized the good work which the libraries are doing, and their claims upon the goodwill of the parishioners, by sanctioning the appropriation of the sum of £2,500, realized by the sale of parish lands, for the purpose of reducing the debt which at present hampers the operations of the commissioners. It only remains for the Local Government Board to consent to this arrangement, and the available sum for the purchase of books will be at once increased to the extent of some £350 per annum. In response to a public demand the commissioners determined to open the reference library and the central and branch reading-rooms on Sundays from 3 to 9 p.m., and this change, which came into operation on October 5,1890, has been much appreciated by the public, who have freely availed themselves of the additional opportunities for reading and study thus provided. Bermondsey. The majority in favour of the Acts was more than two to one. The chief credit of the movement and its success was due to Dr. George Cooper, who, with Mr. George Oliver and other friends, were untiring in their efforts. Skilful tactics throughout were shown, especially in the distribution of a well-compiled circular giving in a terse form a few leading facts, a copy of which was left at every house in the parish on the day beforePublic Librariesi 306 the poll was taken. This circular bore the frame of many leading residents of all shades of political and religious opinion. In this parish there are two local governing bodies. In addition to the vestry there is a body called the governors’ and directors’ board, which is the rating authority of the parish. The vestry resolved to take a poll of the parish, acting on the advice of their clerk, who maintained that the vestry, and not the governors’ and directors’ board, was the proper authority. But while arrangements were being made the governors and directors issued the usual notice to the effect that they would take the poll, and accordingly this was done. The vestry were duly informed of this by the clerk to the governors and directors, with a view to the vestry proceeding with the appointment of the library commissioners. But that body, acting upon the advice of their law clerk, took objection to the governors and directors being the authority under the Act, and further raised the question as to whether the Act did not require a majority of the whole of the ratepayers of the parish, and not merely a majority of those who actually took the trouble to fill up and return the voting papers. The vestry thereupon decided to submit these two points to counsel, and the opinion of Mr. Lumley Smith, Q.C., was obtained. On the first point he said he considered the governors and directors were the authority within the meaning of the Act. On the second point he inclined to the view that a majority of those actually voting, and not an absolute majority of the ratepayers, was all that the Act required. It was somewhat unfortunate for the movement that there should have been this fiasco in its early stages. A mass of matter lies at hand referring to the difficulties, but as these may be now relegated to the archives of ancient history, nothing more need be said. The matter is only now referred to in order that other parishes may avoid the same cause of stumbling. The election of a new vestry in June, 1889, facilitated matters considerably, and they forthwith proceeded to elect commissioners. At the end of 1890 the foundation was laid. The competing architects complained, and with reason, that the original instructions to them were not adhered to ; and as fifty-seven architects sent in designs, the soreness arising out of it was considerable. Architects themselves say that the conditions of competition constitute an agreement between the commissioners and the competing architects. The number of public libraries that are being erected in various parts of the metropolis is certainly improving our street architecture. The one which has been erected in the Spa Eoad, Bermondsey, is a distinct ornament to the district. It has been erected from the design of Mr. John Johnson. The principal entrance, in the centre of the building, leads to a hall and staircase 15 feet wide. On the right are the magazine and news rooms, having a total area of 1,300 superficial feet. The lending library, immediately opposite the entrance, is an apartment 40 feet square, with counter space 35 feet long, affording ample room for the several indicators, and for the public.Public Libraries in London. 301 The librarian’s room adjoins the entrance, thus giving complete command of the building. The well-lighted staircase gives access to the first floor, which contains the reference library, 40 feet square, with a domical roof in centre, supported on Ionic columns. Next the landing there is the ladies’ reading-room, 22 feet by 16 feet. The book store, next the reference library, is 40 feet by 24 feet. On this floor there is a room for the commissioners, with separate access from the exterior. The whole of the front on second floor is exclusively occupied by the librarian’s apartments, forming a somewhat poor residence as compared with the other BERMONDSEY PUBLIC LIBRARY. London libraries. In the basement are provided lavatories, &c., also a large space for additional book-store when required, with bookbinding room adjoining ; there is access for cases, &c., from the side entrance. A special staircase for the attendants is provided, with a book lift, so that every portion of the building can be conveniently reached by them without entering the principal staircase. The space available for books is sufficient for 80,000 volumes. The building is warmed by hot-water pipes, on the low-pressure302 Public Libraries. system. The ventilation has been well considered, ample inlet and outlet valves being provided. The whole of the building is, by the great amount of window space, particularly well lighted. The exterior is of English Renaissance character, freely treated, and will be executed in red brick and stone. The central feature has been introduced to give height and dignity to the front, on account of the imposing monumental character of the adjoining Town Hall. The cost of the building is about £5,000. The building will be opened about the time that this edition reaches the public. Bloomsbuby and Holbobn. The parishes of St. Giles and St. George, Bloomsbury, and St. Andrew and St. George the Martyr, Holborn, are to be congratulated. St. Giles is a very poor and very crowded district, to whose inhabitants, at the time when the Seven Dials were at the height of their notoriety, no one would have ventured to ascribe extensive literary aspirations. May 14, 1891, showed that a different state of things prevails. The result of the voting for the establishment of a library in the district showed that the Acts had been adopted by a majority, practically of two to one. In favour of a library there were 1,746 ratepayers, while against it only 876 recorded their votes. Nearly the whole of the assenting papers stipulated that the rate should not exceed one halfpenny in the pound. It must be admitted that considerable apathy was shown in the poll by a large portion of the constituency of 6,826 persons among whom papers were circulated, but the number of irregularly filled up returns was commendably small. The fact remains that St. Giles’s district resolved upon a Public Library. The work of educating the two parishes conjointly was undertaken with enthusiasm by a small but energetic committee. Mr. Alfred Hoare, L.C.C., acted as the honorary secretary; and among the active workers were Messrs. W. H. Fenton, J. Podzus, E. R. Spiers, Graham Wallas, and T. H. Wyld, and others. Some thousands of an admirable four-page circular were distributed, and several good meetings, at which Mr. Gainsford Bruce, Q.C., M.P., presided, and rendered good service. Two days after the result of the vote in Bloomsbury was made known, that in Holborn was announced. This stood as follows:— In favour of the adoption of the Acts, 1,172 ; against the adoption of the Acts, 717; in favour of the rate being limited to one halfpenny in the pound, 1,059 ; against the rate being limited to one halfpenny in the pound, 682. The suggestion is that as the two parishes intersect each other, they shall combine and work their libraries together. Bbomley. The carrying of the Acts in Poplar by a vote of ten to one, and the previous success in Whitechapel, was bound to have a marked influence upon the other East End parishes. Bromley, the adjoining parish to Poplar, felt the full force of the infection, and immediately after the vote in Poplar an influential committee was formed, and set to work to educate the constituency. The ruralPublic Libraries in London. 303 dean, the Key. G. A. M. How, M.A., acted as chairman, and Mr. Walter Hunter, J.P., L.C.C., treasurer, with Messrs. It. Wild, Limbrick and the Hey. Knight Chaplin, as secretaries. On June 30, 1891, the votes were counted, and the result was that the parish decided in favour of a Public Library by 2,155 votes to 946. Once again it is seen from this that the East End is telling the world that the reports of its benighted and uncivilized condition are, thanks to press and pulpit, either grossly exaggerated or entirely false. Camberwell. The question was introduced here by the offer of Mr. George Livesey, made in March, 1888, of a site and a new building in the Old Kent Road. Thirteen years previously a vote was taken in Camberwell, and the question was answered in the negative by a considerable majority. In January, 1889, when the matter came again forward, the poll resulted in 11,407 ratepayers voting for the proposal, and 4,357 against. In addition to deciding the main question, the ratepayers who voted for the adoption of the Acts were asked to state whether they favoured a rate levied at |d., or |d., or jd., or Id. in the £, with the result that 209 voted for the Jd. rate, 1,783 for the ¿d. rate, 148 for the fd. rate, and 9,267 for the Id. rate, the latter alone outnumbering the opponents of the proposal by 2,217. The “ South London Press ” did good service in bringing about the adoption of the Acts in Camberwell, as it has done in other districts. Lambeth and Camberwell have combined in the working of the Minet Library, the gift of Mr. W. Minet, which stands on the confines of the two parishes. An agreement was entered into between the commissioners of the two parishes, the chief features of which agreement are that the library is to be used by the ratepayers of both the parishes of Camberwell and Lambeth, and that it is to be under the control of a joint committee, half to be elected by the commissioners of Lambeth, and the other half by the commissioners of Camberwell. A separate banking account is to be kept in the name of the committee. Probably not even the munificent giver of the library anticipated that the institution would have so rapidly and unmistakably grown in public favour and utility as the figures show. As a valuable local institution the Minet Library is now acknowledged and appreciated. This library was opened in July, 1890, by Sir Lyon Playfair, M.P., and he has the courage of his convictions. He told the good folk of Camberwell that he does not see why people should not read what they like. “No man can settle which are the best hundred books for Camberwell or any other place, and everyone should learn to distinguish the gold from the tinsel for himself.” “ They had,” he said, “ got much of the philosophy of the ancients, but only in mere fragments, because there has been no Public Libraries in which the manuscripts could be placed. It was not to princes or to kings that such a wonderful inheritance to mankind was due, but in reality it arose from citizens, and the sons of citizens, for Aristotle was a druggist, Socrates was a stone-3°4 Public Libraries. mason, and Plato a merchant. The Press and the Public Library had now made knowledge the common stock, not of the favoured few, but of the multitude.” In October, 1890, the Livesey library was opened. This was built by Mr. George Livesey at a cost of something like £7,000. At the opening of the library the donor stated that Camberwell had been more or less his parish for half a century, that he had received much kindness at the hands of working men, and that having enjoyed some prosperity he held it to be his duty to do something to brighten their lives. He had accordingly given them a Public Library. Sir Edward Clarke, M.P., the Solicitor-General, opened the library, and in doing so made one of the most pronounced speeches in favour of Public Libraries that has yet been delivered. He said that “ he denied the suggestion that had been made to him that Public Libraries were a superfluity. Education was not a superfluity. It was by this time recognized, not as a superfluity, but as an individual privilege, and a national necessity. The course of education in this country during the last thirty years has so affected the condition and character of the people that we were,in every department of our national and social life, improving with rapid steps from year to year. Another objection mentioned to him was an absolutely chimerical one—viz., that in the management of institutions of that kind there might be sectional and political influences. That was an idle fear.” Referring to another objection—that Public Libraries encouraged the reading of fiction—Sir Edward said that, quite apart from the historical teaching to be found in novels, there was a great educational influence in those works. There was nothing to be said against the reading of sound fiction. Of course there was fiction that was not sound, and superfine critics of the literature of the working classes often talked about the penny dreadfuls that girls and boys were in the habit of reading. He was not at all sure that the “ penny dreadfuls ” were any worse than the “ shilling shockers ” or the horrible pictures which disfigured the bookstall of every station. He pleaded for fiction, for in good fiction there was a great element of education. In April, 1891, the East Dulwich branch of the Camberwell libraries was opened. This is only a temporary building, as the governors of Dulwich College have given the commissioners a site for a larger and more suitable building. The opening of three —it is almost possible to say four—libraries within twelve months is a course of events which should satisfy the most ardent of library friends, and the determination of Camberwell to keep abreast with the ever-widening spirit is unmistakably clear. In June, 1891, the proposal came before the vestry to borrow £12,500 for the purpose of erecting a central library in the Peckham-road. In May the libraries were opened for the first time on Sunday. Throughout that month the experiment was tried, and there was a very good attendance. Owing to the great diversity of opinion on the subject, the library commissioners devised a scheme whereby the sense of the ratepayers might be gauged, for voting books were open at all the libraries, in whichPublic Libraries in London. 305 signatures for and against Sunday opening could be recorded, and by the result of the poll the commissioners will be guided as to their future action in the matter. Chelsea. The provisional committee who conducted the contest meànt to win. In no London parish was the issue placed better or more clearly before the constituency than in Chelsea. Looking back upon the literature distributed and the able advocacy given by the “ West London Press ” and other local papers, it would have been strange had success not attended efforts so well planned and so vigorous. Politicians of the fighting type from both sides were on the committee, and rendered excellent service. The requisition was signed by Earl Cadogan, Lord Monkeswell, the Right Hon. John Morley, M.P., the rector of the parish, and others, and the majority in favour was 1,031, out of a large poll. Mr. B. W. Findon, Mr. C. J. Cockran, and the Rev. F. Relton, rendered excellent service. There were some initial difficulties over the collection of the rate, which led to the Amendment Bill of 1889 being brought forward and afterwards passed. This Act clearly lays down that the penny library rate cannot be charged with the poundage for collection. A temporary newsroom was opened in November, 1887, in the Vestry Hall, and books were allowed for reference. The foundation stone of the permanent building was laid by the Countess Cadogan in February, 1890. The library is situated close to the King’s Road, and is as near as possible to the centre of the parish. The entrance is through a circular portico supported upon four columns, each being a single block of Portland stone. The principal reading-room, in which the opening ceremony took place, will accommodate 220 readers, allowing ample space for each person. It is 90 feet long, and is adorned with six columns of Devon marble, the floor being in oak block parquet. The library is designed to hold 30,000. A feature of the institution is a boys’ room. Forty boys can be accommodated in this room at one time, and a similar number of readers have been allowed for in the ladies’ room. The approach to the reference library and students’ reading-room is by means of a wide staircase, also adorned with marble columns, as well as by the original models of sculpture executed for St. George’s Chapel, Windsor. The columns, &c., are a gift from Mr. Henry Young, one of the commissioners. The reference reading-room will hold 100 readers, and is lighted by two large windows and a central dome, the roof being supported by four columns of scagliola. The shelves have been made to contain 50,000 volumes. A strong room for valuable books and manuscripts has also been provided. The reference library contains a collection of the relics of the poet Keats, consisting of books, letters, note-books, &c., which have been deposited at the library by Sir Charles Dilke, one of the library commissioners, and who has been a considerable donor to the institution. 20Public Libraries. 306 On January 21st, 1891, the building was declared open by Earl Cadogan. The chairman of the commissioners presided, and referred to the gift of the site, valued at £2,500, by Earl Cadogan, and £350 worth of “books. The Earl, in declaring the library open, said that they must all entertain a feeling of gratitude to the Chelsea’Vestryjf or their generosity in lending rooms for the use of the^library during the past three years. In his opinion, the benefit of the action had been inestimable, because it had enabled the library authorities to gradually spread through the district a knowledge, not only that there was a Public Library in Chelsea, but of the uses to which it could be put. The other day, in a public speech, one of his political colleagues said that it was better, he believed, to read any book than to read no book at all. He (Earl Cadogan) was not quite sure that he could quite go thatPublic Libraries in London. 307 length, but he was certain that in the establishment of a library like this they would take as wide a range as possible in the selection of books. They should assist study by books of reference and by those models of literature which were to be found among the great poetic and prose writers. They should provide works of fiction and amusement by a judicious selection ; they should furnish every class of literature to those who came within these walls. Let this library be as catholic as possible. The best reply to those who say that nothing but fiction is read in Public Libraries is to ask them to take any representative library, and obtain a list of the books issued on any one day. In no other part of the present work has such a list been given. The following is a list of the books issued on the second Tuesday in last February. The day was selected quite haphazard, and any day will afford the same evidence. Many of the books named, it will be seen, are of an educational character, and not such as a reader would ask for the whiling away of a spare hour. The list has been furnished by Mr. Quinn, the librarian. Taking the books somewhat in the order in which they are classified in the library, we find that in the department of philosophy, Spencer’s ‘ ‘ First Principles ” had been asked for three times on that particular day, while the same author’s “ Ecclesiastical Institutions” had been consulted twice, and Aristotle’s “Moral Philosophy,” Spinoza’s Works, Martineau's “ Types of Ethical Theory,” and Lenormant’s “ Chaldean Magic * were given out to students once. In religion, the only book consulted was Sayce’s “Fresh Lights from the Ancient Monuments,” but this perhaps should be classed with Keightley’s “Mythology of Ancient Greece ” as antiquities. In politics and sociology, the books consulted were very varied. Sir C. Dilke’s “ Present Position of European Politics ” and the second volume of the same author’s “Problems of Greater Britain” were applied for, as well as Blount’s “Ancient Tenures of Land,” Birkbeck’s “ Distribution of Land in England,” Smith’s “Wealth of Nations,” and “ Five Years’ Penal Servitude, by one who endurtd it.” Books treating on languages, and educational works, were also sought after, as the following list will show—Craik’s “ Manual of the English Language,” Hewitt’s “ Our Mother Tongue,” Smith’s “French Principia,” Cassell’s “New Popular Educator” (vol. 3), Colenso’s “Arithmetic,” Todhunter’s “Elements of Euclid ” (twice), Pitman’s “Manual of Phonography,” and Kingston’s “Phonography in the office.” The scientific works perused included Ganot’s “Physics,” Quain’s “Dictionary of Medicine,” Flower’s “Nerves of the Human Body,” Hospitalier’s “Electricity,” Urbanitzky’s “Electricity,” and “ Domestic Electricity for Amateurs.” The books dealing with useful arts consulted, were “ Notes on Building Construction ” (3 vols.), Tredgold’s “Carpentry,” Barter’s “Engineers’ Sketch Book,” Leno’s “ Boot and Shoemaking,” Cassell’s “ Household Guide,” “ Amateur Work” (2 vols.), and a volume of Cassell’s “ Work.” Only three art books were asked for on the day, these being Buskin’s “ Stones of Venice,” Perrot and Chipiez’s “Art in Ancient Egypt,” and Bishop’s “Architecture of Greece and Italy.” The list of books consulted in the department of history and literature is somewhat longer, and contains Burke’s Essays, Carlyle’s “ Critical Essays,” Adams’ “ Dictionary of English Literature,” Goethe and Schiller’s “Correspondence” (2 vols.), Mrs. Browning’s Poems, Thomson’s (B.V.) Poems (selections), Carlyle’s “ French Bevolu* tion” (vol. 3), Lecky’s “England” (vols. 7 and 8), Allen’s “Battles of the British Navy,” Bussell’s “ Franco-German War.” In biography, Carlyle’s “ Oliver Cromwell’s Letters and Speeches,” Froude’s “Carlyle in London,” and Molloy’s “ Peg Woffington” were needed. In travels, Caine’s “Trip Bound the World” and Baker’s “Bifle and Hound in Ceylon” were the only two books asked for. In topography, Bye’s “History of Norfolk,” Philip’s “Cyclists’ Map of Essex,” Cape’s “ Churches of London,” Dickens’ “ Dictionary of Paris,” the Bev. B. H. Davies’ “ Chelsea Old Church,” and G. C. Davies’ “Norfolk Broads ” were sought after. In addition to the above fifty-eight works, the following were also consulted:— “Encyclopaedia Britannica ” (vol. 24), “Fortnightly Beview ” (2 vols.), “Nineteenth Century” (2 vols.), “The Argosy” (2 vols.), Thackeray’s “Paris Sketch Book,”Public Libraries* 308 Barham’s “Ingoldsby Legends,” Jackson’s “ History of the Pictorial Press,” Beade’s “Literary Success,” Hor witz’s “ Chess Studies,” and Biakston’s “ Illustrated Book of the Canary.” The library has been very fortunate in gifts of money, books, and objects of decorative art. Among other acknowledgments in the report is one to Mr. Foster W. Procter, solicitor, for giving his services as legal adviser to the board during the work of acquiring sites and erecting the buildings. Legal gentlemen in other districts please copy. There is a word of thanks also to the local press whose columns are ever open to record the progress of the library, and there is no mistake about this progress being very real. About four miles from the boundary of the parish is an outlying district known as Kensal Town, and here a branch library has been erected and was opened in January, 1890. On the ground floor are the newsrooms, and a reference room, and the lending department is on the first floor. The elevation is very striking, and the future of the library is as bright and promising as can well be. As a London branch library, Kensal Town has some features worth noting. The site cost £2,000, and the best has been made of it that was possible. Where it is a choice of placing either the lending department or the newsroom on the ground floor and the other on the first floor there can be no two questions that the newsroom should be there as at Kensal Town. Clapham. Clapham wisely decided not to open temporary rooms, but as there was a prospect of being able to immediately secure a site for building purposes the good folks of Clapham had to possess their souls in patience, and wait until they had a new building to call their own. This was not until October 31, 1889, on which date it was opened to the public. The whole matter was set moving in the spring of 1887 by the munificent offer of £2,000 towards a building if the Acts were adopted. This offer came from an anonymous individual, and to-day the same obscurity surrounds the gift that has prevailed from the first. Only one of the commissioners is aware who this anonymous friend is, to whom Clapham is indebted. Would that every parish in London had such a friend. The adoption of the Acts at Clapham was carried with a very large majority, and in due course the commissioners were appointed, who went quietly and efficiently to work. The site cost £1,100, and when this was decided upon the commissioners did not issue advertisements for designs, but invited six architects to compete, each design being sent in under a motto. The decision that the commissioners arrived at was that the plans of Mr. E. B. I’Anson were most suited to their purpose, and these were accordingly chosen. The edifice is externally composed of red brick, with box-ground Bath stone dressings, the ground area occupied being 105 ft. by 60 ft. The elevations are very pleasing, although of no particular style, and the liberal introduction ofPublic Libraries in London. 3°9 bay-windows adds considerably to the general effect. The front facing the common has an extensive forecourt bounded by ornamental iron railings surmounting a coping and interspersed with ornamental red brick piers. A mosaic paved pathway leads to a pair of massive polished mahogany and plate-glass doors, through which a spacious vestibule of an oblong shape is reached. This is also paved in mosaic and lighted by a handsome lamp. Another pair of folding doors lead to the entrance hall, from which a staircase leads to the large room above. This entrance hall has a wood block floor, and is very tastefully decorated. From the entrance hall the visitor passes into the borrowers’ lobby, on the back and right-hand sides of which is ranged a substantial counter in polished mahogany. Behind this lobby, and without any structural separation, is the lending library, with accommodation for some 27,000 volumes. This receives its light from above by three oblong lanterns, while all around the walls are shelves, and in the centre are spacious bookcases. From the borrowers’ lobby two large swing doors open into the newsroom. This is the largest room in the building, being 57 ft. by 27 ft., and occupies the greatest space in the building on the ground floor, and comfortably holds over 150 persons. The light, in the daytime, is derived from a large bay window in the front, and two bays, and one other large window. The decorations of this room are typical of most of the others. The ceilings and walls are coloured creamr3IQ Public Libraries. white, with a claret coloured dado surmounted by stencil ornaments. The floor is covered with linoleum to deaden the sound of footsteps, and the tables, chairs, and news-stands are of polished oak. Artificial light is given by twelve Wenham lights, and the arrangements for ventilation are both ample in quantity and modern in character. At the rear of the newsroom, and lighted by two bay windows from Orlando Road, and one window from the back, is the reference library. This is approached through the newsroom by means of swing doors, and also communicates directly with the issuing-room by means of a sliding sash, through which books will be supplied for reference. The decorations are similar to the newsroom. Behind the issuing-room is a commodious office for the librarian, a binding room, a file-room, &c. The staircase in the entrance-hall already mentioned is massive—of Portland stone, with ornamental iron railings and polished mahogany woodwork. From a spacious landing an entrance is obtained through large swing doors to a noble room 45 ft. by 24 ft., which extends over the entire front of the premises, suitable for a lecture room or other purposes. The decorations are similar to those in the rest of the rooms, but patent ventilators are used in this case, while four powerful lamps afford a beautiful light. Ample accommodation is provided for the librarian, and a suite of rooms extends over the hinder portion of the premises, with a separate entrance. For a building of the dimensions and cost of that at Clapham it would scarcely be possible to put up a better planned or more suitable building. There are a number of metropolitan parishes where the rate brings in about £1,000 a year, as at Clapham, andPublic Libraries in London. 3ii the very best plan which can be adopted will be to follow the plans for the ground and upper floors of this library. The total cost of the building was £4,000, and another £1,000 were spent upon fittings and furniture. It is a building which reflects the highest credit upon all concerned, and Clapham is reasonably very proud of its library, and is making a use of it which is commendable. An open bookcase was placed a few months ago in the reading-room, and in this have been placed a selection of books for the free use of readers in that room. The experiment will be watched with interest, as it is one of the first of its kind in London. The bill of fare in the newspaper room is provided by 136 periodicals, distributed as follows :—daily, 16 (morning, 9, evening, 7); weekly, 54; monthly, 45; quarterly, 3; railway guides and time tables, 18. In a paper read before the Library Association recently, Mr. Welch, the librarian, said that “this room, especially at certain times of the day, is very well attended. Working men come during their dinner hour, and assistants in shops in considerable numbers in the evening. Excellent order is maintained by the readers themselves without any necessity for interference on the part of the officials. The loafing so much heard of in connection with public newsrooms is only conspicuous by its absence.” Clapham is rich in its literary associations. Here Wilberforee lived, Lord Macaulay was educated and resided within the parish. Genial Thomas Hood went to a school on the fringe of the common. Many others of note lived in Clapham, and it is intended to make a collection of portraits and busts of these celebrated men, and donations of this nature will, as the sermon bills say, be thankfully received. A number of pictures decorate the walls of the reference library and reading-room, which have all been presented. Clerkenwell. What one parish refused another parish gained, and so the Clerkenwell people were disposed to use the old proverb about its being an ill wind that blows nobody good! Mr. E. M. Holborn offered Islington a gift of some £600 if the Acts were adopted, and on its refusal to do so he transferred his offer to Clerkenwell, which ultimately took the form of £300 in cash and over 1,000 volumes. This offer, with an additional one of £600 from Captain Penton, M.P., practically brought about the adoption of the Acts, aided by the efforts of a strong and earnest committee, who set themselves the task of educating the constituency. The majority in favour was 321, and it was worthy of note that this was in a parish where tha rates were two shillings in the pound higher than in Islington. The movement for the adoption of The Acts in this parish was inaugurated by Mr. Wm. Eobson, who secured the co-operation of a majority of the vestry on a proposal to celebrate the Jubilee by the establishment of a Public Library. Only two public meetings were held in Clerkenwell, for the opposition had determined that these shoiil^312 Public Libraries. be made so noisy, that the friends of the movement would perhaps become tired of their work. After this, active canvassing was adopted on a larger scale than previously, directed principally by Mr. J. Johnson, and Mr. W. Bobson, now the vice-chairman. They enlisted the aid of the clergy, ministers, representative working men, club representatives, teachers, &c. Nearly the whole of the parish was canvassed by volunteers, ministers were asked to announce to their congregations on the CLERKENWELL PUBLIC LIBRARY. Sunday prior, the fact that the poll would be taken next day, leaving it to their judgment as to whether they enlarged on the theme or not. Some litigation followed the taking of the poll, and on June 11, 1388, Mr. Justice Field and Mr. Justice Wills were engaged in the Queen’s Bench Division with the case of the Queen v. Morris and pthers, which came before their lordships in the form of a motionPublic Libraries in London. 3I3 by way of quo warranto, calling upon the commissioners appointed under the Public Libraries Act for the parish of St. James and St. John, Clerkenwell, to show cause why they should continue to act, it being asserted that the poll which was taken to decide whether the Act should be adopted in Clerkenwell was invalid, by reason of voting papers not being delivered to some ratepayers, and of their not being collected, and of being improperly dealt with. On the other hand, it was said the poll substantially represented the feeling of the parish. It appeared that 7,222 voting papers were issued, of which 1,791 were returned in favour of the library, and 1,650 against it. There were 1,025 spoiled papers, of which 880 were blank. Mr. Jelf, Q.C., and Mr. Stokes appeared for the opponents of the library, while Mr. Channell, Q.C., and Mr. Spokes represented the commissioners. In support of the CLERKENWELL PUBLIC LIBRARY, GROUND FLOOR. rule for a quo warranto, it was contended that the facts set out in the affidavits were sufficient to show that the opinion of the ratepayers had not been properly ascertained, and that before this new rate was imposed for ever upon the parish, the parish should have another opportunity of expressing its sense upon the subject. Mr. Justice Field, in giving judgment, said the first question raised, whether the commissioners were the prescribed local authorities for carrying out the provisions of the Public Libraries Acts, but that being a very complicated and difficult question, Mr. Jelf had very properly consented, in the interest of the parties, to allow it to pass in the present case, and therefore the only questions remaining were as to the mode in which the sense of the parish had been taken. In this case it was objected that voting papers were not sent to each ratepayer, that they were not3H Public Libraries. properly collected, and that a scrutiny was refused; and that even if those conditions had been properly complied with, the result had not been correctly ascertained. His lordship then reviewed the facts of the case, and said that anxious as he was always to secure purity of election, he could not come to the conclusion that there was any improper or unfair dealing on the part of the promoters of the Public Library in this instance. There was a substantial majority of ratepayers in favour of the project, and there was nothing to show that the election had been otherwise than fairly and honourably conducted. Mr. Justice Wills concurred, and the rule was accordingly discharged. This settled the litigation for the time being, and on November 20, 1888, temporary premises were opened in Tysoe Street. The foundation-stone of the permanent building was laid on March 8,1890, on a site given by the Skinners’ Company, and valued at £3,000. The building has been erected from the designs of Karslake & Mortimer. It is situated within the most thickly-populated part of the parish. At the laying of the stone, the Rev. J, H. Rose, M.A., the chairman of the commissioners, said that somebody had complained that the number of volumes of poetry taken out from the library was very small, and raised a laugh by saying that, whoever had made that statement, if they would go and live in Clerkenwell it is probable they would have some of the poetry crushed out of them. On October 10, 1890, the permanent building was opened by the then Lord Mayor, and the occasion was made a gala day throughout the main thoroughfares of the parish. Having declared the library open, the Lord Mayor desired to become the first borrower, and in doing so asked for a book written by the librarian, Mr. J. D. Brown, the “ Biographical Dictionary of Musicians.” The success of the Clerkenwell library has been conspicuous among the libraries of London. The whole of the departments are thronged every day, Sunday included, during the hours that it is open with crowds of readers and borrowers. The building is architecturally an ornament to the parish. Situated in the heart of the parish, and amidst thoroughfares crowded with dwellings, it stands a centre of light and elevating amusement. Whatever opposition there was to it formerly has now entirely disappeared, and some of those who vigorously opposed the adoption of the Acts are now among the best friends of the work. The same result has been seen in other places. A Public Library is a great converter, and every institution of this nature wins over friends, and becomes at once an incentive to other parishes, and herein lies much of the success which is being witnessed in London.' Fulham. Fulham led the way among the London parishes, preceding Lambeth by a few days. Interest centred in the larger and better known parish, but it is greatly to the credit of Fulham that it should have taken so worthy a lead. The movement was admirablyPublic Libraries in London. 315 generalled, and the votes in favour were nearly three to one. On October 20,1888, the new building, erected for a reading-room at a cost of £6,000, was opened by the Bishop of London. The new building is on the main road to Putney and Richmond, in the centre of Fulham. This room is 70 feet long, 30 feet wide, and in height 22 feet. The ceiling was beautifully decorated by a firm of Italian artists. In the front of the building are the lending and reference libraries, the ladies’ reading-room, and the commissioners’ room, on the first floor. The number of volumes is not yet large, but this is a defect with which the commissioners are actively grappling, seeing they spent nearly £300 in one year on books. The Fulhamites are evidently a reading people, and mean to get their full pennyworth out of the library, and for that decision they are not to be blamed. Some important alterations became necessary, and the library was closed for a time in the middle of 1890. Fulham presents another example in the metropolis where the adapting of an old building for part of its work has not been so very successful. To have cleared the site entirely and rebuilt from the ground would have been a better plan than adapting for lending and reference departments, and building a reading-room at so great a cost. The commissioners had, however, no examples in London of new buildings at the time they were discussing the best methods of procedure, and so they are not to be blamed for missing the way a little in the first instance, but this they are quickly overtaking. Hammebsmith. It is cheering to look back upon the attempt to get the Acts adopted in this extensive parish. The “ West London Observer ” and other papers threw open their columns for a full discussion of the subject. A provisional committee, with Mr. R. P. Edwards acting as secretary, was formed, and the whole parish was made aware of what was going forward. Many thousands of leaflets were distributed, and when the vote was taken the majority in favour of the scheme was more than twice as large as the minority in opposition. During the time the question was in progress references were made to the house in Ravenscourt Park, Hammersmith, being suitable for a library, and, after an interval of a little over two years, this became an accomplished fact. The time between was absorbed in the acquisition of the park by the London County Council as a park for the people for ever. They then gave the commissioners the use of the house as a library and reading-room at a nominal rent, and on March 19, 1890, the library was declared open by Sir John Lubbock, M.P. The fine old mansion where the library is housed has quite an interesting local history. The original mansion in the park seems to have dated back to about the fourteenth century. This is not the place to enter into its vicissitudes since then, but it has fallen to a happy and satisfactory use at last. The Hammersmith people value highly their library, and the use made of all departments has far exceeded the most sanguine expectations of the pro-316 Public Libraries. moters. The northern part of the parish is likely to be provided soon with a branch library, a freehold site having been given to the Library Commissioners by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. Kensington. There should be indelibly inscribed on the records of the Public Library movement in London the name of Mr. James Hey wood, F.R.S. When in 1874 he opened his Public Library at Notting Hill, the Guildhall, British Museum, and Westminster libraries were the only libraries opened free to the public in London. In 1878 the ratepayers of Kensington refused to adopt the Acts. Mr. Heywood and those who favoured the movement resolved to wait till the ratepayers were better informed. The Notting Hill Library was kept up by Mr. Heywood at his own expense, and in December, 1886, a new movement for the adoption of the Acts was set on foot, and probably one of the most influential and representative committees that has ever been got together in Kensington worked until, in June of the following year, the Acts were adopted by a large majority. The opposition at the last was very strong, but having been practically without leaders could not do the harm that was intended. Mr. Herbert Jones, who for fourteen years had been the librarian at Mr. Heywood’s library, acted as honorary secretary of the provisional committee, and had been at work ceaselessly for months. He had secured the adhesion of every leading man, or by showing the strength of the committee, deterred waverers from joining the other side. He collected ¿1,300 towards the libraries, exclusive of Mr. Heywood’s gift. What was most to be feared was the apathy of the ratepayers and the example of Paddington, the next parish. Mr. Jones was a good organizer, and the success of the movement was largely owing to his untiring efforts. In January, 1888, Mr. Heywood’s library was formally handed over. A committee was formed to consider the desirability of acknowledging in some suitable way his gift, and a bust of himself was decided upon. This is an admirable likeness of Mr. Heywood, and has been placed in the Vestry Hall, which now forms one of the libraries. This was declared open in December, 1889, by H.R.H. the Marchioness of Lome. The last report represents an encouraging statement of what has been done up to date, and Kensington bids fair to get out of its half-penny rate per year, which produces a handsome income, an excellent example of the multiplication of the infinitely little. The selection of books is admirable. Every taste has been carefully considered, and the reference department of the central library has become a strong feature of their work. The commissioners feel that Kensington has a reputation to maintain. With South Kensington Museum and the National History Museum situated in the parish, it is felt that in library work Kensington must in the course of time occupy a prominent place. The two branches and the central library are now getting fairly under way with their work. The number of visitors daily ¿o the various libraries and newsrooms is very large. ManyPublic Libraries in London. 317 better-class people use the libraries and reading-rooms, and the institutions have already fallen into their place in the local life of this the wealthiest parish in the whole of London, so far at least as the ratable value is concerned. The librarian has displayed considerable ingenuity in the improving and planning of library appliances. The periodical rack noticed in another chapter is the design of himself and another gentleman. He has also adapted a ladder for use in libraries, which is shown in the sketch at the side. This has a swing top, so that it always rests against the shelves and not the books. A portable table is a good addition to this. This fixes on to any step of the ladder, and for cleaning purposes, or for use when placing books back on the shelves, it is a useful contrivance. The ladder wilP[beJof ¡most service where high shelving is adopted, but as stated elsewhere, high shelving is not recommended. The card catalogue case is in use at Kensington, a drawer of which is here illustrated. The rod arrangement is very3i8 Public Libraries. simple, and by turning a little catch at the back of the case it prevents the borrower from taking out the drawer entirely. A further contrivance is a little brass frame to contain at one end the movable types for dating the indicator books, and at the other end a lead pencil. The new library at Notting Hill is now nearing completion. The commissioners, after careful consideration, altered their original intentions with regard to the building. By the purchase of the adjoining house they secured a larger site, and they wisely resolved to erect an entirely new building instead of adapting the then existing premises, as was their first intention. The report indicates development in every part of the work. The best literature is in demand, and the reference library will be second to none in London. Among the commissioners is Mr. Herbert C. Saunders, Q.C., who has rendered good service to the movement in Kensington and other parts of the metropolis. Lambeth. The success of the Lambeth Public Libraries has exceeded the most sanguine expectations. The struggle to secure the adoption of the Acts was exceedingly arduous, and nothing but the indomitable energy and determination of the promoters carried the question through. Lambeth covers so vast an area that this presented a serious obstacle, and made it difficult to place before the ratepayers a scheme which would win the sympathy and approval of the majority of the people. The promoters, however, were brave men, and after the question had been lost on two previous occasions, it was, on the third time of asking, carried through to a satisfactory issue. Within reasonable time after the adoption of the Acts commissioners were appointed, with the Hon. and Bev. Canon Pelham, the rector of the parish, as chairman, and who all through has taken the warmest and most earnest interest in the development of the work. Lambeth has been exceptionally fortunate in gifts, and the record of them will perhaps create a little heart-burning in other parishes. At the present time over £50,000 has been given for library buildings and sites, and about 5,000 volumes. This more than justifies the statement repeatedly made in these pages, that the generous giving for library purposes is wisely reserved by the donors for rate-supported libraries, where there is the best and most secure prospect of their gift having the widest and fullest use, and where the continuity in management is assured. The latest gift is that of £1,000 from Mr. J. Bolls Hoare, In July, 1888, the first of the libraries was opened at West Norwood by the Earl of Northbrook. The elevation presents a very attractive appearance, and it has been erected on a site given by Mr. F. Nettlefold. The front is faced with red bricks relieved with stone and terra-cotta, the arches and other parts being of gauged work. The roofs are tiled. The pilasters over the main entrance carry busts of men eminent in literature— all the other carving being emblematic of the use for which the building is erected. In the basement are lavatories, a large book-Public Libraries in London. 319 store, heating chamber, &c., and over the front portion is a librarian's house. The fittings have all been specially designed by the architect, and the book-shelves are adjustable to any size book. Every book in the library is shown on the Cotgreave indicator, which is on the counter. The floors are of wood blocks, and the ventilation, warming, and lighting, have been carefully considered. There is a reference room 40 ft. by 23 ft., and a periodical and newspaper and reading-room of a similar size, both top lighted ; in addition to which there is a ladies’ reading-room and a book department for lending library capable of holding 23,000 books. The general style of the work is Flemish, and somewhat similar to buildings which one sees in Bruges, Ghent, and other Belgian towns. The architect selected this style on account of its picturesqueness and adaptability to the site —on a hill. A most encouraging phenomenon was witnessed at this library in August, 1889. The buildings had been closed for a week for the ordinary purpose of cleaning and arranging, so that readers had been deprived of their privileges for that short period. When the day of re-opening arrived the doors were surrounded by an eager crowd. At West Norwood the road was blocked by an expectant throng of three or four hundred people, long before the library was opened. All day long the people came in to borrow books, and at nightfall no fewer than 1,148 volumes had been taken out, about one-fifth of the whole stock the lending library possesses. In December of the same year there was opened the Tate Public Library, erected in South Lambeth Road, the site for which was purchased for £1,150 by Mr. Henry Tate, who also defrayed the cost of the building, which amounted to £4,800. It is very appropriate that one of the Lambeth libraries should be placed in the South Lambeth Hoad. Close to the spot where the Tate Library stands, old John Tradescant, gardener to Charles I., established one of the first museums ever formed in England. The collection of curiosities formed by the Lambeth gardener passed into the hands of Elias Ashmole, and ultimately this collection developed "into the Ashmolean Museum, the pride of Oxford. At the opening of this Tate Library a letter was read from the donor, who was unable to be present at the ceremony, in which he referred to the great need which existed for a library at Brixton, and that the land and the buildings would cost some £10,000. He offered to provide half that sum if the remaining half was provided within three or four months from that time. In November, 1889, the third of the Public Libraries was opened by Lord Rosebery. This building is situated in Lower Kennington Lane. The whole cost of the building and site (about £10,000) has been defrayed by Miss J. Durning Smith, who is related to Mr. Edwin Laurence, one of the Lambeth Library commissioners. The front of the building is faced with red Fareham bricks and Portland stone, with granite columns to the porch and lead glazing in windows, several of the architectural features being in terra-cotta, with green slates to roof, and timberwork in upper320 Public Libraries. portion of tower. The basement] contains a large book store, heating chamber and coal cellars.JgOn the ground floor are the reading and other rooms. There are magazine and reference rooms of similar size, each having hatches for inspection in direct communication with the central library, so that the librarian has full control over these rooms. There is also the lending department, 21 ft. by 55 ft., with a borrower’s lobby communicating with the main corridor, which is arcaded and with glazed screens, and is 8 ft. wide throughout. There is also a women’s reading-room, 13 ft. by 28 ft., communicating directly with lending library. The public rooms have brick facings in the interior. In the front part of the building are the librarian’s apartments and committee room. The book-case fittings are in sequoia wood, and will accommodate 23,000 volumes. A further gift followed of a library, the gift of Mr. Minet, which is referred to under Camberwell. This is under the joint control of Lambeth and Camberwell. The use of all these libraries, ever since they were opened, has grown most rapidly, and it is doubtful whether another parish in London receives so many tangible benefits out of its penny rate as Lambeth. A halfpenny rate was all that the promoters of the scheme in 1886 asked for, and all they were permitted to spend. The very success of the Lambeth movement brought such an influx of gifts that it was patent to all who took an interest in the movement that the halfpenny rate would be insufficient to maintain the libraries being erected at a rate so rapid and yet gratifying. In the autumn of 1889 there was an offer of £10,000 from the late John Nobles, the head at that time of a large firm in Lambeth, for a greatly needed central library, and there was attached to it a wise condition, that the ratepayers would sanction the full penny rate for the maintenance of this and its numerous branches. The issue was placed very clearly before the people, and in December, 1889, the poll was taken, but by a majority of 1988 it was rejected. This decision was to be deplored on many grounds. In the first place, the libraries rate, unlike some other imposts, is one for which a visible and tangible equivalent is secured, and the increase in the Lambeth rates would have been small had the proposal been carried. Too many ratepayers, rendered suspicious by the extravagance of the public bodies in general, seem to forget the fact that the rate of a penny in the pound is the utmost allowed by the Acts of Parliament regulating the establishment and support of Public Libraries. In this way, it may be, the Lambeth majority regarded the proposal for the halfpenny addition to the rate as only a forerunner of future attempts at further increases. It should, however, be borne in mind that libraries cannot be kept up efficiently, even when built by private munificence, without sufficient funds. It is a grudging spirit that accepts lands and buildings, and then hesitates to maintain these institutions in a fitting manner. It was to ensure that the proposed central library should not be starved for want of funds, that the gifts were made conditional on the ratepayers’ approval of thePublic Lib fanes in London. 321 penny rate. It is noteworthy that in the districts where the libraries had been already placed there was a solid yote in favour of the penny. On March 21, 1891, a large company assembled at the Old Hawkestone Hall, Waterloo Road, to witness the formal opening of the North Lambeth Public Library. The premises are those known as the Old Hawkestone Hall, which was the meeting-place of the great South London temperance reformer, the late Rev. Mr. Murphy, better known as “ the Bishop of the New Cut.” The rev. gentleman kept the hall until it was acquired by the South-Eastern Railway Company for their season ticket office, and after they had done with it an offer was made for it as a library for the benefit of the people of North Lambeth. They were met in a very friendly manner by the company, and although the commissioners could not see their way clear to start the library at once for want of funds—the rate then being only a halfpenny in the pound—they succeeded in making, as a preliminary start, a first-class reading-room capable of accommodating some 300 or 400 persons. This was the step immediately in advance of the vote again being taken to increase the rate to a penny. Ever since the previous vote much quiet work had been done to show how greatly would be the benefit to the whole parish, which is six miles long, by increasing the rate to a penny, so that branches could be opened and well equipped in the leading centres. It was seen in many quarters that the best educator in favour of Public Libraries is a successful rate-supported institution in the near neighbourhood, where the people can for themselves see the use made of all the departments which it provides. Lambeth bids fair to be a Public Library school for London, and it is essential that the school should be well equipped, in order to set an example worth following. It could only do this by taxing itself to the full penny in order to avail itself of their very handsome offers of site and building. These offers were the £10,000 already named and £15,000 from Mr. Henry Tate, who has done so much for the movement in London. Several well-attended meetings were held prior to the vote being taken in April, 1891. At one of these the librarian, Mr. Burgoyne, emphasized the fact that the commissioners had borrowed no money and were not a penny in debt. Alderman Evan Spicer, L.C.C., one of the Lambeth commissioners, said there was no man more sorry than Mr. Henry Tate that they lost the halfpenny rate last time. He was getting on in years, and wanted to see the Brixton library opened. He wrote saying that the commissioners must soon take the poll, and he especially asked that the ratepayers might be informed that it was impossible to keep up six libraries on the halfpenny rate. Attention was also called to the fact that out of a quarter of a million books taken to the homes of the people during the year they had sustained a loss of only five volumes. That spoke for the honesty of Lambeth. When the vote was taken it was declared as follows:—For the increase, 9,662; against, 9,288; majority for, 374. On the result being made known a reverend gentleman wrote to the 21322 Public Libraries. “ Times,’* stating that there had been an organized effort to multiply many of the votes by batches of two men or youths who advised the people to put ‘No ’ on their papers, but not to sign them. He also referred to some letters of the writers in the same paper which appeared at the time of the movement to get the Acts adopted. The matter was taken up by other papers, and the upshot was the putting of a question in the House of Commons on May 12,1891, by General Fraser, who asked the President of the Local Government Board whether, in view of the fact that, out of 28,308 voting papers filled up in the Lambeth library polling, 9,358 were officially declared to be spoiled, and that the majority in favour of the extra halfpenny was only 374, he would, before allowing this extra halfpenny to be paid out of the Lambeth rates, cause an inquiry to be made into the assertions of many inhabitants that the immense number of spoilt voting papers was the consequence of the way in which the question was put to the voters ; and, further, that persons went about the poorer districts of North Lambeth telling the voters not to append their names to the papers, as voting was on this occasion by ballot. Mr. Ritchie, in reply, said, “ I have communicated with the vestry clerk of the parish of Lambeth with reference to the recent voting, and I am informed that there were 9,358 voting papers officially declared to be invalid. Of these 7,163 were blank papers not marked in any way, so that the number of papers which were invalid for defect in marking of all sorts was 2,195. The number of votes was 18,950. The voting paper was in the form prescribed by the statute, and showed on the face of it that it must bear the signature of the voter. The presiding officer states that no voter has made any complaint or statement to him as to any particular case in which the voter was told not to append his name to the voting paper. As regards the inquiry whether the Local Government Board, before allowing the extra halfpenny rate to be paid, will cause an inquiry to be made into the assertions referred to in the question, I must point out that the Local Government Board have no jurisdiction in the matter, and that no sanction on their part to the levying of the rate is required.” It has been thought advisable to devote this considerable space to the matter as much was made of it at the time, and on the strength of the reverend gentleman’s letter the “ Spectator ” and other papers described the proceedings as a “ disgraceful trick.” When the true state of the case became known the inaccuracy of the assertion was acknowledged by the paper just named and others. There was not a tissue of proof that any attempt had been made to hoodwink the voters, and had there been, such a step would have been deservedly met by fixing the opprobium on the proper shoulders. The Public Library movement seeks for no trickery to help it along. Lambeth has thus secured its full library enfranchisement. The parish in its work has done exceedingly well up to the present time. Nothing can ever rob the parish of having, with Fulham, been the first to give the new impulse which came toPublic Libraries in London. 323 the movement in London. Every one of the other parishes which has since that time adopted the Acts owes something of its successful movement to the noble example set by Lambeth. The following scene took place at the Norwood Public Library : —Enter wondering ratepayer: “ Anything to pay P ” Attendant: “ No, this is a Public Library, to which entrance is free.” Ratepayer (in amazement): “ Good gracious! And can you read these books for nothing ? ” Attendant: “ All for nothing.” Ratepayer : “ And to think I was fool enough to vote against the libraries! Why, I don’t believe half the people who opposed the libraries had any idea what their vote meant.” The same thing might be said of the London parishes where the movement has been defeated: that the people who vote against the adoption have no conception what they are opposing. The movement has many true friends in Lambeth, and the number of these friends is ever extending. The commissioners are all men of firm purpose, who have given time, thought, and labour to the movement. The old friends of the movement, like Mr. W. M. Symons and many others, have through all the years from the time the movement was first introduced remained steadfast to it. The motto of all who have to do with the movement is “ Advance, Lambeth! ” The parish, as already stated, is six miles long, and there is a commendable desire that all in the parish shall be within reasonable distance of a library Lewisham. The public meetings held in connection with the movement here were a conspicuous success. At one held in June, 1890, Lord Lewisham, M.P., presided, and was supported by Canon (now Bishop) Legge, the Rev. J. Morlais Jones, Dr. Lockhart, Mr. Davis, the Wandsworth librarian, and others. The Chairman, in the course of his speech, said that the three classes likely to benefit from the opening of a Public Library in the district were “ those who were just leaving school. To these a library was likely to fill the blank between that time and the time when they came into full possession of their citizenship. This class would "reap many advantages, because, no doubt, the assistance they would derive from a library would help them in the selection of the occupation they might afterwards follow. Then another class who would derive advantage from a library were students, who would, no doubt, greatly value good books of reference. Then, again, there were those who were engaged during the day in hard physical work; and the statistics of libraries showed how widely these libraries were used by those who were engaged in manual labour. He was sure those who earned their daily bread by the work of their hands would find that the best way of taking their rest would be by going to a library and making use of their hours of leisure in studying the books that would be provided for them. Another point which he regarded as very important was this, that by these libraries they would be able to provide good literature for the rising generation. They must all rejoice to see the great advances that had been made in recent years in the education of the people.3^4 Public Libraries. But he would like to ask whether their responsibility towards the people ended in merely educating them. When they taught their own children to read they were very careful as to the selection' of books they put before them, and he thought, when the children of this country were taught to read, the nation should not be content to allow its responsibility to end there, but do its utmost to see that the children had good sound literature placed within their reach, from which to continue their education and improve their lives. If this provision were not made, the education of the people, which should prove a blessing to the country, might end in being very much the reverse.” Canon Legge who followed was equally emphatic. Mr. Arthur W. Hiscox acted as hon. sec. to the movement, and rendered such assistance as deservedly earned for him the warmest thanks of the promoters. The vote was taken in June, 1890. The result was—Id. rate, 3,407 ; Jd. rate, 28 ; jd. rate, 474; Jd. rate, 77; no rate, 3,213. The commissioners were duly elected, and in December a librarian was appointed. In the same month there came an acceptable offer of £1,000 from Mr. C. J. W. Babbits towards the library. There is also a grant of glebe land as a site for a branch Library at Forest Hill, and it is not improbable that there will be a grant to the commissioners of £1,500 from a local fund administered by the Charity Commissioners. The prodigious sum of ten guineas has been contributed by the wealthy Leathersellers’ Company. The purchase of Cliff House as a Lewisham centre was completed in June. The future prospects of the work are hopeful. Putney. Putney early caught the Public Library fever, and declared in favour of the adoption of the Acts by 1,064 against 572. The temporary rooms were opened in March, 1888. Since then the number of volumes has been steadily advancing. The first two years’ use of the whole of the departments has been very encouraging, and has exceeded the anticipations of the librarian and commissioners. Between forty and fifty magazines and periodicals are taken, and in the newsroom there are about sixty newspapers and periodicals. The gifts have been over 2,500 volumes and about £200 in cash. Newington. Newington consists very largely of a working-class population, and the opposition came not from them but from some with well filled bookcases. The work of educating a London parish upon the question was never undertaken with more practical zeal than was displayed in Newington. A number of outdoor meetings were held, and the processions for the holding of these meetings were not to be outdone by strike processions in a modest display of banners and brass bands. The committee worked together with a will, for they felt that not only had they the former bad defeat to wipe out, but that the future of the movement in London would be greatly influenced by the result in Newington. ThePublic Libraries in London. 3^5 public meetings were well attended, and the literature distributed was of such a character that it must have told materially upon the vote. In October, 1890, when this was taken out of an electorate of 12,724, the number properly filled up was 4,889. The number for the library was 2,841, and against, 2,048; and 2,307 were returned blank. The number not returned was 2,042 and 3,846 were returned to the office not filled in consequent upon removals. It is not unfair to class the unfilled up papers as in the affirmative, for if the voters returning these blank papers had really meant “ No,” they would have certainly said so, and the blank papers are evidence of indifference and carelessness. Excluding the removals, 7,238 voted out of 9,238, and this is a very satisfactory proportion. The question was exceedingly well championed. Mr. H. R. Gawen Gogay acted as secretary of the committee. It is rendering but justice to say that he initiated this last movement, and carried a proposition on the vestry in favour of the adoption of the Acts, and worked all through with an energy which stamped him as a model secretary for a movement of this nature. The committee embraced those of every shade of religious and political opinion. Mr. John Piggott was chairman of the committee, and opened his house for the meetings of the provisional committee, and aided with voice and purse in the agitation. Mr. W. West-cott acted as joint honorary secretary; Mr. John Marsland, L.C.O., as treasurer; and the Rev. Canon Palmer, M.A., as president. The work done by all these gentlemen, and by numerous others, who warmly and actively supported their efforts, was of a very earnest character. Newington illustrates what is laid down in this volume, that it is only by vigorous work and the expenditure of money in the distribution of literature that the question can be won. The account of the provisional committee stood at the close of their work as given below:— £ s. d. To contributions as per list................. 67 17 6 By printing and stationery £ 26 s. 6 d. n >} postage and telegrams 7 14 6 n canvassers for removals 3 3 0 )> addressing envelopes, St. Peter’s Ward 1 10 0 }) bill-posting and delivering 9 4 0 )> banner, band, and expenses of public meetings 10 9 6 9> sundry expenses... 3 10 5 fi balance in hand... 5 19 5i £67 17 6 £67 17 6Public Libraries. 326 This was contributed in sums ranging from five guineas to half-a-crown. As a true friend of the movement said when all was over, “ only those who know what the people of Newington are can properly appreciate the successful result of the poll ! ” The commissioners were immediately appointed, and in the interim have been occupied in discussing sites. A few months ago the commissioners decided to build a central library in the Walworth Road, on a site adjoining the Vestry Hall. The Vestry sanctioned the borrowing at interest, on security of the general rates, of the sum of £4,750 by the library commissioners, to enable the commissioners to purchase the premises Nos. 153 and 155, Walworth Road, as a site for the erection of a Public Library for the parish. Newington did itself credit in the adoption of the Acts, and it cannot fail to do itself credit in the administration of its libraries when they are in operation. Poplar. The adoption at Poplar stands out conspicuous among all the London parishes. As Islington is an example of how not to do it, Poplar and Whitechapel are examples of how to set about carrying the Acts. It is not egotism to say that the more closely the methods suggested in “ Public Libraries ” are adopted, the more marked in many cases is the success. In no place have the two chief sections of politics worked together in a better way for the movement to get the Acts adopted than was the case in Poplar. The question was introduced at the political clubs, and discussions took place, all tending in an admirable way to educate the people upon the subject. Mr. A. W. Kirkaldy, as one of the honorary secretaries to the provisional committee, rendered yeoman service, as did others, in organizing meetings, lecturing, distributing literature and mapping out the canvass. All this led up to a huge meeting in the Town Hall, which was the largest and most enthusiastic gathering which has ever been held in connection with the movement in London. In the fullest sense it was representative. Mr. W. P. Bullivant, one of the local representatives in the London County Council, made a model chairman. There was a consensus of opinion that rarely, if ever, has a chairman at Poplar had around him more varied and influential supporters than were present at the meeting in question, the Bishop of Bedford, Mr. Sydney Buxton, M.P., the representative, and Major Welby, J.P., the candidate on the other side of politics, numerous clergymen and Nonconformist ministers, Dr. Corner, who acted as treasurer, Mr. R. Wild, who also acted as one of the honorary secretaries, and rendered excellent service, many other gentlemen, and a bevy of ladies who would have graced any platform. Hall and platform were crowded with a sea of faces, and the speeches were short and bright with an underlying charm of quiet eloquence and power about them. The Bishop of Bedford said that he took a great interest in the movement, because he had seen what a benefit these institutions were to the artizans in many of our large towns. Not only the youths but the older men availed themselvesPublic Libraries in London. 327 of the books. This was a day in which books ought to be provided. He finished an eloquent speech by asking all to join in supporting the Public Library movement, and they would be enhancing the public good and aiding the progress of the empire. Mr. Sydney Buxton followed, and said that he for one believed that a Public Library would be a great accession to that part of London. There was no charity about a Public Library. It belonged to all; it was open to all, and it was paid for by all. A Public Library in itself carried out in the best and highest degree the principles of liberty, equality, and fraternity. Sir Richard Webster, M.P., the Attorney-General, wrote to a friend in the parish during the contest a letter, in which he said, “ I am extremely glad to hear that there is a prospect of a Public Library being opened in Poplar. I have often publicly expressed the opinion, which I have for a long time held, namely, that the encouragement of the love of books and the diffusion of useful knowledge by means of Public Libraries is a great use to all classes, and more so to those who have to labour with their hands and heads for the greater part of the day. Wishing you every success.” No wonder that with such a good organization and such unanimity, the vote should have a result almost unprecedented in the whole of the London parishes, for it was ten to one in favour of the adoption. The vote stood, December 17th, 1890:—Yes, 3,301; No, 314. Majority, 2,987. In announcing the result, the “ East End News ” which all through advocated the subject, said : —We believe every voter was canvassed twice, and some three times. Who did the canvassing! Well, partly the committee; but the great bulk was undertaken by the two secretaries of the political clubs. These gentlemen can do anything almost they set their hearts on when divided, as is shown after the revision of the register, when both explain to their own satisfaction and to the satisfaction, no doubt, of their followers, that they have each the majority of the new voters. So that if such is possible when they are divided, is it within the possibilities that they can be defeated when working together for a given end P Scarcely, one thinks. Then Toynbee Hall came to the front. About twenty canvassers offered their services, and splendid work they did. All these, together with the fact that the parish was ripe for the question, have produced this enormous majority, and Poplar people may indeed feel proud of having adopted the Acts by so enormous a majority! The commissioners are a representative body, and are in earnest with the work. At Poplar is a purely working-class constituency, and by its connection with the docks, representing as they do the greater part of the shipping industries of London, the claims of Poplar are of more than local importance, and an appeal for aid towards the erection of a building was appropriately put forward. This was headed by the following sums, which had been promised:—The Earl of Strafford, £100; Lady Margaret Charteris, £500; W. M. Bullivant, £1,000; Alfred Yarrow, £250 ; W. P. Bullivant, L.C.C., £100; Mrs. Kirkaldy andPublic Libraries. 328 family, £325. It is to be hoped that there will be less heard in the future about the benighted East End of London after such an example as this. The commissioners are engaged in discussing sites and plans of buildings. Rotherhithe. Rotherhithe has been rather long in putting the Acts in operation. The majority in favour of the Acts was 760, and the cost of the poll was £36 10s. In July, 1889, at the meeting of the London County Council, the finance committee reported that they had considered the application of the commissioners for Public Libraries and museums for Rotherhithe for an advance of £3,000. The commissioners had agreed to purchase a freehold site for £660, and to expend £2,000 in the erection of a library, and £340 for fittings and furniture, which they proposed should be repaid in fifty, thirty, and twelve years respectively. The committee therefore recommended that, subject to all necessary consents being furnished, to the satisfaction of the solicitor, the application of the Commissioners for Public Libraries and Museums for the parish of Rotherhithe for a loan of £3,000, to defray the cost of purchasing a site and erecting and fitting up a building to be used as a Public Library, be granted. There were 196 applicants for the post of librarian, another of many proofs that a statement should appear in all the advertisements for librarianship that experience in a public library is a necessary qualification. This was not appended to the Rotherhithe advertisement, but why it was not so is not clear. In October, 1890, the library was opened by Sir John Lubbock, M.P. Shoreditch. This populous parish was not long in deciding the question. A short and decisive agitation, which included much active canvassing, one or two public meetings, and the distribution of literature. At the chief meeting held to advocate the question, the Rev. Septimus Buss, Mr. H. T. Sawell, Mr. Trowbridge, and others took part. On March 27, 1891, the vote was declared, and the burgesses decided by 3,154 votes to 2,076 to adopt the Acts. They further decided by 3,019 to 1,705 that the rate for the support of the library shall be limited to three farthings in the pound. In all, 14,294 voting papers were issued, of which 5,308 were returned valid, 6,135 invalid, and 2,851 were refused or not returned. It was pointed out that a large number of invalid papers was attributable to the fact that the people were under the impression that they would be directly taxed. An old resident said that, so far "as the adoption of the Acts was concerned, he considered it was one of the best and happiest things that could happen to Shoreditch, for anyone who had been about the streets of the parish at night-time must have noticed the very large number of lads who were a nuisance to the shopkeepers and to the neighbourhood generally. The parish was very much con-Public Libraries in London. 329 gested, but the establishment of a library would, in his opinion, be the means of benefiting many of the youths who at present infest the streets, by bringing them up to a sense of duty and making them better citizens. In April the commissioners were appointed, and steps have been taken to procure a site. Southwark (Christ Church). This is one of the smallest parishes, and the majority in favour of the adoption was 224. In April of 1888 the commissioners were appointed, and on October 1, 1889, the library and reading-room were opened at the Albert Institute, Charles Street, Black-friars Road. The library rate, however, only produces about £160 a year, and this was rather a small amount to commence operations with, seeing that premises had to be found and a stock of books secured. The commissioners found some difficulty'in getting suitable premises, the question of cost presenting a great obstacle. Ultimately the trustees of the Albert Institute, which is an institution intended for working men, offered a portion of the building, and the lower portion of the premises are used for the purposes of the library at a rental of £50 a year. There is a well-lighted reading-room, which is furnished with current literature, including the daily papers and principal magazines. The issue is at present small. St. George’s (Hanover Square). In this wealthy parish the question was not long under consideration. The appeal was simply for a halfpenny rate, and it was felt that the parish with its rates lower than some sixty-two of the metropolitan parishes would not do less than Whitechapel in the east, and the districts on the southern side of the Thames. The Duke of Westminster offered a site in the Buckingham Palace Road. In June, 1890, a large public meeting was held, at which Sir John Lubbock, M.P., presided. Prior to this meeting the vestry had adopted by a large majority a report presented to them by Mr. R. C. Antrobus, C.B., L.C.C., urging upon the parish the advisability of adopting the Acts. Sir John Lubbock said that the only objection ever raised against Public Libraries was that of expense. The cost of schools was not grudged, and the library was only the school for the grown up. He doubted whether one or the other was really an expense. A great part of what they spent in books they saved in prisons and police. During the same month as the meeting the vote was taken, and this was—For the library, 3,135; against, 2,380; majority, 755. At the July vestry meeting the clerk reported the result of the poll. A colonel in the army, who is a member of the vestry, said of Public Libraries:—“ I gather from what the clerk has read that the ratepayers of the parish have accepted the Public Libraries Acts. The Chairman : Yes, that is so. Colonel Ogilvy: But I do not. suppose that it necessarily follows that they are willing to have a Public Library established in the parish at once. I33° Public Libraries. presume, therefore, that before that can be effected there must be another polling match. The Clerk : No second ballot is necessary. The Acts are binding now. In one of the south-eastern parishes the vestry was against the adoption of the Acts, and fought the matter as long as it could, but was compelled to appoint commissioners. Colonel Ogilvy : I contend that the ratepayers have not yet expressed their wish that the Acts shall be adopted immediately. The Clerk : I do not think there is any legal power to hold another poll. Sir Wm. Farrer said it seemed to him that when the ratepayers deliberately expressed their wish to have public libraries they meant that they wished to have them noto. The Clerk: The Act says that the vestry shall ‘forthwith’ appoint commissioners.” It may be as well to state here that when the poll has been taken and the majority is in favour, there is no alternative but to proceed to the appointment of commissioners or a committee to carry the Acts into operation. There is some little doubt about this in some quarters, and so it becomes necessary to reiterate what must be done. The cost of the poll was £72. The commissioners Avere shortly afterwards elected, and now the plans of the building have been decided upon, and a librarian appointed. Provision has been made in the plans for a museum, 1,800 square feet in area on the ground floor. In the plans there is also marked an “ Early Workmen’s Room.” The purpose and use of this will be watched with interest. St. Martin-in-the-Fields. The question was carried through in this parish very quietly in the early part of 1887. The poll was not a large one, but there was an evident feeling, on the part of those who took an interest in the question, that a parish with so many historical associations should not do less than Fulham and Lambeth, which had just preceded. In 1576, when the first poor-rate was levied, there were 164 ratepayers, and the amount realised £36. Now, a penny rate brings in £2,000, and the tendency in ratable value is still upwards. A temporary newsroom was opened in Long Acre in January, 1889, two years after the adoption of the Acts. On March 18,1890, the Prince of Wales laid the foundation-stone of the new municipal buildings, and the memorial stone of the new library and reading rooms. The opening of the building on February 12th, 1891, by the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, M.P., in the presence of a very large gathering, marked a distinct stage in the Public Library movement. The aged statesman was supported by the Right Hon. W. H. Smith, M.P., and a great number of other prominent men representing the several sections of politics. The task was equally congenial to the First Lord of the Treasury as it was to Mr. Gladstone, and their co-operation in a work for the public good could in no better or more appropriate way have illustrated how thoroughly the movement has now taken hold of all sectionsPublic Libraries in London. 331 of the community. The Public Library has now won a recognized place among the agencies of moral and mental improvement. It is no longer in that stage of mere tolerance to which Mr. Gladstone alluded in his sketch of the earlier history of the Ewart Act. So many matters of detail were referred to by Mr. Gladstone that it has been thought well to print his address in full as part of the Preface. The right hon. gentleman was asked to become the first borrower, and in the book which he requested Mr. Mason, the librarian, to supply him, he illustrated what has become a special feature in all Public Libraries, and that is the keeping of books having a special local interest. Mr. Gladstone’s choice was of a little treatise written by a former vicar, and giving a brief history of this historical parish. ST. MARTIN-IN-THE-FIELDS PUBLIC LIBRARY. The Pev. J. F. Kitto, the present vicar, and Chairman of the Commissioners, presided, and, in introducing the First Lord of the Treasury, might well speak of him as their honoured representative, for the Leader of the House of Commons has won golden opinions from those of all shades of politics. Mr. W. H. Smith, M.P., in moving the vote of thanks to Mr. Gladstone, said:—“I feel myself fortunate in being permitted to-day to come among you and to take part with my right hon. friend Mr. Gladstone on an occasion in which we are thoroughly at one and most heartily concur. I have listened, as you have listened, with the greatest possible interest to the address, which was interesting and charming in itself, and of the utmost possible value to every human being who was present, and will be so to every one who332 Public Libraries. will have the opportunity of reading the report of the speech which he has just made. I listened carefully, I will not say critically—though we listen critically to each oilier sometimes in another place with a somewhat different disposition. But on this occasion I felt there was no statement of fact, no sentiment, no expression of opinion, no expression of feeling from which it was possible for any one to dissent who takes an interest in the welfare of his fellow countrymen. Mr. Gladstone has referred to the fact that he has a doubtful qualification to appear before you to-day— that he was a former parishioner of St. Martin's and has ceased to be so. In many institutions and many associations the qualification arises from personal conditions which attach to membership. But a certain period arrives in life when that active membership is changed into honorary membership, and I think you, the inhabitants of St. Martin’s, will be glad to welcome Mr. Gladstone to an honorary partnership in the benefits of the institution now that he has ceased to be an active member. There is one special qualification possessed by Mr. Gladstone for the duties which he has discharged so admirably to-day, and that is that he illustrates in himself the enormous value of a taste for literature. Mr. Gladstone, from the earliest period in his life, has been distinguished for the love of literature, which must have been a rest and recreation and refreshment to him. Reference has been made to the comparatively slow progress of the library movement in this city. I admit it has been slow, but it has been all the more certain and secure. But, as Mr. Gladstone has pointed out, in the last few years the progress has been far more rapid, because improved education has created in all classes of the community an increased desire and appetite for literature which did not formerly exist, and that can only be supplied by means of such Public Libraries as that in which we are now met.” Lord Kinnaird, a resident in the parish, seconded this vote of thanks. The St. Martin’s Library was so well described at the time in the public press that it is necessary to here only very briefly refer to its main features. The building, designed by Mr. E. Walker, is in one block, about 60 ft. by 43 ft. In a semi-basement, to which access is obtained by a descent from the street-level by a few steps, is the lending library and magazine room, which occupies the whole area of basement, except the staircase and lobby. There are four wide windows in front, lighted partly from an area, and a row of similar windows behind. Entering from the lobby at one end, a long counter runs along some 10 ft. or 12 ft. from the back wall, on which are three indicators. Behind this counter are seven standard cases for books, placed at right angles to the wall and counter. The chief area of room is occupied by four tables, placed also transversely, their ends towards the front windows. The floor is of wood blocks. The ceiling is flat, and the room is lighted by pendent incandescent lamps. A news reading-room of the same size is over, approached by a few steps above the street level, and on the first floor is thePublic Libraries in London. 333 reference library. The general dimensions of the room are about 48 ft. in length and 41 ft. 6 in. in width. In the centre, near the entrance at the left-hand corner of reference library, is a space for an attendant with a lift, which descends to the librarian’s room in the lending library below. Bookshelves are placed at each end of the reference library, and at the further end there is a gallery with two tiers of cases. The lighting is entirely by windows in the back and front walls, in addition to a skylight on one side. The librarian’s private rooms occupy the top floor. That the St. Martin’s Library will justify the large hopes formed of its future is clear from the extending use which is being made of all departments of the institution. Stratford (West Ham). There was no possible doubt about the last poll in West Ham. The question was well placed before the burgesses. In the early part of the century the district began with a population of 6,000. In 1850 these had grown to 18,000, and in 1890 they were computed at 200,000. The poll was taken in November, 1890. There are 27,604 names on the burgess-roll, and papers were sent to each. Out of these at least 2,500 were found to have removed, or were away from home when the officers called. Over 10,000 of them were returned unsigned, and were faulty in one or another particular. The final count gave the figures as follow: For the adoption of the Acts, 9,953 votes ; against, 3,535. Mr. W. Ct. Horncastle acted as honorary secretary to the movement, and active help was rendered by the two sections of politics, town councillors, school teachers, and others. It is contemplated to have two large central buildings. In June, 1891, a librarian was appointed, and the work is assuming form. Streatham. London parishes are very much like the Scotch burghs. If a good offer is made towards building and books, there is no difficulty about adopting the Acts. Mr. Henry Tate, of Liverpool and Streatham, who has been one of the princely givers to Public Library and other purposes, offered to erect, at a cost of £5,000, a building for a Public Library, and on the ratepayers being asked whether they were willing to incur the cost of maintenance they wisely said “ Yes ” with alacrity—that is, by two to one. Mr. Tate lives at the top of Streatham Common, and his handsome residence commands a fine view of the Surrey hills, even as far as Epsom Downs. He is rich and benevolent, and distributes his benefactions with wisdom, and in the most unostentatious manner. The last thing, as a rule, that a rich Londoner thinks of is to make a benefaction in his lifetime to the public. Mr. Tate is surrounded at Streatham by merchant princes who have a good deal to learn from the ceaseless and sensible philanthropy of their popular neighbour. Very wisely Mr. Tate made it a condition of his gift that the Acts should be adopted for334 Public Libraries. maintenance. In May, 1891, when the building was opened to the public, Mr. Tate’s own little speech, when he made over his gift in perpetuity to the district, was as modest as it could be, and he simply remarked that he knew of no way better to help, or more valued by, the working classes, than a library open to them at all times. The building is exceedingly tasteful in design. It has been erected from plans prepared by Mr. Sydney J. R. Smith, and will be an architectural feature of a rapidly increasing neighbourhood. Greek in style, it is externally faced with Portland stone. Internally it contains the following accommodationA reading*- Tate Public Libbaby, Stbeatham. room, 40 feet by 25 feet ; a reference room, 30 feet by 25 feet ; women’s and committee room, 18 feet by 20 feet ; and a lending library, 47 feet by 29 feet. There are in addition the necessary staff rooms and a librarian’s house. On the shelves there is space for about 25,000 books. Upon the walls are a number of excellent engravings, the gift of Mrs. Tate. The rector (the Rev. J. R. Nicholl), in his opening address, stated that forty-seven or forty-eight years ago, when he first went to Streatham, its total population was 8,000; now they numbered 40,000 inhabitants, and the number of occupied houses was yearly increasing. There could be no doubt that the library would prove a welcome acquisition to residents.Public Libraries in London. 335 The cost of the building was £6,000 exclusive of the site. Since the opening the public have availed themselves of its advantages to an exceptionally great extent, greater than ever anticipated. They began with 6,000 volumes, and have now over 3,000 tickets in circulation, which number were issued in two months. Some 3,000 catalogues were printed, and within two months more than half were sold. Out of the 3,000 application forms returned for readers’ tickets fully 37 per cent, were those of ratepayers themselves, the remainder being for members of ratepayers’ families and other residents in the parish. Stoke Newington. This was the first parish in London which adopted the Acts in 1890, and by the manner in which the proposal was taken up and carried through did itself infinite credit. The statutory meeting was largely attended, and in every way was representative of all classes and sections of the local community. Only a few hands were held up against the proposal that the Acts be adopted, and no poll was demanded. In the autumn following the adoption of the Acts a large temporary room was opened as a newsroom, and the use of this room has grown with each succeeding month. The whole of the commissioners are keenly in touch with the purposes of a Public Library, and the time and thought they are giving to the work is considerable. Permission to borrow for the purchase of a site from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners has been obtained, and this site is in the best part of the parish for a library. The design for the building has been decided upon. There is the natural desire that the new building shall not be without as good a stock of books as possible, and the commissioners have been quietly acquiring works of literature from the time of their first election. For a small parish and a limited income Stoke Newington will have its full value out of the rate. In no other parish in the metropolis has the work been sooner in operation. Wandsworth. The library was opened two years after the adoption of the Acts, and has exhibited a rapid development in its work. Its success is owing largely to a local grand old man, Dr. Longstaff, who worked vigorously for the adoption of the Acts, and has all through been a good supporter of the institution, both financially and in other ways. With silvered hair and the weight of over eighty years, he still possesses great energy ; and when on his favourite topic of education for working men, his voice rings out as loud and clear as it did fifty years ago. The unfortunate side of thè Wandsworth work is that in the first instance a building should have been taken for the purpose of adapting it as a Public Library. This is not very centrally situated, and affords another of the many examples that adapted buildings are rarely ever successful when viewed from the standpoint of convenience andPublic Libraries. 336 utility. Within a comparatively limited time after opening it was seen that an addition was necessary, and Dr. Longstaff, at his own expense, built a new wing for a reading-room, bearing the name of the venerable donor. At the end of 1889 the same gentleman promised to give £2,000 towards the debt of double that sum on the building, on condition that the balance was raised by a given date. Wandsworth is likely to see this burden lifted, and will then have the full use of the rate. The Wandsw'orth work displays energy and vitality in every section. The library has not only caught, but has done much to disseminate a wholesome library contagion. Nearly every day, Sundays included, the rooms are filled to overflowing with readers diligently perusing books or newspapers, or obtaining books for home reading. Westminster. The parishes of St. Margaret and St. John, Westminster, moved in the matter immediately after the passing of the 1855 Act. Mr. W. Page Wood, afterwards Lord Hatherley, took an active part in the formation of the library, and acted as a commissioner until his death. He gave considerable aid to get the bill through the two Houses of Parliament. There was a severe struggle to secure the adoption of the Acts, and the public meeting called to decide the question was a case of confusion worse confounded. This can be easily understood, for even much later than May 19, 1856, the date on which Westminster settled the matter, statutory meetings called to decide the question were scenes of rowdyism let loose. Westminster has been very modest over being the first metropolitan parish to carry the Acts, but now that the turn of the tide has come, no stinted praise should be given to the place which, first in this large city, lifted aloft the Public Library banner. This is no light honour, and is one which redounds greatly to the credit of the parish lying under the very shadow of the two Houses of Parliament and England’s pride— the incomparable Abbey. The library had its origin in the local one founded in 1840, called the W estminster Literary, Scientific, and Mechanics’ Institution. The history of the Westminster Institution is not unlike that of the Birkbeck Institution. It began with a view chiefly to the improvement of the working classes, with which Westminster was densely populated before the middle of the present century. Starting with the co-operation of all classes, who gave subscriptions in money and donations of books, temporary premises were engaged in Little Smith Street and an assembly room in Vincent Square. The establishment of reading-rooms, class-rooms, and lecture-room followed. These were maintained partly by voluntary teachers and lecturers, and great service was rendered to the working classes, for whom it was chiefly established. Prosperity was before it, and further efforts were made, resulting in an abandonment of the former premises and securing a double house at the south-east corner of the then Great Smith Street, adjoiningPublic Libraries in London. 337 which was a piece of vacant ground capable of the erection thereon of a large lecture-room with class-rooms under it. There is some appropriateness in the fact that now, when so many new libraries are in course of construction or contemplated, Westminster should be beginning to build a new home for its head-quarters, and so will by-and-bye have something to show instead of the inconvenient and overcrowded premises where they have been for so many years. On August 20,1889, a Local Government Board inspector held an inquiry as to a scheme to erect new public baths and wash-houses, and a Public Library attached, on an extended site in Great Smith Street. The removal of the library, it was alleged, had become imperative, on account of the Church House Committee, having expressed a desire to terminate the present lease and occupy the premises themselves. The area required for the purposes of the library is 5,090 square BATHS WESTMINSTER NEW PUBLIC LIBRARY. feet, and in addition 600 square feet, which it is proposed to throAV into the roadway, thus effecting a public improvement, the thoroughfare at present being narrow and dangerous. The baths and wash-houses were the first erected under the Act, some forty-five years ago, and had become, according to a report submitted to the Vestry, so dilapidated as to be unfit for the present requirements of the inhabitants. The Ecclesiastical Commissioners expressed them willingness to dispose of certain land and property to the Vestry at a lower price than they would to a private individual, as it was for public institutions. It is impossible here to refrain from expressing a wish that the Ecclesiastical Commissioners could see their way to give sites for merely nominal sums for the purpose of building libraries upon them. The Commissioners are the great ground landlords of London. A 22Public L ibr dries. 338 rge proportion of the funds administered by them are public unds, and there are no institutions so thoroughly public in their character as Public Libraries, and the gift of a site, or at all events of a reduction of fifty or seventy-five per cent, from the market value, would bring a great amount of prestige to the Commissioners, and they would be adopting a commendable act in applying public moneys to public uses such as that indicated. An elevation of the proposed new building is shown. The frontage is severely plain, but that is necessitated by the street not being adapted for a large and showy building. Utility has been carefully kept in view by the architect, Mr. F. J. Smith, and all the rooms for library purposes will be on the ground floor. The first floor will be occupied by the living rooms of the librarian. A constant stream of people goes in and out of the library and reading-room, and it is very satisfactory to note that the better-class Westminster people are beginning to make good use of the library. There was some unavoidable delay in proceeding with the new building, but it is expected to be completed during the present year. Whitechapel. Whitechapel has done well. A short, earnest, and splendid agitation, followed by a success as distinct as it was creditable to all concerned. The votes in favour were 3,553, and the votes against were 935. The Rev. S. A. Barnett, B.A., asked the public for £5,000 towards the formation of the library, providing the Acts were adopted. There was a good response, and this, no doubt, helped the movement most materially. The main strength, however, came from a systematic canvass of the greater portion of the parish. This was done before the voting papers had been distributed, and again during the day on which they were actually in the houses of the voters. Nearly a hundred men and women were working hard on that day to secure a satisfactory poll, and it was greatly owing to the efforts of these voluntary workers that the poll was so large. The effects of systematic and vigorous canvass were never better illustrated in the entire history of the movement than in Whitechapel; and in organizing this work Toynbee Hall rendered a valuable service. There are so many misconceptions about Public Libraries that a house-to-house canvass, where these institutions are unknown, and in a large parish, is very advisable. Objections can be answered as advanced, and altogether the plan tends to clear the air and to excite public interest in a way which leads greatly to the sucess of the library when once established. The commissioners were immediately appointed, and have been able to report progress. It is a pleasure to commend the action of the Whitechapel Vestry. Some time prior to the poll a sub-committee of the Vestry had been formed for the purpose of inquiring and reporting upon the adoption of the Acts in the parish. Acting as a body the Vestry had rendered every facility, and if the Vestries of the others still to enrol will follow the plan of the Whitechapel Vestry we shallPublic Libraries in London. 339 soon see London with a network of Public Libraries. The Rev. I)an Greatorex, B.D., vicar of St. Paul’s, Dock Street, a member of the Whitechapel District Board of Works, has given to the Library Commissioners his collection of relics, fossils, curios, works of art, &c., as the nucleus of a museum. ¡He has been collecting his museum for fifty years, and his exhibits would make a good beginning. The memorial stone of the new building, situated in the most central part of the parish, was laid by the Lord Mayor on July 27, 1891. Provision is made for a museum. The Guildhall Public Libbahy. The handsome and well-furnished reading-room of the Guildhall Library is a hive of readers and students from the time it is opened in the morning until 9 p.m., the hour of closing. The total number of volumes exceeds 70,000, and as a reference library it stands in London second to the British Museum, and far before it in qualities of accessibility. All libraries have a history from the fact that they are the growth of years, and never cease to grow; but the history of some libraries is exceptionally interesting, and that is the case with this library. The first mention of a library at the Guildhall was contained in the records of the Corporation of the year 1425, when the management of Richard Whittington’s library and the building erected for it was placed in the hands of the executors of William Bury. Whittington’s executor, John Carpenter, common clerk, and founder of the City of London School, well supported the library, and bequeathed his own library to it, providing the books were chained in the library. Unhappily not a trace of this collection remains, for, according to Stow, in the reign of Edward VI., the Protector Somerset took away the books with a promise to restore them shortly, but they were never returned. This act of rapacity probably happened in 1559. Not a volume or even a catalogue is known to be preserved, but there is yet room for hope that some may be discovered in the MS. stores of some other library. From 1550 to 1824 no steps were taken to reestablish the library. But in the latter year the Court of Common Council unanimously referred it to a special committee to consider as to providing a library, and the rooms of the Irish Society were adapted with that object, £500 was voted for the outfit, and £200 annually for the maintenance. In 1828 the library was opened, with 1,380 works in 1,700 volumes. In 1840 it became necessary to make extensive additions to the premises. In 1855 a meeting was convened at the Mansion House, the Lord Mayor presiding, but the proposition to establish a Public Library was rejected by the citizens. In 1856, however, the library was thrown open to readers by ticket, and members of the Corporation were permitted to borrow books for home reading. In the year 1869 the Common Council carried a motion for the erection of a new library and museum, at a cost of £25,000, and in 1872 the new building was34° Public Libraries. publicly opened. In the old library not more than twenty readers could be accommodated at a time. The new building will accommodate 150 readers. The number of readers at once rose from 14,316 in 1868 to 173,559 in 1874, the first complete year of the new library. At the present time the number of visitors to the various departments reaches over 400,000 a year. All that is required for the privilege of using the library is the signing of a book on entering. The one pressing need in the city is for a lending library, a more commodious general reading-room, and better quarters for the museum. There is an especial want of a boys’ reading-room, and Mr. Welch and his staff would be glad to see such a room established. The number of clerks, office and warehouse boys who would make use of a lending library, were one established, is legion. Is there no city man of wealth who will for £25,000 to £50,000 secure fame and immortality by offering to build premises for these sections of the Guildhall work? If the streets of the sacred square mile are not paved with gold, there are at least a large number of men who in business premises along those streets have deeply lined their pockets with gold, to whom such a sum as that named would be but trivial. A special Act could easily be obtained for the City, and a farthing rate for the year would provide income enough for maintenance. The Patent Office Library. The library, consisting of about 100,000 volumes, in the Patent Office Buildings, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, W.C., and open free to the public, becomes the better appreciated the more it is known. It is not, however, confined exclusively to the English and foreign publications associated with patents, but there are some thousands of volumes dealing with every department of technical science. In addition to these the library is strong in sets of bound volumes of the learned societies, both home and foreign. It is essentially a library of technical and special literature, and as such it is a great boon to the public. A further section of the work of this useful library is the providing of a large selection of trade and class journals of English, American, and Continental origin. No other library in England, except the British Museum, has so good a collection of these technical publications, and reference is made to them by a very large number of persons each day. The main hall of the library is divided into eight alcoves, and the arrangement of the books in classes in these alcoves is excellent. In the middle of the alcove is a table for the use of readers, with pens and ink. There are also a considerable number of smaller rooms. The reader helps himself to the books, taking them down at will, and returning them to their places when he has done with them. This is the Australian plan for reference libraries, and so far as the Patent Office Library is concerned it appears to work well. The library is maintained partly from the enormous revenue of the Patent Office, and for the purchase of current publications there is a small annual grant from Parliament. But in additionPublic Libraries in London. 341 to this there are many items debited to the Stationery Office which really belong to this library. The Patents Department is one about which the British public know little so far as applies to its working. The annual statement of its accounts is not seen by many outside those immediately interested. The library and reading-room are nothing more than can reasonably be expected of the department with the large funds at their disposal. The rooms are open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. During last year over 88,000 people used the library, about one-half the number visiting it in the evening. The Chabity Commissionebs and Public Libbabies. After some years of careful consideration the Charity Commissioners published the draft of their scheme for the application and management of the funds and property of the City of London Parochial Charities. This scheme first came before the public in September, 1889, and must have been greatly disappointing to all who have taken an active interest in the Public Library movement. There is not a single rate-supported library or institution to be founded or helped out of the vast funds at the disposal of the Commissioners. Although they are a Government department engaged in administering public money, they have aid only for charitable institutions, and prefer to pauperize, so far as books are concerned, rather than to stimulate self-help. The whole scheme of the Commissioners displays profound distrust of the principle of popular control, and in this there seems to lie the whole key of the situation. It is impossible to go minutely into the whole details of their plan, embracing as it does financial aid to City churches where the congregation usually reaches four and a small boy. A sum of £80,000 is to go in founding “ Free ” Libraries in connection with the charities belonging to St. Botolph, Bishopsgate, and St. Giles, Cripplegate. The central body appointed by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners and other nominees are to pay out of the income of the central or general fund an annual payment to the Bishopsgate “Free” Library of £2,000; to specified Polytechnics, £19,850; to other specified institutions and evening classes, £700; and to other Polytechnics or institutions, £5,000. A balder scheme, or more impracticable way of helping Public Libraries, was never launched. The Commissioners wash their hands of everything which cannot be controlled from Whitehall. Surely the day has passed when the people need to have their books and newspapers placed before them by means of charity. Fifty years ago such a plan would have done good ; but now, when people have learned how wisely the aggregate of the penny in the pound can be spent in well-planned and well-filled buildings, of which they and their families can make the fullest use, and to which they contribute their quota towards maintenance, they have ceased to care for the institutions which a kindly charity provides. The misappropriation of old educational endowments is a crying shame to us as a342 Public Libraries. nation. The evils and abuses which now surround these old endowments are traceable to the absence of popular control by the elected representatives of the people. The perpetuation of such a rotten system by a Government department ought never to have been contemplated. When these proposed libraries reach the brick-and-mortar stage, and get in actual working order, it will serve as a most useful lesson of contrast with the rate-supported libraries under popular control. The charity stamp will, unless we greatly misread the spirit and tendency of the age, paralyze the Cripplegate and Bishopsgate Libraries. The failure down to the present date of the proposed Polytechnic schemes should be a most instructive lesson to all who question the popular control theory. The establishing of these institutions, which were to do so much, seems to have been relegated to the Greek Kalends. In one case the remnant of a committee have had the invidious duty of deciding what should be done with the trifling subscriptions sent in, and several of them were glad when the task was over. The whole scheme, which was launched with such a flourish of trumpets, was still-born, and the Public Libraries rising up in all parts of London have overshadowed these gigantic centres, which were to turn out like a huge mill a technically instructed humanity. In the contest between popular control and charity institutions there need be no fear as to which will win the day. Notes eor Commissioners. When the commissioners are appointed one of their first duties will be that of selecting a seal. Designs can readily be obtained from some of the leading stationers. No precept for the rate will be granted by the vestry unless it bears the official seal of the commissioners. It is customary to keep the seal in a box fastened by two locks. The chairman and one of the commissioners have each one of the two keys of one lock, and each of the remaining commissioners have a key of the other lock. Two have consequently to be present when the case is opened. One of the first steps of the commissioners should be to divide themselves into sub-committees, comprising a book committee, a finance committee, and a building committee. The transactions of these sub-committees have of course to be reported and ratified by the whole body. There has been a tendency in the ceremonies of laying foundation stones of some of the London Public Libraries, to precede the well and truly laying of the stone by a religious service. This is- very good, but when that service is exclusively ecclesiastical and that of a High Church character, including a choir to give the responses, it would seem that this is carrying the matter a little too far. By all means let there be a religious service, but in that case a Nonconformist minister should be asked to take part in it. The Public Library is not a branch of the Church, even although the rector of the parish may occupy the position of chairman of the commissioners. The library is supported by all classes, and isPublic Libraries in London. 343 for the use of all classes, and every attempt to give a creed or a political cast to its proceedings or work is a wrong committed against the movement. The question of opening temporary premises during the erection of a permanent building is one which is perhaps more acutely felt in London than in the provinces. Where there is a prospect of having a building erected and open within twelve or eighteen months from the time the Acts are adopted, it certainly does not seem necessary to open temporary premises, so long of course as there is some place where the books can be accumulated, and the work of cataloguing and general preparation be in progress. Temporary premises are rarely ever satisfactory, and they frequently prevent that prestige which attaches to a new and specially erected building. The furniture, moreover, of temporary rooms is not often suited to the permanent structure, and lacks freshness when the time comes for removal. The expense again absorbed in the maintenance of temporary premises is considerable, and the advantages to the public are not commensurate with the expense. If the local public see that the commissioners are active in securing a site, and the building steadily in course of erection, there is every inducement to possess their souls in patience and await the opening of a new building with a growing interest. Temporary buildings have very often a contrary effect to whetting the reading appetites of the people. The following is a copy of the precept for the rate :— To the Vestry of the Parish of , in the County of London, and to the Guardians or Governors of the said Parish. We, the Commissioners for Public Libraries and Museums for the Parish of , in the County of London, in exer- cise of the power in that behalf, conferred upon ns by the “ Public Libraries Act, 1855,” and the acts amending the same, do hereby require you respectively to raise by rate and pay to us the sum of £ : : under the powers, and in accordance with the provisions conferred by, and contained in the said Acts, for the year from , 18 , to , 18 And we do hereby further require you to pay the amount of such Rate into the , to the account of the Commissioners on or before the day of 18 Given under our Common Seal this day of One Thousand Eight Hundred and The Seal of the Public Library Commissioners was hereunto affixed in the presence of Chairman. By Secy, to the Commissioners. The accounts of libraries established in parishes where the poor-rate expenditure is audited by a poor-law auditor will be audited annually by such auditor, and kept in a form which is recognized, rather than prescribed, by the Local Government Board. For the purposes of this annual audit certain books must be kept, and the accounts must be presented in a certain form.344 Public Libraries. It is rather unfortunate that the Local Government Board should not have already caused to be compiled a series of draft-accounts to show a uniform plan of dealing with this troublesome matter. Ordinary business book-keeping will not do, and a few hints may not be unacceptable to those about to start libraries. It is wise to pay as much as possible by cheque, and get receipts for everything, including small items of expenditure from petty cash. To do this effectually, accounts should be opened with chandlers, drapers, and other tradesmen who supply the many little articles required. The principal books to be kept are cash book, petty cash book, ledger, cash receipt book, and postage book. The cash book is kept like an ordinary business one in some libraries, and in others as a formal record of receipts and expenditure between the commissioners and their banker or treasurer. It is well to use the former style, and let the auditor change it if he wishes. The petty cash book is best kept as a classified statement of expenditures, with the ordinary form for receipts. The expenditure side should, therefore, be ruled in columns for the different heads of expenditure prescribed by the Local Government Board, to be mentioned later. The ledger is a classified one, in which separate accounts should be opened for every class of receipt and expenditure. The heads for receipts are these—rates, donations, cash receipts from fines, &c., per the librarian, bank interest, and any other. Take two folios facing for each class, and treat each of these as follows:— fol.10. BATES. fol. 10 Dr. Cr. Led- Cash 1892. ger & &. d. | 1891. Bk. £ s. d. fol. fol. Mar. 25 To balance Dec. 15 By Bates, Pre- transferred to cept, 1891-92 15 500 0 0 Beceipts and „ 30 By Bates, Pre- Expenditure cept, 1891-92 16 521 6 11 Account 26 1,021 6 11 £1,021 6 11 £1,021 6 11 I 1 The heads for expenditures are—repayment of principal of loans, interest on loans; salaries of officers; rent and taxes; cleaning, fuel, lighting, &c.; books, newspapers, maps, &c.; bookbinding and repairing; stationery and printing; others, as postages and carriages, furnishings, &c. Treat each head the same as above, but reverse the debit and credit sides. Everything is posted into the ledger, including the librarian’s account of current or petty cash, of which the totals only of the expenditures under each head need be posted. The cash receipts book is the record of all receipts from fines, catalogues, waste paper, and all other sources of cash receipts, excluding, of course, rates, donations, &c., which are items for the cash book proper. The postage book is an ordinary letter delivery book, showing amounts of stamps purchased and expended on outgoing letters, &c. SeparatePublic Libraries in London. 345 accounts in the form shown above, must be kept in the ledger of all loans and expenditures from them, as expenditure on sites, on books, on buildings, and on furniture. Loan accounts, each separate, must be kept with the bodies from whom the money is had, and showing the balance outstanding, which must be carried forward till paid off. Interest on loans and repayments of principal of loans, and deposit account (if any) must also receive separate notice. All these receipts and expenditures, excluding loans, are carried to an account, as follows:— BECEIPTS AND EXPENDITUBE ACCOUNT, 1891-92. fol. 26. fol. 26. Led- Led- IS £ s. d. ger fol. £ s. d. To Bepayment of Prin- By Cash received from cipal of Loans ... 10 0 0 Bates 10 1,021 6 11 „ Interest on Loans... 25 0 0 ,, Cash received from „ Salaries of Officers, 150 0 0 Donations 11 790 1 1 &c. &c. 1 Balance Balance i The several balances remaining at the end of each year must also be treated as a separate account. In addition to this a financial statement must be prepared, according to the form prescribed in the Order of the Local Government Board, dated September 25, 1886. This can be obtained from Knight & Co., 90, Fleet Street, E.C. Two copies must be prepared for the auditor to certify, on one of which he affixes the stamp covering his charges. This he keeps: the other is retained by the library. The following is the scale of stamp duties as per District Auditors’ Act, 1879:—£50 and under £100 = £1; £100 and under £500 = £2; £500 and under £1,000 = £3; £1,000 and under £2,500 = £4; £2,500 and under £5,000 = £5; £5,000 and under £10,000 = £10, &c. The stamps are obtainable at Somerset House, and must be supplied by the library. A Kegister of Mortgages, also obtainable from the firm just named, must be kept when loans are raised. It will facilitate matters if the clerk of a new library visits an older library where the poor-law auditor acts, and copies the books there certified. In some parishes the vestries have thrown considerable obstacles in the way of the commissioners performing their work. With regard to loans, the inquiry of the Local Government Board should be sufficient without its being necessary to first obtain the sanction of the vestry for permission to borrow. The first granting also of the precept for the rate should make it unnecessary to apply half-yearly or annually for the sanctioning of the rate. In these two matters the vestries, as the Acts at present exist, have too much power. These and many other sections of the Acts will require readjusting when the District Councils are formed. The parishes where the movement has been unsuccessful duringPublic Libraries. 346 the past year are Deptford (St. Paul), Greenwich, Marylebone, Paddington, Islington, Hackney, and Bethnal Green. In Deptford this further effort to adopt the Acts was not a very serious one. The “ Pall Mall Gazette,” in referring to this defeat, said:—“ Deptford has broken the record of metropolitan parishes that have within the last twelve months or so eagerly adopted the Public Libraries Acts. By an overwhelming majority the ratepayers have decided that they cannot afford a penny in the pound on the ratable value of their houses as a contribution towards a library for the whole parish. It is very pitiful that any large body of individuals should take such an utterly mean view of the possibilities of expenditure: and it is annoying to reflect that these same people have the pow'er by their vote to cut themselves off from the best opportunity they are ever likely to get of improving their own spirit. For there is no doubt that the possession of a library creates the taste for libraries and for other social enjoyments and individual ambitions beyond. The little tradesman who sticks all day within the walls of his own poky house and shop is sure to flatter himself that his sole duty is there to stick. It is not till the possibility of a wider life is proved that men begin to wish for it; and to prove a thing to the typical ratepayer without jamming it before his eyes is not an easy task. Such a crushing vote as that at Deptford is the best testimony to the zeal and energy of the men who have won Public Libraries for other parishes.” In Greenwich much more was done to educate the people upon the subject. The vestry appointed a committee of their number to report upon the matter, and they expressed the opinion that the adoption of the Acts would be for the benefit of the people. By 44 votes to 9 this was carried. A very strong committee was then formed with Mr. E. Pascoe Williams and Captain F. M. Ommanney, R.N., acting as secretaries. The opposition was from the better class residents, and part of the local press vigorously opposed the movement. The majority against the adoption reached 959. Greenwich will yet reverse that decision. Islington had a bad defeat in the middle of the present year. The burgesses again declared against the adoption of the Acts. The result of the last poll is as follows :—For, 7,542 ; against, 10,912 ; majority against, 3,370. Islington, which has, according to the last census, 319,433 inhabitants, is the most populated parish in London or in the United Kingdom. Considering that there has lately been little or no public agitation carried on in the parish, or public meetings held in advocacy of the merits and utility of Public Libraries, the result of the poll was not surprising, nor is it regarded as fatal to their future hopes by the supporters of the Acts. A penny in the pound, the maximum rate allowed, was asked for, and had it been conceded it would, upon the present assessment, have sufficed to provide four, if not five, libraries in different parts of this great parish, to which there was a likelihood of more than one wealthy inhabitant making gifts of valuable books. Mr. AY, F, Dewey, the Vestry Clerk ofPublic Libraries m London. 347 Islington, pointed out, prior to the vote being taken, that by the 1890 Amendment Act the County Council register was substituted for the rate books as determinative of the electorate for voting upon the library question. This register was made on July 15,1890, and the result was that no one can vote on this poll who has not been resident at least two years in the parish. By the operation of this Act, therefore, upwards of 4,000 occupiers in Islington now on the rate books had no voice at the poll. What is even more absurd, those who have removed from the parish, but ai*e still on the County Council register, were able to vote. Hackney took the vote thirteen years ago, when the Acts were rejected by 4,389 to 631. During the first six months of the present year efforts were made by a large and very representative committee to educate the parish upon the question. A number of meetings were held, and the question was well placed before the people. Mr. F. W. Flear acted, in a very able manner, as hon. sec., and some really good work was done by the provisional committee. The opposition were strong and well organized. In July the vote was taken and the adverse majority was 1,373. The parish has of late been put to expense for the purchase of some marshes as an open space for the people, and this tended to militate against the present movement. Few parishes in London have a greater need of libraries for the people than Hackney, and there is no doubt as to what will be the ultimate vote. Public spirit is too prevalent in Hackney to be left in the rear in what is the most forward movement of the present day. The struggle in Bethnal Green has been short and as vigorous as it could possibly be. Numerous outdoor meetings were held, and at these good speeches were made. The one obstacle in the way of carrying the Acts is the library already existing, supported entirely by voluntary contributions, and to which no other term can be applied other than that it is a charitable institution. Mr. J. Passmore Edwards, the proprietor of the “Echo,” who made an offer, at once noble and worthy of a better cause, of £20,000 towards a site for a new building for the present library, very wisely modified his offer. In its revised form £5,000 was to go to the existing library and £15,000 towards a real Public Library, if the parish adopted the Acts. The new building for the library in London-street is most assuredly not needed for the present work of this much advertised institution. Its entire operations are of a trivial nature when compared with the London libraries under the Acts. The result of the vote in Bethnal Green when it was taken a few months ago resulted in the rejection by 3,098 votes to 2,996. There is not the least doubt that this will be reversed in another year. The following places where the Acts have been adopted are outside the metropolitan area:— Chiswick. The best educator of public opinion on this question is to havePublic Libraries. 348 one or two Public Libraries in the near neighbourhood as object-lessons. This was the case at Chiswick, and on March 10,1890, a public meeting of the ratepayers was held at the Vestry Hall, Turnham Green, in order to determine whether the Acts should be adopted for the urban sanitary district of Chiswick. The chairman of the Local Board presided oyer a large attendance. Dr. Gordon Hogg proposed, and Alderman B. Hardy seconded, a motion in favour of the adoption of the Acts, which, on being put to the meeting, was carried, only five voting against it. One of the dissentients demanded a poll. The poll took place one week afterwards, with a result of some six to one in favour. The committee decided upon the acquisition for a term of years of the house known as No. 1, The Bourne, situate at the corner of Bolton Gardens. A meeting was held on the 8th of November, 1890, for the purpose of opening the reading-rooms. The two reading-rooms give access to some 89 daily, weekly, and monthly newspapers and magazines. The committee have issued circulars appealing to the ratepayers and inhabitants for donations of money or books to assist them in forming the lending library, and in response to that appeal they have received £36 14s. 6d. donations, and annual subscriptions to the amount of £7 9s. 6d., besides 522 volumes of books. Cuoydon. The Public Library movement has evidently taken root in thoroughly good soil in the ancient town of Croydon. In a little over twelve months a central library and several branch libraries have been opened. The branch libraries have been brought into existence partly to relieve the threatened overcrowding at the Central Library at North End, and partly to enable residents living at some distance to have a good supply of standard works within easy access. By means of these branches the advantages of the library is being carried into every part of the borough, and as all pay for the support of the library so will all be at liberty to avail themselves of the benefits thereof. In May last the Town Council agreed to the plans for a new central library. In July, 1891, the Thornton Heath branch library was opened. The building, a portion of which is used as a library, is of red brick and stone, and stands at the northern end of the High-street, and has been erected by arrangement with the Corporation. The basement wiil be utilised as offices, and on the first floor, approached by a separate and commodious entrance on the south-west side, is the libraries apartment. This is a lofty apartment, about 40 feet by 36 feet, divided in two by a half glass partition, one compartment being devoted to the purposes of the library and the other of the reading-room. The library already contains 4,450 volumes. The reading-room is in every way well fitted. The building, as a whole, is an immense addition to the High-street corner, and Thornton Heath may be congratulated on possessing the handsomest library rooms in the borough. At its opening the entirePublic Libraries in London. 349 district seemed to turn out to do honour to the occasion. Flags streamed across every principal street. The Mayor, Mr. F. T. Edridge, J.P., held a reception, and everything was done in good form. Croydon bids fair to be as successful as any part of London or the suburban districts in its work. There is life and vitality about the operations of both the central library and its offshoots. Ealing. Ealing comes out well. The last report issued, May, 1891, affords grounds for satisfaction, but this is especially so as regards the expenditure upon books, and the increased use made of the reading-room and reference library. As the time allowed for reading works in classes A, B, C and D was, early in the year, extended to a fortnight, it is rather surprising to find that a considerable decrease in the circulation has not to be recorded, instead of the small increase which has actually taken place in the books lent for home reading. The total circulation was 113,949, giving an average daily issue of 463 volumes upon the 246 days the library was open. The attendances in the reading-rooms have shown a marked increase. The rooms have been open 308 days, and the total attendances were 235,620. The committee have expended upon books, binding, and periodicals (three most important items), £194 15s. Id., an increase as compared with the previous twelve months of about £20. The expenditure of £28 8s. 6d. for the printing of the catalogue has been met by the proceeds from sales and an advertisement on the cover. A feature of the work of the year has been the subscription to Mudie’s for six volumes at a time. These books are added to the reference library for the time being, and changed when required. By this means, works too expensive to purchase, or .those of only ephemeral interest, may be consulted. The chairman says that not a word of faultfinding had been heard. Every day as he saw the use made of the library he felt more convinced of the great benefit it was to the place. It was used by exactly the class of people for whom it was intended, and they had been able to provide books, not only for amusement, but also for instruction. Kingston-on-Thames. Much has been said in this volume about the unwisdom of endeavouring to adapt old buildings for the purposes of a Public Library, except under special circumstances which do at times present themselves. The following is a paragraph given without comment from the “ Kingston News ” of February 14,1891, and referring to some proposed alterations :—“ It is estimated that at least £2,000 will be required to meet the contemplated outlay on Clattern House to prepare it for the purposes of the free library, and for the use of officers of the Town Council. Judging from the experience of the past, if £2,000 is now reckoned on as being sufficient, an additional £500 may be put on to it. And then what will the town have for the money P An old building totally35o Public L ibfanes. out of keeping with the requirements, patched up and pulled about, upon which there will be a constant necessity for the outlay of more money. That will be the Kingston Public Library, to be shown to the visitors who will be drawn to the ancient borough and the county town of Surrey, when the handsome pile of buildings to be erected by the County Council has arisen not far off! As the alterations contemplated come to be carried out, difficulties are almost certain to arise, and with them increased outlay; and before many years are over there will be a loud outcry against the unwisdom of those who spent money on such a place.” Richmond. The tenth report issued in June, 1891, does much to maintain the character of the work being done. Richmond came second in the adoption of the Act in and near London. The place before it was Westminster, so that Richmond has fulfilled a most important place in educating the metropolitan and suburban districts. Among the classification of the new borrowers there are 2 actors, 19 army and navy officers, 19 artists, 2 authors, 10 barristers and solicitors, 2 botanists, 25 civil servants, 12 clergymen, 6 journalists, 10 medical men, 5 music teachers and musicians, 9 photographers, 47 schoolmasters and teachers, and 3 scientists. It will thus be seen that in accordance with the fitness of things in a place like Richmond, the professions are strongly represented. There were 110 students and scholars. The working-classes are also very well represented. WlLLESDEN. The districts around London governed by Local Boards are coming out exceedingly well. The movement here was not of long duration, but at the same time very decisive. The “ Middlesex Courier,” the leading local paper, gave an active advocacy of the question. After the presentation of the requisition an appeal for the adoption of the Acts was printed by them, and in this the writer said:—“We know, and everybody else knows, where too many of the leisure hours of the middle-class part of the population are spent, and the attractions of a clean, well-lighted, and comfortable reading-room maybe set against the tawdriness of the public-house bar, or the vice laden air of the billiard-room and the skittle-alley. At the public-house a man wastes his time, his money, and his morals; at the reading-room he uses his time well and improves his morals, while it is extremely likely that he will be increasing his wage-earning capacity. The pubiic-house is the ante-room of the gaol, while the library is the doorway of the knowledge which is power—power for success, for prosperity, and for honour. The public-house is the high road to perdition; the library the wicket of truth. To provide an institution which shall draw away from the drinking bar the men of the nation is something, but to show them the pleasant path-ways of truth along the high road of knowledge is more, and it is being done—done in scores ofPublic Libraries in London. 351 towns throughout England, and done in many a metropolitan parish—with most conspicuous success, and with remarkable freedom of any approach to an abuse of the privilege provided out of the public funds for the public good.*’ In the latter part of February this year the vote was taken, and resulted in a majority of 1,187 out of a poll of 6,620. In June the committee appointed to take into consideration and report upon suitable sites for three libraries, sent up their report. It is proposed that one Public Library shall be erected in North or South Kilburn, another at IIarlesden, and a third at Willesden Green. There is every probability that two of the three sites required will be presented, but in regard to Kilburn the committee reported that the surveyor to the local board had been in communication with the agents of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, who were prepared to dispose of a site, with a frontage of 50 feet to Salisbury Road, for the erection of a library, at the rate of £6 per foot. The committee recommended that steps be taken by the board to acquire this site, and intimated that negotiations are proceeding for two further sites, in Willesden Lane and Acton Lane, as to which further report would be made. The report of the committee was adopted. Wimbledon. The library here is in a good building designed for the purpose. Each year there is an increase in the number of borrowers, and the appearance of activity presented by the library, especially in the evening, must be cheering to all who took an interest in the formation of this institution. Wood Green. Here, too, as at Willesden, there has been a short but energetic canvass, resulting in July, 1891, in a vote of two to one in favour of the Acts. Mr. W. Mawer championed the movement, and worked well. A meeting was called by the opponents, and the question was discussed in an amicable manner. But an amendment to the effect that Wood Green should adopt the Acts was carried at the meeting. The cost of the poll was a little short of £19. The network around London will soon be complete at this rate of progress.352 Public Libraries. PART IL CHAPTER XVII. Public Library Committees and Commissioners. The majority of the members of these bodies are acutely sensible of the purposes and work of Public Libraries. Too often, however, the constitution of the committee is such as tends rather to hinder the work of these institutions than to help it, and it is most essential that town councils and other governing bodies should see to it that only men in sympathy with the work and who will give the necessary time to it are elected. It must be acknowledged that town councillors are seldom bookmen but always politicians; and in not a few cases the penny in the pound for the library is regarded as unproductive and useless, and with them the time spent in attending committees is looked upon as time lost, and not infrequently the business is hurried over and little thought bestowed upon it. Wherever the political element prevails, no matter on which side it may be, there is sure to be congestion, and it may be unhesitatingly stated that the Public Library governed by a committee whose work and deliberations are always tinged with a political bias is as good as lost. There is no part of the operations of a town council or other governing body which ought to be more removed from a political cast and character than in connection with these libraries. They are institutions supported by all classes, for the benefit of all, and should be administered in the interests of all. It is impossible for this to be so, if political prejudice and idiosyncrasies are perpetually influencing the decisions of those who control them. The library committee’s minutes ought not to be necessarily submitted to the council for confirmation, as the burgess members having no vote in the meetings of the Town Council or vestry their deliberations are liable to be negatived, and their time thrown away. The book-lovers on the committee, therefore, are apt to stay away, and thus the library may go down. Another result of a preponderance of council members is that the chairman is nearly always chosen because he is a member of the corporation, and it sometimes happensPublic Library Committees and Commissioners. 353 that he has no other qualification for the position at all. The Public Library committee should have a secretary who could be eyes, ears, hands, and brain to the institution, instead of which the town clerk is frequently the secretary, and the work is done in a merely perfunctory manner. The librarian is too often compelled to be speechless, and can only answer questions when asked. The plan of electing a proportion of the committee from outside the council is fast becoming general, as will be seen from the list below, which might be made more complete were it necessary to do so. Members of Council. Non- Members of Council. Membei s of Council. Non- Members of Council. Airdrie .. 12 8 Liverpool .. .. 4 15 Barrow-in-Furness 14 4 Manchester .. 15 0 Birkenhead .. 10 8 Newcastle-on-Tyne 24 9 Birmingham .. 11 6 North Shields .. 12 12 Blackburn.. .. 9 13 Norwich .. .. 15 9 Blackpool .. .. 7 7 Nottingham . . 13 2 Bolton . . 9 2 Preston .. 19 0 Bootle . . 9 4 .Reading .. . . 13 8 Bradford .. .. 8 0 Rochdale .. .. 8 3 Cambridge .. 10 10 Rotherham .. 24 6 Cheltenham .. 8 6 St. Helens.. .. 8 5 Clitheroe .. 3 9 Sheffield .. .. 12 6 Derby . . 11 10 Shrewsbury .. 19 5 Doncaster .. .. 9 8 Southampton .. 10 7 Folkestone .. 19 14 Southport .. .. 12 7 Hanley .. 13 9 South Shields .. 15 11 Kidderminster .. 8 6 Sunderland .. 18 16 Leeds.. . . 21 6 Wednesbury .. 16 0 Some of these committees are unduly large. It is a well-recognized fact, that a small working committee, the members of which attend to their duties, is infinitely preferable to a huge body often very unwieldy, and whose deliberations are too likely to degenerate into a sea of talk. Much could be said in favour of electing members from outside the governing body. There are in many towns men thoroughly in touch with the educational needs of to-day and with Public Library work, who shirk the excitement and worry of contested municipal elections, but who would be an acquisition to any Public Library committee. Care should, of course, be exercised that suitable men are selected. In one large town the plan has not been very successful, because men of indifferent education have pushed themselves into the committee by the vigorous touting for votes to which they have resorted. As bearing upon the important matter of the composition of the committees and their powers, Preston obtained counsel’s opinion in February, 1890, on the points as here given:—Public Libraries. 354 1. Whether the Public Library committee have power under the Libraries Acts, and specially under section 21 of the Act of 1855 and section 2 of the Act of 1866, power to expend the whole of the moneys included in the library rate without the sanction of the council. 2. Whether the council can independently of the library committee appropriate any portion of the proceeds of the library rate without the consent of such committee. 3. Whether the council can defray from the borough fund the expenses incurred by the special committee by placing such expenses under the head of “repairs and alterations of property” or “Corn Exchange. ” (The building in which the Preston Public Library is at present situated.) 4. Whether the fact that outside gentlemen can be appointed as mem- bers of the library committee does not support the contention that the library rate when once raised and placed to the credit of the library committee, can be retained by such committee as against the corporation. The counsel’s opinion was as follows:— (1.) Under section 21 of the Act of 1855 the management of the library may be exercised either by the council or in the alternative by such committee as the council may appoint, such committee not necessarily, as to all or any of them, being members of the council. This of itself shows that the committee here spoken of is not a committee of the council in the ordinary sense of the word. As the council has power itself to manage the library, it might, of course, appoint a committee of its own body for this purpose, and the question, in my view, resolves itself into this—whether the committee appointed in 1889 was or was not an ordinary committee of the council. Having regard to the terms of the appointment, namely, that the committee was to be the Public Library committee appointed pursuant to the Public Libraries Acts, I think it must be taken that this committee was not an ordinary council committee, but such a committee as under section 21 the council were authorised to appoint for the purpose of managing the library. It follows from this that such committee could expend the moneys without the sanction of the council. (2.) The council could not independently of the committee make such appropriation. (3.) I do not see how the expense of the special committee can be brought under the head of “ repairs and alterations,” or “Corn Exchange,” or be payable out of rentals or real estate. (4.) It follows from my previous remarks that so long as the council choose not to work the library affairs themselves, but delegate such working to a committee, none of whom need be members of the council, that the library funds are placed under the control of such committee, and the corporation cannot touch the funds during the continuance in office of the committee. Prior to obtaining this opinion the Preston committee obtained replies from other towns to a number of questions pertinent to this subject. Question 6 was— “ What is your opinion on the powers of the Public Library Committee with reference to finance, i.e., have they the power, in your opinion, under the general Acts relating to Public Libraries to expend the whole of moneys included in thePublic Library Committees and Commissioners. 355 Library Rate for the year without the sanction of the Council as to the details of such expenditure P ” From twenty towns the reply was—“ Committee have power to expend the rate free from control as to details.” From five towns the reply was—“ Committee have not power to expend the rate.” This opinion of counsel and the preponderance in the custom at present adopted help to clear up what has in some districts been a matter of some doubt. Reference is also directed to the constitution granted to the Southampton Library Committee, in the chapter dealing with the southern and western counties. The whole tendency at the present time is to give committees and commissioners entire control over library affairs. Seeing that they are bound not to go beyond the penny rate, there cannot be any reasonable objection to this power. This is essential, seeing that in all the other committees of the corporation or vestry the members are also members of the larger governing body, and they are thus able to speak about matters appertaining to the sectional work in the meetings of the Town Council or other governing body. A section of the library committee not having such a seat their work may to some exent be vetoed. The commissioners of the London Public Libraries are not so extensive in number as are the provincial committees, and the plan from the first has been adopted of going partly outside the vestry for representatives. The more definite wording of the Act in this particular applying to the metropolis perhaps accounts for this. The only object sought to be gained, both in committees and commissioners, by co-operation of this character, is to render the management as an administrative body more efficient, and to ensure the more complete confidence of the public in its work. Further than this, in the case of Lambeth and other metropolitan districts, the noble gifts which have been received are owing largely to the fact that the vestry have taken care to elect and re-elect as commissioners gentlemen in whom the intending donors could have the greatest trust and confidence. The London commissioners possess the advantage of having greater power and freedom from control than is the case in the provinces, and their number is limited to nine. In the metropolitan area the distribution of the commissioners is as follows:— Members of the Vestry. Non-members. Clerkenwell 9 0 Battersea 7 2 Lambeth 6 .* 3 Newington.. 5 4 Stoke Newington.. 5 4 St. George’s, Hanover Square 7 2 Wandsworth 7 2 Whitechapel 8 1 The duties of a librarian are becoming increasingly important, and the need that the standard of the men should be maintainedPublic Libraries. 356 is becoming more and more necessary. Librarianship is now justly recognised as a profession, and such being the case, committees and commissioners may reasonably be expected to take an enhanced view of his work. He is in far too many cases the worst paid of any public official, and when it comes to the question of soliciting an advance in salary, and the question of going through the mill of the committee, and worse still the pulverizing machinery of ratification by the town council, the whole process is so spirit-crushing that many librarians prefer to go struggling on year after year with an income far too small for the labour and the responsibility of the office, than to pass through this ordeal. If an advance is asked for by a gas manager, where the gasworks are the property of the corporation, a sanitary inspector, or a chief of police, how different is the process! In these cases the application for an advance is usually carried through with a canter, because, forsooth, their work is looked upon as an absolute necessity, and for these posts good men have to be secured, and good men should be paid satisfactory salaries. All the parsimony and carping criticism within a council centres too frequently around the Public Library and its officials, and it is only gradually that a change is coming about in the views held respecting these institutions. And for this change the vigour and interest which librarians have thrown into the work has had as much to do as the increased educational facilities of the day, and the advancing regard for a higher civil life. Surely the work of a librarian is not of less importance than that of a gas manager or a sanitary inspector, or even the head constable. The time has passed when he should take a second place to these officials, for the work of a librarian tends infinitely more to the development of the real life of the town than the labour of any one of the departments just named. The time is hastening when the librarian will be looked upon as the most necessary official in a town next to the chief magistrate. When this desirable change in public opinion arrives, the salary and position of these officials will be greatly enhanced. As a body they are shockingly paid, and applications for a readjustment in this particular are delayed so long that a good man keeps his eyes and ears open for the posts in his profession which are now and again open. It must be manifestly to the interest of a library and a town to retain the services of an efficient man. Only those who are familiar with the inner duties of a Public Library are cognizant of the vast mass of details in the work. The same amount of energy, perseverance, and attention to duty devoted to other walks of life would mean an infinitely larger income to many librarians than they at present receive. Committees and commissioners would find the best and truest interests of the library served by giving greater power to the librarian. Committees may come and go, but the librarian remains, and many of these officials would work with greater zest and interest if more latitude were given, and the true nature of their work were better understood, by the average committees. One word more. If the funds will not permit of a better salaryPublic Library Committees and Commissioners. 357 the librarian should be permitted to receive tradesmen’s advertisements for the catalogue. This is a commercial as well as a reading age, and if this is permitted he can increase his own salary without taxing the ratepayers or spending the time he should give to the library for his own purposes. The following brief table shows the salaries of chief librarians in some representative districts:— Ashton-under-Lyne, £115; Barrow, £150 ; Bilston (lady) 15s. per week ; Birkenhead, £225 ; Birmingham, £500; Blackpool (lady) £80; Bolton, £180, and house, coal, rates, and gas ; Bootle, £200; Bradford, £200; Bristol, £300; Burslem, £70; Buxton, £52; Canterbury, £90 ; Cheltenham, £160 ; Chesterfield, £65 ; Croydon, £120, and house, coals, and gas ; Chiswick, £90; Darlington, £120 ; Darwen, £45 ; Denton, £65 ; Derby, £200 and house ; Dewsbury, £100; Folkestone, £100; Gateshead, £120; Halifax, £80; Hanley; Harrogate, £70; Kidderminster, £105; Leamington, £135; Leeds, £300; Leek, £115; Leicester, £210; Lough-borough, £75; Macclesfield, £100; Manchester, £350; Millom, £45; Nantwich, £30; Newcastle-on-Tyne, £300; Norwich, £150; Nottingham, £225 ; Oldham, £235 ; Plymouth, £200; Poole, £30 ; Wigan, £250; Battersea, £200 with residence ; Clapham, £170 with house; Clerkenwell, £210; Fulham, £170 with house, &c.; Hammersmith, £150, with house, coals, and gas ; Lambeth, £200 and residence; Botherhithe, £100 with house, &c.; Westminster, £200. The most trying and yet the most important work of a committee or body of commissioners is the appointment of a librarian. The shoals of applications are so numerous that the task often becomes bewildering and perplexing. These applications have reached in number as high as 450, for only a third or fourth-rate post, and invariably include soldiers, sailors, pensioners, clerks, teachers, booksellers, and from every class and section of society. But only too many of these applicants would, as a rule, be dear at half the salary offered. The same qualities in other departments of life which go to make a man successful tend to produce an equally meritorious success as a librarian. The present writer unhesitatingly and emphatically affirms that the best librarians are the men who have been trained in public libraries, and who have, grown up in the work. It is just as necessary to receive a training for these posts as it is to be able to follow efficiently any other business of life. Many of the average applicants for these positions who have had no previous experience in library work, imagine that the post is an easy way to a respectable position in society, or that it affords an opportunity for private study. Both ideas are erroneous, for with many evenings being absorbed in library duties, librarians have as little chance as anyone for the cultivation of social acquaintances; and with regard to the second class there are few bodies of men who really have less time for reading than librarians. It is an oft-quoted saying that “the librarian who reads is lost; ” but it may be unhesitatingly affirmed that, in these days of universal culture and the ever-extending work of these institutions, the librarian who does not read is lost.Public Libraries. 358 The desire to serve some personal friend by voting for him wheft these vacancies are being discussed should be strictly kept in check. Politics or self-interest of one kind or another far too frequently enter into the appointment, but with one or two marked exceptions, of late committees and commissioners are beginning to grasp what the position really means, and are using every care and consideration to get hold of the best man available. But still there have been too many cases where professional experience and ability seem to be nowhere with committees and boards, and the interests of the ratepayers and credit of the town are sacrificed without hesitation to gratify any caprice or susceptibility of their own, or to smuggle into a snug berth some local partisan or reduced friend, who may be totally unfit for the position. If these people were regulating a business of their own that they knew very little about, but wished to make profitable, their first action would be to appoint the best and most practical manager they could find. And if they would act thus in their own interest, should they not act in a similar spirit with the ratepayers’ interests which are confided to them P If they think not, then they are unworthy of the position to which they have been elected. Of course the good of the community is the main question concerned; but there is a great injustice done to good practical men, who have spent their lives almost in public library work, when they see themselves passed over for men whose only claim is local influence. All agree that the post should be thrown open to the public; but frequently much heart-burning and disappointment would be saved among local candidates, and it would also obviate a plethora of applications from nondescript people, if the advertisement stated distinctly in all cases that experience in a Public Library was absolutely essential. Taken as a body, librarians are most keenly in touch with their duties. They desire to work with and help the public in every way which lies in their powor. The place in the education of the people which these institutions are now occupying, and the still more important place which they are destined to fill, has for a long time been recognized by the librarians. But, as in every other body of men, there are exceptions ; and the mystery is how some men got into their present posts. Some of these are erroneously under the idea that the libraries over which they rule are proprietary institutions, and that the public have no right to inquire into the working of the libraries or anything about them. Others are grossly unbusinesslike and careless, and perform their duties in a way neither creditable to themselves nor the public, of which they are servants. Where there are congestion and laxity in the operations of the library, the fault lies only too frequently with the librarian. The most successful of these institutions are in the charge of men who are smart and energetic, and possess habits of business, and those institutions which are decaying are too often in the charge of men who neither do justice nor honour to the profession.Public Library Committees and Commissioners. 359 The duties of librarians are so multifarious that it is not easy to indicate what are the qualifications of a librarian. He caters not only for juveniles but for adults. His duty is towards the whole reading population of the locality to which he is attached. He is to a large extent their intellectual provider. The man of letters does not necessarily make the best librarian, but there is a growing need for an acquaintance with the contents of books as well as the backs and titles, if he is to fulfil his duties to the highest advantage. For one of the first of those duties obviously is to perfect the collection which is put in his charge. He is called upon to make constant additions to his library, and in order to do this efficiently he ought to possess a considerable knowledge of literature. He ought to be able, in the first place, to distinguish the mode in which the blanks in the library should be filled up. Such blanks exist in every collection, and yet they ought not to be there. The ideal librarian’s first care should be to give completeness to all the leading departments of his treasures—to see that every prominent; author is thoroughly well represented, and that every great author is represented by all his works, and by the best editions of them. No good library should ever have any serious vacuum. The student and the general reader should be in a position to find in it every standard book on every ordinary subject. This, however, is a matter which more particularly applies to the larger libraries than those of the rank and file. Great discrimination is necessary in the acquisition of new books—in selecting those which are certain to be of permanent interest, and rejecting those which are of purely temporary value. A good deal of judgment, too, can be shown in the choice of the editions which are purchased, the first issue being by no means always the most desirable. Again, the ideal librarian can do very much to guide the taste and direct the studies of the readers who apply to him; but obviously he cannot do that unless his reading has been and still is wide. How often a librarian is asked to recommend a book or books. If, in addition to being a custodian of books, he were a master of their contents, he could deliver occasional lectures, giving the results of his experience as a student and his conclusions as a critic. This is already being done to no small extent, and there need be no fear about librarians rising equal to whatever needs may be made upon them. The intellectual life of a town is fast centreing around these institutions, and librarians have been among the first to recognize this enhanced life and public utility. Those who occupy the highest places in the profession are ever glad to assist students and scholars in their researches, and the literary man often finds in them obliging helpmates. Every day we hear or read of some writer or editor acknowledging the good offices of those librarians whose knowledge of books goes beyond the titles and outsides of them. But beyond this the librarians of Public Libraries and assistants, who come most closely in contact with the general, ordinary reader, and are most fully acquainted with his or her wants, and his or her manner of explaining them,Public Libraries 360 are frequently giving help to the reader. The general public can hardty be aware of the extent to which a reading taste is directed By the humble library assistant. A girl or youth comes up to the counter primed with the names of works which he or she desires to read. It may be that all of them are “ out/’ and then the applicant is disposed, after much thumbing of the catalogue, to give up the task of selection in despair, and throw himself or herself upon the gentle mercy of the librarian. a Can you recommend to me a book on suoh and such a subject P ” “ Do you remember the name of any other of So-and-So’s works ? ” Such queries are of the commonest occurrence. In the engaging of assistants and boys, committees and commissioners would do well to make strict inquiries as to whether these have made up their minds to adopt it as a profession. The assistants’ examinations in connection with the Library Association are doing excellent work, and chief librarians should encourage their assistants to enter for them. The certificate of efficiency from this body will soon rank as an indispensable accessory of a librarian’s qualifications. It may be again reiterated that the best training school for a future librarian is in a library. The ordinary apprenticeship rules should be made to apply to the boys and assistants in these institutions. There is no doubt that ladies make very efficient assistants and librarians, and their services are being sought more generally. In one large centre from forty to fifty female assistants are employed. Of these, some sixteen receive 18s. per week, and the others vary, according to length of service, from 12s. to 22s. per week. Lady librarians are appreciated on the other side of the Atlantic, and have a wider field of employment than they have in Great Britain, where they are not employed in State libraries. An Americanjibrarian gives the highest testimony to the energy and enthusiasm of women librarians whom he had known in America. One clever little woman, a student at the Library School, to whom a fortnight’s leave of absence was granted in order that she might start a library, found her services in such request that her fortnight’s leave was extended to two years, during which time she helped to start or improve no fewer than 400 libraries, in one case raising a sum of 50,000 dollars, instead of 5,000 originally proposed by the town. Another lady managed her library so successfully, that she was offered three times her salary to undertake the post of librarian to a large new library in an adjacent town, none of the male candidates being considered so competent. The purchase of books has been dealt with in another chapter, but a further reference here will not be out of place. Local booksellers are quite unable to give the terms which can be obtained in London and Manchester. Where a large number of new books are to be purchased at one time, it is well to advertise for contract offers, or to write to a few firms requesting them to estimate. These should be bought at a discount of 334 per cent, from the published prices. Public Libraries should unquestionably bePublic Library Committees and Commissioners. 361 considered as wholesale buyers. For second-hand books a discount of not less than 10 per cent, should be obtained. It frequently happens that libraries have offered to them five to fifteen hundred volumes of second-hand books at an all-round price of 4d. to 8d. a volume. These are often worth buying, although there may be much rubbish among the number. The ballast can be sifted and re-sold, sometimes for the original cost. For newspapers and periodicals it is well to advertise locally for estimates. From 5 to 20 per cent, discount should be obtained. Morning papers are required early, and a local tradesman can meet this need where one at a distance would perhaps be unable to do so. Gifts of books are distributed to rate-supported libraries by the British Museum ; the Record Office, of books of historical state papers ; the Clarendon Press, Oxford ; the India Office, of books respecting the old creeds of the Oriental peoples ; the Bureau of Education, Washington ; the Smithsonian Institute, Washington. Authors and publishers very frequently send copies of books and other publications. All libraries should be enrolled as members of the Library Association, and chief librarians, and in some cases head assistants, should be not only permitted, but urged to attend the annual meetings of the Association, and their expenses paid in order that they may do so. The opportunity of interchanging ideas with their fellow-professionals is most valuable. The methods of library administration are being constantly improved, and it is impossible for librarians to keep abreast of this expansion unless they are in personal touch with their colleagues in all parts of the country. The Library Association is now beginning to occupy its true place, and there is before it a long and useful future. As an addition to the work of the parent Association, District Associations are being formed. That of the Mersey district was the first, and already some helpful and enjoyable meetings have taken place. The conferences are held quarterly, when one of the libraries within the district is visited. Some capital papers have been read, and various questions of library administration discussed. The second of these District Associations was formed a year ago, when the North Midland Library Association held its first meeting at the Nottingham Central Library. There are required to complete the circle, District Associations for Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and West of England, Yorkshire, and the Cleveland district. In most libraries, notwithstanding all the care which may be exercised, duplicates and uncatalogued books will accumulate, and what to do with these is ofttimes a troublesome question. There is no reason why a system of exchanging duplicates and surplusage should not be adopted. Nothing existe in the Acts to prevent it, so long as the books are not sold for any individual advantage, and this is not by any means probable. It is very questionable whether the aid of the Press has been sufficiently sought in giving publicity to the work of libraries.Public Libraries, 362 This is a matter of vital importance, and there are not a few editors and managers of the local newspapers who would gladly give all the aid which lies in their power were they solicited to do so. Some libraries are benefiting greatly from this press publicity. Next to the best step of placing the recent additions in a special case which can easily be seen by the readers, is the plan of giving a list of the new books, with title and author’s name and the library number, in the local press. Explanatory notes are sometimes also given which are helpful to borrowers. In one case the list covers two columns of the newspaper, and the editor may well advise, as he does, readers to cut these lists out as they appear, and place them at the end of their catalogues, as they will in this way be able to secure a complete list of the books on the shelves of the Public Library. Information of the week’s workings should be sent systematically to the papers, and intimation of all matters of interest affecting the library. The local press are capable of being the best possible friends to these institutions. In many cases this can already be said of them, but there is room for expansion in this direction. Some superior individuals affect to sneer at the local papers. They might just as well turn up their noses at the sun, for the influence of the local press is great, and ever becoming greater. The suggestion maybe carried a step further. By printing, say the reference catalogue, piecemeal in this way the necessity for a catalogue of this department for a small library would be obviated, for after printing it in the newspaper, a certain number of impressions could be struck off while the type is standing. More might be done in the way of supplying small printed slips of books on special subjects, say when a lecture is to be delivered, or at other times. General rules for reading and hints to readers might be printed. In the printing of catalogues, a -plan not generally adopted might be more frequently tried. There would, as a rule, be no difficulty in finding a local firm owning and printing a newspaper who would take all the risks of producing a catalogue providing they are permitted to insert advertisements at each end, the library to be supplied with copies for sale less the usual discount. This would often save a heavy item for printing falling upon the income. The question of reports is a serious one at some libraries where the revenue is limited. Why should not the report be presented in manuscript, and then after being passed, appear in extenso in the local papers. The purchase of a number of copies containing it, or some reprints struck off, would often save considerable outlay. This does not apply to the very large centres, but might with advantage be adopted at the average-sized institution. By the printing of the catalogues and reports being given to the newspaper offices much good for the library would be secured. Where this is done no tinge of political favouritism should characterize it, and in order to remove the least ground for this charge the work should be given alternately to one and the other, representing all political parties. While referring to these reports it may be advised that thePublic Library Committees and Commissioners. 363 report of the working of the library written by the librarian should always find a place. Many useful hints could be given by them in indicating where the work is weak or strong, and much could by this means be done to develop the public interest in their own institution. In course of time these reports will cease to be the mass of dry statistics which is now the main characteristic of many of them. Gifts ought to be sought and encouraged. Should rare and valuable books be offered, they should be received with open arms. No individual member of a library committee can better signalize his interest in the library than by a gift of some useful and suitable books. Make it well known to your public that gifts of books will be acceptable, and in the case of a newly-established library give an idea of what kind of books are wanted. State in advance that paper-back and elaborately boarded novels, sermons, and the goody-goody kind are not wanted. Intimate that good engravings, paintings, tapestry, statuary, would be acceptable for the reading-room. Gifts such as these are often not made because they are never solicited. If more were done in this way we should have brighter and more cheerful rooms— rooms which invite occupants by their prepossessing appearance, and elevate those habituating them. Committees and commissioners can with the fullest force point out that they are public custodians of an institution used by all classes in their community. As part of the subject of making rooms cheerful and inviting, the interior decoration should be in keeping with the character of the building. This is an art age, and the day of the grotesque and repugnant in decoration is over. There is no doubt that buildings which are in themselves artistically beautiful, and where all is in keeping with this character have a most perceptible influence on the users. They become instinctively clean in themselves, careful in their use of books and papers, and the surroundings tend to promote studiousness. There is no reason why the casts of statuary from the Science and Art Department at South Kensington and the British Museum, should not be as available for Public Libraries as for schools of art and museums. Committees and commissioners find it difficult sometimes to keep a middle course in the selection of the newspapers and periodicals. At some libraries there is the charge made that the newspapers of one particular shade and colouring largely preponderate over the others of the opposite side. This ought not to be. All sections have to contribute to the library, and the interests of all sections should be considered. In one case thirteen papers of one side were taken and four of the other. Of these, twelve, all representing one side, were displayed on stands, and only two of the other section. This was manifestly unfair, and wherever this is the case a scandal is sure sooner or later to arise. Let the stamp of “ no politics ” and “ no creed ” be about everything done by the committee or commissioners. These would do well to strictly avoid purchasing denominational papers; though they can, of course, be accepted as gifts should they be offered.Public Libraries. 364 If once introduced there will soon be a very long list, for every “ ism ” will want to be represented. There are a few persons who frequent libraries who seem to interpret the word “ free ” to mean that they are at liberty to cut or mark the books provided at the expense of the ratepayers, and to abstract passages or advertisements in the newspapers at their pleasure. There is something peculiarly mean in this abuse of the libraries, and library committees are often at a loss how to put a stop to it. There is an obnoxious class of readers who take the liberty of marking on the margin of the volumes they read passages to which they attach some special interest; in other cases passages are underlined. There is a still more obnoxious class who write on the margins their comments on the text. These literary snobs take advantage of a common privilege and inflict upon intelligent readers their egotistic observations. It would be a genuine satisfaction to all who know how to use a book which is public property to see a few of these persons in the police court or before the county-court judge, as the educational influence of such an experience would be likely to teach them something which they do not at present appear to know. There is also another class who should receive attention, and that is the letter-writers or commercials copying out their orders, and the loafers who seem to infest every public building. The question of an insufficient revenue with which to do a large and rapidly extending work is a serious one, but this is a matter which can scarcely be dealt with here. The towns where this is most felt are settling the question for themselves. Whether there are means outside the penny rate is not very clear. This does not apply to bazaars being held to produce a much-needed sum for alterations or other purposes. At Penrith, Denton, Darlaston and other places, bazaars for this purpose were very successful. Bazaars bring so many workers into the field and excite so much interest that they might be resorted to more frequently than is the case. If they are feasible for charities they should surely be practicable for Public Libraries. The question has over and over again arisen as to permitting the use of the lending library to persons outside the borough, on payment of a subscription yearly or half-yearly in advance. Doncaster, Worcester, Beading, Chesterfield, Millom, and other libraries already do this. The view is that libraries have no legal power to lend books to persons residing outside the municipal borough, nor under any conditions to make a charge for borrowing. The Acts expressly state that all libraries, art galleries or museums established under the Act shall be open to the public free of all charge. This might be construed to mean that the newsrooms shall be free, but the context and spirit of the Acts tend to show that the libraries are to be free of all charge to the users other than the rate. It is most desirable that libraries should have this power, but local circumstances would always determine the desirability of carrying it out. The question of subscription rooms and subscription libraries conducted in connection with Public Library work mayPublic Library Committees and Commissioners. 365 be left for the present. The time will come when these will find no place in Public Library work. The desire for outlying townships amalgamating with the large centres is spreading, so that an increased ratable value will come about, and the book wants of those at present outside the boundaries of municipalities possessing Public Libraries will be met. There is good ground for thinking that the original framers of the Public Libraries Acts meant the penny only for maintenance, and looked to the local governing body, or local benevolence, to provide the building. It is reasonable to expect that Town Councils and Local Boards should do more out of their General Purposes funds for library buildings than is at present the case. Libraries cannot afford to lose the fines for detention, the small charge for the renewal of tickets, or any of the other usual subsidiary sources of income. Postcards, advising borrowers when a particular book for which they have inquired is in the library, and charged a penny each, are a source of small income, but these are chiefly for the convenience of the users. The following examples may be quoted showing the income from fines, and vouchers or tickets, and amount spent annually for periodicals and newspapers. The abbreviations are—E., Fines; V., Vouchers; P., Periodicals and Newspapers:— Ashton, P. £95 ; Aston, F. £35, P. £50; Barrow, F. £45, V. £18, P. £83 ; Bilston, F. and V. £56, P. £40 ; Birkenhead, F. £54, V. £15, P. £109 ; Birmingham, F. V. and Catalogues £652, P. £488 ; Blackburn, P. £46 ; Blackpool, P. £53 ; Bolton, F. £53 ; Bootle, P. £40 ; Bradford, F. £159 ; V. £38, P. £312 ; Bridgewater, P. £45 ; Brierley Hill, P. £27 ; Bristol, F., V. and Catalogues £468, P. £369 ; Cambridge, F. £45, P. £118; Carlton, P. £10 ; Cheltenham, F. £78, V. £22, P. £55 ; Clitheroe, P, £13 ; Coventry, P. £47 ; Darlington, F. £30, V. £12, P. £64 ; Derby, F. £50, V. £9, P. £86 ; Doncaster, F. £28, V. £40, P. £59 ; Dudley, P. £46 ; Ealing, F. £80, P. £44 ; Fleetwood, P. £30 ; Gateshead, F. £40, P. £65 ; Handsworth, P. £53 ; Hanley, F. £46 ; Harrogate, F. and V. £30, P. £40 ; Hinckley, P. £45 ; Kingston, F. £20, P. £45 ; Leamington,. P. £69 ; Leeds, F. £346, V. £200, P. £482 ; Leicester, F. £91, P. £93, F. £30; Loughborough, P. £23 ; Manchester, P. £2,053 ; Millom, P. £40; Newark, P. £36 ; Newcastle, F. £159, V. £19, P. £113 ; Northampton, P. £50 ; Northwich, F. £28 ; Norwich, F. £58, P. £68 ; Nottingham, F. £114 ; Plymouth, F. £50 ; Portsmouth, F. £50, P. £65 ; Preston, F. £50, Y. £10, P. £82; Reading, F. £34, P. £100; Richmond, P. £58 ; Sheffield, F. £237, V. £66, P. £250 ; South Shields, F. £47, P. £71 ; Southampton, P. £75 ; Southport, F. £22, V. £20, P. £60 ; Stafford, P. £32; Stockport, P. £55; St. Helens, F. £34, P. £78 ; Warwick, P. £28; Wednesbury, F. £12, P. £40 ; Whitehaven, F. £24, P. £60 ; Wigan, F. £28, P. £65 ; Yarmouth, F. £33, Y. £12, P. £50 ; Aberdeen, F. £143, Y. £41, P. £89 ; Alloa, P. £40 ; Hawick, P. £35 ; Cardiff, F. £112, Y. £22, P. £102 Wrexham, P. £47; Dundalk, P. £25. As part of this subject there is the larger one that the full extent of the penny shall be used for library purposes. In not a few cases whenever there is any balance left, it is simply a saving to the Town Council, and does not go to the credit of thePublic Libraries. 366 Public Library. The balance of £1,500 at Preston, as a result of the savings for several years in readiness for the expenses which will come on the removal into the new building, has been a terrible bone of contention. A balance of as much as £80 has gone back into the borough funds at Stockport, and at Brierley-hill the unspent sum has gone to the credit of the Board. To avoid this the full extent of the rate should be spent in each individual year. There should be no saving from year to year, and no accumulating of the rate for any unreasonable time after the Acts are adopted before operations are begun; but this can only be obviated by the Library Committee having their own banking account and administering their own fund. It is not unreasonable to make this request, especially as there are several precedents—Plymouth in particular—where the instalments are placed quarterly to the credit of the honorary treasurer, who is a member of the sub-committee. This is a matter which should be pressed home; but in any case committees should see that they have the fullest fraction of the penny, and that no balance is allowed to go to the credit of the general borough fund. The fact of the Commissioners of the London libraries having a separate banking account is a strong reason why committees should be allowed to adopt the same plan. There is also need that the rate should be levied on the gross ratable value, and not on the net. The poundage for collection is now an illegal charge according to the Amendment Act of 1889. The question of obtaining powers by means of a Local Improvement Act to increase the rate is one grossly misrepresented by our friends the enemies in many cases. The necessity arises in some of the large towns where the need for branches is pressing. There are limits to what a penny rate will do. The income is not elastic, as committees and commissioners know full well. In all the cases, except two or three, where this special power has been obtained outside the Public Libraries Acts, the amount is limited to an extra penny. In the other cases they could levy more, but in no case does it exceed twopence. The public libraries established under special Acts, or which have been affected by a Local Improvement Act, are as follows:—Barrow, Birmingham, Brighton, Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham, Norwich, Oldham, Oxford, Preston, Sheffield, Southport, St. Helens, Walsall (applying), Wigan, Wolverhampton, Swansea, Dublin. The subject closely allied to this is that of the rating of Public Libraries; and no apology is requisite for stating that Public Libraries, museums and art galleries should be exempt not only from local rates but imperial taxation. Where library lecture-halls are rented, or a charge is made for admission to the special exhibitions in art galleries, it is different. So far as the local rating of these institutions goes it is simply a question of taking the money out of one pocket and placing it in another. How varied are the arrangements in operation will be seen on refer-Public Library Committees and Commissioners. 367 ence to the statistics. This exemption from local rates is clearly shown by 6 and 7 Yict. c. 36, which extends to England, Scotland, and Ireland. The title to exemption must rest on the following grounds:—That the institution exists exclusively for one or more of the specified purposes; that the land, houses, or buildings, or parts of houses or buildings, to be exempted are occupied by it, whether as tenant or owner, for the transaction of its work, and for carrying into effect its purposes; that the institution is supported wholly or in part from the rates or by annual voluntary contributions ; and that it does not, and by its laws may not, make any dividend, gift, division, or bonus in money unto or between any of its committee or those who use the institution. The official return as to the Income-Tax in relation to charities, moved for by Lord Addington and ordered to be printed recently by the House of Lords, has now been published. The present Lord Addington, in a powerful letter, called fresh attention to the subject in the columns of one of the London dailies. The return discloses nothing novel, but gives some interesting official facts. Among the list of charities hitherto exempt, but to which their new construction of the word “ charity ” has already made the Inland Revenue refuse the usual allowance, we note many well-known organizations. Side by side with the British and Foreign Bible Society, the Edinburgh Committee for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, the National Society, and the Moravian Mission, we see such educational trusts as Dulwich College, Monmouth Grammar School, King Edward’s School, Birmingham, St. Bee’s Grammar School, and the Working Men’s College Corporation. We also come upon several trusts for Public Libraries, and for hospitals, besides such philanthropic institutions as the Royal Humane Society, the Governesses’ Benevolent Institution, and many others. On May 14,1891, a question was put in the House of Commons by Sir E. J. Reed, the member for Cardiff, who asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his attention had been called to a decision in the case of the Aberdeen Commissioners of Supply v. Russell, from which it appeared that inasmuch as the money expended upon the buildings of a Public Library and museum was a mortgage on the rates and not on the buildings, income tax must be paid on the annual value of the buildings in addition to the tax on the annual payment for interest—that was to say, the tax would have to be paid twice upon one set of buildings ; whether he was aware that with a maximum penny rate under the existing law the income was barely sufficient in the case of Cardiff and other large towns to keep the institution going, and whether, under those circumstances, he would introduce a clause in the bill now before the House for exempting such Public Libraries and museums from the payment of income-tax under schedule A, and thus relieve those very important public institutions from the evil which threatened them. Mr. Goschen said he understood the case would probably come beforePublic Libraries. 368 the High Court of Justice. The hon. member would, therefore see that it would be premature to consider whether the law could be altered until the High Court had given a decision as to what the law practically was. At the time of writing this decision has not been given. There is much diversity in Public Libraries and local rating. Some are totally exempt, some partially exempt, and some have to pay all local rates. The following are totally exempt:—Ashton-under-Lyne, Birkenhead, Birmingham, Blackburn, Buxton, Cambridge, exempt through Sir John Patteson’s award Act between the University and the town, Chiswick, Darlington, Derby, Devon-port, Doncaster, Dudley, Exeter, Gateshead, Gosport, Hanley, Harrogate, Loughborough, Macclesfield, Nantwich, Newark, Newport, Northampton, Northwich, Norwich, Nottingham, Plymouth, Poole, Reading, Richmond, Sheffield, Southampton, Staleybridge, Stoke, Sunderland, Truro, Warwick, Fulham, and St. Martin’s. These are not exempt:—Barnsley, Barrow, Bolton, Bradford, Burslem, Cheltenham, Croydon, Darwen, Denton, Ealing, Hey-wood, Middlesborough, Oldham, Preston, St. Helens, Salisbury, Salford, Stockport, Stockton, Walsall, Warrington, Camberwell, Southwark, Clapham, Hammersmith, Kensington, Putney, Rother-hithe, Westminster, and Wandsworth. The following are partially exempt:—Bootle, one half remitted, Brighton, pay poor’s rate, Bristol, Chesterfield, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Penrith, South Shields, Chelsea, and Clerkenwell. In October, 1890, the Commissioners of the Putney Library issued the following circular:— The Commissioners of the Putney Library, after being exempted from payment of poor and local rates for two years past, by virtue of holding the certificate of the Registrar-General of Friendly Societies under 6 and 7 Viet. c. 36, have recently had a demand made upon them for payment of these rates. The Commissioners have been advised on the matter, and after exhaustive examination and consideration of cases bearing on the question, and of the intent and meaning of the section of the Act, are quite satisfied that the exemption given under 6 and 7 Viet. c. 36 can be claimed for the Public Libraries. They have, therefore, decided to appeal against the assessment at the next Quarter Sessions, and, if necessary, to carry the case to the High Court (a case has never been taken to the Higher Courts by a Public Library established under the Public Libraries Acts); but in order to do this they ask the Commissioners and Committees of other libraries to give them whatever pecuniary assistance they can. Several libraries have voted sums in support of action taken by the Commissioners of this library, since, if the case be decided in favour of the Putney Library, other libraries will, at once, be able to avail themselves of the decision. No further legislation in library matters can take place, it is thought, for some years. In the meantime, to obtain a certain decision as regards the intent of 6 and 7 Viet. c. 36, would be of great advantage. The development of this question is awaited with interest. No further steps have as yet been taken by the Putney Commissioners. The advisability or otherwise of opening temporary roomsPublic Library Committees and Commissioners. 369 between the adoption of the Acts and the completion of a permanent building is a question of great importance. After very careful thought and inquiry, the writer has come to the conclusion that where a permanent building is likely to be erected and ready for use during a period not exceeding two years, the opening of temporary rooms is quite unnecessary. Temporary rooms, in a number of instances, are far from successful from the point of view of a good beginning of the work, although in point of attendance and use made of them they have far exceeded expectations. The purchasing, classifying, and cataloguing from 5,0C0 to 10,000 volumes should have at least twelve months devoted to it, and the supervision of temporary rooms necessarily takes away the attention of the librarian from this more imx^ortant work. The cost of providing newspapers and periodicals for temporary rooms is almost as much as for a permanent building. One grave objection against temporary rooms is that they become in crowded districts too frequently the resort of “ the great unwashed,” to the exclusion of the “ great washed.” In a large building this tendency disappears, for there is more room for the mixing of the classes of society, a result so desirable. Temporary rooms fritter away the rate without affording any adequate advantages to the people. They are, as a rule, so badly lighted and ventilated that the work begins altogether under depressing auspices, and there is grumbling and disappointment. The prestige which comes from the erecting and opening of a specially-designed building is absent where temporary newsrooms, and perhaps a lending department, are first opened. It is, of course, impossible to lay down any fixed rule, but the expenditure of several hundred pounds in making temporary rooms habitable, merely to be used for two or three years, should only be entered into with consideration, care, and forethought. In small districts the same arguments would naturally not apply. As to the advisability or otherwise of opening branch libraries, much may be said for and against. The demand for branches comes, of course, from the ratepayers in the outlying districts who say that they are too far away from the central depot to avail themselves of it, while they have at the same time to contribute to it. This is reasonable, but, except in the larger towns, this question of branches should be looked at from all points of view. One wrell-equipped and efficiently administered library is. better than a half-starved central building and two or more branches. Every branch opened tends to drain the parent institution, and there is already so much careful expenditure required that most libraries have reached the very limit of what it is possible to do with a penny rate. It does seem that where the furthermost limits of a town do not exceed two miles from the central library, a branch is not absolutely necessary. Instead of expensive branches with separate staff and stocks of books, one good central building would appear the best, and Board Schools used as newsrooms, or for branch lending departments. The fact is already recognized that to place libraries in the midst 2437° Public Libraries. of people induces at once a use of those libraries. It is further admitted that a central building, were it never so large, would be unable to meet the demands made upon it were there no branches. The whole .matter is tentative, and no definite rule can be laid down. It is purely a question of ways, means, and the fullest efficiency and completeness. If in the meantime it does something to check the universal demand for branches the object for the present will be gained. The opening of delivery stations is a plan deserving of attention. Frequently this would obviate the necessity of a branch. In America these delivery stations are quite common. On certain days the books are collected and the new ones left. As a means of supplying outlying districts from the central library, it seems very practicable. Local post offices would frequently be convenient stations. Library insurance is an important matter. There seems to be a movement in Europe for the insurance of the great Public Libraries. Rare books and manuscripts, like pictures, it is true, cannot be “ insured ” in the strict sense of the word, since no amount of money can be an equivalent for the destruction of unique historical documents or paintings; money, however, is better than nothing. St. Gall has insured its splendid Stiftsbibliothek for the term of five years for £20,000, and its “ Yadiana ” for £4,800: Zurich, its library in the Wasserkirche for £12,040, and its manuscript collection for £3,600; Basel, its university library for £19,200; and Berne, its city library for £8,840. The Grand Ducal library at Karlsruhe has also been insured for £26,000. The magnificent libraries of the British Museum, of Berlin, Vienna, Paris, and Munich are still uninsured. Higher insurance should be resorted to, and the premiums ought not to be advancing, seeing how largely the electric light is coming into use in the reference and lending libraries. The charge is frequently brought before committees and commissioners that the books of which they have the general oversight are the means of disseminating infectious diseases. The statement is monstrously untrue, and invariably emanates from the avowed enemies of these institutions. It is doubtful whether there has yet been a single instance proved beyond the shadow of doubt where the books of a Public Library have been the means of transmitting disease, either among the library assistants or the public. But we are warned that books may carry those horrible “ germs,” or “ microbes,” or what not which sow themselves and yield a harvest of fever. Ere long there may be a demand that our public libraries be kept redolent of disinfectants, and that every book be fumigated or otherwise cleansed before it is returned to the shelf. The “ germs ” are becoming a terror of life. When we have foregone or disinfected our books, boiled our milk, analysed our water, killed our cats, declined to use a cab, adopted respirators, and sternly refused to shake hands with our friends, and adopted all the other precautions which are recommended against our microscopical bugbears, will it be worth while to go on living PPublic Library Committees and Commissioners. 371 Happily for our peace of mind the majority of us prefer to take the risk. It is not said that necessary precautions should not be adopted, and a rule or two in the bye-laws dealing specially with this subject ought to be embodied in the code of every such institution. The circulation of books in any infected family would of course be prohibited, and in the event of contagious disease appearing after a book had been borrowed, the latter should at once be disinfected, before being again placed in circulation. Compulsory notification to librarians of infectious disease among the families of their readers should be insisted upon. More stringent measures wmuld necessarily be applied to the case of persons borrowing from the library while themselves infected or living in an atmosphere of infection. Permission to obtain any book should be withheld for a sufficient time. The disinfection, or better still, if possible, the substitution of a new volume for one already taken out, should be insisted on, and any repetition of the first offence be held to justify exclusion from the benefits of the library for a considerable period. The work of disinfecting books is better done by the library authorities than by the borrower, and several methods are at present in operation. One suggestion goes to the extent of saying that the Local Government Board should be advised to take such legislative action as will enable it to impose a penalty on any inmate of an infected house who may make use of books from Public Libraries without notification. The compulsory notification of infectious diseases has now been dealt with by an Act of Parliament, which has placed the matter on a more satisfactory footing. At Dundee they have a simple apparatus in use when required. This consists of a sort of closed cupboard made of ordinary tinplate, with a lid at the top, a wire shelf half-way up, and a little door at the foot. By an arrangement with the sanitary inspector, all cases of infectious diseases are immediately reported to the library, and a notice is at once sent forbidding readers residing in such houses to return books until these houses are certified free of disease. At Sheffield they tried a system of heating the books in an oven to the temperature of boiling water, and that at the same time they should be exposed to the vapour of carbolic acid. By using boiling water or open steam as the source of heat a constant moderate temperature would be insured, and this with impregnation by the vapour of carbolic acid should secure the books being thoroughly disinfected. It is claimed that this plan does not injure the binding or cause the books to smell of the carbolic acid for very long afterwards. A curious experiment has been tried by the municipal authorities of Dresden. It having been suggested that infectious diseases were spread by means of books in libraries, a number of much-used volumes were taken from the town library, and the dust from the leaves and covers was sown in nutrient media and cultures reared, the result being that no microbes belonging to infectious diseases were found, the dust being in fact nothing but ordinary dust of a harmless character.372 Public Libraries. The simplest and best arrangement which has yet been introduced is the one in use at the Preston Public Library, and the invention of the librarian. A sketch of it is shown. It is a metal fumigator made from 16th wire gauge sheet iron, with angle iron door-supports and side-shelf rests. Its weight is 3 cwt. 1 qr., and the cost of it was £6 10s. Compound sulphurous acid is burned in a small lamp, and a very little suffices to disinfect the books. The apparatus can be made any size. From four to live feet high, and the width in proportion, is a useful size. It should be raised from the ground by means of a wood frame. The shelves shouldbe perforated in order to allow of a free circulation of the fumes of the acid. When not in use it looks very much like a book-safe, and answers all the purposes of one. Let it be again stated that librarians with twenty-seven to forty years’ experience of Public Library work have never known or heard of disease being communicated by books to readers dr even to the assistants who are BOOK DISINFECTING- APPARATUS. constantly handling the books and breathing the air of the rooms in which they are placed. As a matter of considerable importance, it may be suggested that books in constant reference, such as directories, gazetteers, encyclopaedias, and others might be placed for use by the public, so that it would not be necessary to take up the time of the assistants in asking for them. Wherever possible, juvenile libraries should be started. These are extending everywhere, with specially selected books and catalogues, and are doing good service. Books for the blind should certainly not be overlooked, but if these are already to be found, and are accessible at some local institution for the blind, there is not so much need to obtain a large number at the library, and what are secured should be more recent books than those at the local institutions. The question of hours is an important one, but it is impossiblePublic Library Committees and Commissioners. 373 to lay down a fixed rule for all districts. For lending and reference libraries, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. is, except in special cases, quite sufficient. For newsrooms in large towns 10 p.m. is not an unreasonable time. There should be for the chief librarian and his assistants two to three hours off each day, and an entire halfday holiday per week should be given. The chief librarian should not be expected to be at his post more than two or three evenings a week after 6 p.m. No matter how well a Public Library is managed, and how near infallibility a librarian may come, somebody is sure to “ rush into print ” over some petty imaginary grievance or other; and much injury has often been done to a good librarian by some anonymous scribe or other, who aired himself in the local press. In nine cases out of ten these letters of complaint are from either crotchetmongers or people who suffer from a chronic tendency to fault-finding. And in the majority of cases the librarian or his assistants will be in the right and the complainant in the wrong. These complaints cover a variety of topics. At one time it will be that the committee turn themselves into literary censors simply because they will not add certain books which these busy bodies suggest. At other times it will be that they allow their political proclivities to influence their choice of books, and that political pamphlets of one shade are to be found on the tables of the reading-room, and not pamphlets of the other side. This latter fact would be explained by the pamphlets having been given, only an anonymous letter in the press eases the feelings of the complainants so much more than asking a question from the librarian respecting the presence of these political books on the tables. It is significant that in all parts of the country these anonymous letters reflecting on the management of Public Libraries are becoming fewer as the years pass by. From some points of view it would thus appear that Public Libraries had suddenly emerged out of the long clothes of the nursery into the full light of public gaze. Certainly this would be gathered from the flood-gates of criticism which have been within a year or two turned upon them. And they have come out of the ordeal remarkably well, and there can be no doubt that in nearly all the places where they have been established the ratepayers have very inexpensive institutions. Public Libraries will challenge comparison with Board Schools, and all other public expenditure out of which the people get twenty shillings worth of real value for every pound sterling invested. If all other public money were equally well spent we should have less rates to pay, and it would be better for the people all round. The amusing part is that an attack on the expenditure for street cleansing, lighting, police, and prisons is a matter of rare occurrence, and the wrath of some economists centres round this nimble penny or the School Board rate. We are a nation of small economists, and meekly swallow the huge camel of extravagance. Public Libraries do not shirk criticism, and, like all other experimental national efforts, they must bear with a good deal of374 Public Libraries. this commodity. It will do the institutions no harm, but on the contrary will bring the more publicity to their operations, and cause friends and foes to take sides. One thing the critics should bear in mind in making comparisons in the working of Public Libraries. Scarcely any two have exactly the precise method of tabulating statistics, and more uniformity in this respect would be acceptable, but to that we shall come all in good time. A system is not built up in a day, whether it be a solar system or a library system. It may be said that few towns are exactly on all-fours with regard to the people and their book needs. Certain universal traits of character are to be found everywhere, but there are some local idiosyncrasies which count for something. The writer, although accustomed to move about the country from extreme north to extreme south, has noticed this particularly when going about the libraries of the country during the last few months. Some libraries class together fiction, poetry, and the drama. Some are open longer hours than others, or have more branches. Some lend three-volume novels at a time and count each volume in the returns, while again they may lend for seven or fourteen days. The condition of the local industries nearly always materially affects the returns of the library for that period. These institutions are in fact serving as useful barometers of the state of trade in many districts. Several towns have finer, more centrally situated premises than the rest: whilst in some cases there is congestion, attributable to an unworkable committee and chairman who have been placed in their present position for political purposes, and who abominate the Public Library and all its works. This is no pun, but sober fact, and were it not for the force of public opinion against them they would throw every possible obstacle in the way of the library’s work. As it is, they starve the shelves and bully the librarian. These are all factors which produce their effect; and while the spirit of emulation among libraries should be encouraged, the plan of making comparisons in favour of one or more and against others is a method which should be received with great caution. It is becoming a favourite custom for librarians to give comparative returns in their reports of a number of libraries, and it would be easy to examine library statistics to infinite length. But after diving deeply among them for some considerable time, it is impossible not to come to the conclusion, that for the purposes of comparing town with town, or groups of towns together, there are so many differences in tabulating and in other directions, as already indicated, that the plan requires adopting with caution. Beyond the broad lines of work no two libraries are alike, and hence the difficulty of comparison. These are facts which should be kept very distinctly in mind, and comparative tables should not have any special value attached to them. Bad trade in one year or in certain trades will at once affect the returns, and good trade leaves less time for reading. A series of lectures on special subjects will even affect the returns, and as the weather, like chemicals, is at the bottomPublic Library Committees and Commissioners. 375 of a good many things, the state of the elements should not be left out of consideration. A wet season will keep people indoors to read, or send them to the reference library, and a dry season sends the people to the fresh air. Returns may go up or go down, and all the explanations which could be given one way or the other might not absolutely cover the ground. It is well to have statistics to see what each town is doing individually, but unfair comparisons must be guarded against, and this fact especially should be kept in mind by newspaper writers. In course of time there will be uniformity in statistics; but at present that is a much more difficult matter than it would appear, as before this can be done several radical changes in library administration will have to be made. Public Libraries will pass through the stage of criticism which they have now entered in the eyes of many of the public, and they will come out of the ordeal none the worse for the process. The essential fact remains that these institutions, if properly managed, may bring advantages of the highest order within the reach of even the poorest classes of the community. Nowadays, we all profess to be anxious about the education of the masses of the people. But real education can only be begun in elementary schools. If the children of the working classes are to be truly educated they must do something more than pass the fourth or the sixth standard: they must learn, as they grow to manhood and womanhood, to take an unaffected interest in things of the mind, and to carry on their studies not merely for the sake of material profit, but because they find in intellectual life the source of one of their deepest and purest pleasures. If this ideal is to be attained, there must be libraries where every one will be able to find the kind of books he or she may want. The total cost of the libraries in sixteen towns last year was £62,548, for a gross population of 3,097,212. This works out to a fraction less than 4|d. per head, adult and juvenile, of the combined population of these sixteen towns for the maintenance of these libraries and their branches last year. And what had the people in return P 1. In considering the cost of Public Libraries, it should in fairness be remembered that the expenditure incurred is not exclusively spent in providing books to read at home. The cost referred to includes the provision of an inviting and agreeable place to read in, instead of the more expensive and less salutary places which have absorbed so much of the time and money of the working and other classes. 2. Then, besides books for taking away, there is associated with the Public Library a reference library, a newsroom, etc., containing the best newspapers and periodicals to be found in this important branch of literature, much of which must be considered as very solid reading. 3. There are, in addition, at many of these places lectures, science and art classes, museums, and art galleries. This simple fact alone is worth volumes of statistics as to the classes of literature read by the people, and a host of other details376 Public Libraries. in figures. Friends of this movement may fasten opponents to this simple fact, and challenge them to produce another department of our national expenditure where there is for so small per head of the population so much far-reaching utility and solid actual value for public money spent. CHAPTER XVIII. Public Library Funds, Buildings, &c. When the vote is in favour of adopting the Acts the work of the provisional committee is at an end, so far as their immediate work is concerned, and the Town Council, or other governing body, will forthwith elect a library committee or commissioners, to whose care the organizing of the library will be entrusted. It is very essential that the members of this committee should be men of close sympathy with the movement, and who are willing to take upon themselves the labour, which is not by any means light, of the formation of a library. Two or three members of the committee should be deputed to visit the Public Libraries in some of the large centres, and so gain a practical insight into their working and management. Every librarian worth the name will only be too glad to answer questions and to show such visitors over the premises under his control. It is very essential that there should be on this committee a fair percentage of burgesses, as mentioned in the previous chapter. For many reasons this is wise. In most towns there are a number of shrewd, farseeing men of too retiring a disposition to seek municipal honours, who would on a library committee be a decided acquisition. They are not responsible to constituents, as are the representatives on the Council, and so look at some matters from a different standpoint. Most towns are now adopting the plan of having burgesses on this committee, and some towns have even gone to the extent of having five-sixths of the number elected from outside. The question of funds is, of course, the all-important one, and if the provisional committee have succeeded in securing a handsome list of promises of donations, on condition that the Acts be adopted, all the better, and this will be found an immense lever in bringing the ratepayers to a satisfactory decision. Promises for such a fund as this become infectious, and, either in the form of so much cash or so many books, they aid most materially in forwarding the movement. The names of those who give books and money go down to posterity in the history of the library, for the names should be published in the first report. Further than that there should be in books of reasonable value presented in quantities of say fifty or over, or books bought with the equivalent in money, which is better still, a neatly printed label bearing the name of the donor. There is scarcely another object which could be named which so powerfully appeals to the benevolence of all sections of society as this, A church or a chapel appeals tq aPublic Library Funds, Buildings, &*c. 377 section. The Christianizing of coloured races appeals to a section. But a Public Library provides the charity which begins at home, and which, when established, is for all classes, and continues for all time. The spirit of emulation thus helps and popularizes the movement, and these appeals are rarely made in vain. The question of loans has been a somewhat troublesome one, but no serious difficulty in this direction has been experienced, with the exception of one or two instances, where there were special causes to account for it. A glance at the paragraph on page 380 will show the indebtedness existing among these institutions, and from whence the loans have been obtained, and the terms of repayment. Two or three years ago a correspondence took place between the finance committee of the Birmingham Town Council and the Treasury, on the subject of the repayment of a loan for Public Library purposes, and as the principle involved and laid down is a very important one, the gist of these communications is here given. In accordance with the authority conferred by the Council, the committee caused to be presented to the Lords of Her Majesty’s Treasury, a memorial, in the name of the Corporation, praying for their lordships’ sanction to the borrowing by the Council of a loan of £6,150, for the following purposes, viz., for the purchase from the Council of the Midland Institute of certain portions of the institute building, for the purposes of the Central Public Libraries, £1,300 ; for defraying the cost to the institute of the alterations rendered necessary by the surrender of the said portions of the institute building, also of the cost to the Public Libraries of making the necessary alterations to divide the libraries from the institute building, together with the cost of connecting and adapting the new rooms to the purposes of the library, £1,500; for furnishing the wing of the reference library, temporarily used as an art gallery, with chairs, tables, and desks, for the accommodation of readers, £250 ; together, £3,050 ; for the purposes of the Constitution Hill Library, £400 ; for providing fittings, furniture, and casts for the School of Art, £2,700. In reply to this application a communication was received from the Treasury inquiring whether, if the proposed loan of £6,150, under the Public Libraries Act of 1885, was consented to, the Corporation would undertake by formal resolution to pay it as follows, viz. As to £1,300, £1,500, and £400, in thirty years from date of borrowing ; and as to three sums, making up £2,950, in ten years from that date. On behalf of the committee the Town Clerk replied, “ Your letter of the 27th August, 1885, has been laid before the finance committee of the Corporation, and I am directed to inquire under what statute the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury consider it to be their duty to impose conditions upon the Corporation with reference to the period for the repayment of the loans under the Public Libraries Act, 1885, taken in connection with the Birmingham Corporation Consolidation Act, 1883. Hitherto the Corporation have been under the impression that the application for the loan having been passedPublic Libraries. 378 by the Council, and public notice given of the same, and no objection taken, the loan would be sanctioned by the Lords Commissioners, leaving the Council to determine the period for repayment, having due regard to the purposes for which the money is to be applied. As the period of ten years appears to the Corporation too short a time for the repayment of the sum of £2,500 for providing fittings and furniture for the School of Art, and £250 for furnishing the new wing of the Reference Library, it is perhaps desirable that this question should now be raised.” In answer to this communication, a letter was received from one of the secretaries to the Treasury, in which he said, “ I am to state that in the opinion of this Board their general power under section 16 of the Act 18 and 19 Vic., cap. 70, to require repayment within a certain period if they choose to attach such condition to their sanction, remains unaffected by the provisions of the Birmingham Local Act. The effect of section 87 of the latter Act is to enable the Corporation to raise any sum they choose for Public Library purposes, but that fact does not compel the Treasury to assent to whatever period of repayment the Corporation may desire to fix in the case of particular loans. The Town Clerk is correct in stating that it has hitherto been left to the Town Council to determine the period for repayment of Public Library loans, but circumstances have brought very forcibly before my Lords the great and increasing pressure of local taxation, and they consider it to be of much importance to assert in the case of Public Library loans the same principle as that suggested by Parliament in the Municipal Corporations Act of 1882, sec. 112, viz., that the generation which incurs the debt should also pay it whenever practicable. The Municipal Corporations Act prescribes thirty years as the proper period of repayment of loans raised under that Act, and my Lords consider that Public library loans generally should have no longer currency. With regard to furniture and fixtures, the rule my Lords have acted on not infrequently, in connection with loans under various Acts, has been to require repayment in ten years, as it is manifest that a loan for the acquisition of articles liable to deterioration, breakage, &c„ should not have an equal currency with loans for the acquisition of land or the erection of substantial buildings. If, however, the fixtures in the present case are of a solid and durable character, my Lords would not refuse an extension to twenty years of the currency of that part of the loan which represents their value.” The Town Clerk rejoined with a communication respecting the interpretation of the law, enclosing a memorandum by the chairman of the finance committee, and, on the committee’s behalf, stating that, on the whole, looking to the permanent character of the Midland Institute and Public Libraries buildings, he was instructed to ask that the sums to be borrowed for the purposes of purchase of buildings and structural alterations might be extended to sixty years, while the committee were willing to accept a period of twenty years as a reasonable period for the very substantial furniture that will be placed in the libraries. ThePublic Library Funds, Buildings, &c. 379 following is the memorandum prepared by the chairman of the finance committee, referred to in the foregoing letter :—“ Public Libraries Loan. I have read the Treasury letter, and I think that the Corporation ought to press, as a matter of principle, for a term of at least sixty years, for such portions of the loan required as are to be expended upon works of a permanent character. The sum involved is not large, but the principle is important. The Treasury state that circumstances have brought forcibly before them the great and increasing pressure of local taxation. Capital expenditure, for the purposes of Public Libraries, is a necessity which it is impossible to avoid; and the very way to make that expenditure burdensome is to place the charges in respect of it upon one generation only, by refusing to extend the loan over a term of years commensurate with the life of the works which it represents. Since posterity will get the benefit of the improvements, it appears that those who have brought them about should be charged with no more than the use or hire of the means which effected the desirable result. Under the present system the men of to-day will make a free gift to the men of to-morrow. Why should they do this? Let both parties share the burden fairly. Applying this principle to the items in the proposed loan, which represent permanent structure, it would clearly be unfair to accept the suggestion of the Treasury that the term of thirty years, laid down in the Municipal Corporations Act, should be applied to portions of the present loan. Under all the circumstances, I am clear that the Treasury should be pressed to extend the term for portions of the proposed loan to sixty years; and it would seem probable that they would not be indisposed to yield. To accept their present ruling would be to admit their right to determine the period of the loan; while to contest it, would be to assert the right of the Corporation to, at any rate, a voice in the matter.” The reply from the Treasury further contested the view of the finance committee, and said: “It is of course open to Parliament to fix any term of years that may seem good for the repayment of loans raised by Municipal Corporations, and to extend, or alter existing limits ; but my Lords hold that where, as in the Public Libraries Act, Parliament has not seen fit to specify the duration of loans raised under it, but has expressly subjected them to Treasury approval, they have been invested 'with a discretionary power to limit the currency of such loans. The power to give or withhold approval implies the powTer to attach to the approval any conditions that are not inconsistent with other provisions in the Act. The enormous growih of local indebtedness during recent years has led my Lords to consider it their duty, wherever practicable, to apply to Public Library loans the same limit of thirty years that Parliament has indicated in the Municipal Corporations’ Act as the maximum currency of ordinary loans raised by such corporations under Treasury sanction, even though they may be for the purchase of land, or erection of permanent buildings. As pointed out in the statement of your financial committee, such a limitation increases the immediate burthen of capital expenditure,Public L ibravies. 380 but for that very reason its inevitable result is to restrict the amount of that expenditure .... Expenditure on the libraries can easily be graduated according to the capacities of each generation ; they do not necessarily involve a large scheme of expenditure which must be carried out at once as a whole, if at all, as is often the case with such works as water supply or drainage. My Lords, therefore, can only sanction the raising of a loan of £6,150 by the Corporation of Birmingham, under section 16 of the Public Libraries Act of 1.855,-18 and 19 Vie., cap. 70, repayable as follows, viz.:—£3,200, for purchase of land and for buildings, repayable in thirty years from the date of borrowing; £2,950, for furniture and fittings of a durable kind, repayable in twenty years from the date of borrowing.” It is somewhat unfortunate that this correspondence should have arisen with the Birmingham libraries. The Public Library indebtedness of that town reached £78,000, repayable in a hundred years. It may be claimed with every reason that thirty years is too short a period for loans for buildings. Sixty, or at least fifty years should be the limit for buildings as well as sites, and for this latter period the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, as well as some of the insurance companies, are prepared to advance loans for library purposes, on the security of the rates, at 3§ per cent, and equal payments, extending over that period. Some of the inspectors of the Local Government Board are disposed to look kindly upon loans for fifty instead of thirty years for these institutions. To many libraries the difference in the repayments between thirty and fifty years makes a most vital difference. But as the question now stands, the invariable rule is fifty years for sites, thirty for buildings, and ten for fittings. The following are the loans in connection with Public Libraries, rate of interest, terms of repayment, and source from whence obtained:— Birmingham, £78,000, for 100 years, from various sources, at 2| to 3J per cent. ; Blackburn, £8,000, Police Superannuation Fund, for forty years, at 4 per cent. ; Bolton, £3,000, Preston Savings’ Bank ; Bootle, £7,400, for thirty years, at 4 per cent., and two smaller loans for ten and twenty years ; Bristol, £8,000, private loan for five, seven, and ten years, at 3f per cent. ; Brixton, £1,730, for thirty years, at 3J per cent. ; Cheltenham, £10,000, Royal Liver Friendly Society, for thirty years, at 3f per cent. ; Chesterfield, £1,000, Royal London Friendly Society, at 4 per cent. ; Derby, £500, from private source, at 4| per cent. ; Dudley, £2,000, for thirty years, at 4J per cent. ; Ealing, £2,000, Friends’ Provident Institution, at 3f per cent. ; Exeter, £1,630, for thirty years ; Folkestone, £6,500 ; Gateshead, £7,850, from private persons, at 3f per cent. ; Handsworth, £3,000; Manchester, £18,530 ; Newcastle-on-Tyne, £24,000, private sources at 3J per cent. ; Northampton, £3,500, Hull Savings’ Bank, for thirty years, and £2,500 for sixty years ; Richmond, £4,099 ; Rochdale, £6,500 ; Rotherham, £1,900, for thirty years ; Sheffield, £31,959, from Superannuation Fund, at 2| per cent., repayment £500 annually ; Shrewsbury, £2,000, Lords Commissioners of H.M. Treasury ; South Shields, £2,825, at 4 per cent. ; Stockton, £2,266, Friends’ Provident Institution, 4 per cent., repay l-20th yearly ; Stoke,Public Library Funds, Buildings, &c. 381 £1,500, for fifty years, 44 per cent. : Walsall, £1,000 ; Warwick, £1,600, at 4 per cent. ; West Bromwich, £2,500, for thirty years ; Whitehaven, £650, for thirty years, 3§ per cent. ; Widnes, £700, at 4 per cent, ; Wimbledon, £4,000, from Prudential Assurance Company ; Yarmouth, £2,850, private source, for thirty years, at 34 per cent. ; Aberdeen, £2,400, private source, at 34 per cent., annual repayment £50 ; Dumbarton, £600, Caledonian Insurance Company, for thirty years, at 4 per cent. ; Edinburgh, £4,500 for books, repayable in five yearly instalments ; Grangemouth, £800, repaid by annual instalments of £50 ; Cardiff, £10,000, for eighty years, at 3J per cent, and 4 per cent. ; Swansea, £18,567, Corporation Loan Fund, at 34 per cent. ; Battersea, £14,000, London Count}T Council, at 3| per cent., £3,000 repayable in fifty years, £8,650 in thirty years, £2,650 in ten years ; Chelsea, £17,500 ; Clapham, £4,350, London County Council, at 34 per cent., £3,300 for thirty years, and £1,000 for ten years ; Clerkenwell, £6,000, Order of Foresters, 3| per cent., £5,500 repayable in thirty years, £500 in ten years; Hammersmith, £1,500, London County Council for five years, at 3| per cent. ; Kensington, £4,150 ; Wandsworth, £3,700, for thirty years. The question of adapted buildings has given a good deal of heart-burning. In the majority of cases the idea of purchasing a building, and adapting it, should not be entertained. Committees have naturally to be bound by the means at their disposal, and the requirements of the particular district where the library is to exist. There are local circumstances attaching to every town, which make it impossible to lay down a general rule. The cost of adapting buildings is usually so great that by the time the premises are ready for occupation they have perhaps cost the price of a new and specially constructed building. It is not now a rare occurrence that mechanics’ and literary institutes, and other buildings are offered on very advantageous terms for Public Library purposes, but it could scarcely be said of many of these buildings that they had been “adapted” for the new purposes. Economy in public expenditure requires to be carefully watched, but there is no branch of Our social system in which wise and courageous expenditure will more repay itself to the town or district than in that for educational purposes, and a Public Library is, in the truest sense of the term, an educational institution. Be determined then, in the first instance, to have a commodious building designed expressly for the purposes of a Public Library, and your townsmen will, if they oppose jsuch a scheme at first, be led, sooner or later, to see that this has been the wiser step. Let your Public Library be a building doing credit to the intelligence of the town, and upon which the citizens can look with pride and satisfaction. The requirements of a large library building are so numerous that no apology is required for devoting some space to a few matters of detail. The large library buildings of Derby, Newcastle, Birmingham, Dundee, and other places are conspicuous as monuments of the taste, culture, and architectural skill of the age. The paramount requirements of a large library building are: abundance of solar light, a generous provision of artificial light atPublic Libraries. 382 night, plenty of pure air of a suitable temperature, well-designed protection against the ravages of fire and against the deleterious influences of dampness. There should also be proper ventilation, convenient interior arrangements, durability of building materials, and stability of construction. Other considerations play a most important part, namely :— The proper selection of a site, which should be high and dry, for a book magazine requires the dryest soil and surroundings, as does a powder magazine. The location should be central and near one or more main thoroughfares, and yet not directly on such a thoroughfare as will inflict constant noise, dust, and other interruptions on the occupants of the library. There should also be kept in view the future extensions sure to be required before the final selection of a site, in order that no disagreeable surprises as to impossibility of enlargement may some time be encountered. There should be such distance between the library building and the nearest high structure as to render possible every necessary use of the direct rays of the sun. The design should be such as will minimise the dust getting into the library from the public corridors and passages. The methods of ingress and egress should be limited in number, but very liberal in proportion. The supply of water should be copious, well distributed through the building, and easy of access. Ample provision for the expansion of the book-holding capacity of the building, in order that the demands for the enlargement of the building, owing to the growth of the library, may be postponed to the farthest possible time. Easy approaches. In the reading-rooms fifteen square feet of space should be allowed to each reader. The production of a suitable design and style of architecture, which shall be in keeping with these requirements, and yet that the building have some points of architectural beauty, is a matter for the architects’ competitions. Several of the leading architects in the country are making a speciality of Public Libraries and museums, and we are now rapidly reaching a condition of a distinctive style of architecture for these institutions. It is significant that the most important library buildings of Europe owed their origin to the generosity of princes or ecclesiastical dignitaries, who gave palaces and other large structures to subserve the interests of learning. As these buildings were not originally intended for library purposes, they had to be adjusted to a new use, and from time to time enlarged. This has not tended to make them strikingly artistic buildings. The plan of asking six or more architects to send in designs is preferable to advertising for designs. A series of articles on Public Library buildings has been appearing in “ The Building News.” These are written from an architect’s and builder’s point of view, and contain much matterPublic Library Funds, Buildings, ¿W. 383 not only of interest, but of great importance, in the designing and construction of these buildings. Some time ago there was a controversy among librarians in the United States. The subject was whether the “ alcove ” or “ stack ” system of placing the books was the better, and several of the leading librarians of the country took part. Whether the individual racks upon which the books rest should be placed singly and flatly against the wall, which constitutes the rack system, or doubly, and at right angles to the wall, and project a small space into the room, say 5 ft., and placed, say 8 ft. apart, which constitutes the alcove system; or whether the racks should be placed close together, say 2£ft. apart, dividing the former alcoves into halves, which constitutes the semi-alcove system, between the alcove and the stack system; or, finally, whether these racks should be placed, say 2a ft. apart and extend across the room in parallel rows, which constitutes the stack system, is a matter of no concern to the architect, because whichever system for placing books is adopted must be acceptable to him, and he only wants time to make his arrangements to meet the preference demanded. In solving the problem just named the architect of the National Library at Washington, Mr. J. L. Smithmeyer, makes the following suggestions. He takes the case of a small library structure, to be put up to accommodate from 8,(XX) to 10,000 books, the interior arrangement to be so pliable that it will ultimately hold 26,000 books without enlarging or changing the building. As this matter has not been fully dealt with in any other chapter, it will be opportune to introduce it here. He takes a building one storey high for his purpose, 22 ft. by 40 ft. in the clear, and 10 ft. or 12 ft. high, having a skylight and side lights above the bookcases, which are only 7 ft. high. Ten books per cubic foot will be a good average for such a library. Deducting 4 ft. for the door at one end of the room, we have :— 18-22-40-40 ................ = 120 feet by 7 feet, height of rack. 120 by 7 feet .. ........... = 810 feet. 840 feet by 10 books ....... = 8,400 books. This number of books will be accommodated in,single racks, put against the wall. The centre of this room may be used for reading purposes. Should a greater capacity for books become necessary, twelve racks, say each 5 ft. long and 7 ft. high, might be placed in the room at right angles to the side walls, say 8 ft. apart (forming alcove). 12 single racks by 5 feet long ............................ 60 feet by 7 feet high..................................... 420 feet by 10 books ...................................... Deduct 12 square feet of wall space covered by racks 7 feet high at 10 books........................................... 60 feet. 420 feet. 4,200 books. 840 books. 3,360 books. The centre of this room may still be used as a reading-room. The next extension will, if needed, consist in the introduction of 16 more racks placed between the alcoves, and dividing them into halves. By this addition is gained—Public Libraries. 384 80 feet. 560 feet. 5,600 books* 1,120 books-. 4.480 books. The centre of this room may still be used as a reading-room. The last extension possible will be in the direction of abandoning the compartment type, and devoting the space now used for reading purposes to book racks. By this change will be gained fourteen more racks, or 9,800 books. These racks are placed in parallel lines the width of the room, say 3 ft. apart, with passages between them. 14 racks by 10 feet long ............................. = 140 feet. 140 feet by 7 feet ................................... = 980 feet. 980 feet by 10 books ...... .......................... = 9,800 books. This will make a total of—(1) 8,400; (2) 3,360; (3) 4,480; (4) 9,800. Total, 26,040 volumes. The plan suggested is rather ingenious, but is, at the same time, practicable. A short time ago a paper was read before the Architectural Association, contributed by Mr. Mountford, “On the Planning of Public Libraries.” Several London librarians were present, and took part in the discussion that followed. The fact of the paper being read shows the enhanced interest which, on all sides, is being taken in this question. Mr. Mountford considered the various apartments separately, and naturally began with the entrance-hall. As this is only a place of passage, he said that in arranging an economical plan, the tendency was to reduce the hall to a minimum. He urged that the hall should be as roomy as possible, on the plea that people coming and going to and from all the rooms opening out of it, probably often stopping to chat, a small hall must at times become inconveniently crowded. “It should,” he said, “ have an outer porch, wherein, before the library itself was opened in the morning, copies of the daily papers might be posted for the benefit of men who, being out of employment, want to see the advertisements in good time. The lending library must always be on the ground-floor, as near as might be to the principal entrance. Abundance of light was essential; and should top-lighting be out of the question, there must be plenty of windows, with reference to the position of which the book-cases 'would have to be arranged. The room should not be less than 13 ft. high, the windows being kept up as high as possible in order to throw light over the tops of the bookcases, and to permit dwarf bookcases being placed against the wall beneath them.” He devoted a considerable portion of his paper to the shelving of books; but, as this is dealt with in another chapter, it is unnecessary to again refer to it here. The need of the reference library being in the quietest part of the building is recognized by all. He leans to the view that the elevation should be rather of a municipal than domestic in character. It should be noted that 16 racks by feet long..................................... 80 feet by 7 feet......................................... 560 feet by 10 books ..................................... Deduct 16 square feet of Wall space covered by rack 7 feet high at 10 books..........................................Public Library Funds, Buildings, &>c. 385 in the reference department the volumes would be nine, and not ten to the lineal foot. Wherever possible, in the plans for new buildings, a lecture-hall should be included. This, however, should not be higher than a first floor, on account of ingress and egress, and if over a lending library, a special floor to prevent the noise from disturbing the readers below should be constructed. Where the site permits of it a lecture-hall over the basement, and side by side with the lending library might be arranged. This with galleries round would then be the same height as a ground-floor lending library, with reference department as a first floor. Whilst referring to this matter, a suggestion of a Cambridge professor, of a design for libraries, certainly possesses the merit of being novel. The nucleus of the building consists of a circular reading-room, lighted by means of tall windows under the dome, and communicating with the rest of the library by eight radiating passages. Round this room the library proper winds by the prolongation of one wall; the whole is but one spiral passage carried on to any convenient length, to which light is admitted from vertical skylights under the roof. The height of the walls is supposed to be 20 ft., and the width of the passage about 24 ft.; this, however, is left an open question. Bookcases are fitted to the wall at right angles about 10 ft. in height, exceeding a little in depth the space dividing them. Both sides being used for storage of books, they afford as much accommodation as the adjacent division of the wall. Thus, for book accommodation, a wall to both sides of which these cases are attached represents (with the cases) a surface-measurement amounting to four times that of one side of it. Along the whole passage light galleries are intended to run, supported for the most part by the bookcases, by which means an easy access is afforded to the upper part of the walls. The practicability of this design for Public Library purposes may be doubted, but it is essential to build future libraries on such a plan as will allow of ready outward enlargement which may be necessitated by growth. If by any plan this can be effected economically, at the same time securing uninterrupted order and regularity in the internal administration, such a new departure in library construction as this will have served a good purpose. The cost of erecting a circular building far exceeds the cost of ordinary buildings, so this is a matter which would have to be considered. The reading-rooms should be made cheerful by the presence on the walls of maps, engravings, &c., and pieces of statuary in the room. It is remarkable, when gifts of this nature are once set going, how much can be done in securing donations for such purposes as these from the better-class townsmen. The writer is less in favour of separate reading-rooms for ladies and boys than would appear in the earliest editions of this work. Where there is one good-sized room, say of oblong shape, the tables for boys should be at the end nearest the desk of the assistant or caretaker. This would ensure the boys 25Public Libraries. 386 keeping quiet—a difficult thing to achieve sometimes when a separate room is allotted to their use. Our desire to see boys—the rate-paying citizens of the future—cared for in Public Library work is stronger than ever. But they learn quiet and orderly behaviour by being in the presence of their elders. The tables for the ladies might be placed at the extreme end of the room, and their presence in a large room aids the general decorum, and gives an appearance of cheerfulness and brightness to a news and reading-room. To say that frivolities are likely to go on by the sexes being in the same room in this way, would be an assertion only made by those who have never been in a large reading-room where this plan is in operation. This would reduce the number of small rooms for the librarian and his assistants to watch, and so their time would be economized for other work. A separate ladies’ room means very often a good deal of gossip, and sometimes it is from these rooms that fashion-sheets and plates from the monthlies are most missed. Ladies need not faint at this statement; but it happens to be unfortunately true. The public lavatory accommodation for both sexes should be of a very limited character, if provided at all, and it is greatly open to question if it is advisable. If it is extensive and the places are easily accessible they will be quickly turned into public conveniences, and there is no reason why this provision should be made out of the penny library rate. Much difference of opinion and controversy has occurred between even practical authorities upon the subject of ventilation. One of the best methods of ventilation is to have gratings in the outside walls below the floors, and other gratings in the floors placed so as not to be near any of the readers, and then some outlets or ventilating chimneys placed as near the ceiling as possible; by this arrangement not only are the rooms well ventilated, but the floors are also kept dry and free from rot. Where there is a chimney, a gas ventilation is frequently made use of; but this is expensive, and not in our opinion so good as the other method. However, if in the lighting a sunlight be used, a funnel may be carried to the outside, and will materially aid in the ventilation at night without extra expense, when it is most required, owing to the increased attendance. A library needs quite as much ventilation as a bedroom. The porous books absorb the impurities of the atmosphere as a sponge absorbs water. Piles of books, moreover, afford a multitude of crevices and crannies where impure air can stagnate. When this bad air cannot be taken immediately into the outer atmosphere it should be done by means of pipes or tubes, and a cowl should be fixed to the external outlet to prevent down draughts. When there is power in the building for the purpose of the electric light, it may be advisable to have a fan or Archimedean screw for the purpose of extracting the vitiated air. The electric light now coming into use in the large libraries is being found a decided boon. Where this is contemplated a basement, or better still an outbuilding, for the engines is, as aPublic Library Funds, Buildings, &c. 387 rule, essential. As in some libraries it is necessary to keep lights burning all day between the book-racks and dark corners, accumulators can be provided for these. The supply for these lamps can be drawn from storage batteries during the day until the engine is started at night. The application of electric lighting is growing so rapidly in importance, that in course of a few years it is probable few of the larger libraries will be lighted by gas. The effects of gas upon books is an important question that has for a long time rather vexed the minds of gas engineers and others. Gas has often been accused of rotting the bindings of books exposed to its heat and fumes on the upper shelves of libraries ; but the impeachment has as often been repelled. Some experiments show that brown calf leather, when exposed for 1,000 hours in a close chamber filled with thb fumes of burning gas, and kept by these at a temperature varying from 130° to 162° Fah., is seriously deteriorated ; its power of stretching being reduced by one-half, and its breaking strength in about the same proportion. It is also shown that heat alone is not the cause of these effects; for the same kind of leather, when heated over steam pipes to an average temperature of 196° Fah., for 1,000 hours, only suffered a diminution of stretching power from 13 to 9 per cent., while its breaking strength was reduced in the ratio of 36 to 23. Even when kept at an average temperature of 142° Fah., or about the same heat as the atmosphere of the close gas chamber, leather does not sustain any appreciable injury so long as the air is tolerably pure. All this is very strong against the use of open gas flames in close apartments containing books bound in calf leather. The cause of the deterioration of the leather under the influence of the products of combustion of coal gas is not far to seek. It is nothing more or less than sulphuric acid, round the hypothetical presence of which in the atmosphere of gas-lit rooms so much controversy has raged. The improvements made in lights lor public buildings have during recent years been very numerous. Many good burners which greatly improve the light from gas, and render it far less injurious than the old burners, are in the market. Sugg’s, Wenham, and Bray’s lights and burners, among others, may be named. There is one thing could be strongly advised, and that is the placing of a main gas tap in each department, so that the gas can be easily regulated or turned on, without inconveniencing the readers. The heating of the building is an important matter. A paper, on “ The Ventilating, Heating, and Lighting of Public Libraries,” was read by Mr. Greenhough, of the Reading Public Library, at the Reading meeting of the Library Association. In this he referred to the four methods usually in vogue for heating or warming libraries. These are hot-water pipes, steam pipes, hot air furnaces and fire grates or stoves. “ In warming by steam pipes,” he said, “ there appears to be some possibility of explosion by the bursting of the boilers, as well as some danger to be apprehended from fire by contact of the pipes with wooden surfaces. The principlePublic Libraries. 388 of using fire grates or stoves, whether opened or closed, is doubtless wrong. There is not only the danger to which the library itself is exposed by such fires, but it is certainly impossible to give anything like an even distribution of warmth to rooms heated by these means. A further and important objection is, the fact, that some proportion of the injurious products of combustion must pass into the air of respiration.” The hot air furnace is another undesirable mode of heating. The disadvantage attaching to this system is due to the contraction and expansion of the radiating surface, which loosen the joints of the furnace, and thus permit the gases of combustion to escape into the building with the hot air. He claims that the “ best method, on the whole, for warming libraries and reading-rooms is doubtless by means of hot-water pipes. The advantages of hot water over steam pipes, for heating purposes, appear to be: the cost for fuel is less; there is no danger of explosion; less repairs are required; the temperature in the pipes is maintained six to eight times longer after the fire is extinguished than it is in steam pipes; and the heat of the pipes can be diminished or increased by reducing or increasing the flow of hot water. The first cost for the erection of the apparatus for either of these two systems is said to differ but little when the work is done in an equally substantial manner. Where hot-water pipes are used they should be properly apportioned about the building, in order to insure an equal distribution of warmth ; and valves ought to be fixed at various positions in the pipes, so that the amount of heat to be given off may be regulated.” CHAPTER XIX. The Formation of Public Libraries. The two following chapters are devoted to a brief description of some of the principal methods of work adopted in British Public Libraries. It is not intended, nor would it be possible in the space, to present more than a series of short notes on those points which are connected with establishment and organization, and which should prove most serviceable in new libraries. There are so many different systems of management and such a variety of methods in vogue of dealing with minor points of detail, that to describe them all would be impossible in our limits, while to attempt to reconcile their divergences would be as hopeless as it would be unprofitable. It may be said, generally, that any system which fulfils the main objects of library administration, namely, to record and supply, is quite effective for all purposes, and it matters little whether it has been built up from the results of experiment or evolved from the mind by a logical process. The librarian, on being appointed, will naturally make a careful survey of the quarters in which his library is to be housed, andThe Formation of Public Libraries. 389 order his arrangements in accordance with the architectural conditions of the building. Before proceeding to describe the various kinds of furnishings it may be well to mention a few general principles which should govern the whole scheme of arrangement. These are embodied in the form of rules, with the reservation that the spaces given are the minimum for their several purposes. 1. No traffic should exist in any reading-room save what is necessary for the service of books and seating of readers, and no public room should be made a thoroughfare. 2. No passage for public traffic should be less than 4 feet wide. 3. The space between reading tables should be at least 6 feet. 4. The space between table ends should be 4 feet, and between table ends and walls the same, if there is a gang-way. 5. If possible, complete oversight of the news and reading rooms should be obtained by the staff while employed on their ordinary duties. 6. All exits from the public rooms should be within sight of the staff. 7. Each reader should have at least 2 feet of elbow-room when seated at a table. 8. All arrangements should be made with due reference to good lighting as well as convenience. 9. Spaces between double newspaper stands should be at least 6 feet, and between ends of same 4 feet. 10. A water supply for cleaning purposes should be provided on every floor. 11. No system of gas lighting should be adopted without very careful inquiry. With a reasonable prospect of getting the electric light, only plain gas fittings should be introduced. 12. Wood-block flooring, if it can be afforded, is preferable to ordinary boarding. 13. All taps, handles, screws, and everything in the way of fastenings in public rooms should be as carefully safe-guarded as are similar fittings in schools and lunatic asylums. The fingering, destructive spirit is often manifested in libraries. 14. For dividing departments on the same floor glazed screens are preferable to brick walls, on account of the superior oversight obtained. It should be noted that the spaces given above are merely for reading-rooms and not for public passages or staircases, for which the architect will doubtless provide ample and spacious accommodation. Shelving.—As the provision of storage for books is the very earliest duty which will call for performance it may be well to describe such fittings first. Good bookcases and fittings should invariably be provided for permanent buildings, as there is absolutely no economy in procuring cheap makeshift shelving which will only last a year or two before falling to pieces. Very serviceable bookcases can be made from selected, well-seasoned yellow pine, dressed, stained, and varnished or polished. For the economical shelving of books standard cases or presses should be adopted in preference to cases all round the walls, which are390 Public Libraries. not only wasteful as regards space, but always the cause of much unnecessary labour to the staff. Standards have the advantage of affording shelf space on Doth sides, and in a lofty room can easily be provided with a glass and iron mezzanine floor, carrying a duplicate series of cases to hold additions. Most architects favour the arrangement of bookcases into alcoves or bays round the walls in reference libraries, on artistic grounds, and many librarians manifest a similar predilection for the same reason. The arrangement certainly lends itself to effective treatment from an architectural point of view, but having regard to the requirements and conditions of ordinary Public Libraries—considerations of space for storage of books, and the fact that all persons may use them without introduction or guarantee—it becomes a vital necessity to have the books cut off from personal contact with readers. In a collegiate or proprietary library, where every reader is known, and the “help yourself” principle holds because readers know what they want in most cases, the objection to book-covered walls with reading-tables in the centre of the room is not quite so strong. But in general reference libraries where, in nine cases out of ten, the librarian knows better than the reader what is wanted, and where it is to be found, it is wasting time, space, and often light, to adopt anything but the standard style of bookcase. The experiment of giving readers direct access to the shelves may work well enough in places like the British Museum, where a parental government provides a large staff for the sole purpose of tidying up the misplacements of careless readers, but in libraries of the freely open description, such as those of Birmingham, Glasgow, and Liverpool, we are confident the arrangement would be productive of no good results. In some places the experiment has been made, and STANDARD BOOKCASE WITH SHELVES ON BOTH SIDES.The Formation of Public Libraries. 391 afterwards abandoned, or reduced to mere access to directories. In places like Cambridge, where it is said to be successful, we can only attribute the good results to some inherent honesty of the readers. Standard bookcases should be made to the dimensions shown in the illustration on page 390, with movable shelves, which ought not to exceed three feet or three feet six inches in length. Lending or reference bookcases, Avail or standard, should not exceed eight feet in height exclusive of cornice and plinth. Lower cases can be , . used if thought neces- i< =>| sary, but if space is a consideration the height is not excessive Avhen it is remembered that a middle-sized person can reach the top shelf Avith a step nine inches to one foot high. Higher cases than eight feet should not be used Avithout the intervention of a floor or gallery. Within the height of eight feet, and allowing for thickness of shelves, which need not exceed one inch each, ten shelves can be placed, on an average, in a lending library Avhere 8vo and 12mo books are chiefly kept. In a reference library nine shelves may be alloAved for the same height in ordinary standard cases, but in wall cases Avhere folios and quartos are stored, probably not more than eight shelves will be got. Wall cases should have a ledged base as in the illustration, and the enlarged shelf space thus obtained Avill be found of great service in storing large books. In extensive libraries special means must be devised for the storage of folio volumes. The lower part of wall cases can easily be enlarged to two feet or more in depth in order to admit very Avide folios, but it is a wiser plan to have such books placed in specially-built cases not more than three feet high, the tops of which can be used as work benches or for arranging new books. Bookcases of iron have also AVALL BOOKCASE AVITH LEDGEB BASE.392 Public Libraries. been introduced. These consist of a strong iron framework, formed of uprights held together by light iron stays, and the shelves are usually hooked on to rods secured to the uprights. Shelf fittings are made of various kinds both in wood and metal, but the most convenient and effective support is that made by E. Tonks & Son. With this the shelves can be spaced at any interval from one inch upwards, with very little trouble. This form of support consists of perforated metal strips into which small metal catches are fixed at intervals of one inch, on which the shelves rest. If the shelves are made all one uniform length, as they should be when possible, any alterations or re-spacing will be greatly facilitated. The fore-edges of all shelves should be rounded and polished, or varnished, but no varnish should be applied to any surface with which books come in contact. Dust protectors of scalloped cloth let in to the front under-sides of shelves are sometimes used. Leather for this purpose is not recommended, as it soon dries, becomes brittle, and crumbles to pieces. A space of 3 feet 6 inches should be left between each bookcase, and 4 feet between the ends of cases where there is a gangway. Three feet of space will suffice between ends of cases and blank walls. In calculating the number of volumes which a case will hold, allow ten volumes per lineal foot of shelf in a lending library, and ten shelves in a height of 8 feet as above. Thus, a division of a case with shelves three feet long will accommodate 300 8vo and 12mo vols. Reference books may generally be estimated at nine volumes per lineal foot, but in many cases this will be found to exceed the average number which can be stored in the space. This is, however, a handy and fairly accurate manner of calculating the capacity of shelves. Counters.—The lending-library counter should be 32 inches high and 18 inches wide, if an indicator is used. If not, 3 feet high by 2 feet wide. The length to be according to the size of indicator, and the service space required. A Cotgreave indicator occupies 5 lineal feet for every 4,000 numbers. A reference-library counter should be 3 feet high by 2 feet wide. Both should be provided with wickets and flaps giving access to the public side, and should be fitted behind with a liberal supply of cupboards for stationery, shelves, and drawers of various sizes. A number of wall or other benches or ledges should be provided, as readers in lending libraries frequently wish to lay down parcels or books, and the catalogues for public use require a resting place. Indicators.—There are several methods of showing to the public, by means of the device called the indicator, what books in a lending department are in use or on the shelves. There can be no question as to the utility of the indicator, not only as saving the time and labour of the staff, but as a convenient intermediary between the library officials and the public. By its use the need for elaborate systems of book-keeping is obviated, and greater rapidity and accuracy of service are attained. The principal393 The Formation of Public Libraries. object of every indicator is to display by means of numbers differently coloured, or numbered spaces left blank or otherwise, shown in a glazed frame facing the public, the books which are to be had for reading. Several mechanical devices have been used at various times to effect the objects above described, but it was not till 1870, when Mr. John Elliot, public librarian of Wolverhampton, brought forward his indicator, that anything of practical value was achieved. The contrivances used previous to 1870 were mere makeshifts for the use of the staff, and designed simply with the LIBRARY INDICATOR. FlG. 1. special object of saving the labour of looking for books which were in use. With this the readers had no concern, nor did it in any way assist their quest. The Elliot indicator (Fig. 1) is therefore the first invention which had any real value in the working of libraries, and was the pioneer of every subsequent device for the simplification of service ; and, it may be said, the improvement in the relations between reader and librarian. It is preferred by some librarians to any of the more recent systems, and has been worked successfully in a number of large libraries for many years.394 Public Libraries, As is illustrated on p. 393 it has the book numbers arranged in consecutive order on a series of uprights, and against each number is a small vacant shelf or pigeon-hole. When a book is issued its number with the date is written in the borrower’s card, which is placed on the shelf opposite the number of the work on the indicator, and remains there till the book is returned. The presence of a card against a number of course indicates that the book so distinguished is out. The whole issues of a day are noted on a specially ruled sheet or book kept for the purpose. The indicator (Fig, 2) designed, in 1879, by Mr. Cotgreave, librarian of West Ham, consists of a large frame divided by tin slides into small compartments, in the manner shown above. Each compartment contains a small reversible metal case which holds a ledger representing a volume in the library, and for recording its issues. The ends of each case are turned up and carry theThe Formation of Public Libraries. 395 number of the book in two colours, one to face the public when the book is in, and the other when it is out. As a means of detecting books which have been kept by readers beyond the period allowed, the same patentee has invented an adjunct to his indicator in the form of small slides or clips of different colours for covering the numbers of books in use. For example, if yellow slides are used to cover the numbers issued in one period, red the following, blue the next, and black the last period, it follows that any yellow slides remaining in the indicator when blue and black are current, denote books which are overdue. But there are other methods of showing the same thing in a less expensive and cumbersome manner described in the following chapter. The record of daily issues, in most libraries using this indicator, is kept in a special book or on sheets. The “ Duplex ” is the name given to an indicator designed by Mr. Robertson, public librarian, Aberdeen. It is a very ingenious contrivance, with modifications to save time at the moment of issuing books, and an automatic method of showing overdue volumes apart from the indicator itself. It occupies more space than the indicator illustrated on the opposite page, but has the advantage of serving as a rough catalogue. The Elliot indicator can also be made to serve as a catalogue. Further particulars relating to the working of the indicator, and its application to the books in the library, will be found in the following chapter. Reference should be made to the “ Magazine ” indicator, recently introduced by Mr. John Elliot, of Wolverhampton. It is described as follows in a Wolverhampton paper:—“The new indicator is on the same principle as the old ones, consisting of twelve narrow columns, in an enclosed wood frame, each column containing fifty small tinned receptacles for the insertion of the pass-books. At the head of each column are neatly printed the different months of the year from January to December, whilst down the outside wood margin at each end are the titles of the respective magazines taken in. It will thus be seen that as in the case of the ordinary library indicator, a would-be borrower can see at a glance what magazines have been lent out and those still available for issue; whilst, on the other hand, the library assistants can readily ascertain in each case, by reference to the pass-books, to whom any particular magazine has been lent, and if detained beyond the time allowed for reading, can at once communicate with the borrower' requesting its return.” It should also be mentioned that there is a Cotgreave Indicator for periodicals, more recently introduced, designed to effect the same objects as the “ Magazine ” one of Mr. Elliot. Tables, Chairs, newspaper Stands, etc.—Tables for the reading-rooms should not be too long or too narrow. Three feet broad by ten feet long will be found very convenient dimensions, but the length must be decided by the size of the rooms. It is important to have them broad enough to admit of readers beingPublic Libraries. 396 seated on both sides, as a great amount of unobtrusive but effective oversight is gained by the readers overlooking each other. Magazine or news-room tables should be about 2 feet 6 inches high, but in a reference library where much writing is done the tables can be made two or three inches lower, and a few should be made in the shape of desks. The framing of the tables should not be so deep as to interfere with the comfort of persons sitting at them. In some libraries a form of table has been used which seems to obviate the discomfort very often caused by table-rails of too great a depth. This is a table without the customary corner legs and side rails, the top of which is supported on a centre rail with cross pieces, and standing on pillars at the ends, which offer no obstruction to the knees. Chairs should not be too heavy or clumsy. Heavy chairs are very noisy, require great expenditure of energy to move, and, besides being expensive, are a source of endless trouble to keep clean. A strong, light chair without arms, having a seat 18 or 20 inches from the floor, with a hat-rail attached, and the legs shod with stout leather to deaden the noise of moving, will be found admirably suited for all purposes. Arm-chairs in news-rooms will be found a decided advantage where space is valuable, as by using them tables may be dispensed with. It is a wise provision to order a dozen or two more chairs than are actually required, as it is then possible to withdraw chairs to be cleaned without lessening the sitting accommodation; besides, a few spare chairs will be found useful on other occasions. Newspaper stands should be made to hold papers opened out on both sides. The illustration shown above will display better than can be described the dimensions and form of the ordinary type of stand. The brass rail running along the front to prevent readers leaning on the papers can be omitted if needful. They should be very strongly made, with a base large enough to prevent overturning. Yellow pine is a suitable material, but oak, American walnut, mahogany, and other hard woods are preferable where cost is not an object of moment. The newspapers should be secured by brass rods passing over the middle of the paper and fastened to the lower part of the desk. The slope of the desk ought not to be very great, because the more acute theThe Formation of Public Libraries. 397 / pitch is the easier are the papers read, but care must be exercised to choose a slope which will help to prevent the drooping and continual doubling down of corners, which seems almost unavoidable in the case of ordinary penny papers. A |-inch beading along the bottom edge will save much of this hanging tendency. A pitch of from 12 to 15 inches from the centre is ample. Where space is a consideration and funds for furnishing scarce, it is a point well worth keeping in mind that for weekly newspapers stands are not absolutely necessary. An ordinary clip-rack, somewhat similar to that used by newsagents, hung on the wall in an accessible position, will serve the purpose just as effectually, unless that the papers will be at the mercy of readers as regards replacement. The brass rods for securing papers on the stands are made PERIODICAL RACK. in various ways, some being locked at the foot to prevent their misuse, others being fastened with a thumb-screw or button. There are also several patented fastenings in the market. Racks are sometimes used for keeping the current numbers of periodicals and magazines together, instead of having them littering about and encumbering the tables. There are various kinds in use, but none seems so satisfactory as the rack of overlapping sloping shelves in use at the Kensington and other Public Libraries. This can be made to hold any number of periodicals in their covers, and is not expensive, nor does it occupy much space by projecting far into the room (see illustration above). It is hardly needful to do more than mention such articles of furniture as desks and steps for the use of the staff, which canPublic Libraries. 398 generally be had from makers of school furniture. A useful appliance is the book-support, for keeping rows of books erect, either on shelves or elsewhere, which is made in several styles. The metal book-supports of Mason and Braby are by far the most satisfactory, neat, and serviceable ; but there are other varieties, such as a wooden pillar worked with a screw for the support of folios, and plain wood blocks of various sorts. CLOTH-COVE RED PAMPHLET-BOX. BOX-LID AND ELAP. Another useful article is the cloth-covered box for holding pamphlets or filing periodicals. These boxes can be made any size, and almost any boxmaker can supply them.. A most convenient and dust-proof box with index on flap is made by Fincham & Co., in the style of the above illustration. The shape of the lid admits of the whole contents of the box being turned over into it. These boxes numbered in a series and kept on shelves will preserve pamphlets in an orderly and easily accessible manner at a cost much below binding. Another class of box is made in a series of fixed sizes by Marlborough, Gould, & Co., which possesses several advantages, oak or walnut with ash drawers. The rod is at side as shown, or can be placed in the centre of the drawer. This locks by means of a slight projection at the front end of the rod, but this is not so secure as would be a little cotter at the other end. The rod and Henry Stone & Son also manufacture special sorts of boxes in addition to card-catalogue cabinets and other appliances. Flat boxes made in a variety of sizes are much better adapted for holding prints than portfolios, and these can be had from any box-maker. The card catalogue cabinet just named is illustrated on p. 399. It is made of polished399 The Formation of Public Libraries. could not then be withdrawn so easily as in the present method. This little drawback aside the cabinet is the best attempt yet made to supply libraries with an inexpensive, and, at the same time, well-made card-catalogue case. Business Books.—Besides the various forms of books required for keeping accounts, as ledger, cash book, petty cash book, fine book, &c., there are a number of other specially ruled books for registering the volumes in the library, the use made of them, &c. Of these the most important is the stock-book, which records the history of every book in the collection, showing when, where, at what cost or otherwise all books were procured. The ruling designed by Mr. F. T. Barrett, Mitchell Library, Glasgow, is suitable for any library. Columns are provided for date of receipt, author and title, language, number, class letter, number of volumes, new work or continuation (to distinguish books from volumes), book or pamphlet, size, imprint, date of publication, condition when received (binding), donor or vendor, price if purchased, discount, collation, special collections, remarks. There are other forms of ruling, but they are all somewhat similar. Some stock books classify the books page -by page in specially ruled columns or by means of a cumulative system of numbering. In other cases the classes are abstracted annually on separate sheets, and copied into the last few pages of the stock book, or into a specially ruled classification book. Other necessary books are the issue book (for recording issues of books and attendance of readers), shelf register (a numerical list of books in the order in400 Public Libraries. which they stand on the shelves), location book (the numerical finding list for use with the movable system of location), register of borrowers (alphabetical, but often kept on cards), proposal book, order book, donation book, and others, whose names sufficiently indicate their use. Book-buying.—There are several points in connection with the selection and purchase of books which should be noted. There is no more important duty in connection with the formation of a library than the selection of suitable books for both lending and reference departments, and probably no duty which has been so often badly performed through carelessness, ignorance, or lack of experience. The proper function of a Public Library being to supply the very best literature, by good authors on every subject, it is astonishing to find what extraordinary assemblage^ of unsuitable books appear in certain library catalogues. It is by no means an uncommon experience to find omitted from such catalogue, the names of some of the greatest authors the world has known, and their place filled by quantities of mediocre rubbish which even lack the half-redeeming merit of popularity as a justification for their presence. The spirit which moves a book committee or librarian to fill two columns of a catalogue with, say, the “ Crocus Series of moral tales, by an association of Sunday School Teachers,” to the exclusion of works by Bacon, Schiller, Dryden, Hugo, Dante, Virgil, or Hume, is not quite obvious, and the charitable assumption of oversight may be substituted for a stronger charge. A student anxious for access to the works mentioned in the literary histories of Craik, Taine, and Arnold, or in the “ Course of English Literature,” recommended by the late James Hannay, would receive but limited assistance from such libraries as are mentioned above, and even any ordinary reader, following up a casual reference in the newspaper to some celebrated writer, would only too often be met with disappointment on applying for the work at a library formed on the above principle. It cannot therefore be too strongly asserted that the work of selection must be placed in the hands of experienced persons. Subjects are unfortunately even more prone to imperfect representation than authors, and it is quite a familiar thing to find the great and progressive science of electricity represented by one or two elementary treatises, written about the time when Priestley was a classic and Wheatstone yet unborn. So it is with nearly every subject in many catalogues, and the fault arises primarily from careless selection. Of course it is utterly impossible for any library, and especially a small one just established, to possess more than a selection of books in the various departments of literature, but there seems no valid reason why such selections should not be so far good and representative, that it would be impossible to say that great authors and subjects had been excluded because the funds were exhausted buying valueless recent baby-books. There are several compilations designed to aid in the formation of libraries, which ought to be bought before any other steps are taken. Though not exactly fulfilling everyThe Formation of Public Libraries. 401 requirement, they will nevertheless be found of invaluable assistance. The best of such works is also luckily the most recent, and from it much information will be derived, as regards subjects, prices, publishers, and in many cases the most desirable works in each class. This is “ The Best Books,” by Mr. W. Swan Sonnen-schein, of which the last edition issued in 1891 is by far the best and most complete. Other works are the following:—“ Reference Catalogue of Current Literature,” Whitaker, London ; “ English Catalogue of Books,” a series of annual lists, issued by Low & Co., London, and dating from 1834; Perkins, “The Best Reading,” two editions, American ; “ Book Prices Current,” a periodical to which is issued an annual index; Hannay, “ Course of English Literature,” London, 1866 (out of print); “British Museum Bibliographies,” particularly the “Books of Reference in the Reading Room.” With such aids and the assistance afforded by the knowledge always possessed by an experienced librarian, it will usually be found that a list of perhaps 5,000 or 6,000 volumes has been brought together, and the question as to how these can best be got will next arise. In the first place, there will likely be included a large number of books not in print, and others very high in price. These should be taken out and placed on a separate list, for circulation among second-hand booksellers throughout the country, with a request for reports on the edition, price, condition, &c., of the books wanted. A “ Directory of Secondhand Booksellers” should be bought, and will be found of great use in this distribution of lists of wants ; which after all is almost the only way to procure certain books. A comparison of these lists when returned usually results in most of the books being got in good condition at very moderate prices. New books can be purchased at discounts ranging from 25 per cent, to 33^ per cent, off the published prices, according to the contract made with the local bookseller. The question of edition is rather an important one, especially as regards lending library books. An edition of a book quite good enough for circulation may be purchased for a shilling or two, if the librarian buys judiciously, while if he purchases without inquiry or knowledge, he may pay as many pounds for an expensive edition de luxe quite unsuited for lending purposes. The works of such writers as Scott, Dickens, Kinglake, Tennyson, Thackeray, Beaconsfield, and a host of other good authors are published in a variety of editions, some very expensive, and some very cheap and excellent. It goes without saying that a handy volume edition of Tennyson, practically complete for a few shillings, is the one to purchase for a lending library, and not an edition in half a dozen or more volumes costing perhaps £3. For lending-library purposes all classes of books, but especially fiction, should be purchased in one-volume editions, whenever possible. Indeed, it should be made an untransgressable rule never to purchase three-volume novels. They are expensive to buy and bind, dear at almost any money for the space they occupy, and a source 26402 Public Libraries. of endless trouble as regards recording, and the difficulty they occasion in the matter of statistics. A novel which has any striking literary character or element of popularity will almost inevitably find its way into one volume form, it may be three months after its original publication in three volumes costing 31s. 6d. (= say 18s.), and the probability is that it can then be bought for any sum between Is. 6d. and 4s. in the form most suitable for circulation. For this cheapening any Public Library can well afford to wait. The rule against books in more than one volume applies with almost equal force to a certain class of books issued as “ library editions.” Especially is this the case with the numerous inflated biographies of modern celebrities which are originally issued in a form out of all proportion to the importance of the subject. For these, a public library should wait till it is manifest that their merit or popularity warrants their reissue in cheap one-volume form. If this never happens, as is sometimes the case, surplus copies from subscription libraries like Mudie’s, Smith’s, the Grosvenor Gallery Library, Miles and Co., Day and Son, Cawthorn and Ilutt, or the Scotch firm of Douglas and Foulis, can be bought. Duplicate copies of books should be purchased very sparingly before a library is opened, and beyond duplicating such authors as Scott, Dickens, Thackeray, George Eliot, and a few others, no more than single copies of any work should be bought till it is found by experience what readers most constantly seek. Extra copies of novels by most writers of the day should be bought with especial care. In some of the older libraries it is a common thing to see shelf upon shelf of books by once popular authors, which were injudiciously over-multiplied to serve a temporary demand, standing like dust-covered ghosts in silent reproach for their permanent neglect, and the misappropriation of public money! A public library should be a selector rather than a purveyor of fiction. The purchase of books for a reference library is quite a different matter, as the best and most complete editions, in a scholarly view, are by all means most desirable. Technical and scientific books should be got in the most recent editions, as there is a vast difference between what is out of date and up to date in the arts and sciences. For purposes of selection the British Museum List of Beading-Boom Beference Books and Sonnenschein’s “ Best Books ” will be found extremely useful. The Museum List is a selection of books on every conceivable subject which experience and knowledge have placed among the indispensables of a reference library, and for this reason can be followed with especial advantage and safety. Care must, of course, be taken to procure only such works as can be afforded, and are likely to prove of most general use. There are certain works which must invariably form part of the first gathering of a nucleus for future increase, and among them are the following:—General Encyclopaedias; Dictionaries and Grammars of Language, especially modern European, Latin and classic Greek; biographical dictionaries, general and special; historicalThe Formation of Public Libraries. 403 date books and histories of nations ; theological and philosophical dictionaries and histories ; Bible commentaries, &c. ; scientific dictionaries and text-books on Astronomy, Botany, Chemistry, Physics, Zoology, &c.; dictionaries and text-books on the industrial and useful arts, such as Agriculture, Building, Medicine, Engineering, Mechanics, Manufactures, &c.; dictionaries of Literature and Bibliographies, quotation and phrase books; gazetteers, atlases, geographies ; Fine Art dictionaries and text-books—Architecture, Painting, Sculpture, Music, &c.; directories, almanacs, peerages, annuals of various bodies or professions, guide-books, &c. &c. Most of what is best or representative in these departments of learning and useful literature will be found in the two works above mentioned. There are many valuable French and German technical and art books which it would be desirable to have in reference libraries; but it should be recollected that their use would in most cases be confined to one or two out of every hundred readers on account of the language. As regards the cost of lending and reference library books, it may be said generally that the former average about 2s. 6d. per volume, while the latter range from 3s. 6d. to 12s., according to the extent and value of the library. In 1888 the Mitchell Library, Glasgow, contained 80,603 volumes and pamphlets, and in the Report for that year the average cost per volume is given as 5s. 7d. This is a very representative Library, as far as contents and value are concerned, and 5s. to 6s. may therefore be taken as a safe average per volume for reference books. These averages exclude donations, which would decrease the average cost considerably if taken into account. From the source of donations much of value may be looked for, but every library should reserve the right of rejecting anything coming as a gift which may be deemed unsuitable. It is the case that a very large proportion of so-called donations to libraries are composed of the sweepings of private collections, and often comprise nothing more valuable than discarded school-books and still-born theology, with a sprinkling of unbound magazines and imperfect guide-books. Such gifts should be accepted with thanks, and held in stock as duplicates available for exchange. There is nothing else to be said regarding book-buying save that it should in the first instance be left to a librarian of experience and knowledge, and that a special collection should be made of every book, pamphlet, broadside, map or print relating to the district in which the library is situated. Classification and Cataloguing.—The two subjects forming the heading of this section are probably the most debatable in the whole range of bibliothecal science. Certainly there are none so prolific in the production of discussion and disputation. It may be possible to find two librarians who agree as to a few points in general administration, but on the question of classification everyone maintains a right to an ex cathedra judgment. The subject is very much complicated by the confusion which has arisen between the classification of human knowledge, and that best adapted to a404 Public Libraries. collection of books, not to speak of the difficulty which exists through cataloguing and classification being confounded. In general, the classifications of knowledge are unsuitable for a collection, which always means but a selection, of books, because of their elaboration and want of practical acquaintance with the literature represented in a general library. For a public library any classification is satisfactory which adapts itself to purposes of arrangement and statistics, because the catalogue and not the shelves is the index to the contents of the collection. The classification of books on the shelves of an ordinary public library need not be very minute if carried out on lines which will bring books on the same branch of a subject together. It will be found of greater practical benefit to arrange the books more with reference to future get-at-ability than scientific relationship. For this purpose a classification with as few main divisions as possible is recommended. The following scheme of classification for books suggested in Edwards’ “ Memoirs of Libraries ” has been adopted in a number of libraries:— a, Theology, Ecclesiastical History, Philosophy; b, History, Travels, Biography; c, Law, Economics, Sociology, Politics; d, Arts and Sciences; e, Poetry and the Drama ; f, Linguistics ; 0-, General works (including Fiction); or h, Fiction. This exceedingly handy scheme has been objected to on grounds chiefly connected with what we might term the clash-ifica-tion of subjects. For this reason many librarians have subdivided the classes b and d in order to show more minutely the actual kinds of books read. Perhaps they have been also haunted by a sense of the incongruity arising from the juxtaposition of two such works as Clinton’s “ Fasti Hellenici” and the “ Life of Allan the Rothbury Piper,” in class b ; and the queer association of billiards and botany, sculpture and soap-boiling in class d. As an alternative we therefore give an approximation to the classification which has been adopted in a large number of libraries:— a, Theology, Philosophy, Church History; b, Topography and Travels; c, History and Biography ; d, Law, Commerce, Economics, &c.; e, Mathematical and Natural Sciences; f, Fine and Recreative Arts; G-, Useful Arts; h, Language and Literature; i, Poetry and the Drama; k, Prose Fiction; l, Miscellaneous and collected works. The question of classification is of much more importance in a reference than in a lending library, as there is a distinct advantage in having together on the shelves all that the library possesses on certain subjects or divisions of it. For this reason a careful system of classification and arrangement is necessary. In. large reference libraries the “ decimal classification,” designed by Mr. Melvil Dewey, can be applied, or any of the other fixed systems of location described on pp. 409-412, but for simplicity and ease in working no plan of arrangement lends itself so readily to any classification as the movable location described on p. 412.The Formation of Public Libraries. 405 Further than this it is needless to proceed on such a debatable subject. It should be mentioned, however, that it is exceedingly hazardous to fix the class of any book by its binding. Grant’s “ Cavaliers of Fortune ” and “ Constable of France,” with others which shall be nameless, are reckoned as fiction by nearly every librarian in the United Kingdom! Are the publishers to blame P Catalogues.—The one point about which most librarians are agreed on this subject is the superiority of the dictionary or single alphabet form of arrangement. On every other detail connected with it opinions are as various as books. A dictionary catalogue embodies in one alphabet the authors, subjects, titles, and sometimes forms of books in the library, and no one need be at a loss to find at once what it does or does not contain under any of these heads, if he knows his alphabet. For many reasons, but chiefly having regard to public convenience and knowledge, the dictionary form of catalogue is strongly recommended for all new Public Libraries. Nothing is easier to make than a bad catalogue, and nothing does so much to spoil the usefulness of a library than slovenly compilation in cataloguing, coupled with bad selection of books. The catalogue is practically the key to a whole educational structure on which no end of labour and public money is spent, and when it fails in the simple requisites of accuracy and clearness much of the value of everything done is lost. It follows, as a logical outcome of this, that only experienced persons should be entrusted with the compilation of catalogues. Even then, only great care and knowledge will save constant blundering. The errors perpetrated in the past may fitly be held up as warnings for the future, and a few examples of bad cataloguing may, in this instance, prove admonitory to the ceaseless exercise of care. In the catalogue of a learned society a book on star-fishes was entered under astronomy, and in another case a work on urinary calculus was placed under mathematics! Ruskin’s “Notes on the Construction of Sheepfolds” (an absurd and misleading title) very often appears under sheep, and Holmes’ “ Autocrat of the Breakfast Table ” has been by some singular association of ideas entered at cookery. Authors with similar names are constantly being mixed, and in some cases the works of one writer will appear under the names of three different persons. In other instances the labours of three individuals extending over three centuries are often assembled as the work of one man. And so on, examples of such carelessness and ignorance are endless, and the lesson they teach is that none but experienced and otherwise competent persons should be allowed to catalogue a library, large or small. A handy serviceable catalogue, printed in clear type across the page, on good paper, can be produced cheaply. Unless the library is very large, possessing say 20,000 volumes or more, small type and double columns should be avoided. There is no advantage gained by crushing the information given in a catalogue into the smallest possible compass. Readers are often perplexed by the double columns and confused by the small type; besides, the catalogue acquires a starved yet ambitiousPublic Libraries. 406 appearance, which suggests a fragment from some huge library catalogue of 100,000 volumes. Estimates for printing catalogues should only be obtained from firms capable of turning out the work in a satisfactory style, and a specimen page in the form proposed to be adopted should be an invariable accompaniment of each tender. Estimates can be asked for per sheet or per page, and the quantity to be printed ought to be stated. It is usually assumed that such tenders include paper and press work in the sum mentioned per page, but binding is always reckoned as a separate item. Cloth binding adds considerably to the cost of production, and it has accordingly become the most usual practice to have library catalogues simply bound in paper boards, with cloth backs. In other cases a paper cover has been thought sufficient. There are many varieties of catalogues, both as regards size and type, each library usually striving to have something distinctive. Then there are classified catalogues, dictionary catalogues, and author catalogues with subject indexes, not to speak of combinations of various plans. But by all means let the “ dictionary ” pattern previously referred to be adopted, as it will, in the long run, prove of most use among general readers. For specimens of different styles of catalogues, in type, size, and arrangement, reference might be made to those issued for the lending departments at Birmingham, Newcastle, Leeds, Warrington, Sheffield, Clerkenwell, Alloa, and Chelsea, each of which has some feature peculiar to itself. Reference library catalogues are not so frequently printed, but Bradford, Birmingham, Worcester, Wigan, Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow (Stirling’s Library), and Cambridge supply different examples of how these can be compiled. In some libraries using the dictionary form of catalogue the reference books have been mixed with the lending ones, and in other instances they are catalogued separately at the end, which is probably the best way, and the least likely to lead to confusion among borrowers. Advertisements, if included at all, should be strictly confined to the end of the catalogue. The books should be catalogued under their authors, subjects, and titles if sufficiently distinctive, on slips of paper, about 10 by 1J inches, and these must be left in the volumes till checked. It is a very good plan to make the author slip serve for the stock book entry, by including, on a separate line above the title, the particulars required by the form of stock book adopted. This often saves time when books are required for immediate circulation, as they can be entered in the stock book from the slips at any time. Each slip should be clearly written, and bear the catch word under which it has to appear in the catalogue, although there may be dozens of other books on the same subject. When the slips so prepared are checked and distributed in strict alphabetical order, they should be next mounted on sheets of paper of a handy folio or quarto size, and then carefully edited and marked for the printer. It may be profitable in some cases to edit the MS. before it is mounted, and it will certainly be found most advantageous to have the copy so clear and straightforward that theThe Formation of Public Libraries. 407 vexatious item of printers’ “ corrections ” may be reduced to a minimum. Printers are not entitled to charge for their own blunders, though they very often do so, and the copy should be carefully preserved in case of dispute. In cataloguing the rules for author entries issued by the Library Association of the United Kingdom may be used, and for subject or title entries, and all questions relating to arrangement, use the “ Rules for a Dictionary Catalogue,” prepared by Mr. C. A. Cutter, of Boston. A second edition of this valuable book has recently been published under the authority of the U.S. Government, and copies can generally be had on application to the Bureau of Education, Washington, D. C., U.S.A. It need hardly be said that for small libraries only such rules as are required should be adopted. For describing the sizes of books, if it is thought advisable, the excellent u Demy book scale,” designed by Mr. Madeley, public librarian, Warrington, will be found of great service. One or two important rules worthy of being kept in mind, though frequently overlooked, are these— Make the date of publication part of every author and subject entry. This is often omitted under the erroneous impression that it is useless and occupies space. It is of the utmost importance that a reader should be able to tell, by the catalogue, the earliest and latest books in the library on such subjects as Africa, Astronomy, Bible, Electricity, England, Physiology, &c., &c. In the case of novels the date is not of so much consequence. Place books under their actual subjects without reference to words on the title, which merely describe the form in which they are written. For example—put History of Oxford, Elements of Botany, Principles of Elocution, at Oxford, Botany and Elocution, but never at History, Elements or Principles. So with books whose subjects are not indicated by any word on the title. It is a very slipshod method of cataloguing to place such books as Jackson’s “Fair Lusitania,” Baker’s “ Ismailia,” or Ruskin’s “ Munera pulveris ” only under these title words, and not at Portugal, Africa, and Political Economy. It is the adoption of this very perfunctory practice which makes so many of our Public Library catalogues mere author and title lists, however much they may pretend to be subject-indexes. It is also proper that all books on such important subjects as England and United States be placed at these names, and not at English, America, Columbia, &c., &e., because the title happens to have a certain form of description. It is manifestly wrong to separate the works on the history of England because one author styles his book a History of England, and another names his English History. Repeat the names of different authors having the same surname. Only distinguish by a dash authors or subjects which are identical, e.g., Johnson (Peter), History of Greece. 1879. ----- History of Rome. 1880. Johnson (Samuel), Rasselas. 1820. Avoid the redundant headings, “ Works by,” &c., so often seen in the author entries of some catalogues, as there is a danger of unreflecting readers being induced to think that the titles represent pictures or statuary ! Arrange subject headings, when small, by authors alphabetically, and408 Public Libraries. by alphabet of sub-heads or groups of related sub-divisions when large. Use capitals only for proper names or words which it is desirable to distinguish. Among cataloguing aids which will be found of much assistance in conjunction with those previously mentioned are the following, which ought also to be among the earliest purchases made:— Allibone’s “ Dictionary of British and American Authors,” 3 vols.; Cushing’s “ Initials and Pseudonyms,” 2 vols.; Halkefct and Laing’s “ Anonymous and Pseudonymous Literature of Great Britain,” 3 vols.; Dewey, “ Decimal Classification,” 3rd edition ; Lowndes’s “Bibliographer’s Manual,” Bohn’s edition; Brunet’s “ Manuel du Libraire,” 8 vols., French. The contents of Watt’s “ Bibliotheca Britannica,” 4 vols., are for the most part comprised in Allibone, but it is a valuable work to have if it can be afforded. There are numerous foreign publications, particularly German and French, but their acquirement can be postponed. Instead of a printed catalogue for reference libraries, there has been adopted by many librarians a system of cataloguing books on cards written by the staff. This has been found very advantageous in many respects, but especially where the questions of expense and fulness of entry are concerned. These catalogues consist of a series of cards on which are written the authors, subjects and titles of the books, arranged alphabetically in drawers which are accessible to the public. Books can be catalogued to any extent and inserted in the alphabet at any time without cost or trouble. The type-writer has been used with much advantage in American and some British Libraries to produce clear, readable entries. There are various kinds of cabinets for holding these card catalogues, and various ways of securing the cards and drawers so that they cannot be removed. There are good specimens of these catalogues to be seen in actual use at the~ Guildhall and Boyal College of Surgeons, London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and elsewhere. It is more than likely that the use of the card-catalogue will be much extended as its advantages become better known. Nearly every new library is providing something of the sort, and as experience is acquired better methods will obtain, till the hope of something approaching perfection may reasonably be indulged. The principal difficulty to be solved in cataloguing is as regards making additions cheaply and speedily accessible to the public by means of lists, and many things have been tried to effect this object. Framed placards bearing the titles of books added soon get out of order, and the method of showing the actual books in a glazed frame only serves a temporary purpose. The frame of small movable blocks which at one time was tried in Liverpool also seems to be a failure, and the guard-book system used in the British Museum and elsewhere is very expensive and troublesome to maintain. For actual handiness and cheapness it seems, therefore, that nothing yet devised can cope with the card-catalogue. Additions can be made at any time, and to anyPublic Library Administration. 409 extent, and the strict alphabetical order is never disturbed. The trouble is also less than in any other system, but the drawbacks are also sufficiently numerous. Only a few persons can consult it at once, and there is always much difficulty felt by most persons in handling the cards quickly and intelligently. Again, only one title being exposed at a time renders rapid mental grasp and comparison of entries difficult if not impossible. These are objections, however, which have less weight as regards a mere catalogue of additions than if applied to a large general one, and actual experience of a card-catalogue of additions at Clerkenwell has proved beyond doubt that it serves the purpose admirably, and seems to present but little difficulty to borrowers. There are many other points of importance connected with cataloguing, but it is impossible to notice them in the space at disposal. Let the catalogue be made from the books themselves, and not from the work of some other librarian. CHAPTER XX. Public Library Administration. So far as the public are concerned, a great deal of the success of a library will be found to depend on the system of management adopted. As few impedimenta as possible should be placed in the way of the borrower or reader, and all restrictions should be as flexible as may be consistent with due safety and order. The points to be aimed at in both lending and reference libraries are rapidity and accuracy of service and record. To effect these aims everything connected with the _ numbering, recording, locating, and identification of the book^J should be as simple as possible. Some of the more common methods in use are described below, in the hope that they may prove suggestive. Preparation and Placing of Books.—All books on receipt should be examined or collated with a view to their completeness or otherwise, and compared with the invoice and order if they are purchased. Each volume should next receive a number in a consecutive series. A book called an Accessions or Location Book, with fifty lines to a folio, numbered 1 to 10,000, is sometimes used for this purpose in addition to the stock book or shelf register, and in this the volume being dealt with receives the first vacant number. This is called the accession number, and is used in some libraries simply as a reference to the place of the book in the stock book, where, as before stated, its history is preserved. In other libraries this number is used, in addition, for every process connected with the book, whether cataloguing or locating. The plan of giving each work a single number only, irrespective of volumes or number of copies, is deserving of some notice. Considerable saving in indicator pujnbers and space can be effected,410 Public Libraries. and the catalogue entries of books, of which the library possesses several copies, show only one number for them all. These are economies not to be despised in a large library, and there is a further saving of the time of readers in lending libraries where indicators are used, by requiring them to look only in one place for all the copies of a given work. The reasons for adopting the same plan in reference libraries are by no means so good, though there is some advantage in having a long set like the “ Gentleman’s Magazine ” represented by a single number. The matters of showing separate years or volumes, and securing an accurate stock book record, can easily be arranged. This plan of number saving can be worked by means of a separate staff indicator, or through the agency of a different record on another principle. The books should be stamped in certain fixed places with the official stamp of the library. Every plate, the title page, and the last page of letterpress should be stamped, in addition to two or more fixed pages throughout the book. Stamps may either be embossing, perforating, or ink, and may be square, oval, round, or any shape. Embossing and perforating stamps, as at present made, are clumsy, and occupy much time in use. Ink rubber stamps possess the advantages of cheapness, legibility, and rapidity of application, but there is pressing need for a pad which can be charged with ordinary printing ink, as the thin aniline inks usually supplied are positively useless as permanent marking agents. The leaves of every book should be carefully cut, well into the back, before being put in circulation. In lending libraries it is usual to paste on the inside of the front board a label bearing an abstract of the rules relating to the borrowing of books, and a label to show the dates on which the volume was issued, together with, in some cases, other particulars. In reference libraries a simple name label is most frequently used. Some libraries, as an additional precaution against thefts, stamp the boards of all books with a deep embossed stamp, and most libraries have a distinctive gilt stamp on the backs of re-bound books. AVhen a book has undergone these several processes and has been catalogued, it only awaits locating or shelving to be ready for issue. There are very many methods of placing books on shelves so that they can be found without delay. The various plans are roughly divisible into two classes, which we may term fixed and movable locations. In the former, which is a survival of the preindicator period, when assistants were forced to run about with long lists of numbers in search of one which might chance to be in its place, the books receive in addition to their accession number, a press or shelf number which appears in the catalogue and directs to the position of the book on the shelves. It is customary by this system to set aside a certain number of bookcases for each class into which the library is divided, and to apply to each a certain series of numbers. Thus, class A may have reserved for it numbers 1 to 1,000, class B 1,001 to 3,000, class C 3,001 to 4,000, and so on; or each class may have an independentPublic Library Administration. 411 series of numbers from 1 to 1,000 or oyer. In any case the assistant knows the presses allotted to each class, and a demand for, say G 300 is met by the assistant proceeding to the G press and picking out the number wanted. This system, sometimes with slight modifications, is in common use in British and American libraries. Another method of fixed location is to number or letter the cases 1, 2, 3, &c. or A. B. C. &c., and number the shelves in each press, and the books on each shelf. Thus, G. 6—21 points to press G, shelf sixth from top, and book 21 from left end of shelf; or as is done in the British Museum 3,032 B, points to press 3,032, second top shelf, or B, in alphabetical order. Yet another method of fixed location is to number the books in one sequence, set aside presses for each class, pick out the books of each class in numerical order as far as they go, and place them on the shelves in that order. Class A may therefore be arranged 35, 79, 301, 309, 311-15, 542, &c., but always preserving a numerical sequence. Deference need only be made to the very elaborate system adopted in some large libraries of shelving the books according to a fixed scheme of classification. There are several such schemes in existence, but that designed by Mr. Dewey, of New York, is probably better known than any other. It should be mentioned, however, that the library authorities of Sion College, London, have developed a scheme from the actual arrangement of the books on the shelves, and not from mere theory. These systems of classification are not at all adapted for use in public lending libraries. In all the methods of arrangement by numbers above mentioned, it will be seen that in every one of them, saving the last, the number is a reference simply to the place of the book, and has no direct connection with the accession number which points to its history; hence a reference between these two numbers is necessary. Such references are usually made in a column of the numerical list called the shelf register, and direct to the page of the stock book. The principal objections to the fixed system of location are these:— Books cannot be accurately classified on the shelves after the original arrangement, and authors and subjects get widely separated. It is impossible to make any alterations in the relative positions of any series of volumes or to re-number any section without reprinting the catalogue and procuring new numbers for the indicator, if Cotgreave’s is used. The preliminary work is always greater, as the whole of the books must be arranged in a fixed order, and numbered inside and out before a single step can be made, while the duplication and confusion of numbers as between Accession number 30, Class A 30, B 30, C 30, D 30, &c., in one system, is a frequent cause of very annoying and serious blunders. An example will suffice to show one out of many difficulties and inconsistencies which hamper librarians who adopt a fixed location-412 Public Libraries. Suppose that Class D comprises the arts and sciences, the numbering of the books will result in a mixture something like this:— 1, Roseoe’s “ Chemistry ”; 2, Hunt’s “ History of Music”; 3, Miller’s “ Old Red Sandstone ” ; 4, Tyndall’s “ Floating Matter of the Air ” ; 5, Turner’s “ History of Art ”; 6, Williamson’s “ Chemistry”; 7, Balfour’s “Manual of Botany”; 8, Seaton’s “Marine Engineering ” ; 9, Oliver’s “ Botany ”; 10, Parker’s “ Gothic Architecture ”; 11, Huxley’s “ Physiology” ; 12, Odling’s “ Chemistry.” To the logical and orderly mind such a jumble is little short of actual torture, which is intensified on reflecting that in many circumstances the arrangement will not do more than enable an assistant to pick out with some facility a certain number, the educational value of sending him for an author or subject being entirely lost. But this is not all. In a reference library where such an arrangement exists, the advantages and conveniences of having all or nearly all the books on chemistry together are impossible, and when an ignorant reader arrives with a query which it is easier to answer by personal reference to the books than by giving him something chosen at random, the nuisance of having your literature on the subject dotted all over a large thirty-shelved bookcase can be duly realized. In the lending library, too, it is often very inconvenient, when striving to direct the studies of a borrower, especially when the catalogue is out of date, to find book after book, fetched from various widely separated shelves, rejected because not what is wanted. By the movable system described below such a worrying experience is easily avoided by the simple expedient of taking an armful of books on chemistry from the shelf where they all stand together, and giving your fastidious customer his pick of your stock. The sole advantage of being able by the fixed location to find G 30 between G 29 and G 31 (if the intelligent assistant has not stuck C 30 in its place) is a poor compensation for having a higgledy-piggledy arrangement of subjects, and the uncertainty of knowing what to do with the continuation of Class G when the space appropriated to it is filled. When the movable system of location is used, one number only is applied to each book, which directs to the history of accession, its place on the shelves, and is representative of the book, whether for cataloguing, registration, or finding purposes. The method is simply to number the shelves instead of re-numbering the books. The shelves can be numbered with the ordinary gummed label numbers, or have them painted op stamped on in gilt. The books are classed on the shelves as minutely as may be wished, and the number of the shelf is carried on to the label of each book and against its number in the location book previously described. The accession number, which is the number mentioned above, is used in the catalogue and indicator or ledger. In a lending library where the Cotgreave indicator is used, the borrower asks for, say No. 952. The assistant proceeds to the indicator book No. 952, and while making the entry, notes the shelf number which is marked in the small ledger. He then proceeds to the shelf, gets, dates, and issues the book. By this system books are not tied toPMic Library Administration. 413 any shelf in the library, so that any author or subject can be kept together or moved about to suit any requirement whether of space or convenience without in any way affecting aught save the shelf number inside the book itself and the location book, which can easily be altered. The main objection to this plan in reference libraries is the difficulty caused at first by the intervention of the location book before the exact place of the book can be discovered. This objection is one, however, which never has the least weight after a month’s time, as the average assistant becomes so familiar with all the best-used books as to be quite able to dispense with the intermediate reference. If each shelf is arranged alphabetically, as is sometimes done, books can be found without the slightest delay. There is one great advantage, moreover, which outweighs any possible objection which can be urged against the movable location, and that is the adaptability of the plan to libraries of any size, and the ease with which the changes brought about by excessive enlargement can be met and provided for. With a fixed location nothing short of a complete re-arrangement will serve the purpose. One class may increase quicker than any other, and the encroachment which it makes on the space set apart for other classes soon involves the theoretically perfect order of the fixed location in complete confusion. With the movable location any re-arrangement can be made as accessions are shelved, and no disturbance need be caused beyond what is necessary for the provision of space required at the time. It is almost certain that, as libraries which are now small begin to increase, the traditional arrangement by numerical sequence will be abandoned in favour of a plan which neither compromises the catalogue nor stands in the way of strict classification and periodical re-arrangement. Of course, in cases where no indicators are used, and borrowers are allowed to call for books by means of long lists of numbers, there is no alternative but to use the classified fixed location, though even here the movable location can be adopted by causing readers to ask for books by authors and titles. Service, Oversight, &c.—Any of the systems above described will be found workable, but the first mentioned of the fixed and the movable locations will be found to work most satisfactorily. Whichever system is adopted, it may safely be recommended to be worked in conjunction with an indicator. Of the various indicators which have been invented, Cotgreave’s is probably as good as any for use as a basis, especially as its merits have been more generally tested and approved than any other. With this, as with other indicators, the use of ledgers is obviated, books are shown in or out instantaneously, endless trouble is saved borrowers and staff alike, and overdue books can be detected with little trouble. The methods of service are numerous, every library having some difference in matters of detail, but either of the following will be found accurate and quick:— The borrower having ascertained from the catalogue the number of the book wanted, and by the indicator that it is in, asks the4H Public L ihvaries. assistant librarian for the number, say 5,692, and hands in his card, without which he will not be served. The assistant goes to 5,692 on the indicator, removes the miniature ledger, and enters in it the number of the borrower’s card and the current date. He next reverses the ledger to show the colour which represents books out, leaves the card in it, and procures the book. The date is next carried on to the date label of the book to indicate to the borrower when he had it, and after an entry is made of the book’s number in a day book or sheet, it is issued to the reader. By some systems of issue the borrower is allowed to retain his ticket, and is only permitted to get out a book on producing it. There seems to be more advantage in keeping the ticket in pawn for what is had out, and there is less danger of losses and of persons trying to obtain more than one book at a time. Another method of service is to have the borrower fill up an application form with the number, class, and title of the book wanted, and his name and ticket number. This he hands to the assistant along with his card, and is served in the manner described above, save that no day book or sheet is needful, the application forms being made the basis of the issue statistics. This method has the advantage of enabling the assistant to serve more than one reader at a time, provides a check on what is being issued and to whom it is issued, and gives the very best possible data on which to base the record of issues. The further great advantage which it has of giving a sure means of detecting and tracing errors is not to be overlooked. It is always an objection to the viva voce method of calling for books that errors are^ of continual occurrence through the transposition of numbers, and that no check is possible till all the entries have been completed, and the book delivered. This objection is completely met by the use of the application form. The detection of books which are kept much beyond the period allowed for reading is rather important where the issue is large. This is effected on the Elliot indicator generally by means of the borrowers’ cards which have the ends coloured differently—say red and green. The red ends are turned towards the staff on the indicator during the first period, green the next, so that when the second period is drawing to a close, most of the tickets showing red remaining in the indicator are overdue. This method of distinguishing overdues by borrowers’ cards is also adapted to the Cotgreave indicator, sometimes with four colours to give a greater number of changes. There are two colours printed on each end of the ticket, half of the end to each colour, and the period in which any number has been issued is shown by the representative colour, which is turned right or left as may be decided. These colours are rather apt to rub off with the handling which the tickets get, and a shaped ticket has been introduced instead with success. Ordinary hard millboard cut into cards the size of, but about half an inch longer than the indicator books, and faced with white paper on one side only, is very serviceable for borrowers’ tickets. If the cards have thePublic Library Administration. 415 corners of one end clipped off, four changes are got by simply turning the cards as with the colours, but the advantage lies of course in the non-effacement of the form. First period, clipped ends and white side up to face staff; second period, white and square; third period, clipped ends and dark side up; fourth period, square and dark. These variations are quite easily distinguishable on this indicator. The sides and clips made for this indicator are used for the same purpose, but require more work in handling. The Duplex also has a special means for checking overdues, which appears to be very efficient. The detection of overdues is only a secondary matter, however, and should not be regarded as the principal feature in an indicator. There are various forms of ledgers used where indicators have not been adopted, though the indicator is sometimes worked in conjunction with a series of ledgers. A common form of ledger, or rather day-book, consists of a volume ruled fifty lines to a page holding a hundred entries, with columns showing the following particulars: consecutive number, class, book number, number of volumes, borrower’s ticket number, date of return. Each page is headed with the current date. When a book is issued, its number, &o., is entered in the ledger, and the date, and consecutive number carried on to the label of the volume. These direct to the ledger entry when the book has to be marked off on its return. All statistics are compiled from this volume, and it is the only record apart from the entry made on the labels of the books issued. By this method it is impossible to tell who has a book which is out without very great trouble. Another form of ledger has also fifty lines per page, and is ruled into fifteen perpendicular columns of equal breadth. A page or more is given to each book in the library, which is entered in numerical order, and the columns are headed across the page—ticket number, date of issue, date of return. When a book is issued it is only necessary to turn up its number in the ledger, and enter the number of the borrower’s card and the date. The books, on return, are simply marked or stamped off with the date. A single page holds the record of 250 issues of a book. This form of ledger shows who has any book, and how long it has been out, while the borrower’s cards, if arranged in a series of dated compartments, can be made to show the over-dues. If worked with application lists a single entry will suffice at the moment of issue. Borrowers’ accounts are also frequently kept on a series of cards, and this is a method which can be recommended for small libraries. There are many other forms of ledgers, but the principle in all is much the same. Some keep an account of the books read by each reader, while others combine this with the systems above described. The ledger system is gradually going out of use in Britain, as it is found a serious inconvenience and hindrance to the staff, especially as regards the labour of searching through long lists of numbers for the first one in. This can with very little extra trouble be undertaken by each reader where there isPublic Libraries. 416 an indicator. With ledgers only the staff are open to continual complaints of favouritism, and exposed to the nuisance of sceptical murmurs on the question of books being out; while the endless trouble of “ marking off ” is a serious matter to be avoided if possible. Of course, when the expense of an indicator cannot be borne, there is no alternative but to adopt a ledger, and the second form described is recommended. Reference might be made here to another system which can be worked without ledger or indicator, or in conjunction with either, as may be thought desirable. It has no distinctive name, but for the purposes of this article it shall be called the “ Pocket ” system. We are unable to say who devised the plan, but probably it first took shape at Bradford under Mr. Virgo, now of Manchester, and is worked with various modifications at Bradford, Liverpool, and Chelsea. It is a simple and ingenious plan, but if not properly safeguarded will involve endless trouble and confusion when merely worked in its most elementary stage. Each volume is provided with a pocket inside one of the boards, in which there rests a card bearing the number, title, and class of the book. Each reader has a ticket made in a form to hold the book card when needful. A reader asks for a book, and the modus operandi consists simply in the assistant fetching it, removing the card, sticking it into the borrower’s ticket, placing that ticket in a tray, issuing the book, and the transaction is completed. This, of course, is merely a skeleton description. There are all sorts of additional processes, such as entering the date and borrower’s ticket number on the book, and the No. of the- book on the borrower’s ticket, as well as arranging each day’s issue in numerical sequence. When a book is returned the card belonging to it is taken from the tray bearing the date of issue, the ticket restored to its place, the card to the book, and the book to its place. It is quite evident, however, that a very trivial accident to a tray, such as a smart jerk with an elbow, might involve the whole of a day’s work in ruin, and the general lack of permanency of record is not the least of other objections which might be stated. The American librarians have also a variety of systems in use of charging and delivering books, both with ledgers and card records, but most of them appear to be at the mercy of mischance in all its many shapes. In Chapter XXV. of the large work on American Public Libraries, issued some years ago, by the U.S. Bureau of Education, Dr. Poole describes a number of the methods in vogue, and gives many valuable hints on the “ Organization and Management of Public Libraries.” There is also a “ Report on Charging Systems,” by IL J. Carr, in the “ Library Journal,” vol. 14, p. 203, but in none of those described does simplicity find favour. Some minor details in the working of libraries are worthy of notice. In Lending Libraries receipts should be given for all fines taken and for all catalogues, &c., sold. A very careful scrutiny should be made of all application forms for tickets and the accompanying vouchers, to make certain that the requirementsPublic Library Administration. 417 of the rules have been complied with. Vouchers found correct should, when numbered, and tickets duly issued, be bound in volumes of 250 or 500, and so form a numerical record of all the borrowers entitled to use the library. In addition, an alphabetical list should be kept on cards, and, if application forms are used for books, it will be found of immense advantage to keep a record of the numbers of every book taken out by each reader, which can be posted up daily from the forms. An alphabetical list of guarantors on cards is also a very useful thing to keep, especially when ratepayers are allowed unlimited powers of guaranty. It will be sufficient to place the numbers only of each person guaranteed on such cards. A borrower’s card should bear the name and address of the person to whom it is issued, the date (stamped), when it expires, and, of course, the number which also appears on the voucher form. It is a good plan to give borrowers always the same number if they renew their vouchers within a reasonable time of the expiry of their tickets; but there are numerous methods in practice of maintaining order in the numbering, so as to facilitate the counting of borrowers using the library, and assuring that no duplicates are in currency. A valuable aid in library management which might be referred to is the information circular for distribution throughout the district in which the library is situated. This should give the hours, conditions of borrowing, &c., rules, advantages, and rough statement of contents, and when well circulated will be found to largely increase the popularity of the institution. Perhaps some day the London libraries will be able to combine for the production of an annual bulletin devoted to this object, and may even reach the height of establishing a monthly journal. The reference library has only a few points in its working, which differentiates it from the lending department, but as it is open to all readers without introduction or guarantee, it follows that great care must be exercised in the issue bf books which can only be read on the premises. Application forms are alwTays used, on which the reader is required to give his or her name and full address, as well as particulars of the book wanted. It is usual to put the slip, for a book which has been issued, in the place vacated by the volume, where it remains till it is returned. The slips or forms are mostly used after the books are replaced as the basis of the issue statistics, but in some cases they are returned to the reader as a sort of receipt. Newsrooms.—News and reading-rooms are generally so familiar to most persons that little need be said regarding them. For a simple newsroom, in which only periodicals are kept in addition to the newspapers, the need for a number of tables is almost unnecessary when a rack is used. Light arm-chairs will be found cheaper and quite as convenient as tables, so far as arm support for reading-cases is concerned. Covers should be provided for each periodical or magazine, made of stout millboard, bound in half pig-skin, and lettered with the title on both sides. There isPublic Libraries. 418 urgent need for something in the way of periodical covers, which will last for a few years without wearing out; most of the materials used in their manufacture being all more or less open to objection on account of liability to speedy deterioration. Periodicals allowed to lie about loosely soon acquire a dirty and ragged appearance, and always make a room untidy. The newsroom stock ought to consist of almost every variety of journal and periodical possible to be acquired by purchase or donation. The principal London, provincial, and foreign newspapers; weekly trade, commercial, technical, literary, and scientific periodicals ; time tables; monthly and quarterly magazines and miscellanies should be applied as abundantly as possible, so that the newsroom may be representative of every phase of thought and opinion, past and current political and scientific movement, and be, in general, a centre for the spread of information on every conceivable topic. Binding.—For Public Library purposes all bindings should be strong and durable; finish being a secondary consideration. Various materials have been tried, and at one time it was thought that in buckram a cheap and lasting binding stuff had been discovered which would supersede everything, but there has since been good reason found to doubt its suitability. Among leathers which have stood the tests of wear and tear as well as any, are good Persian morocco and pigskin. Some recent improvements in the methods of dressing the latter have led to a very extensive adoption of this material. A book bound in half pigskin according to the following specification will stand almost anything short of use as a fire-brick. “Books to be well beaten or rolled. Sew one sheet on, on strong tapes, the first and last sheets or sections to be enclosed at back in linen strips. Tapes to be firmly secured between split-boards. Backs made close and flexible, without bands, but with blind fillets in imitation of bands. Half-bound in pig-skin, smooth cloth sides [and if thought necessary—vellum corners]. Top edge to be cut, sprinkled and burnished, fore and bottom edges left with proof. End papers of stout coloured paper secured to linen strip which should be sewed with first and last sections, with at least one white leaf before and after printed matter. Cloth joints in all books, and plates to be mounted on linen guards. Lettered on back in gold with title, author, and number. Four tapes to be allowed to a 7| inch 8vo, other sizes in proportion.” Calf and Russia leathers should never be used on any account. It is well always to put books in circulation in the publishers’ cloth bindings, and let popularity and use distinguish those which should be strongly bound in leather. There is absolutely no economy in buying 2s. novels in sheets for Is. 4d., and. having them bound in leather for say Is. 4d. extra, making the first cost of the book 2s. 8d. It is much cheaper in the end and more judicious to take the wear out of the original binding even though it be only paper boards, as there is always a risk of books never being in demand, and the cost of binding them is thrownPublic Library Administration. 419 away, to say nothing of the disproportionate charge for binding during the early years of the library. An ordinary railway novel costing say Is. 5d., will last six months and more with ordinary usage, and it is time enough to think of putting it into a strong binding when it has proved that it is necessary. A very cogent reason for not binding cheap books in leather from the sheets or when new, is that the paper on which they are printed is always of a poor, brittle quality, and will perish long before the boards are worn out. To recase a new copy in the old boards is not always satisfactory, and in any case it involves too much money for mere binding. There are plenty of cheap leather bindings into which such books can be be put when the original covers are sufficiently worn, and then the Is. 5d. novel'can be strongly re-bound for about lOd. extra, making the total cost 2s. 3d., and with the promise of outlasting the original leather copy purchased and bound at a cost of 2s. 8d. The difference between binding such books as Mrs. Wood’s novels in leather when new and letting them first wear out the original cloth boards is simply this. A cloth copy of “ East Lynne ” can be bought in London for 2s. 4d. With constant use and no ill-treatment it will remain in fair condition for twelve or eighteen months. It can then be re-bound in half pigskin for another Is. 4d., and will probably last another two years, at the end of which time it will be very dirty. A copy bought in sheets and bound in half pigskin will cost at least 4s., more likely 4s. 4d., as they are not usually supplied in sheets, and will last with fair hard usage at least two years, when it will be found, because not overhauled or re-stitched, that paper and sewing alike are in a degenerated state. A new copy can possibly be re-cased in the old and now very shabby boards, but even then the fresh cost will be nearly 3s. When a book is bound from the sheets or re-bound in leather when new, and is never taken out, the error in this case consists in throwing away money on useless binding. There are many other minor points in connection with Public Library administration, about which information could be given, but as they depend altogether upon the main system adopted, it will perhaps be best to leave the question of their settlement alone. There is nothing more salutary and suggestive than a visit to some neighbouring libraries, so far as the adoption of matters of detail is concerned. Indeed, there is probably no better advice to be given with regard to all matters connected with library work, than to urge a frequent intercourse with every librarian within reach. In the appendices are a variety of forms as examples in illustration of the points touched on in the foregoing chapters.420 Public Libraries. PAET III. CHAPTER XXI. The Future of Public Libraries, and what Remains to be Accomplished. The future historian writing upon the present decade will be compelled to take into account the part which Public Libraries are taking in the education of the people. And it is safe to prophesy that at the rate of progress which is being made, the historian dealing with the first part of the twentieth century will acknowledge these citizens’ institutions as occupying a foremost place in the nation’s life. Although much good was accomplished during the first twenty years after Ewart’s Act, the real impetus came with the passing of the Elementary Education Act of 1870, and the next bound forward will come with assisted or free education now an accomplished fact. Now that desirable time has been reached, the position of Public Libraries and Museums will soon be as clearly defined in the nation’s chart as the prisons and policemen are to-day. It is a well-known fact that the fees which are paid represent only a small proportion of the amount which the teaching costs. And not only so, but the existence of these fees is a continual hindrance to the working of the Act of 1870. The effect of the fee is to keep out of the Board Schools thousands of children who ought to be in them ; and the attempt to enforce its payment increases the odium which almost necessarily attends upon compulsion. The remitting of fees in the case of proved inability to pay them is demoralizing in its effect, and a waste of time on the part of the officials and teachers. The annual grant of £20,000 for elementary education, which was commenced in 1834, has grown by leaps and bounds. In a little more than twenty years it had become nearly half-a-million for Great Britain alone. In thirty years it had increased by close upon another quarter of a million. And in fifty years it had touched three millions. And that sum, vast as it was, represented only the amount granted from the national exchequer, being supplemented by an even larger total raised by local rates.421 The Future of Public Libraries, Etc. How far enhanced imperial taxation will take the place of local rating is a question which has not yet been seriously examined. But for educational purposes imperial as an alternative to local rating would appear the better plan. The grant of free education to Scotland brought us to the eve of a similar step for the rest of the United Kingdom and Ireland. When this system is in full operation, and has had time to become consolidated, there will begin the real reign of power of Public Libraries. They will take their place, as they have never yet done, in the educational machinery of the country. And for that work they are preparing themselves in a way which is highly creditable to the individual institutions, and to the work as now forming one huge whole. It is no secret that some are struggling to make ends meet on a revenue which is not sufficiently large to keep the wolf from the door: the wolf in this case being the demand for an increased supply of books and branch libraries. The concern of all friends of the movement is for those institutions of the rank and file. It is, with many of these, one perpetual attempt to meet their expenditure and yet keep the shelves replenished. But even their future is not by any means so gloomy as some have tried to make out, and anyone looking at their record with unprejudiced minds cannot fail to conclude that the best is being made of everything. It is clear that second only in importance to the provision of mental food in the establishment of these Public Libraries comes the need for some means of utilizing the books which they contain to the greatest advantage. Everyone has probably heard of some little society of young ladies who undertake to spend a certain time each day in the perusal of a literary classic. These little groups of people are a very general symptom of a want which is widely felt of some direction, some advice and superintendence, of the efforts which so many are eager to make for self-instruction. According to Bacon, who observed that libraries are as the shrines where all the relics of saints are preserved and reposed, “ some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.” There is no section of the work of these institutions to which more careful attention will have to be directed than this. The need of library finger-posts is becoming as vital as is the existence of the libraries. The best thing for one seeking some direction as to what to read is to attend the classes of a neighbouring college, or to enter as a student for a university extension course, but there are thousands to whom neither alternative is possible. The Home Heading Circles Union, as a new form of university extension, is specially designed to supply the want. This provides for the direction of the studies of any small group of readers who will form a local circle. It is intended to direct home reading, to bring the members of the circles under the personal influence of men who have studied the special subject, to test the work done, and issue certificates of proficiency, and finally to arrange for summer gatherings of members of various circles similar to the recent422 Public Libraries. meeting of university extension students at Oxford. At present there is no doubt that many busy men go to the Public Library as a distraction from the cares of life, and as a pleasant setoff to the toils and troubles of the day. The choice is not between this and nothing, but between this and something worse; between harmless amusement to the mind or fancy and the more gross pleasures which will come in and take up the time for which no other occupation has been found. A Public Library may be started with higher aims and may serve higher ends, but it will be of most use to its neighbourhood by being so furnished as to meet all tastes. Works of fiction, and travellers’ tales—not always to be distinguished from fiction, and so much the more attractive on that account—will always form a great part of a well-stocked Public Library. The purpose of its founders may be to instruct and not only to amuse; but if they are to do either effectively they must be satisfied to do both, and must not look too curiously into the proportions between the two results, for they will probably be disappointed if they do. At a Public Library the great body of readers are not particular on the score of what is called originality, provided they find the style pleasant and the interest sustained. It is to be feared that most of us read less in order to improve our minds than to occupy our leisure hours. “ Happy is it,” said Goethe on one occasion, “ that we do not know who those are for whom we write.” There is certainly one class of writers who seem to know very well the class for whom they write, and those are the producers of the gutter literature of which there is always such a prolific stock. With very many thousands of school children, all that has yet been placed within their reach is the penny dreadful, the character of which does not improve one iota as time advances. To follow Dr. Johnson’s plan of taking a walk down Fleet Street would reveal to any observant person, if he would take in his perambulations the courts and alleys surrounding that street, what an enormous trade is done in this class of literature. This would be driven home in his mind by seeing this filthy stuff being devoured, by scores of printers’ boys during the dinner hour, which has to be usually spent in the streets. It is in combating the influence of this class of literature that the future of our Public Libraries will be very largely occupied. The mountains of such rubbish issued from the press is so great that its influences for evil have scarcely yet been universally realized. Useful as Public Libraries are, they have as yet only touched the fringe of the working population. It is the poor student who has chiefly gained by the publication, now fortunately increasing at a rapid rate, of cheap editions of standard authors. This most deserving class of persons has too long been forced to regard the books urgently needed for further study much as the ragged urchin regards the tempting dainties in the confectioner’s window—as treasures beyond his reach. Who knows what the loss to science or literature may not have been owing to the practical scarcity of books P What with Public Libraries and cheap classics, betterThe Future of Public Libraries, Etc. 423 times are coming for the poor student, but the reformation needs to go much further. The labouring poor and the tens of thousands of school children require catering for, and that has as yet only been very indifferently done. In the future of Public Libraries the juvenile section is one that will receive as much attention as any part of the work. This has been already done at some of our leading libraries, but the real work in this direction has only just begun. If the penny dreadful is ever to be supplanted, it must be by books of a stirring and exciting character, and of which the interest is so simple that an untutored intellect can grasp it without effort. We have to educate our masters, and while not fearing democracy, our best, truest, and wisest policy is to content, educate, and guide the people. Misery, vice, and crime there must always be, but education and Public Libraries have already done much to diminish them, and will do so still more in the future. Scarcely secondary to the planting of one of these libraries in every district where one does not already exist, and sustaining it with efficiency, the most perplexing problem with regard to the future of these institutions has reference to the supply of fiction. Many library committees and others, who take an interest in the work of these places, have been much exercised in mind of late with regard to this question—Should novels be provided at all, and if so to what extent P Some years ago a report of the Boston Public Library laid it down, as a rule, that “ it is no part of the duty of a municipality to raise taxes for the amusement of the people unless the amusement is tolerably sure to be conducive to the higher ends of good citizenship. The sole relation of a Public Library to the general interest is as a supplement to the school system—as an instrumentality of higher instruction to all classes of the people.” There is much truth in this, but it may unhesitatingly be said that a Public Library, supported out of the general rates to which all contribute, has not fulfilled its functions until it has sought to the fullest extent of its means to meet the reasonable claims of all classes. The phrase “ reasonable claims ” is used advisedly, for certainly there does not come under this head the supplying of the trashy novels or books of a vicious character. Some of the greatest geniuses which the world has ever known have devoted their talents to the production of works of imagination, and there are lessons to be learnt from these which cannot fail to have their influence upon life and character. There is again below these a vast store of excellent works of fiction which is wholesome and pure, but which never claimed to rank among the classic works of the imagination. But below these two large classes there is a sea of trash and rubbish which ought never to be found on the shelves of Public Libraries, and to the credit of librarians and committees comparatively little of it is found. After a search through a large number of catalogues there has been found not a single case of a library having in its catalogue the works of two or three modern Continental writers whose productions are notoriously vicious in taste and demoralizing in tendency.Public Libraries. 424 Further than this, there never was a time in the history of Public Libraries when so much care was exercised in the selection of books as at the present time. This augurs well for the future of Public Libraries, and it is a firm conviction that the question is one which will very fairly take care of itself if due discretion in the selection of books is exercised. Public Libraries have a cosmopolitan constituency for which to cater, and their supplies must be of a cosmopolitan character. The greatest good of the greatest number should be in this, as in olher departments of life, an aim kept distinctly in view. The inveterate and insatiable hunter and reader of the latest three-volume novel, no matter of which sex the borrower may be, is beginning to be more and more discouraged. The discontinuance of Public Libraries purchasing these has been almost universal, and will soon become entirely so. As pointed out in another section of this work, these three-volume sets are nearly the most expensive to keep going of any books in a library. The binding in which the work is issued is of the flimsiest, and when it is necessary to have them re-bound the cost is treble what has to be paid for a single-volume novel. And, moreover, the best writers in the world of fiction now publish their books in single volumes. Library space is too valuable, or should be at least, to find shelf room for three-volume sets, and the library which occupies its space and inflates its returns with them is rather to be pitied. Notwithstanding all these admissions, it may be still held that there is a class of fiction which is elevating and educating in its character, and there is no reason why the reading of this should be discouraged. Sir John Herschell, in an address which he delivered in the Windsor and Eton Public Library (which is not under the Acts), said: “ The novel in its best form I regard as one of the most powerful engines of civilization ever invented.” The writers of novels whom Sir John Herschell mentioned were Cervantes, Goldsmith, Edgeworth, and Scott; and since their time we have had Dickens, Thackeray, George Eliot, and Charlotte Bronte. And if that were true of novels of which Sir John Herschell spoke, it must, a fortiori, be truer now, if the splendid character of the fiction of the last half-century be considered. It is this fiction, so healthy in its character, with which we have to form and train our youth into a taste for reading. But it is essential to go a step further. Fiction is not merely an amusement. It is, for the lives of a great many of our people, a necessary counterpoise to the monotony of mere mechanical employment. They want their imagination quickened, and the monotony of their daily lives lessened by fiction, such as that of Scott and the other writers who have been named. Once create the passion for reading, and it will not, it cannot, confine itself to reading for amusement only. Many opinions could be given upon novel reading, but they have been so well and universally reported in the press that it is not necessary to do more than just refer to them here. The general consensus of opinion shows that, like all other things in life, there is a use and an abuse of it, andThe Future of Public Libraries, Etc. 425 too frequently the latter rather than the former is the state of things. In the Public Library of the future the reference department will be looked upon as the chief section of the work of these places. By this it is not meant that they will become solely the repositories of scarce books, but where works of a valuable nature, too expensive to be purchased by ordinary mortals, will find a place. This is the most expensive part of Public Library work to maintain, as the books are among the most expensive published. But that is all the more reason why every town and every extensive village centre should have one place in its midst where books on every conceivable subject can be consulted with equal facility by young people and adults of both sexes. We have begun the last ten years which will complete the jubilee of the Ewart Act of 1850. The large number of adoptions within five years is a very gratifying rate of progress. But instead of an average of say fifteen a year, why should there not be, during the next few years, at least thirty, with an opinion that fifty should be the number P This will give us as a goal, when the jubilee is reached in 1900, a total of over 400 adoptions of the Acts; and really, considering the rate at which the whole question is advancing, and the impetus which is being given to educational movements generally, it is not too much to set this number before us and work steadily with that object in view. So, friends of the movement everywhere, please buckle on your armour, and let there be a long pull and a strong pull and a pull altogether, and this desirable end will be accomplished. The ground is, in many parts of the country, cleared and ready to be occupied; but in other counties there are difficulties still in the way which will make the task a very laborious one. Again, however, there comes the consolation that the movement depends, in every detail of its work, upon voluntary efforts. Herein lies its chief success, for only those, as a rule, take up the question who have the necessary grit to carry the matter to a successful issue. Friends and comrades everywhere, who are interested in this movement, it is a grand cause for which we are working. The object is no less than the common good of the whole people. The charity which begins at home is here true in the fullest and most comprehensive sense. Every man and woman who helps to establish a Public Library, and to place it in successful operation, aids to start the ripples of a work which will never cease as long as time lasts ; but which will ever become wider and wider as the generations to come develop and extend the work. Here is a magnificent vista of usefulness for those seeking a mission. It is not a work for civilizing the desert places of the earth, but one for the filling up of the desert places at home with that which can alone in this life give the most solid and lasting enjoyment. The pleasures which live are those of the mind, and the environing of the heart and mind with the wisdom of the great intellects of the earth should be the aim of all. It is the supply of libraries in all directions which creates the demand. This is one of the most426 Public Libraries. convincing proofs of the utility of these institutions, and it is a vital factor in the movement. What remains to be accomplished is vast, and as widely scattered as are the counties and shires of the whole United Kingdom and Ireland. To do justice to this part of the task would require each county being discussed separately in full, but this would mean a second or third volume. In England the county towns of the following counties are still without Public Libraries, and in many cases without any attempt ever having been made to adopt the Acts:—Durham, York, Lancaster, Rutland, Gloucester, Bucks, Huntingdon, Lincoln, Essex, Surrey, Sussex, Dorset, Somerset, and Cornwall. This is a list which tells up to a larger number than the county towns which have adopted the Acts. Taking the great trunk railway lines of the country as one of the criteria which could be named, seeing that they pass through the most populous towns, the nakedness of the land becomes terribly apparent. After a careful study of the maps of each separate large trunk line, it is clear that fifty, sixty, a hundred, and in some cases a hundred and fifty miles of the country are traversed by the railways, and there is not the slightest vestige of a Public Library. This is deplorable. Among the places where attempts have been made to adopt the Acts, but without success, the following may be given. It is to be hoped that some of these are again ready for a trial. Some places named have not previously attempted, but the movement is ripening for bringing to the vote. Bath has several times considered the question. A small reading-room and library were kept open by a former parliamentary representative, but closed on his ceasing to represent the constituency. Better a small library than none at all, but what are a few books and newspapers among so many ? Bath should not longer lag behind. The question is again coming forward. Birkdale at present is dependent on Southport for its books. In March, 1889, a meeting was called to consider the advisability or otherwise of adopting the Acts. When the chairman of the Local Board took the chair there were only thirty present, and he asked whether it was wise to go on. The meeting was adjourned sine die. Try again, Birkdale, and educate your local public opinion. Burnley has several times had the matter before it, but there is need of a provisional committee to take the question in hand, and organize. The presence of the Mechanics’ Institution is the principal argument against the establishment of a Public Library, and had this institution not met the want of a cheap resort for consulting book and newspaper literature, a Public Library would in all likelihood have been established long ago. The Mechanics’ Institution of Burnley is a strengthener of all that is good in the town. It is the popular resort of the reading public, and as a democratic institution it has no enemies. Any Public Library at Burnley ought to be in some way associated with the Mechanics’The Future of Public Libraries, Etc. 427 institution. May such a desirable consummation soon be brought about. Burton Latimer, near Kettering, is a village with a population of 2,000, and a ratable value of £8,000, and would like to have a Public Library. What a boon a small Government grant would be here ! With an income of £30, the difficulties are unquestionably great. Colchester.—There was a distinct leaning for a Public Library as a movement in 1887, but there were too many schemes in the field, and this, with other plans, went to the wall. A town of so great importance in the Eastern Counties should not be behind two small places in the county where the Acts have been adopted. Many leading men in the district are in its favour. Colchester is trying again, and it may be possible to record the result in the present volume. Colne took a vote upon the matter in a recent year, and failed to carry the Acts upon a demand for a poll. The vote was a little too hurriedly taken, and with a better attempt to educate the constituency a better result would probably come about. Now the statutory twelve months have intervened, try again, Colne, and follow Nelson. Eastbourne had a suggestion before it some time ago that the market building should be acquired, and turned into a Public Library and Museum. Some obstacles are in the way, but there is a likelihood that the visitors who winter at this delightful place will urge the adoption of the Acts strongly upon the town. Cheltenham finds the library a decided boon for its visitors, and those who frequent Eastbourne would find a Public Library a similar advantage. Exmouth, that pretty little Devon watering-place, wants a library and reading-rooms. Many persons appear anxious that the attempt should be made, whilst others point at the absolute failure which has speedily overtaken every venture in that direction which has been hitherto made. But one important fact has been forgotten. There has been no institution of the kind which has been absolutely free. The admission fees have been low, but current coin of the realm has had to be parted with before a glance at a paper could be obtained. Gloucester took the vote in March, 1887. From the first the promoters of a Public Library were outvoted, notwithstanding that 1,600 persons had signed the requisition to the Mayor to call the preliminary meeting. The majority against the adoption of the Acts was 1,343. There can be no doubt that the defeat was caused by a few who made use of the cry, “Vote against increased Taxation,” to give them the support of the lower-class ratepayer at the time of municipal elections. This opposition was coupled with the opposition of the public-houses, and the two pulling together were too strong for them. The movement has many warm friends in Gloucester. Is not the time ripe for another attempt ? Hastings.—The opposition to the movement is, strange to say,Public Libraries. 428 strongest in the south of England. On a previous occasion there was an unsuccessful attempt to carry the Acts. The offer of £1,000 from Mr. H. Barlow Webb, a magnificent building erected by Lord Brassey, and some other promises amounting to £500, brought the question again forward. Some good meetings were held, at which most able speeches were made, and active steps taken to spread information upon the subject. The promoters advocated only a halfpenny rate. It is acknowledged on all hands that the reference library established at the cost of Lord Brassey is not being put to the use which the donor intended when he made a present of it to the borough. Here is another of the many instances where libraries, gifts of generous donors, or otherwise outside the Acts, are rarely, if ever, put to the fullest and most legitimate use that would be the case if established under the Acts. The offer of these splendid gifts, if the Acts were adopted, failed to bring the matter to a successful issue. The statutory meeting held last meeting was of a very stormy character, and the vote was against the adoption. On a poll being taken the majority of the opposition was over 400. There was a powerful combination against the adoption, the leaders of both sides of politics being on this side, and there were other causes which told in the scale against the friends of the movement. A vigorous and plucky fight was made, and the time will come when Hastings will be in line on this question. In the meantime let there be more light on this question everywhere, for the more is known about these institutions the more friends are won over. The opponents celebrated their victory by a banquet, at which they congratulated themselves on saving the parish a halfpenny rate in the pound per year for library purposes. The Isle of Wight has not yet one single adoption of the Acts. At the end of 1887 the vote was taken at West Cowes. On a demand for a poll only 324 papers were returned from a total of 1,600. Out of the number stated the majority against was eighty-four. Hyde, Shanklin, and Yentnor have also discussed the subject; but the little island still stands where it did in this movement, and has not one rate-supported library. By-and-bye, no doubt, the good people of the island will come to see that Public Libraries are as useful as fashionable yacht clubs. Islewobth.—In March, 1890, the Heston and Isleworth Local Board affirmed the principle of a rate-supported library. The ratable value is set forth as £44,780 in Heston and £75,242 in Isleworth, making a total of £120,022. On this basis a penny rate would produce about £500. This is, of course, a very modest sum to distribute over three townships. But there are some special advantages. Isleworth has the Public Hall Library, respectably stocked with books, but needing a much fuller supply than the existing funds can give. Hounslow till recently possessed a subscription library at the Town Hall, but lack of enterprise on the part of the owners caused it to be discontinued. There are, however, two church libraries which circulate pretty freely through the town, and Heston has also a public institution. It will beThe Future of Public Libraries, Etc. 429 seen, therefore, that the encouragement of reading in the district, if cramped in various ways, has not been wholly lost sight of. This gives weight to the argument for the Public Library. Subscription and church libraries were very well in their day. They met a need which could be supplied then in no other way. But with the creation of the larger, more popular, and more comprehensive institutions, their work attained a range and individual perfection which has gratified nobody more than their promoters. These districts will, no doubt, be soon added to the list. Leigh is another Lancashire town which has discussed the question, but has not yet seriously taken the vote. A technical school and library combined are contemplated, and in a few months Leigh will be among the book-enfranchised. Maidenhead.—The question is coming forward here in a way which is likely to lead to a successful issue. A good working committee has been formed. The suggestion that the town should adopt the Acts emanated chiefly from the local branch of the British Women’s Temperance Association, of which body Miss Emilie Pearce is the active secretary. Several meetings have been held, and others are contemplated for the early winter. Some liberal subscriptions have been offered, and among them £100 from Mr. Pearce,* the Mayor. Newbury (Berks).—The question was brought forward early during 1889, but has been allowed to slide. This town, of over ten thousand people, greatly requires provision for its book-needs, and the subject will, it is to be hoped, soon again come before the people. It should be the first town in Berkshire to adopt the Acts after Beading. Bawmarsh has again been thinking about the question. Many of the people here use the Botherham Public Library. But why should not Bawmarsh be independent, and have its own institution? Stonehouse (Plymouth).—A movement in the direction was made a short time ago, and a committee of the board called together ; but the present time is considered inopportune, in consequence of certain financial burdens which have been incurred by the township. The matter is therefore postponed. Taunton.—The county of Somerset does not yet record a single adoption of the Acts. A strong committee took the preliminary work in hand on the occasion of a further attempt to carry the Acts in the beginning of 1888. Aided by the “ County Gazette,” and other local papers, they did their best to educate the local public. But the fates were sadly against them. Probably the most uproarious statutory meeting which has been held for a long time took place at Taunton in January, two years ago. On a poll being taken there was a majority against the adoption of 647. The number of abstentions was large, but it was satisfactory to note that five years previously, when the vote was taken, the number against was nearly treble what it was on the last occasion. Unscrupulous opponents had frightened the poorer people into the belief that their rents would be raised by the adoption of the Libraries Acts to such a fabulous amount that they would be430 Public Libraries. unable to pay them, and the workhouse would be the only place of refuge from the library rate. That such arguments were used was evident from the unseemly demonstration that took place at the public meeting, and one can hardly be surprised that these deluded ratepayers did vote against the movement. The opposition had been well organized and well canvassed, and on polling day care was taken that very few of them neglected to record their vote. On the other hand, the promoters showed considerable indifference in the matter, or trusted too much in the common sense of the voters. Taunton will be soon ready for another attempt, when it is hoped a better result will be seen. Torquay.—In the district of St. Mary Church there has been carried on for more than a year, by the aid of voluntary subscriptions, a Public Lending Library. Though on a small scale it has been much appreciated, and the committee have begun an agitation with a view of adopting the Public Libraries Acts. There is opposition, but they hope to succeed, and there is every probability of their doing so. Tottenham (Middlesex) refused the Acts in December, 1889, but there was a little undue haste in bringing the matter to a vote. The apathy both for and against the Acts was great. Now the question has made such a distinct advance the Acts will no doubt be adopted at the end of the current year. Weymouth.—In April, 1890, the vote was taken here and lost. There was, unfortunately, no serious attempt made to educate the people upon the matter. Withington is one of the suburbs of Manchester, and some of the leaders of local public opinion do not see why they should be dependent on Manchester for their supply of books. And quite right too. After Sale, and so many other suburbs of Cottonopolis, surely the time for Withington to enfranchise itself has now been reached. York.—In no town or city has the movement had more earnest friends than in York, and yet it has been terribly unsuccessful. After a preliminary committee had carried on an active canvass, the statutory meeting was called for August, 1887. Subscriptions to the extent of £5,000 were promised, and a large and suitable building could have been acquired on most advantageous terms. Excellent speeches were made in favour of the motion, and throughout there was a high-class tone. The opposition was well organized, and came from very influential quarters. The resolution was lost by a large majority. A poll was demanded, and on this being taken the majority against stood at 817. Fourteen years previously, when the poll was taken, the number against stood much higher. With a population of nearly 70,000, and a city noted for its intelligence, the result was greatly regretted by the friends of the movement; but the defeat was taken with a good grace, and the time is now within measurable distance, when the decision will be reversed. If the clergy and others who aid in forming local opinion, while ready to record their vote in favour, will contribute their active support, and work instead of43i The Future of Public Libraries, Etc. giving a merely nominal allegiance, success will be assured. Sooner or later York is sure to be added to the list, and there are evidences that it will be sooner rather than later. The county town of the largest county in the country should surely not be in the rear in this question. The vote will be taken again shortly. The question has been brought forward in the following, amongst other places. In several of the towns named an unsuccessful attempt has been made to carry the Acts—Ashford (Kent), Boston, Chelmsford, Crewe, Gainsborough, Grantham, Huddersfield, Hull, Horwich (Lane.), Ilkeston, Kettering, Leytonstone, Lincoln, Luton, Mexborough, Monk Bretton, Newton Abbot, Padiham, near Burnley, Penzance, Pocklington, Bamsgate, Hugely, Sowerby Bridge, Whitby, Sutton Coldfield, Stratford-upon-Avon, Stonebridge, Tunbridge Wells, Tyldesley (Lane.), Windermere, Woolston, near Southampton. A question very closely allied with the future of these institutions is the legislation likely to bear upon them. There is a general opinion, both among the legal profession and outside its sacred circle, that the Public Libraries Acts are very badly drawn. To a non-legal mind, the phraseology of all Acts of Parliament is little more than a bewildering maze of words. The discussions and alterations when the Bill is in Committee on words and sentences is the cause of this uncertainty, and as long as we have such a preponderance of gentlemen of the legal persuasion in the House the same state of things will continue to exist. Short as the Public Libraries Acts comparatively are, and simple as one would naturally expect statute laws referring to Public Libraries to be, it has required no fewer than seventeen Acts of Parliament for our legislators to express their meaning. There is need for one Consolidation and Amendment Act to rescue them from this slovenly state in which they exist, but, as the movement could not be making better progress than at present, the better plan would be to leave the bringing forward of a Bill for at least two or three years. The amount of patchwork legislation which goes on at St. Stephen’s is very puzzling to an ordinary mind. It is impossible not to be amazed at some of these Public Libraries Amendment Acts. If the representatives at Westminster had been playing at legislation some of these Acts could not possibly be more vague than is the case. In one or two cases the Bill has been read a third time at 3 a.m., and so there is just exactly what might be expected, a mass of slipshod and indefinite wording, upon which scarcely two people reading them through would place the same interpretation. The Scotch Consolidation Act is clearer, and perhaps the best worded. In February of 1889 a conference of commissioners from several of the metropolitan parishes which have adopted the Acts was held at Chelsea. The object of the conference was to discuss the bearing of certain portions of the Acts, and to see how far some difficulties which had arisen in the working of the Acts could be met. The collection of the rate, about which there had been sore trouble in Chelsea, was one of the main questions432 Public Libraries. set down for consideration. The resolutions arrived at on this point were to the effect that the library rate should be collected as part of the poor rate; that it should be levied, if practicable, in two moieties; that it should be collected by the usual rating authority, and that the vestry should have no power to regulate the amount after the decision of the ratepayers; and that the cost of collecting the library rate should be borne by the poor rate. Other matters were also considered. It will be seen that one or two of the resolutions have been met by the Amendment Bill of 1889. A small sea of litigation has been passed through, and counsel never before were so much consulted upon the rendering of these Acts, as they have been during the last three years. Further than this, diametrically opposed opinions have been given on disputable points. One authority on Public Library matters goes so far as to say that the most useful thing would be the repeal of the Public Libraries Acts from 1850 up to the present time. He holds that these Acts do not give any power that did not pre-exist in the case of the Municipality of London in the thirteenth century. Those libraries were established without any reference whatever to Parliament. And so far as he knows, there was no statute which took away that power from the corporations and municipal authorities of this country. This would seem a sweeping method of dealing with the matter, but it has much to recommend it. It is easy to agree with him when he says that “ there is not the slightest fear that any Town Council or Local Board would ruin the ratepayers by extravagant expenditure upon books and libraries. In the interests of the real and higher education of the people it was a risk which those who wished well to this country might safely run.” Certainly the time has arrived when the permissive element may safely be abolished. It was somewhat to be regretted that the clauses referring to Public Libraries and kindred institutions should have been expunged from the Local Government Bill, for it is to these managing bodies that the power must ultimately come. Whatever is contemplated, however, it is greatly to be hoped that Public Library legislation will now be left alone until all sections of the friends of this movement have had an opportunity of expressing their opinions, and of discussing any proposed Consolidation Bill which may be brought forward. This is vital.5 This is prospective, and the most that can be done with regard to the Acts as they stand is to summarize the leading litigation which has taken place, and to note the counsel’s opinion where this is available. In September, 1887, the late Mr. Bradlaugh asked in the House of Commons, whether, under the Acts the Warrington Library and Museum Committee were justified in requiring and receiving subscriptions from persons borrowing books from the Warrington Public Library, which library was supported from the rates ; and whether the library committee were legally justified in according privileges to subscribers in respect of the loan of books from that Library, which privileges were not accorded to ratepayers who433 The Future of Public Libraries, Etc. did not pay special subscriptions. To this the Attorney-General replied : “ There is no authority under the Public Libraries Act of 1855 for making any distinction between persons who subscribe and persons who do not. In my opinion the Act does not contemplate the loan of books out of the library, and I think it doubtful whether such loan is legal. Assuming, however, that under Section 21, rules could be made permitting the loan of books, it would, in my opinion, be competent for the committee to require a reasonable deposit to ensure their safe return.” In January, 1888, the Bermondsey Vestry had under discussion the opinion of counsel as to the legality of the poll of the parish. The poll was taken upon a requisition served upon the overseers connected with a body known as the governors and directors. The vestry were duly informed by the clerk to the governors and directors with a view to the vestry proceeding with the appointment of the library commissioners ; but, acting upon the advice of their law clerk, they took objection to the governors and directors being the authority under the Act, and further raised the question as to whether the Acts did not require a majority of the whole of the ratepayers of the parish, and not merely a majority of those who actually took the trouble to fill up and return the voting papers. The vestry decided to submit these two points to counsel, and the opinion of Mr. Lumley Smith, Q.C., was obtained. On the first point he said he considered the governors and directors were the authority within the meaning of the Act. On the second point, he inclined to the view that a majority of those actually voting, and not an absolute majority of the ratepayers, was all that the Act required. A question arose in August, 1888, in Liverpool, as to the legal powers of the library committee. Although custom appears to have sanctioned it, and up to a recent period no serious question has been raised on the subject, it has been open to doubt whether the city lending libraries and reading-rooms were institutions, as such, that came within the meaning of the words “ establishment and maintenance of a Public Library,” as contained in the provisions of the Liverpool Library and Museum Act, 1852. The Town Clerk, on being appealed to at a meeting of the City Council for his opinion as to the construction of the law, cautiously intimated that the matter was open to grave doubt. The library, museum, and arts committee have, therefore, thought it prudent to take steps to have their positions more clearly defined, and at a meeting it was resolved “ That in the opinion of this committee it is desirable to obtain an amendment to the Liverpool Library and Museum Act, 1852, to the following effect, namely:—That the establishment and maintenance of lending libraries and reading-rooms within the city of Liverpool shall be deemed to be within the meaning of the establishment and maintenance of a Public Library under the Liverpool Library and Museum Act, 1852, and all the provisions of that Act shall apply accordingly. Steps in this direction have been taken. In the early part of May, 1889, when the Liverpool Corporation Bill was under discussion, Mr. 28434 Public Libraries. Pope said in reference to section 3, which referred to Public Libraries, the objections of the Local Government Board appeared to be directed to the power of borrowing. The effect of this clause would be to enable the Corporation to borrow, in accordance with the provisions of the Act of 1852, for the purpose of lending libraries and reading-rooms. The board thought it right to draw the attention of the committee to the unsatisfactory provisions contained in that Act with respect to borrowing and repayment of loans, and suggested that the provisions of the Act of 1852 with regard to the borrowing and repayment of loans should be repealed, and fresh powers more in accordance with recent legislation be substituted. What the promoters proposed in order to meet that view was that, without re-enacting fresh powers, there should be a proviso that if any moneys were borrowed—they were not sure that they would require to borrow at the present moment—such moneys should be repaid within forty years from the date of borrowing. It was not clear in the Act of 1852 whether the power to borrow money for Public Libraries included lending libraries and reading-rooms, and the Bill proposed that this doubtful point should be cleared up. The committee fixed the period of repayment at thirty years, and agreed that the clause as amended stand part of the Bill. The Clerkenwell case is, with the Croydon case, the most important which has occurred. The poll was taken in December, 1887. There were 8,324 ratepayers, and 7,222 was the total number of voting papers issued. Out of those 4,646 were collected, and when they were counted there were 1,971 in favour of the adoption of the Act, 1,650 against, while the spoiled papers amounted to 1,025. Immediately after the poll was taken several members of the vestry questioned its legality and took action in the courts. On February 13,1888, the question came forward in the Queen’s Bench Division, before the late Baron Huddleston and Mr. Justice Manisty. The application was on the part of the ratepayers of St. James’s and St. John’s, Clerkenwell, to get rid of a vote by means of voting papers of ratepayers to adopt the Public Libraries Act, on the ground of alleged irregularities in the mode in which the voting papers were issued and collected, and the votes of ratepayers taken. The parish itself, consisting of the two districts or wards of St. James’s and St. John’s, with an outlying district of Muswell Hill, several miles oft—contains a population of about 70,000, and there were at the April, 1886, assessment 8,324 assessments or assessed ratepayers. It appeared from the affidavits on the part of the applicants, certain ratepayers, that the vestry clerk issued only 7,222 voting papers, of which only 4,648 were collected, on which the vestry clerk declared the result to be 1,971 for the adoption of the Acts, 1,650 against it, and 1,025 voting papers “ spoilt ”; but this was controverted, and on scrutiny being demanded and refused, this application was made, and the effect of the affidavits was to show that there were such irregularities in the way in which the voting papers were sent out and collectedThe Future of Public Libraries, Etc. 435 that it was wholly uncertain what was really the result of the yoting. It was stated, for instance, that no voting papers were sent to the ratepayers of the outlying district of Muswell Hill, who, it was suggested, would be likely to vote against the adoption of the Acts, as they were too far off to benefit by it. Moreover it was suggested that the overseers were the “prescribed local authorities ” to conduct the voting. It was stated in the affidavits that the voting papers had not been properly collected ; that some which were marked “ No ” were not reckoned. Upon these grounds Mr. Jelf, Q.C. (with Mr. P. S. Stokes), moved on the part of several ratepayers for a rule for a quo warranto to question the' election, and in the result he obtained a rule calling on the commissioners appointed to show cause why a writ of quo warranto should not issue commanding them to show by what authority they exercise the office of commissioners under the Public Libraries Acts for the parish of St. James and St. John, Clerkenwell, upon the grounds (1) that the vestry and guardians or governors of the poor were not the prescribed local authority for the said parish for ascertaining the opinion of the majority of the ratepayers of the parish under the Public Libraries Acts; (2) that a voting paper was not issued to each ratepayer as required by the Acts; (3) that the voting papers issued were not properly collected; (4) that a scrutiny of the votes had' been refused, though lawfully demanded; (5) that even if the proper authority acted, and the voting papers were properly issued and collected, this result was not properly ascertained within the meaning of the Acts. Their lordships granted a rule nisi. On May 15, 1888, the matter came again forward, and was adjourned. Then in June the question was argued out at length, and the report occupies some six columns of newspaper matter. The case was heard before Mr. Justice Field and Mr. Justice Wills as to whether the former ruling of rule nisi should not be reversed. Mr. Justice Field, in giving judgment, said it was objected that voting papers were not sent to each ratepayer ; that they were not properly collected; and that a scrutiny was refused; and that even if these conditions had been properly complied with, the result had not been properly ascertained in the meaning of the Acts. Anxious as he was always to secure purity of election, he could not come to the conclusion that there was any improper or unfair dealing on the part of the promoters of the Public Library in this instance. There was a substantial majority of ratepayers in favour of the project, and there was nothing to show that the election had been otherwise than fairly and honourably conducted. Mr. Justice Wills concurred. The rule was accordingly discharged. It was held by the Judge that voters who declared for a library subject to the limitation of the rate to one halfpenny are committed to the penny rate if the majority have agreed to the higher figure. The effect of this decision may be to diminish the number of favourable votes in the first category, but it is only right that the strict conditions of the appeal should be understood. It hasPublic Libraries. 436 also been clearly laid down that the actual voters bind the whole parish or district, whatever proportion they may bear to the whole number of ratepayers. In one Lancashire district, in December, 1888, counsel’s opinion was obtained on the levying of the rate, and Dr. Pankhurst gave it as his opinion that the Local Board had full power to levy such rate, and had full power at any timd?after the adoption of the Acts. In the metropolis the extension of Public Libraries has been much checked by reason of the area prescribed being the parish. While some of the large metropolitan parishes constitute a suitable area, a feeling has prevailed in some of the smaller ones that if a Public Library were established there the inhabitants of neighbouring parishes would practically share in the enjoyment of the benefits, though the whole expense would fall on the ratepayers of the individual parish. For various administrative purposes the parishes are already grouped in district boards, and it has been suggested that the adoption of Public Libraries would be much encouraged by permitting the area adopted to be either the parish or the district as may be preferred. Accordingly, the principal Act of 1855 is modified so as to enable the district board of works as well as the parish to establish a Public Library. The expense is to be defrayed out of the fund at the disposal of the district board. Special provision is made for exempting from a library rate metropolitan parishes which have already established a Public Library or may hereafter do so, the powers of parishes to establish a library being kept alive. New regulations are made with regard to the borrowing of money by a library authority, and the powers and duties of the Treasury with regard to sanctioning loans, &c., are transferred from the Treasury to the Board of Trade. In the Amendment Act of 1889 a useful amendment was effected. Hitherto the expenses of calling and holding the meeting of the ratepayers to decide whether the Public Libraries Acts shall be adopted or not, and the expenses of carrying those Acts into execution in any parish, have been paid u out of a rate to be made and recovered in a like manner as a poor rate.” Now, those expenses are to be paid out of a rate to be raised with and as part of the poor rate. Hitherto every person occupying lands used as arable, meadow, or pasture ground only, or as woodlands, or market gardens, or nursery grounds, has been rated in respect of the same in the proportion of one-third part only of the full net annual value thereof respectively; now, such a person will be entitled to an allowance of two-thirds of the sum assessed upon him in respect of such lands for such expenses. More serviceable still is the provision now made for securing a joint library for several parishes. It is now to be lawful for the commissioners appointed under the Acts for any two or more adjoining parishes, with the consent of the vestries of such parishes, from time to time to agree to share, in such proportions and for such period as may be determined by the agreement, the cost of the purchase,The Future of Public Libraries, Etc. 437 erection, repair, and maintenance of any library building situate in one of such parishes, and also the cost of the purchase of books, periodicals, and newspapers for such library, and all other expenses connected with the same; and the inhabitants of both or all the parishes, as the case may be, will be entitled to use the library so long as the agreement shall continue in force. And any such agreement may provide that upon its termination an adjustment shall be made of the interests of the several commissioners in the library, building books, and other property to which they have contributed, and as to the mode in which such adjustment shall be reached. Further than this, poundage for collection of the library rate is now quite illegal. Among other points to be discussed in the framing of a Consolidation Bill will be the following:— The necessity of making it absolute law, and not a matter of local favour, to have Public Libraries exempt from local and imperial taxation. That the law of Mortmain shall not apply to Public Libraries. That the rate be allowed on the gross, and not on the ratable, value. That all public documents shall be presented free of all cost. That British Museum duplicates and South Kensington loans be only to rate-supported Libraries and Museums. Taking the power out of the hands of the ratepayers for the adoption of the Acts, and transferring it to the governing body. The citizens would still have a voice through their representatives. This would often save the expense of a poll, and there would be other gains. That loans for buildings be for a period of fifty instead of thirty years. That loans be permitted for works of art, and objects for museums, as well as for sites, buildings, and fittings. The power to enforce the rate immediately after the adoption of the Acts. That committees shall be permitted to make such charges, for renewals of borrower’s cards, &c., as they deem necessary. There is a doubt whether, as the Acts are worded, such charges are legal. Clauses giving facilities to rural districts to affiliate with the nearest town for the supply of books and general library work. The maintaining of the rate at a penny for Public Libraries as at present, and a further penny for museums and art galleries. The Museums and Gymnasiums Act of 1891, printed in the Appendix, allows a halfpenny to be levied for museums, and legalises the charges made for admission. The halfpenny is a beginning, but the full penny is needed.438 Public Libraries. CHAPTER XXII. The Case for Rural Public Libraries. In every preceding issue of this work the urgent need for something being done for public libraries in villages has been put forward. The progress of this movement in the metropolis and provincial towns is apparent everywhere, but in the rural districts there has been little or nothing done to adopt the Acts. The question has, indeed, been discussed in many villages, and letters are constantly being received asking if nothing can be done towards establishing these institutions in villages. There is no wonder that residents in the rural districts should look with longing eyes upon the provision being made to supply literature to the townspeople, and feel that there is something wrong in the state of Denmark if villages cannot have like advantages. In England there is only one single adoption of the Acts in a place with a population of less than 5,000, in Scotland there are about three, and, taking the four counties, there is practically only one place, Tarves in Scotland, with its population of 2,400, which can be said to be purely rural that has a Public Library under the Acts. The nearest approach to it is Much Wool ton, near Liverpool. Surely this is a serious matter. The number of villages throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland is represented by many thousands, and the towns by hundreds, and yet out of all this plethora one only or two, to include Woolton, have seen their way clear to avail themselves of these Acts. The book needs of our English villages were never greater than at the present time. Much has been said of late about the making of village life brighter and more interesting, in order that the people may be induced to remain in the rural districts, and so stem to some extent the tide of centralization which has during recent years flowed so rapidly into the towns. The whole subject lies closer to the roots of our national well-being than is generally thought. The parson and the squire have, between them, done much to choke village life, and now existence in many rural districts is, for the rank and file of humanity, very dull and uninteresting. Human nature rebels against remaining in the vicinity of boredom longer than can be helped, and hence one of the reasons why so many country people take the first chance of removing into towns. If it were not for the ever-extending number of organizations, an association for the encouragement of village life might be started, and would accomplish good. But a few earnest men with a given object in view and nothing to gain could in course of time do just as much useful service. The multiplication of books and reading-rooms will, on all hands, be looked upon as among the facilities which would help to make village life brighter. Many districts are struggling with village clubs and reading-rooms, but the saddest reading439 The Case for Rural Public Libraries. of reports for years has been the annual statement of the accounts of some of these village reading-rooms. A large percentage of these institutions scarcely seem to mature to full and active life. Of village museums supported out of the rates there is not one. And yet it cannot be said that many villages would not welcome in their midst libraries and museums as free to them as their highways, and supported in the same way, if the step were practicable. The small yield of the penny rate for maintenance presents, however, an insurmountable barrier at present, and the politician who will solve the problem of how to aid by Government grant villages to maintain municipal libraries and museums will rank with the Ewarts, Cobdens, and Brights as a public benefactor. The grouping of two or more villages together as suggested, and made possible by two small recent Acts of Parliament, scarcely meets the difficulty, as the villages are in so many cases scattered over an area which geographically makes such a combination a remote possibility. Yet it is as desirable that the outlying rural labourer should have books within reach, as that they should be put in the way of the people in the East-end of London. The decreasing of the area, which must now consent to pay a penny in the pound, may make some way out of the difficulty, but even that is not very certain. Hundreds of villages are absolutely without any facilities for book borrowing, except from the libraries of Sunday schools, and the books in these are usually of so unsuitable a character for general reading that it would be well if many of them were placed in a dark cupboard and charitably forgotten. Something has been done in a few rural districts in the supplying of books by workmen’s clubs, but the extension of the franchise to counties cannot fail to vastly extend the reading of books in the country, and this increased demand can only be met adequately by a Public Library. Much interesting-information is given in the Duchess of Eutland’s “ Reading and Recreation Rooms and Public Libraries,” and “ Encouraging Experiences of Public Libraries, Reading and Recreation Rooms,” as to what has been, and is still being done in the providing of village libraries and reading-rooms. How to make life pleasant in the country is a problem of far greater importance than is apparent on the face of it. This drifting away into the nearest large town, or, worse still, the metropolis, to swell the millions here of the youth of both sexes, is fraught with much that is not conducive to the best welfare of the nation. It will be a sorry day for dear old England when the homely virtues of its people, the simplicity in methods of living and in personal habits, become weakened and made less prominent by the contaminating influences of life in the large towns. What is the destiny of village communities ? Are they moving with the times or no ? Certainly it cannot be said that they are progressing as fast as the well-organized town communities. And of the more remote villages the unpalatable truth is that they are440 Public Libraries. being left farther and farther behind in this advancing age. And although it is absolutely impossible that they can keep anywhere near a level with the towns, yet it is not altogether impossible to materially improve their position. The reason, of course, is that villages have not the means of self-improvement that towns have. The present generation of men have had very little education in the past, and their hard physical labours permit of little self-improvement in the present. But it may be urged that means of attaining culture were never so plentiful as now—books, schools, University Extension Lectures, and Public Libraries. Yes; but how many of these reach the agricultural labourer ? Every notice of any such fresh supply of intellectual food made available sends a thrill of delight through the hearts of those who really desire and are striving for the improvement of mankind. But to one who thinks at all about poor Hodge the news is not all pleasure, for it only means that the front of the host is pushing on faster, and it is to be feared that the gulf between the communities is widening.. The leaders of humanity are moving rapidly forward to the regions of light, and are crying to those behind “ Push on! ” Down the lines the cry is lost, and the rear only keep up any progress at all by endeavouring not to lose sight altogether of those in front. Far behind is a struggling contingent, of whom the leaders hardly have cognisance, but who are pressing on to the same goal. Even the last unit of this great army is a member of the great family of mankind, and what more can the first call himself ? The need for the establishment of Public Libraries in rural districts is a vital one, and the members of Local Boards, or other authorities will confer a permanent benefit on the district in which they reside, if they will discuss and bring to a successful issue this question. Life in the country has its compensations as well as its drawbacks. Bents and rates are low, but while this is an advantage to the residents, it presents an obstacle, for the total ratable value of most villages is not by any means large, so that a penny in the pound would not produce sufficient to stock and maintain a library. Whilst bricks cannot be made without straw, libraries cannot be stocked and supported without the wherewithal which every object needs. The ratable value of an average-sized English village or villages under, say, the administration of a Local Board, is from £3,000 to £5,000. The smaller sum would produce from a penny £12 10s., and the larger amount £20 16s. 8d., and it will be at once seen from this how impossible it would be to do much in the way of furnishing and maintaining a library. In the majority of English villages the gross rates do not reach 3s. 6d. in the pound—another evident advantage over town life, considering that some towns have gross rates reaching double this sum. The rural voter earnestly desires to know how things are moving in the world. He is not the passive sheep, blindly following a pot-house demagogue, some think him. Let himThe Case for Rural Public Libraries. 441 have books, newspapers, and magazines to inform himself, and depend upon it they will be used, and used well. An ex-member of Parliament who represented a division of one of the agricultural counties wrote a short time ago to one of the London daily papers to point out that the Public Libraries Acts were available to the smallest country village. He added to his letter this significant sentence: “ To have in a village a Public Library belonging to the people themselves, and managed by no section, but by duly elected representatives, is in itself an education usually frowned on by the squire, but utterly abhorred by the parson.” The truth is a sad one, but it is nevertheless a fact. In all parts of the country regret has been expressed that there seems so little prospect of rural districts having these people’s libraries placed in their midst, and those who are most strenuously opposed to it are the two classes just named. It is impossible not to feel a tinge of sorrow that this should have to be stated, but it is a matter so serious that it demands attention. As long as these two most influential men as a rule in the parish set themselves resolutely against these rate-supported libraries, what can the people do but quietly submit, lest it should mean some difference in the amount of custom given to a local tradesman, or some other species of refined persecution with which village magnates seem so peculiarly familiar P But there is no hope for any wide extension in the number of adoptions of the Public Libraries Acts in the villages, until there is some prospect of a small grant from the State, say from £10 to £25 a year, according to the needs and work done by the individual library. When our administrators have done wasting money in useless stores and reckless extravagance all round, and can give a few more thousands for educational purposes, then we may look forward to such a subsidiary grant to village libraries established under the Act, properly administered by the local authorities, and doing a useful work. A few pensions, rarely ever earned, the less; a few clerks working from nine to five o’clock instead of ten to four—and who knows how many holidays ?—less national waste, and these few thousands would be ready in the Exchequer for such a purpose as this. The national patience with extravagance in high places is simply amazing. Here is a sample of such expenditure, and it is only necessary to preface it by stating that whichever Government is in power, the same rate of expenditure goes merrily along. There may be promises of economy, but it is more show than anything else, as instanced by the House of Lords cutting down its expenditure a year or two ago by the dismissal of one or two maidservants. The report of Sir William Dunbar, the Comptroller and Auditor-General, upon the Navy Appropriation Accounts for 1885-86, contains some surprising information as to the way in which the Vote of Credit was spent. The Vote was granted on April 27,1885, to pay for the withdrawal of the British forces from the Soudan, and to prepare for a war with Bussia, which then seemed imminent. The Vote was for eleven millions, three of them for the navy, and eight for the army. It is with the navy appropriation alone that Sir442 Public Libraries. William Dunbar now deals. He remarks that, contrary to rule, no estimate was framed when the Vote was granted; and he expresses the opinion that had there been any real, even imperfect, attempt to frame a scheme of proposed expenditure, excess might not have been avoided, but the causes of it would have been apparent, and the investigations of a select committee rendered unnecessary. The tendency, Sir William Dunbar says, was “ to consider the Vote of Credit too much in the light of a sum placed at their disposal by Parliament to meet any expenditure unprovided for in the ordinary Votes. The expenditure out of the Vote of Credit to a considerable extent represents, perhaps unavoidably, a dead loss to the public. Ships have been taken up at a great cost and never used, and the cable for the Baltic, manufactured at a cost of £113,000, never left the contractors’ premises, and was resold to them for £80,000.” This is only quoted as one of many examples which might be given for the purpose of doing a little, if possible, to set thoughtful men inquiring into these matters. But surely if the Government can afford to spend such gigantic sums as this, there is some hope that by-and-bye the turn will come round for Public Libraries, and the few requisite thousands of pounds a year will not be wanting. Mr. Gladstone, in his speech, when opening one of the metropolitan libraries, devoted considerable attention, as will be seen on reference to his address given in the preface, to this suggestion, that there should be some help from the Consolidated Fund for village libraries. There is no wonder that the statesmen of both sides of politics look with askance at the new claims upon that fund, but with all due deference it is humbly submitted that no claim which has for some years been put forward has been so strong as that for village Public Libraries. A penny rate is absolutely insufficient for any practical work in by far the greater majority of cases. It would be manifestly an injustice to give them the power to levy a higher rate than a penny. Combination is an alternative yet untried, and when tried its success is very doubtful Affiliation with the nearest town is almost as uncertain, except in a limited number of cases. Is it likely that for an annual contribution of some thirty pounds a year a neighbouring town will undertake to provide literature for one, two, three, or more villages grouped together under one Local Board P Mr. Gladstone’s suggestion is that the landowners should solve the problem by opening their purses and giving money, books, or buildings. The aged statesman reminded them of their obligations in words which should be read by all landowners. “We have,” he said, “got in this country a very peculiar distribution of the land. It is held in large quantities by wealthy men, by wealthy men who recognize to a great extent—and who, I hope, from generation to generation, will still more largely recognize—the proposition that the possession of landed property entails great social duties. Instead of the Consolidated Fund, what I hope is that the liberality and the enlightened judgment of these large proprietors scattered all over the country will meet the difficulty and enable the villages also .... to443 The Case for Rural Public Libraries. enjoy the great advantage of institutions of this kind.” Would that Mr. Gladstone’s suggestion might have the desired effect upon English landowners! The right honourable gentleman has practically carried out his own proposal in the village of Hawar-den. But what is the state of the case P The gifts either of land or of money to rate-supported public libraries from large landowners are of so limited a character that only a single sentence of very few words is required to record it. In London there are two instances, and in the provinces one case only deserving of notice is present to mind. It is to be feared that it will be a long day before the landlords supply the book needs of English villages. It is impossible not to deeply sympathize with Mr. Gladstone’s suggestion that private gifts should take the place of State aid, but the plea is again put forward that only by small Government grants based on the work done will the difficulty be solved. It may be argued that village Public Libraries are just as deserving of State aid as village schools and science and art classes. Why should the line be drawn at these two sections of national education ? The science and art classes of the country receive a good round sum each year. A far less figure would serve to help village libraries, and it is claimed, and justly claimed, that some portion of our ninety millions a year expenditure should go to make possible the establishing of these rural rate-supported public libraries. Without some guarantee of annual help towards the cost of maintenance the case of the rural libraries is, it is to be feared, utterly hopeless. Seeing that the Australasian and the South African colonies already make annual grants to village libraries it is somewhat strange that the mother country should look askance at a similar proposal for this country. Private gifts, there is reason to think, would be forthcoming towards the first cost and for stocking with books, but it is the maintenance when once established which is the one great obstacle. Request is earnestly made for gifts for village libraries. Tradesmen in towns, business men in cities, do something for the villages where you were born and reared! Arrange to supply certain daily or weekly papers or magazines, or to give an annual subscription. In response to a letter in one of the religious periodicals, the author received .numerous parcels of books and magazines for village libraries, and these it has been his pleasure to distribute to places where they are being used and appreciated. More parcels for a similar purpose will be acceptable. Some of the most successful men of business of the present day were born and received their education in country schools. Why should not these do something in providing literature for the districts with which they were once associated ? Reference has been made to what is being done by the various unions of mechanics’ institutes in the way of village lending libraries; but it is hoped that something may be done in the large number of villages in the Southern, Midland and Eastern Counties, which have not yet been touched by these unions.444 Public Libraries. Where is the generous man who will give 5,000 or 10,000 volumes or the equivalent in value for the purpose ? Workmen’s clubs have done much to bring pleasure into the somewhat dull and monotonous life in many an English village, but it is to be feared that some of these clubs degenerate into factions, and have not in any large number of instances accomplished the good reasonably expected of them. The secret of this lies in their irresponsibility except to a committee ; whereas, if they were administered by the elected authorities of that district, a healthier existence could not fail to be guaranteed them. They cannot, however, as workmen’s clubs, be under the rates, but as Public Libraries they could come into this category. Many of these clubs, again, would form an excellent nucleus for becoming “ enfranchised ” as Public Libraries, used as they now are by their present members, and would by such a step draw a larger constituency. Even while this chapter is being written a letter arrives from one of such villages greatly needing its local institute turned into a Public Library. It is illustrative of many similar cases, and is consequently quoted. The writer says, “ We are not progressing. The fact is we have only 3,000 inhabitants, and we are pretty much in the power of one man, Lord -------, who appears to take but little interest as to ‘ how his brethren fare.’ In the present state of the district we cannot see how Public Libraries can be applied to places of the size of ours, and it is the opinion of the lord, the clergy, and the richer inhabitants that the poor are best ignorant. It may be possible to connect a Public Library with a workmen’s club, but say the rate produces about £30, this will not pay all expenses for a building devoted to that purpose, but if the proceeds of a workmen’s club be added to it enough might be got together for rent, fire, lights, and attendance. Only two ways seem to me, first, as you suggest in your book that the Government (or County Council) should subsidize village libraries, or that a larger rate be allowed in towns with under 6,000 inhabitants.’ Here is another letter from a village in the North of England “ Citizens in large towns may well feel proud of their privileges at this winter season of the year. One of the most charming places in the country district in summer is our village. Its beauties cannot be told for multitude, but the reverse is the order of things in winter. We are almost buried alive in darkness and solitary confinement. Here we have no light of any kind, no art gallery, no Public Library, no lecture rooms, no public hall, no entertainments, nothing wherewith to spend the long evenings and relieve the monotony of the situation. Our sons and daughters are left to spend their time as best they may. Notwithstanding we are onl thirteen miles from a highly exalted city, and whilst the great Stephenson civilizer cuts us in twain, still we are yet without the other developing forces. Hundreds of trippers hover around us in summer, but turn aside in the bleak days of winter, and then we begin to feel as though we had no link in the social chain, and no share in the great human heart of civilization. Our sires445 The Case for Rural Public Libraries. have endured this state of things for nearly half a century, whilst the world has been moving on; but surely we, their sons, cannot be expected in these days of advanced thought and life to live on under the same regime. Where is our lord of the manor, so advanced in land law reform and other social subjects P Surely he will come to the rescue, and make some provision for the requirements of the district which he owns for miles round! Even we poor villagers want to reap in some measure the intellectual and social advantages which follow in the train of this nineteenth century.” The desire to share in the social and intellectual advantages of the century is perfectly natural. If a village should possess “ some mute, inglorious Milton,” nothing is so likely to make him speak and open the road to glory as a village library. In the Northern Counties, where the co-operative movement has taken such deep root, a large number of these societies have lending libraries, and a most excellent work is being done by them. A certain portion of their profits is set aside for educational purposes, and this is spent for books or in papers for the newsroom. Residents in the Southern and Western Counties have little conception of the good which is being accomplished by these libraries in connection with co-operative societies. In no part of the country are the barriers between the various classes of society more marked than in the country. There is still the curtseying and scraping to the village clergyman and the squire, or the blankets and soup are curtailed or dropped altogether. These institutions, wherever already established in villages, are doing more to break down these class barriers than is visible on the surface. The village newsroom would be common ground, where squire, parson, and villager could all meet, and the more they meet together the better will they understand each other. Class prejudices exist because there has been no opportunity of getting at the opinions of each other, and so arriving at a mutual understanding. Brief mention may be made of a few out of many cases where village libraries are in operation, but which are not under the Acts. At Petworth in Sussex they have an institute with a considerable membership, and 0,000 volumes in the library. Three years ago a little village library was formed at Longf organ, near Dundee. The library has in it about 300 volumes, consisting of 127 volumes of Romance, Mythology, History, Biography, and Travel; 34 volumes of Literature (Essays, Poetry, History of Literature); 49 volumes of Art, Morals, and Miscellaneous; 26 volumes of Physical Science (Astronomy, Chemistry, Physics); 59 volumes of Zoology, Botany, Geology, and Agriculture. The library is designed principally for the use of the older school children and of the younger adults, and care was taken to have only the best of books, and these books, so far as possible, representative of the best writers. Examination of the details of the class of books read discloses one or two striking facts. In the first department such books as Stories from Homer, Roman antiquities, and history generally are not much read. In these days of ploughmen'sPublic Libraries, 446 grievances and land reform there has been but one issue of one or two little books on political economy; in the midst of the great agricultural depressions and competition, though the books are elementary, there has not been one reference to a text-book of chemistry, and there has been but one to the principles of agriculture. It is, however, gratifying to observe that so many of the lighter racy books of science have been taken out, and no doubt the taste for closer study will grow. The schoolmaster of the village undertook the management of the library, and the care of a microscope given for use both in the school and by any capable of using it. The cost of the books, bookcase, stamp, microscope, VILLAGE LIBRARY, BEBINGTON. &c., was about £50. The issues for one year tv ere 1,012 volumes, exclusive of those issued for use during school hours. It is evident that this library has been a success. The success points to the moral that the wealthy in any district have assuredly an easy way of giving great pleasure and conferring a great boon, or that a small community itself might with moderate effort and little outlay open a lasting spring of joy and good. The village free library at Bebington, near Birkenhead, is doing a useful little work. It owes its origin to the late Joseph Mayer, who gave to the Liverpool Public Museum and Art Gallery447 The Case for Rural Public Libraries. his famed collection of art and antiquities valued at £80,000. In 1866 he opened a library for the free use of his neighbours in Bebington, where he resided. In 1870 Mr. Mayer bought an old farm-house with five and a-half acres of ground. By additions and alterations he made this building into a handsome and commodious library. The character of the building will be seen from the sketch on the opposite page. What a capital use to which to put a country mansion ! There are in it 19,410 volumes, and the issue reaches 360 per week. It is open on Monday and Friday evenings from 6 to 8 o’clock, and on Wednesdays from 3 to 4 p.m. The issue for eleven months during 1889, January to November inclusive, was 16,926 volumes. There were 823 borrowers during 1888. At present the library is in a transition state owing to the death of the founder. Mr. Mayer, the donor of the library, kept it entirely at his own expense up to the date of his death in 1886, and by his will it was then vested in the hands of four trustees, who, on behalf of the library, &c., were also made residuary legatees. A number of new books have been added, and the circulation is on the increase. A large new works for the manufacture of soap has been opened, and employs 1,000 work-people. It is hoped that the enterprising proprietors of these works will see their way to aid this excellent village institution to be made into a rate-supported library. There is no better example of the difficulties which lie in the way of adopting the Acts in villages than the case of Monk Bretton, near Barnsley. It had a population at the last census of about 3,000, mostly miners, and these working men took up the question at the end of 1887. The vote was taken in January, 1888, and voting papers were issued to direct ratepayers only. The miners were very anxious to see the Acts adopted, and a building in the centre of the village originally erected by subscription for educational purposes used as a library and reading-room. They felt, however, before the vote was taken that there would be little prospect of winning the adoption, and the vote went dead against the promoters. Here, as at many other places, two of the chief opponents of the movement were publicans who feed and fatten on the miners’ earnings, and who are too prejudiced to see and feel the importance and necessity of education among working men. Monk Bretton, it is to be hoped, will yet have its Public Library. When the County Councils are supplemented by the formation of District and Village Councils it may be reasonably expected that they will turn their attention to this very important matter.448 Public Libraries. CHAPTER XXIII. Board Schools as Branch Public Libraries. There is no waste in nature. It is only man who wastes and misapplies; and the waste of power and material in England is a crying shame upon us which calls for immediate attention. Those who control churches and chapels content themselves with, as a rule, keeping these places open about six hours a week, while gin palaces and public-houses are open something like a hundred and twenty hours during the same time. Probably in no department of our national life is waste more apparent than in the allowing of Board Schools, which are the property of the people, to be unused from, say, five o’clock in the evening to school-time next morning. It is noteworthy that many of the old voluntary schools had a lending library attached to them for the benefit of the school children, but too often the books in them were of an unsatisfactory character. They frequently relied for their collections on the voluntary contributions of the local residents, which meant usually that the school library became a receptacle for odd volumes, obsolete books, and the general rubbish of drawers and bookshelves. An odd volume of “Blackstones Commentaries” was once sent to a library designed for children under sixteen, and in another case a quantity of Italian works were given for the same object. Volumes of sermons were a favourite donation, as they are to-day if books are solicited. These can be had at any time by the cart-load, at the price of waste paper, and it would require one of Sam Weller’s “ double million magnifying glasses ” to discover what good a very large percentage of them have accomplished. The mere fact of there being school accommodation in England and Wales for 5,468,108 children for the year ending August 31, 1889, and an average attendance of 3,696,525, shows, in a very brief form, the educational machinery which is in operation. The total number of schools receiving annual grants is 19,398. According to the last report (1889) of the Education Department, there were on the registers the names of 4,755,835 children, of whom— 1,495,770 were under 7 years of age ; 3,064,560 between 7 and 13 ; 152,348 between 13 and 14; and 43,157 above 14. Of these 3,682,625 were, on an average, in daily attendance throughout the year. Here are the readers for School Libraries, but where are the books P One-sixth of the entire population of England and Wales are at school, and it is to these that political, commercial, andBoard Schools as Branch Public Libraries. 449 social power will by-and-bye come. Let parents in particular think of the influence for good which a well-selected library will have on the minds of the scholars. To schoolmasters and mistresses it is unnecessary to urge the advisability of establishing school libraries, for they are already alive to the great need of them in schools. All this goes to show what an absolute necessity a good library is in our schools as well as in the universities. Fortunately, whether we look to England, Scotland, or Ireland, we find huge strides have been made within the last decade or two towards the improvement of university libraries. Unfortunately, this same march of progress has been by no means so regular and marked within the walls of our schools, both great and small. And yet, wherever youth is gathered in numbers to learn, there should be found a collection of books, the voluntary university of these latter days, where the studious may retire to consult, “read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest” the lofty thoughts and useful knowledge poured forth by the illustrious dead on their behalf. For there is no room for doubt that a thoroughly good and popular school library is an incalculable boon to the scholars, and a great help to the teachers—for they are silent counsellors who “ fly not from the suppliant cro>vd,” neither do they wax wroth nor laugh at the ignorant. This question of school libraries ought to be gone into very seriously by the vast army who have charge of our boys and girls. To a certain extent, the future of the youth of our country is in their hands, and the spending of idle hours when the restraints of school discipline are not upon them may influence the whole of their after life. Athletics and outdoor exercise are by no means to be despised nor discouraged ; but then there are many boys who are not fitted for very much athletics, and, in our climate, we may always safely reckon on a certain percentage of wet days, and then the library will be recognized, both by boy and master, as a haven of rest where half hours may be passed that are far more enjoyable than some other modes of spending time. The library should, therefore, afford material for recreation as well as information on natural science, travel, history, etc. There is in the Education Blue Book for 1890, consisting of over 700 pages, a strange absence of reference on the part of the various inspectors to the need of establishing School Libraries. In former reports, one or two inspectors referred in brief paragraphs to this important matter. But whether officialism has discouraged this or not it is impossible to say. The tone of those paragraphs was certainly to the effect that in schools where libraries are provided, the intelligence of the scholars is of a higher and more practical character than in schools where a library does not exist. In one of the Welsh Divisions the inspector says that “ school libraries, I am glad to say, are becoming common, and if the habit of reading at home could be established by their means, the work of the teacher in securing thoughtful reading would be greatly assisted.” Why do not more450 Public Libraries. inspectors direct their attention to this question of school libraries? After a vain search through this voluminous report the only reference to libraries in elementary schools found by the author is the brief paragraph above, printed in small type, and sandwiched among a mass of other matter. Will the scholastic papers take up this point ? If this is done there will, no doubt, soon be a change, for inspectors are, as a body, too much in touch with their work to overlook the question when it is brought home to them. The inspector for the north-western division of England calls attention to what is a great drawback to the advance of the pupil teachers in his district—the want of books, especially good reading books. Their reading, he observes, if they ever do read as part of their education, is generally limited to the standard books in use in the school, or to a compilation of rhetorical selections. There is nothing in such books to cultivate any taste for reading. He comes to the conclusion that in all centres there should be a selection of suitable books on the subjects of their course with good books of reference as well. In dealing with the work of the recreative evening classes in the east central division of England, the chief inspector says, “ Nothing is more depressing to all who are engaged in the work of elementary education than the Sense of waste which is always present. The universal testimony, and certainly my own conviction is, that while everybody is doing his best to perfect the work up to the age of fourteen, a deplorable proportion of the energy expended vanishes into thin air.” This is truly a serious matter. While millions a year are being spent the provision for young people carrying on their education on leaving school is strangely absent. This is on the eve of being adjusted in some districts by means of the recreative evening classes, and in a less advanced stage by means of school libraries. In some districts board school managers and teachers have taken up the question in a practical way, but the fringe of it has yet only been touched so far as the greater part of the country is concerned. At Laxfield, in Suffolk, there is a boys’ endowed school with a library. This cost about £13, and contains 250 volumes. The money was obtained by concerts, subscriptions, and a grant from the school managers. The Religious Tract Society, the Pure Literature Society, and the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge granted books at half-price. The volumes are changed every other Friday afternoon, only those boys who have attended regularly daring the previous fortnight being allowed to take a fresh book. To meet the expense of repairs, &c., residents in the village are allowed to join on payment of one penny per fortnight per volume. The average attendance for the winter quarter is 91 per cent., and the master attributes this greatly to the library. He also says that the attendance at the night schools had been better since the library was formed. The School Board loan library system has been worked in Birmingham with the most satisfactory results. In some cases, as atBoard Schools as Branch Public Libraries. 451 Leicester, libraries had been bought by the School Board. At Norwich a similar system is being worked with considerable success. The Borough librarian has introduced a system of loans to schools in Plymouth. His plan is to obtain from the Public Library committee a certain number of carefully-selected books to be lent to the pupils of the school for the time being, instead of leaving them to run riot undirected in the general Public Library. It is justly claimed for the system that it spreads the benefits of the Public Library over a larger area, with many conveniences to pupils who may live far from the main institution. Useful supervision and advice can be given to the pupils in the selection of books suitable to their ages and attainments, without unduly restricting individual preferences. Mr. Wright’s main suggestion is that “ In connection with each district library, such as that proposed, there should be a small collection of books approved by both library and school authorities for the use of the children attending that school; and that those children should not be allowed the run of the central or general library, except at the special request of parents or teachers. This arrangement might be supplemented in various ways to suit the particular circumstances of each case.” In nearly every case in the Plymouth board schools the teachers take a warm interest in the matter, and do their utmost to preserve the books in good order and to encourage the children to be punctual in their return, as well as careful in their use. It is found that the books carried home by the children are in many cases read by other members of the family, and the advantages of the library are thus far more widely diffused than would otherwise be possible. The Leeds system of using their Board Schools is very frequently referred to and quoted as an example. Leeds has now 33 branches, but in stating this it should be remembered that none of the branches are housed in specially-erected buildings, as are many of the Sheffield, Manchester, Birmingham, Nottingham, and other branch libraries. Leeds covers an area roughly of thirty-three square miles, and a member of the Town Council made it a boast not long ago, there were not 10,000 out of the nearly 370,000 inhabitants beyond six minutes’ walk from a Public Library or news-room. This may appear a good thing of which to be proud, but it has its drawbacks; and it must be acknowledged that while the libraries and news-rooms in Leeds are doing a most excellent work, it is a serious question whether a smaller number would not have accomplished quite as much useful work. Judging from an outsider’s point of view it is really a case of too much of a good thing. It would appear that it owes its origin to the preponderance on the library committee for a number of years of members of the Council representing suburban constituencies, and to please these, and bring votes for them on the polling day, this extraordinary extension in the branch system has been adopted. Letters from residents in the town and personal observation reveal this fact; and the evil—for it really has become an evil—has not ended,452 Public Libraries. seeing that every year brings a number of new men in the Town Council, some of whom are placed on the Library Committee, and other districts through their representatives are crying out for a branch to be opened in their constituency. The boast of so many of the population being within six minutes’ walk to a Public Library is really not a creditable one. If an institution is worth anything at all it is at least worth a little trouble to get to it. One good, strong, and vigorous central library, and a few good branches would do a work equal in effect, and as useful in results in the majority of cases. This is said in order that towns adopting the Acts may not go in for too much discursiveness, and are urged not to take one town or district exclusively as an example for their plan of operations. It may be again stated that Leeds is doing with its branches at Board Schools an exceedingly good work. Some of these are open from six to nine on the evenings of Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays of each week. One is open four nights a week; three are open two nights a week; and others are open one night a week from six to nine, or for an hour only in the middle of the day. They contain books varying in numbers from over three thousand to one half the number, according to the size of the district, and some are supplied with copies of the local papers and popular magazines. Four Branch Libraries, containing about 1,000 volumes each, and consisting wholly of juvenile literature, have, with the co-operation of the Board, been established, the library committee purchasing the books, and the Board undertaking the supplying of the bookcases, &c., and the management. These branches are open one hour on a certain day of the week to the scholars attending the schools and the children of the neighbourhood for the issuing and changing of books, this work being done by the teachers. In addition to the juvenile branches, other branches that had been established some years have been handed over to the Board, and these are also open one hour each week, and are worked by the staff of the schools. No rent is charged by the School Board for the use of the various schools, nor is any charge made for cleaning, heating, or gas. It is entirely through this public spirit of the Board that the committee have been able to establish branch libraries in all parts of the borough, and the Board has done everything it could to help, rightly judging the establishment of libraries the keystone and completion of their work. The assistants at these branches receive Is. 8d. for each night open ; and Is. per night is also paid to the porter of the school, who removes the shutters of the bookcases, arranges the room, and preserves order during the time the library is open. At any branch where the work is too heavy for one assistant, a boy is engaged to help him, and he receives payment at the rate of Is. per night. The Board have not provided bookcases for any of the branches, except in the cases of the three special juvenile branches. In Bradford the School Board charge the library committeeBoard Schools as Branch Public Libraries. 453 a rent of £10 or £20 per annum for each school used. Why this should be deserves some explanation on the part of the Board. In 1878 the School Board of London decided to start a set of libraries, to change in rotation from school to school, for the use of teachers and scholars. The schools were arranged in groups, so that each group would represent a constituency of 10,000 children. For each group £120, afterwards raised to £144, was spent in the purchase of books, which were subdivided into as many libraries as there were schools. When a library had been in use for six months at one school it was moved on to the next in the group, to ensure a certain amount of change and variety in the literature available. This plan did not work very smoothly, and has been considerably modified. The division into groups has been abolished, and now the books, after a years use in the school, are sent back into store, where they are revised and reticketed, lost ones replaced and perhaps new ones added. Each permanent school is provided with a lending library for the use of boys and girls of Standard III. and upwards, which is placed under the care of the head master. For the purchase of new books, a further expenditure, reckoned at the rate of ¿d. per head per annum on scholars in average attendance in both boys’ and girls’ departments is allowed up to a maximum of 12s. each department, except in the cases of large mixed departments, where the full amount of |d. per head is allowed. The head teachers, both of boys’ and girls’ departments, must forward with the annual requisition for books and apparatus, the requisition for books to be added to the school library (such books to be selected from the catalogue of books for school libraries). It is the duty of the head master to see that the library is rendered equally available both to boys and to girls. Managers are specially asked to see that the books are regularly given out, and made available both to boys and to girls; and they are also requested to occasionally look into the working of the libraries, so as to ensure that the library registers are properly kept, and that full use is made of the libraries. The main regulations are :— 1. That the books be kept at the school in a closed bookcase, especially supplied for the purpose, which shall be placed, whenever possible, in the managers’ room. 2. That the library be placed in charge of the head master, but that the books be available to the girls equally with the boys, and also to pupil teachers of all departments. 3. That it be the duty of the master to see that the books are not misused, damaged, or lost by the children. 4. That any child injuring or losing a book the parent of the child be called upon to defray the cost of such injury or loss; that the master make every effort to recover payment, and, failing this, the child be deprived of the use of the library for six months. 5. That the library be open for the exchange of books during one hour in each week, the hour being fixed by the managers. 6. That no book be retained by the same child for more than twoPublic Librariesi 454 weeks, but if not required by any other child renewal may bë made. Â child not returning his or her book within the required time shall be deprived of the use of the library at the discretion of the teacher. As to the quality of the reading thus brought within reach of the scholars, the libraries consist of works by Tennyson, Longfellow, Shakespeare, Spencer, Macaulay, Smiles, and others ; books of fiction by Dickens, Thackeray, and other great novelists ; boys’ books from the popular pens of Kingston, Ballantyne, and Reid ; and bound volumes of magazines. It is interesting to see what is being done in France in the way of School Libraries. The “ Bibliothèques Populaires des Écoles Publiques ” are a special class of libraries, established in schools, and connected with the elementary education department. They are for the free use of the scholars, and now number over 35,200. The law which regulates them provides that in every elementary school there shall be a library, under the care of the teacher, which library must contain a depot of class-books for the free use of the free scholars. Grants of books are made by the Minister of Public Instruction and the general council for the department, and are received as donations from any one. The libraries are intended for the parents as well as the scholars, and are not absolutely free. In some cases the parents pay a voluntary subscription, and in all cases they are responsible for the care of the books. These libraries are not new institutions, although they have never been properly organized until the Republic took them in hand. In 1831 a number of books were distributed by the Minister of Public Instruction among the schools. Between 1833 and 1844 more than a million volumes were sent to the schools. But the libraries were then managed, or rather mismanaged, in such a way that by 1850 the whole of the books had disappeared, and no trace of them has ever been found. Ten years later it was agreed to found the school libraries again, and in every new school built proper accommodation has been made for a library. In 1861 a degree was pronounced for the creation of a library in every boys’ school. M. Duruy gave a great impulse to this branch of education. He considered that a library was absolutely necessary for a school. In 1861 the Minister sent out 62,000 volumes at a cost of about the same number of francs. In 1862 60,000, and in the following year 200,000 yolumes were distributed. In 1865 there were 4,833 of these school libraries in France, and in 1869 14,395, containing 1,239,165 volumes. The loss of Alsace and Lorraine reduced the number, but in 1872 there were over 14,000. Three years later the number rose to 16,469, and in 1879 stood at 20,552 libraries, with 2,051,227 books. Now the libraries number over 35,200, and contain more than 4,000,000 volumes. The number of books in each library is not great, but then the readers are not numerous. The circle is restricted. The average number of books taken out during a year is about six per person. During 1885 £25,200 was spent on the libraries, which would represent a considerable number ofBoard Schools as Branch Public Libraries. 455 volumes, for the Minister of Public Instruction does not pay high for his books. In this direction America is taking a foremost place, and our cousins across the ferry are setting a worthy example to us in this direction. Not only by teachers, but by prominent men generally, much attention is given to the use of libraries in connection with the public schools. Once it was the complaint that, though the school and the library stood side by side, no bridge stretched from the one to the other. Now librarians and the trustees of libraries generally are trying to co-operate with teachers and parents in directing into profitable channels the reading of children and youth. The younger children are helped to select interesting and instructing stories, and books of history and travel; older ones are guided to the sources of history, the authorities in science, and the finest examples in literature. The choice of the books is aided by the acquaintance of the teacher with the tastes and capacities of his pupils, the discernment on the part of the librarian of their wants, and his knowledge of the books that will supply them, and by the increasing abilities of readers to choose for themselves. Many circumstances and influences must unite in order to produce the highest degree of mutual helpfulness between the school and the library. It will be seen from the chapter referring to the Public Libraries in America, that the State of Massachusetts stands at the head of library work. In connection with the Public Library at Quincey in that State, the trustees adopted a few years ago a rule by which each of the schools might become practically a branch library, the master selecting a number of volumes from the main library and circulating them among his scholars. In the Wells School, Boston, a plan has been devised for promoting the study of good literature. It involves the loan from the Public Library to the public school of copies of some one book, sufficient in number to enable the pupils of the school to read the same book at the same time. Once a week they are examined in a free conversational way as to the structure of the work, the relation of its parts, the spirit in which it was written, the excellence of its style and diction, and similar qualities. The use of libraries has been greatly increased in Cincinnati by interesting public school scholars in authors of unquestioned merit. The School District Libraries of California are meeting with marked success. The superintendent of the Boston schools says that the Public Library stands at the head of the educational system of the city, of which it forms a true part. And, on the other hand, he urges that the schools should give instruction in the best methods of reading good books: “Beading is an art which, with a little of almost everything, has been taught in the public schools immemorially; but how to read a book—an entire book—is an acquisition made by few, and never systematically taught in the public schools.” One of the greatest helps to the popularity of a school library is that it should be liberally administered—that it should not bePublic Libraries. 456 filled with “ goody-goody ” books, to the exclusion of more substantial fare—and managed by a librarian who really knows and loves books ; indeed, it is upon this that the whole thing hinges. A true lover of books will be liberal in the choice of his friends, he wTill search far and wide, bring the treasures together, classify and put each in its proper place; and then, too, what an invaluable help a thorough knowledge of books enables the guardian to render the inquiring student! But it is absolutely necessary the librarian should take a real interest in his books; too great a stress cannot be laid upon, this, for it must be remembered that a librarian without a true love of books becomes merely an official, who will perform his duties as speedily as he can and with the least possible personal trouble. More general use might be made of Board Schools as branch libraries than has at present been the case. In many towns where there is a demand for branches and the penny rate will not afford the cost of building, stocking, and maintaining a branch, the Board School might with advantage be used. These buildings are public property, and there is no valid reason whatever why they should not be used in the way suggested. The cost of opening and maintaining them as newsrooms would be so infinitesimally small, that our wonder is candidates for School Boards have not made this a special feature in their addresses. One of the obstacles raised, not only in London, but in the country, has been the cleaning of the schools after the rooms have been used as libraries ; but surely, between ten o’clock at night and nine the next morning, there would be ample time for this purpose. Labour for cleansing is cheap and at hand, and even were it necessary for the whole night to be occupied, there could be no serious obstacle in the way. Plenty of ventilation by open doors and windows between the use of the building for teaching and Public Library purposes would ensure the rooms being kept airy. A difficulty very frequently alleged, is that the seats and desks being constructed for children are not suitable for adults. This is an obstacle which has to be met. There might be a drawing closer together in their work of School Boards and the librarians and committees of Public Libraries. The latter continue in real ty the work of the former. All sections of the community agree that we must struggle to teach our masses to read in our schools. Then they must become breadwinners ; and if we carry on their education we must do it by providing Public Libraries, which shall serve as high schools and colleges for the people. Our schools at best will only furnish the tools (how rudimentary those tools for most people now!); but in the ideal libraries towards which ive are looking to-day will be found the materials With which these tools may be worked up into good citizenship and higher living. The schools give the chisel, the libraries the marble; there can be no statue without both. School Boards have a larger rate to deal with than Public Libraries, and they might reasonably be expected to do more in the way of providing school libraries than they at presentBoard Schools as Branch Public Libraries. 457 do. This is a matter which comes more legitimately within their scope of operations, and if the Education Act or the Amendment Acts do not give them power to spend the small sums which would be necessary, there wrould be no difficulty in getting a Bill passed by which permission would be conferred. Librarians and committees would, there is reason to believe, co-operate with them in every way possible, and would in most cases undertake the management of the libraries. The link between Board Schools and Public Libraries is becoming closer every year. Libraries free and open to the people are the real continuation schools, and are the only means by which the taste for reading which elementary education creates can be at all adequately met. The Society for the Promotion of Recreative Evening Classes has done, and is doing, a most useful work in assimilating instruction and recreation by a practical and agreeable method. Its aim is to get hold of children who have left school, and to provide evening occupation for them of a useful and attractive kind, which shall continue their education and prepare them for the actual life before them. In London alone no few^er than 80,000 children leave school every year, of whom only 4 per cent, are known to continue their education in any systematic way. The rest soon forget the greater part of what they have been taught, and are exposed in the evening to the hideous evils of London street life. What this means we all know. The work is purely educational, but the education is made interesting and attractive by means of musical drill, singing, and the extensive use of the lantern for illustrating lessons in history, geography, and simple science. Girls are fitted to become good servants or to be otherwise useful by instruction in household sewing, the making and mending of garments, and cottage cookery. Boys are prepared for technical training in classes for drawing, designing, modelling, wood carving, &c. The teaching in all subjects is voluntary. During the winter of 1888, thirty schools were opened in London. The following winter recreative and practical classes were started in 80 out of 128 evening schools under the London School Board, and in several national and other schools, while in the country at large about 50 towns of more or less importance have adopted the system. It is estimated that the efforts of the association have probably added 20,000 within twelve months to the attendance at the evening schools throughout the country. Nothing can be of more vital moment to the well-being of the nation than to provide some safe and healthy channel for the activities of this class of the population. It is a poor economy, which having educated them at a cost in London, counting none but rate-aided schools, of considerably over a million a year, to allow them to drift off uncared for, just wdien they most need a helping hand. A taste for reading, and the means for gratifying it, are perhaps the very best preservatives a lad can have against the degrading attractions of the London streets. The need for school libraries must be met by the SchoolPublic Libraries. 45^ Boards rather than the committee of the Public Library. Or grants must be made by the Board to the committee for this purpose. In any case there must be a working together of the two bodies, and in the immediate future there will be seen far more active co-operation in this direction than prevails at the present time. CHAPTER XXIY. The Sunday Opening of Public Libraries. This is rapidly becoming one of the pressing questions of the day. Many prominent men who have hitherto hesitated about expressing an opinion on the subject no longer find themselves able to maintain a neutral position. It is well that this should be the. case, for the matter is of too great importance for anyone who really takes an interest in national progress to stand aloof and allow things to take their course. It is undeniable that many earnest Christian men have been compelled—reluctantly, perhaps, in some cases—to come to the conclusion that it is both wise and politic to give non-church goers a choice between the street or public-house and libraries, museums, and art galleries on the Sunday. The question will be discussed impartially, and the views pro and con upon the matter of a few well-known people will be given. The opening of Public Libraries, art galleries, and museums on the Sunday is resisted in this country rather from tradition than on principle. Nobody can point to any moral deterioration likely to arise from such a concession. Most of the experiments yet made in the direction of bringing the treasures of literature, art, and antiquity within reach of the people on the day when they have most time available have been crowned with success. Many who resist such a step in modern progress derive their impulse rather from the past than the present. Their ideas are a survival of Puritanism, or so much as is left of it. However, the hands of the clock cannot stand still, and it is impossible to scotch the march of progress, or yet the growing self-reliance of the people. It may, no doubt, be taken as an axiom that the alienation of the sympathies of the working classes from places of worship is one of the most deplorable signs of the times. Very many Nonconformist ministers and clergymen of all sections recognize this fact as acutely as do any sections of society. Further, they have strained every nerve and adopted every means to stem this tide of abstention from churches and chapels, but without any appreciable success. Many of those who come in close contact with the working classes, and have thus had opportunities of learning some of the causes of this state of things, have come to the conclusion that the abstention from religious services on the459 The Sunday Opening of Public Libraries. p&Hb of the working classes does not arise from any antipathy against the church or yet any anti-religious feeling they may hold. The two primary causes are, first, the need of physical rest after the work and worry of the week are oyer; and, secondly, the deeply-rooted feeling that the occupants of high-backed and cushioned pews look so much askance at the presence of the sons of toil worshipping side by side with them. It is a pleasant fiction to say that all stand equal in the Church as worshippers of the Almighty, so far, at least, as the estimation of men is concerned. How much irreligion has been caused by pews, pulpits, gowns, and “ man millinery ” en bloc it is impossible to conceive. It may reasonably be asked, Why is there such an enormous waste of force in the churches P Surely there is a terrible anomaly in the fact that churches and chapels should be open, say, six hours in the week and public-houses open something like 134 hours. The waste, again, of force in not utilizing an intelligent laity to a far greater extent is most lamentable. The evils arising from a one-man ministry, whether applied to the Establishment or Nonconformity, are considerable. It is certain that matters must continue to remain very much out of joint until we readjust these and other anomalies with regard to Church life. In the meantime the appearance of dismally-empty churches must continue to present itself to our gaze, to the sincere regret of all who have the true welfare of the nation at heart. The position of the nominal Christians on the subject has to be largely taken into account. We are, as a nation, perpetually prating about our Christianity, and there is much in our national life which is as far removed from the true spirit of the Teacher of Nazareth as light from darkness. It may reasonably be asked, by what right do Christians indulge in their own pleasure and deny those same pleasures to others P They have only the right of might, and surely Christians should be the last to exercise such a right! The musical have the melodious songs of the Church, the peals of the organ and the harmony of the string instruments in which to indulge themselves on the Sunday: the literary man has the use of books belonging either to himself or to some of the libraries to which he is able to subscribe, through which to commune with the great of the past and the present; those who love a good dinner on Sunday as well as on the other days of the week do not feel it necessary to give their domestics instructions not to stay at home on that day to cook it while they go to church. The man who loves to commune with nature has the green fields and pleasant woods in which he can take refuge and study on the Sunday. To sketch a flower or tree on Sunday is counted by many a crime ; yet those same censors will sometimes pass hours in the criticism of their neighbour’s bonnet, or in the circulation of silly and mischievous scandal, or in the verbal planning of a dress, or the arrangement of balls and parties for the ensuing week. There seems to be no clear or definite idea where the sanctity of the Sunday begins or ends among many people; but on one point they all seem firmly agreed, and thatPublic Libraries. 460 is that the opening of a Public Library, a picture gallery, of a museum is an offence against the law of the good old English Sunday. Such should remember the lines of Tom Hood— “ A man may cry Church ! Church ! at ev’ry word, With no more piety than other people— A daw’s not reckon’d a religious bird Because it keeps a-cawing from a steeple.” According to the views of many of these good people the admirer of paintings and natural science is not to cast his eye upon these beautiful objects because, through no fault of his own, he is not able to go where they are on any day but the first day of the week. Public Libraries, museums, and picture galleries belong to the people, and not only to a portion of them. Consequently, their convenience as to when their institutions shall be open should be taken into account. Sunday must ever be mainly a day of repose to those who undergo hard intellectual or manual labour. It is obviously a sin against himself, and ultimately against the community, if a man goes on with his -work on a Sunday. He utterly ruins his higher powers, and brings himself down as nearly as possible to the level of the brutes. It is the duty of everyone to try and bring his fellow-creatures into such a position that they could have the advantage of studying nature in some way or other, and we have now reached in education a point at which something more on the Sunday than the teaching of churches, chapels, and Sunday-schools has become absolutely necessary. People must be brought under the influence of pictures and other beautiful objects, and books. It is not creditable to our boasted civilization that in this time of the life of the world we should calmly allow so many of our fellow-creatures to live so little above the level of savages, when there are so many things in our civilization which, if only used aright, would tend to raise them high above their present condition. How can all the instruments of civilization be used if they are not to be used on Sunday as well as on other days P To the mass of people Sunday is the only day of leisure, and every opportunity should be given for their getting on that day the best kinds of mental and intellectual recreation. If people are to get the full benefits from the study of books, pictures, and the contents of Public Libraries and museums, such places ought to be opened for certain hours on the Sunday. There are many good Christians who do not consider themselves called upon by any divine law, nor yet by any consideration of what is best for their own interests, to devote the whole of the day to religious duties. Even among those whose orthodoxy is beyond question there is a great difference of opinion regarding Christian obligations in reference to the Sabbath. Some people consider it sinful even to go for a walk on Sunday, though this strict view of duty is not in accord with what was the practice of the Founder of the Christian faith. What is or what is not allowable in an orthodox Christian becomes purely a question of degree. It is permissible to read in one’s own house on Sunday,The Sunday Opening of Public Libraries, 461 and, except on an untenable Sabbatarian view, to read anything that may be profitably or innocently read on a week-day. Does the place make any difference ? Is it unlawful from a religious point of view, or socially inexpedient to do in a public institution on the first day of the week what may be done on the other six days, and what may still be done on the first day of the week at home P Few people, as a matter of fact, now oppose Sunday opening on purely religious grounds ; but they rather base their opposition on considerations connected with the question of Sunday labour. It is not to be denied that if libraries, museums, and picture galleries were opened on Sunday some amount of Sunday labour would be necessary. But we do not forbid the work that is done in connection with churches, private houses, hotels, clubs, railways, tramways, and numerous other organizations that are “ going ” on Sundays; and the question is whether the good outweighs the evil. It is well known that, for want of the means of rational enjoyment, large numbers of people literally get into evil courses; and the advocates of the policy of Sunday opening believe that much mischief and much positive sin would be prevented if the masses could go to libraries, picture galleries, and museums to spend their hours of leisure on the day of rest. There are some people who oppose the Sunday opening of libraries, and kindred institutions from considerations wholly irrespective of the religious feelings connected with the Sabbath. But between devoting the Sunday or any part of it to recreation, and breaking either divine or human commandments, there is a considerable gap. Upon this subject people are under the influence of conventional ideas, which they are not accustomed to analyze. To walk in the country does not shock them, but they draw the line at bicycling. They will open or answer a business letter on Sunday, but they will not work in their gardens ; they see nothing unseemly in two or three people riding in a pony carriage, but a dozen people in a waggonette is another matter. The degree in which acts are public and ostentatious materially affects the judgment. These feelings have their root in custom; the distinctions with which they are concerned are not in themselves rational—reason can give no account of them. The wage-earning classes, whose attachment to religious organizations is of the slenderest kind, are under no bondage to Sabbatarian ideas. They spend the Sunday perhaps not very profitably, but there is no- sign that they can be got to spend it more and more in churches and chapels. It is the duty of moral and social reformers to appreciate the facts as they are, and to make the best of them. There is no one exclusive wTay by which the world progresses; on the social side at least the lines of reform are many. A policy of negation—the policy of the “ shalt not ”— will not serve ; there must be social reconstruction. We want a rational Sunday—a day not given up to loafing, rowdyism, or intemperance. It will be reached slowly and by many avenues. One of the main reasons why many are so much opposed to thePub lie L ib fanes. 462 Sunday opening of museums is that it may be the getting in of the thin end of the wedge to continentalize our Sunday. The statement is very frequently made that if we open libraries, museums, and picture galleries, on the Sunday, as a logical sequence theatres must also be opened. But it does not at all follow that we must fall into the groove which unfortunately characterizes the Continent in the method of spending the Sabbath. The reverential feeling is far more deeply rooted in the minds of the English-speaking peoples than of any other nation on the face of the earth. This is sufficient safeguard for the proper and reasonable extension of the opportunities for a rational spending of Sunday. Again, what Public Libraries, museums and picture galleries, give us are absolute necessaries of mental and moral life. This cannot be said of the theatre, the first article of faith of which is to amuse. Libraries and museums, with other kindred institutions, are national property, and there is no money-making element in the question, but with theatres the question is different. Consequently the opening of these two descriptions of institutions stands on a totally dissimilar footing. With regard to the opening of theatres on Sunday, one of the chief actors of the day has stated that if this were proposed, actors and actresses would be very the first to oppose any such suggestion. In Paris all the public museums and galleries are open on Sundays, and even in those instances in which they are only open on two or three days a week, Sunday is always one of those days. In Berlin such institutions are open on Sundays, but for somewhat shorter hours than on week-days. In Amsterdam the famous Ryks Gallery, containing the pictures of the great Dutch masters, is open every day, Monday excepted. On Sundays its staff is supplemented with twelve soldiers, in view of the fact of the number of visitors on that day being always greatly augmented. In the Amsterdam Fodor museum, which is the property of the municipality, the charge on week-days is 10d., on Sundays 5d. only. The small cost of superintendence in France is remarkable. The task of watching and keeping order in the four great national museums—the Louvre, the Luxembourg, Versailles, and St. Germains—is confided to a staff of 158 men. The two chiefs receive only £80 a year, while 132 of the number are engaged at salaries varying from £54 to £66. It will be opportune to call attention to the general position of the question, and to the expressions of opinion of some public men. A few years ago, when the matter was before the House of Lords, the Bishops were conspicuous either by their absence or silence. Out of twenty-six, seven only were present, and these do not seem to have made any exertion to express their opinion upon the matter. Following this, a Royal Commission declared that the Sunday opening of museums and art galleries has exerted a salutary influence on the moral and intellectual condition of the people. Immediately after the report of this Commission was publishedThe Sunday Opening of Public Libraries, 463 Sir Henry Roscoe asked the House of Commons to recognize the justice and expediency of opening the Natural History Museum at South Kensington and the Bethnal Green Museum in East London on Sundays without further delay, thus extending to London the advantages already provided at Kew, Hampton Court, Greenwich, Dublin, Birmingham, Manchester, and ten other provincial towns. Sir Henry Roscoe, M.P., mentioned these places where Sunday opening has been in practice for some time with excellent results. Dublin holds a foremost place for liberality in this respect. The collection in that city, of painting, sculpture, archaeology, and zoology, is free of access on the Sunday, and a fine Sunday attracts a larger number of people than all the other days of the week combined. If it be objected that Dublin, being in another country, is not a convincing example for England to follow, we have the home illustrations of Manchester, Bradford, Birmingham, Newcastle-on-Tyne, London (partially), and several other places, and not a single evidence that anything but advantage has resulted. The long discussion which took place during the latter part of 1887 and the early part of 1888 as to the opening of the Salford Museum and Public Libraries on Sundays gave the question a great impetus. The cost of the poll on that occasion reached a very large sum, which was paid by the chief promoters of the movement. Over this expenditure there was a great deal of discussion. The following is a summary of the particulars of the costs incurred by the returning officer in connection with the poll:— For printing, publishing, and posting of bills, notices, forms, and ballot papers, including stationery, &c., £33 Is. 7d.; for erecting and fitting up polling stations, taking down same, and removing fittings to Town Hall again, £57 11s. lOd.; for use of thirty-nine schools and a house as polling stations, including the erection of a booth at Broom Lane, Broughton, £89 4s. 2d.; for forty-four presiding officers, including their attendance at counting, £77; for fifty poll clerks, including the like attendance, £50; for services of police constables, and allowance to them in lieu of refreshment, £15 Is. lid.; for refreshment to joiners fitting up polling stations and to returning officer and staff on the day of the election, £8 7s. 6d.; for cabs taking ballot boxes to the various polling stations and bringing same back to Town Hall, £18 2s. 6d.; for sundry other expenses, including clerks’ overtime, messengers, cab fares, &c., £8 3s.; for professional services and assistance in the conduct of the poll, £52 10s.; total, £409 2s. 6d. So ridiculously insignificant was the number of electors who took the trouble to record their votes, that the expenditure of several hundred pounds in connection with the operation was well calculated to annoy those who had to find the money, especially as it is known that it would have been easy to obtain twice the number of signatures to a petition either for or against the Sunday opening for the expenditure of about £10. Out of a total number of voters of 29,847 there were in favour of Sunday opening 3,445; against, 3,162; showing a majority in favour of 283, but also dis-Public Libraries. 464 closing the fact that 23,240 of the voters were utterly indifferent about the matter, and did not take the trouble to record their votes. An analysis of the cost of the number of votes polled shows that these 6,607 votes cost Is. 2|d. each. This is so very instructive that other districts should hesitate before taking a poll on this question. The Public Libraries at Salford were opened on Sundays for the first time in September, 1888. The attendance was not very large, but has since then considerably increased. The late John Bright, M.P., writing in March, 1888, said : “ I have noticed the discussion on the question of opening the Free Libraries in your borough on Sunday afternoons and evenings. If I were a dweller in your town, and one of your Town Council, I should be one of your supporters on the question in which you have taken so much interest. I hope you may succeed, and that the results of your success may convert many who are now your opponents.” Mr. Thomas Burt, the miner’s representative, wrote: “ I entirely approve of your action in trying to have the Reading Rooms of the Public Libraries at Salford open on Sunday afternoons and evenings, and I wish you every success.” The late Dean Oakley wrote : “ Free access to useful and harmless books -in a comfortable room on the one day of leisure in the week plainly adds to the means of moral and mental improvement, which is the business of a Christian Sunday, in addition to rest and after the worship of Almighty God. Besides this positive gain, we are fighting against an irrational, indeed an irreligious idea of Sunday. Whatever be the issue of the appeal to the ratepayers to know what they wish to do with their own books and their own buildings on the only day when most of their owners can make use of them, we may fairly demand recognition of our own belief that we are fighting the battle of reasonable religion and Christian liberty.” Sir John Harwood, then Mayor of Manchester, of high standing as a Methodist, and of unimpeachable orthodoxy, said:— “ Why should the people be compelled to read in dark, dingy dwellings when they paid for commodious halls that stood empty ? To enlarge the idea of Sunday, to embrace healthy relaxation and intellectual exercise, was to help to make a happier, more sober and contented people, and to strengthen the fibre and raise the tone of this great nation.” Dr. Fraser, the late Bishop of Manchester, whilst he never “ publicly and formally ” (the phrase is his own) advocated Sunday opening, never opposed it; he did justice to the motives of those who desired it, and preserved all along an attitude of “ benevolent neutrality.” Thus in his address as President of the Social Science Congress, he gave the statistics of the first year of Sunday opening at the Manchester Libraries. He did so without one word of disapproval. “We must be taught by experience,” said Bishop Fraser ; and, taught by experience, the present Bishop of Manchester adds the weight of his ecclesiastical status, his intellectual power, his high character and practical philanthropy in favour of Sunday opening. This is what he said :The Sunday Opening of Public Libraries. 465 “ I heartily support your effort to secure the opening of the Public Library at convenient hours on Sunday. No one more prizes than I do the rest of the Sunday, and no one would oppose more strenuously any effort to deprive the working classes of that advantage. It is for this reason that I have always opposed all attempts to organize amusements or to call into action any large amount of labour on the Lord’s Day. But when I was a layman I always found that quiet reading added to the profit and pleasure of my Sundays. Now, I know that there are hundreds and thousands of young men in Manchester who, living in lodgings or in narrow and populous homes, have neither the books to read nor opportunities for reading* To these the opening of the Public Libraries would be a priceless boon, and it would be easy to prevent any too great infringe^ ment of the rest of the ordinary employes of the library.” Mr. Howorth, M.P. for Salford, has strong views on the subject, as will be seen from his words: ‘ ‘ I have always held the same view on this question, and took an active part in opening the Manchester Libraries on Sunday, and have never regretted the step I took. There are a great many people who do not go to church or chapel; there are many others who go only once. Many of these are young men in lodgings. It seems to me that to compel them to find their only Sunday occupation in the public-house or the club is neither Christianity nor is it even rational. On the other hand, there are classes, like the railway servants and cabmen, who can only read, if they read at all, on Sunday. The argument about employing people in libraries on Sunday is to me a very hollow one. The very men who raise it employ postmen and railway guards in large numbers, and read their Monday’s paper (the result of Sunday labour) quite comfortably. ” The experience of the Rev. S. A. Barnett, in his work in the East End in the Sunday opening of his annual picture exhibition, has more than confirmed him in the wisdom of the step. In a letter received from him, he says: “ In the interest of religion, it seems to me that the words of the great teachers ought to be accessible on Sundays. Town life has so destroyed many of the means by which God spoke in old days that it is incumbent on us to provide libraries and to make the books accessible by which He speaks in these later days. Our people cannot become students of nature, but they all might become students of mind.” Another London clergyman, deeply in touch with the needs of the day, and one who has taken an active interest in the promotion of the Public Library movement in the metropolis, the Rev. Canon Pelham, B. A., Rector of Lambeth, and son of the Earl of Chichester, writes to the author, as follows : “ As to Sunday opening, I am certainly in favour of it as long as it is limited to the reading-rooms, and that the librarians are not employed on Sundays. Quite irrespective of the ^ moral question of using books on Sunday, I could not bear the idea of a library being shut while the public-house is open ! I am of opinion that religious biographies, such as that of Lord Shaftesbury, and magazines (bound up) such as the ‘ Quiver/ should be put under the title ‘ Theology/ which too often is a class made up with sermons and dry-books only, instead 30Public Libraries. 466 of containing all kinds of popular religious books.” There certainly might be cross headings under Theology from these magazines and other books. The Rev. Bernard J. Snell, a Nonconformist minister in Salford, in preaching from the texts, “ The Sabbath is made for man,” and “ It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath Day,” said: ; * The value of Sunday in giving opportunity for the development of those faculties which lie dormant under life’s drudgery was too keenly appreciated for practical men to throw it away ; but Sunday was not kept holy by being kept empty and dull. The dismalness of Sunday was the great cause of Sunday intemperance ; men were fatigued with too much idleness, and in sheer despair of anything better to hand, soaked themselves in liquor.” The Roman Catholic Bishop of Salford says: “ In a quiet way I went round myself to several of the City Libraries on Sunday evening some two years ago, or thereabouts, for the purpose of seeing how much they were used, and was very favourably impressed with what I witnessed. I was more struck by the number of boys I found in the reading-rooms than with anything else, and with their quiet demeanour. I asked myself—It is better that they should be here than in the streets ? Is it reasonable to expect them to spend the whole evening in church ? Is there any positive obligation that they should spend even one hour of the evening in the church ? How many of those persons seated quietly in the reading-rooms would go to church to say prayers were the reading-rooms closed? The answers to these questions are obvious. What do they want who desire to close the reading-rooms on Sunday evening ? Surely not to compel everyone to go to church willy-nilly twice a day ; and, if not, why not encourage the quiet and improving occupation of reading ? Suggest to the young what they should read as much as you please. Encourage the reading of religious books if you please. But do not say you may hang about the streets, you may go to the public-house, you may invent your own way of whiling away the Sunday evening, but you shall not spend the time in reading your own books in your own library, because both the books and the library are not private but public property.” Lord Hobhouse said at Bolton when the discussion—a somewhat fierce one by the way—was going on over this question : “The principle of the Lord’s Day was rest, recreation, and worship. Sunday was not a day of dulness but brightness. The question that arose was one of service contrary to the law of God. Service might be qualified by works of mercy and necessity. The public ought to be more consistent than they were. They used the railways and the post-office. Had they ever thought of the number of men employed in the gasworks and of the number of police on Sunday. Why did they not do away with gas and have a paraffin lamp ? Did not their friends in the churches and Sunday schools labour on the Sunday in lighting and cleaning and so on. The spirit found its best rest in God, and he knew of no better rest for the mind than to take up a book and read it. What he held was that to open a library on Sunday was a work of mercy. What did they want those libraries open for ? For the benefit of those who had no libraries of their own. Was it a sin to read books on a Sunday? Could there be anything wrong in reading astronomy, history, or even a book by CharlesThe Sunday Opening of Public Libraries. 467 Dickens ? He would ask those who objected whether they themselves were better employed on a Sunday than those who would be employed reading in the libraries. Where, he would ask, were the working classes on the Sunday evenings ? Some people said they ought to be at church and chapel, but why did they not get them there ? But many of them were found in public-houses, and by opening libraries on a Sunday they would, whilst not getting at the fuddlers, be able to prevent many from beginning to go to the public-house. ” Charles Kingsley said that libraries should be open on Sundays, and he, with nearly 200 other eminent clergymen, signed a petition to the House of Commons stating that “the opening of museums, libraries, and art galleries on the afternoon of Sunday would greatly promote the moral and intellectual improvement of large classes of Her Majesty’s subjects, and is thoroughly in accordance with the object and meaning of the Christian Sunday.” Sir Wm. Houldsworth, M.P., is in favour of opening libraries and museums on Sundays, on the ground “that reading and a contemplation of the works of God were exercises in every way in harmony with the true character and object of the Christian Sabbath; and to thousands in our towns these Sunday occupations were only possible in such institutions as Public Libraries and museums.” The advocates of the opening of Public Libraries, art galleries, and museums on. Sundays have received an acquisition of strength from a quarter in which they have hitherto been opposed. The Trades Union Congress passed a resolution in favour of this proposal. Previous congresses of the representatives of the labour organizations of the country have declined to sanction the Sunday opening of our national treasures of art, science, and literature, on the ground that to approve of such an innovation would be to recognize the legitimacy of Sunday labour. The delegates to the Congress have abandoned this view, and by the resolution they adopted at the final meeting on Saturday hate shown that they have no fear of the true Sabbatarian principle of rest from labour being violated by the adoption of the policy of the Sunday League. The number of people whom it would be necessary to employ as attendants and caretakers at museums and art galleries on Sunday, were these institutions thrown open on that day, would be very small, and probably would be more than balanced by the number of other workmen who would be relieved in this event. So far from the Sunday opening of public collections of science and art treasures involving any violation of the principle of Sabbatarian limitation of labour, we believe it would have the directly opposite effect. Were workmen afforded opportunities for contemplating on Sundays the objective results of scientific research and the noblest efforts of human genius, they would feel their need of leisure all the more. The Trades Union Congress, in fact, by passing a resolution in favour of the Sunday opening of Public Libraries, museums, and art galleries, has taken a step in the direction of the realization of that reduction of the hours of toil at which it aims. The fact that the resolution was adoptedPublic Libraries. 468 by forty-five votes to twenty-four—that is to say, by the substantial majority of twenty-one—indicates the great advance which public opinion is making on this question. The adoption of the proposal by both Houses of Parliament is only a question of time. Hitherto the opponents of it have been able to make a strong point by insisting that the Trades Union Congress was on their side. This argument can no longer be trotted out. The recognized representatives of the working classes have pronounced demonstratively in favour of the advocacy of the rational enjoyment of part of the day of rest. Some opinions against Sunday opening are here given. Lord Harrowby says: “I beg to convey my thanks to the directors of the Glasgow Working Men’s and West of Scotland Sabbath Protection Association for their friendly communication to me respecting my action in favour of maintaining the integrity of the Lord’s Day. It is a subject I hate deeply at heart, as I believe that its maintenance as a sacred day of rest in obedience to the Divine institution is a matter of paramount importance to the British Empire, and to each individual member of it. I indeed rejoice with you and with your association that, after many years’ struggle, the British Museum is opened at night on week days. I trust that before long all such institutions in our towns which are maintained out of the public resources will be opened at night on week days, so that our labouring population may have the fullest possible opportunity of enjoying them without infringing upon our precious birthright of the Lord’s Day of Rest.” Dr. Ryle, Bishop of Liverpool, says : “ I heartily wish success to the movement for opposing the opening of museums, &c., on Sunday. I am fighting the same battle here in Liverpool to the best of my ability. The advocates of the unhappy movement which we oppose mean well, I believe, and think they are doing God’s service and benefiting the working classes. In my opinion they are totally mistaken. Our old English Sunday is one of the greatest blessings which God has given to this country, and if the working classes of Great Britain allowed themselves to be deprived of it they would soon find to their cost that they had made an enormous mistake.” Canon Stowell, of Manchester, says: “ The advocates of Sunday opening lay great stress on the importance of providing a counter-attraction *to the public-house, and plead for it in the interests of temperance. I would suggest that a more excellent way of promoting those interests would be to close the public-houses on Sundays. If the gentlemen who so earnestly advocate the adoption of this remedy wmuld take half as much pains to secure the removal of the evil as they are doing to counteract its effects, it would soon cease to exist.” Canon Stowell made much of the failures where Sunday opening had been tried and had not been found successful. Museums, art galleries, and Public Libraries should be opened whenever and wherever this is necessary to meet the needs of the badly housed, the homeless, and the working classes in largeThe Sunday Opening of Public Libraries. 469 towns and cities. Whether observed ecclesiastically or otherwise, the Sunday is too valuable a boon to be wasted in low self-indulgence. When we consider the incessant toil and sacrifice that are ever necessary to counteract the tendencies and temptations to careless living, the Sabbath ought to be jealously guarded and respected as a day consecrated to social, moral, and religious culture, when the great verities of life, truth, beauty, love, justice, goodness are made present and impressive to men. It is difficult to think that one single person who has hitherto been accustomed to attend a place of worship would be drawn away from church to visit a museum or picture gallery. The success which has attended Sunday opening in so many other places, as will be seen on reference to the statistics, should give the greatest encouragement to other places to adopt a similar plan. Whenever possible a plebiscite of the citizens should be taken, so that the matter may come fairly and fully before those who own these institutions, and who naturally do not all think alike upon the question. But the cost of such a poll should be carefully calculated beforehand, for it may mean several hundred pounds outlay of the ratepayers’ money. During journeys through the country for the purpose of visiting the Public Libraries, the question has frequently been asked about the success of the Sunday opening, if this was in operation. The reply has invariably been that the Sunday opening was attended with satisfactory results. The caretaker living on the premises is in many cases the party in charge, but no actual labour is involved. The visitors have helped themselves to the papers and magazines on the table. In other cases the work is divided among the assistants, whose turn comes round perhaps in three or four Sundays. In other cases the Sabbatarians have been relieved of their responsibilities by the easy expedient of appointing Jews to look after the institution on the Sabbath Day. This arrangement would probably fail to satisfy the conscientious scruples of some Sabbatarians. Although there would be no difficulty in obtaining the services of Hebrews, they object both to their appointment, and also to the use of the library by others, at a time when they did not use it, and thought it ought not to be used, no matter what opinions to the contrary might be entertained upon the subject. The following are the places where the Public Library reading-rooms are open on Sunday, and in brackets is given the average attendance for each Sunday, and following that the arrangements made with regard to the Sunday labour:— Birmingham (369): the senior assistants attend in rotation and supervise a staff of five Jewish assistants ; Bradford (1,000): three members of the staff attend, who receive a day’s pay; Chiswick (88); Gateshead (120): caretaker in charge; Heywood, Lane.: attendance considerable ; Leicester recently begun the plan, and it is succeeding well: the staff, who take it in turns, receive one day’s pay for Sunday work; Manchester (5,585): assistants attend about once in three Sundays (from 2 to 9), and in return have a470 Public Libraries. full day off duty in the following week; Middlesborough: caretaker in attendance; Newcastle-upon-Tyne (687): special Sunday janitor, who is not a member of the week-day staff; Northampton in winter months: voluntary caretakers ; Norwich (300): special caretaker; Oldham (200): caretaker and porter on duty eacli alternate Sunday, who receive extra remuneration; Eochdale (794): one of the staff attends at the reference and boys’ library from 3 to 9, and has one day off the following week; St. Helens (421): staff take Sunday duty by turns, and it falls upon each once in four Sundays; Salford (53,482 in one year): two assistants and one porter on duty each Sunday, for which they receive an equivalent holiday; Wigan newsroom only 2 to 9 p.m. (264); Workington newsroom 8 to 10 (40). In Ireland: Dundalk and Sligo. Scotland and Wales keep the doors of their libraries closed on Sundays. In London there are the following:—Battersea (400): one assistant attends in reference library each Sunday (the whole staff in turn), taking holiday on another day. Heading-rooms are looked after by the caretakers; Chelsea (196); Clerk-enwell (230): worked by two of ordinary staff in turns. Compensation given in time for duty given on Sunday; Fulham (200): temporary assistant takes charge; Hammersmith 6 to 9 p.m.: one member of the staff is on duty every Sunday; Kensington, one branch (58); Lambeth (100 at each newsroom): ordinary staff not employed on Sundays. It will be seen from this list how rapidly the Sunday opening of these institutions is extending, and thoughtful people who are watching carefully the progress of the age are not alarmed at the prospect, but, on the contrary, view the matter with satisfaction. CHAPTEE XXV. Public Library Lectures and Science and Art Classes. No better index to the rapidly developing work of Public Libraries could be found than in the ever-extending number of these institutions, which are including as part of their operations lectures and science and art classes. Future historians will have to record that one of the most notable evidences of national progress in the closing years of the nineteenth century is the practical efforts made for the education of the people, and foremost among these efforts will stand forth the instruction derived through and by rate-supported Public Libraries. Far and wide is the love of books spreading, but up to a comparatively recent date the stores of knowledge laid up in Public Libraries have to a certain extent been undrawn upon because readers with only the library catalogue to guide them have not had before them indications of any specified line of study, and so have groped about hopelessly. To this absence of finger posts to direct readers as to the best and most profitableLectiwes and Science and AH Classes. 47i lines of reading, may be attributed to a very large extent the preponderance of fiction oyer other classes of literature. But now much of the time lost in former years is being rapidly overtaken, and we appear to be within measurable distance of the period when no Public Library will be considered to have a complete record unless it has within its ramifications of work winter lectures and, in one way or another, science and art classes associated with its efforts. Those who imagine that the attendants at the Public Library lectures already in vogue have been drawn entirely from the working classes should, if possible, convince themselves to the contrary by attending one of them. All classes have been more or less represented, and the attention given and the evident interest in them is sufficient proof of how thoroughly they are appreciated. Prom a list of some of the subjects given, it will be seen that these are not of a class organized simply for the amusement of a scratch audience, but that solid information has been conveyed, giving, in a large number of instances, a direct incentive to the perusal of special books. This is one reason why it has been urged that in the planning of new buildings for Public Library purposes, lecture halls should be looked upon as a necessary adjunct where space and means will permit. As a source of income by the letting of the hall this will become a matter of considerable importance. It was sought to legalize the charge for admission to these lectures by a clause in a bill introduced last year, but which was not passed. Townsmen have very frequently been the lecturers, and in other cases paid professional lecturers. As suggestive to other committees the lecture work at a few Public Libraries is indicated, but to direct attention to everything which is now being done in this way would require much more space than there is at disposal. Among other lectures at Liverpool, as part of their Public Library work during a past autumn, there may be mentioned the following:—Rev. Dr. W. H. Dallinger, LL.D., F.R.S., two lectures, ‘The World of the Minutest Life;’ Sir Robert Ball, M.A., LL.D., Astronomer Royal of Ireland, four lectures, ‘ Story of the Heavens/ ‘ The Elements of Astronomy ’ (2), and ‘ Experimental Mechanics;’ Mr. Wm. Hewitt, science teacher of the Liverpool School Board, four lectures on ‘The Principles of Geography; ’ and Dr. W. Boyd Dawkins, Owens College, Manchester, two lectures, ‘ Cave Hunting ’ and ‘ Early Man in Britain.’ The Manchester work in this department is well to the front. Among other subjects there may be named those by Mr. George Harwood on ‘ Books as Friends/ who looked on books as friends in six lights: as they gave us recreation, correction, instruction, stimulation, consolation, and elevation. A map got more recreation from books than anything else, because they changed his mipd. Ml. George Milpey discoursed on ‘ Ballad Literature.’ The472 Public Libraries. Rev. P. T. Forysth had for his subject ‘ Popular Religious Literature/ and Mr. Charles Rowley lectured on ‘ General Reading for Busy Men.’ Professor Wilkins gave his views on ‘ Modern Fiction/ and Mr. Sowerbutts told a large audience what went towards ‘ The Making of Geography/ In a lecture delivered during a past winter on ‘ Books Ancient and Modern/ by Mr. W. E. A. Axon, he spoke of the great libraries of the world. Those at Alexandria must have contained at one time no less than 700,000 books, although a book in those remote times would be the equivalent of only a small portion of a modern volume. The number of books in existence to-day had been estimated at 10,000,000, and this was being very rapidly increased. The number of new books published last year in England was over 5,000 ; and in America fully as many; while in France it was much higher; and in Italy it reached the total of 11,000. It was impossible to become acquainted with more than a small fraction of this great mass of literature. To read well all the books in their own library in King Street he calculated would occupy the student 960 years. Hence the necessity for a wise selection. It was a pity that the subject of the choice of books could not be taught in our schools. The advice he would give to the beginner would be that he should follow his own bent in the books he read, and since no subject was complete in itself, the mind could by working from any particular state in the map of human knowledge gradually come into contact with all other departments of human knowledge. In literature, as in religion, they must work out their own salvation. In a lecture delivered at the Public Library, Benton, he took for his subject,‘ The Educational Uses of Public Libraries/ He urged that the rate-supported library should be a centre of educational influence, a place which should be a university for the people. The old ‘ rule of thumb ’ would have to give way; it had given way in some of the Continental states, and if England was to maintain her industrial supremacy, and if she was to maintain her hold on the markets of the world, if she was to remain as she had been in the past, a great workshop for the whole of the world, her people must learn science, and not depend, as they had done largely in the past, upon the mere rule of thumb. It is worth while remembering that Manchester led the way in this matter of Public Library lectures, and that in the first year of its existence there were lectures delivered in the Public Library at Campfield shortly after its opening. One was given by Professor A. J. Scott on i The Literature of Poetry and Fiction / a second by the Rev. Br. Vaughan on ‘The Use and Study of History / and the third by Br. Grace Calvert. A letter was written as early as September 7, 1852, and was addressed by Professor Scott to Sir John Potter, the then chairman of the Public Libraries. In this the Professor, after referring to the opening of the library in Campfield, suggested a series of bibliographical lectures, dealing with the different departments of literature,Lectures and Science and Art Classes. 473 Last winter the committee of the Hanley Public Library accepted the offer of the Gilchrist Trustees for three lectures. The first lecture was attended by 870, the second by 475, the third by 470, making an average attendance of 605. After the three Gilchrist People’s Lectures had been arranged for, an intimation was received from the University Extension Lectures Committee that they might be followed by nine lectures by Mr. Parkyn, under the University Extension Scheme, making in all twelve for the season. An excellent plan was initiated at Nottingham by the librarian last winter in a series of “ Half-hour Talks with the People about Books and Book Writers.” These comprised half-hour chats on ‘Charles Kingsley,’ ‘Newspaper Reading,’ ‘Sir Walter Scott,’ ‘ The Study of History,’ ‘ Our Little Library,’ ‘ Pleasures of Reading,’ ‘Some Uses of Books,’ ‘Kingsley’s Water Babies,’ ‘George Eliot,’ ‘Victor Hugo,’ ‘What to Read, and How,’ ‘ Charles Dickens,’ ‘ The Bulwell Library, and How to Use It,’ ‘ The Early History of the English Parliament,’ ‘ Charles Darwin, Naturalist,’ ‘ The Use and Abuse of Fiction,’ ‘Dr. Samuel Johnson,’ ‘ At the Grave of Kingsley,’ and ‘ Macaulay.’ They were largely attended, and highly appreciated by the working men, who were busily occupied with pencil and note-book during the delivery. Quite a number of books referred to by the various speakers were taken out of the library immediately after the delivery of the lecture. A similar series of “ Half-hour Talks ” was established at Loughborough, and these also were well attended, and not a few borrowers were induced to read the works of some of our standard authors instead of the less worthy fare. At Norwich the lectures covered a wide range of subjects. Some of these were illustrated by views on the screen, and each year they are growing in success. The subjects discoursed upon at Leek during the winter were—‘ Early Historical Development of Prose Fiction in England,’ ‘Jane Austen,’ ‘The Waverley Romances,’ ‘ Theosophy,’ ‘ Chartist Novels,’ ‘ Vivisection,’ ‘ Charlotte Bronte and George Eliot,’ and ‘ Charles Dickens.’ Numerous other Public Libraries have had lectures during the past winter. The series at Widnes have, for a small library, been remarkably successful. Those at Wigan equally popular. Those at Birmingham and Watford are growing more and more successful each year. At Oldham the committee are regretting the bad accommodation which they have for lectures—another proof that building committees should keep this feature clearly in view. The series of lectures delivered there during the past winter have been as varied as could be desired. At Bootle (Lancashire), Handsworth, and Aston (near Birmingham), the lectures are growing in popularity with each succeeding season. At the latter place expenses under this head are limited to £15 per annum, and, as no fees are paid to lecturers, this amply covers all expenses incurred. If there is a public hall, of ^hich the library committee can make free use,474 Public Libraries. the expenses might come even below that amount. The travelling expenses of lecturers, cost of printing bills, and hire of lantern slides for illustrating lectures, have of course to be defrayed. This chapter would be very incomplete without special reference being made to the Oxford University Extension Lectures. Many of these lectures are most suitable for Public Libraries. A chief aim of University Extension Teaching is to form and encourage permanent habits of continuous and systematic reading and study. It is believed that these lectures will increase the usefulness and popularity of Public Libraries by providing an additional means of guiding readers to the best books in each subject. Each course is delivered by an experienced lecturer. These lecturers are appointed by a University Board, and form in fact the staff of an itinerant university college, maintained by the co-operation of more than sixty towns. The course consists of from six to twelve lectures and classes. Each course is illustrated by a printed syllabus, interleaved for notes, and giving an analysis of the lectures and lists of books recommended for private study. The following are the synopsis of lecturers’ subjects, courses of which are adapted to Public Libraries :— Greek. Roman. Florentine. English (all periods). French. Greek. Roman. English. History. Mediaeval. Modern European. Colonial. Indian. American. Literature. American. French. German. Philosophy. Various Courses. Natural Science. Astronomy. Biology. Botany. Chemistry. Electricity and Magnetism. Entomology. Geography. Geology. Hygiene. Morphology. Physiography. Physiology. Zoology. Art. Greek Art. Italian Art. English Painters. History of Gothic Architecture. The Great Schools of Art. Ruskin’s Writings on Art. Practical Lectures on Design, Political Economy and Economic History. Elements of Economics. Epochs of English Industry. Economics ofCommerce and Finance. English Commerce, 1703—1786. Makers of Political Economy. Social antj Industrial Movements,Lectures and Science and Art Classes. 475 At Wolverhampton Public Library a series has been given on economical history by Mr. Hewins, University Extension Lecturer, as well as a series of Gilchrist Lectures on “The Life-History of the Earth.” At Hereford a series on “ The English Colonies” has been given by one of the University lecturers. The library committee at Runcorn have rendered valuable aid to the cause of University Extension Lectures, by purchasing duplicates of all the standard books sent down in the travelling library, and placing them on one side for the special use of LTniversity Extension students attending the course. There is sent out in connection with the courses a travelling library containing about forty standard volumes recommended by the lecturer for study. A large number of these libraries are in circulation, and students are constantly testifying to the great value they derive from this system. During a course of lectures on “ The Social History of England ” at Cambridge the books recommended to be read by students attending the course were presented to the Public Library for the use of the students, and were allowed to lie upon the counter in the reading-room for their use at any time. The books were not removed from the library, but read at the tables, and returned to the counter when done with. This facility proved of great assistance to many of the students, and the reading-room was seldom entered during the weeks in which the course was being held without finding the books in use. The delegates have, since 1888, supplemented the arrangements made by them for the establishment of lectures by framing a scheme for the encouragement and guidance of home-study. They have arranged a number of reading circles, the members of which study a specified subject under the guidance of a leader. The students write essays for the leader at fortnightly intervals for a period of not less than sixteen weeks. The lecturer of each reading circle has prepared a printed syllabus containing an outline of the course of study, list of suitable books, hints for study, topics for essay-writing, &c. Committees and others who organize these lectures at Public Libraries should at once place themselves in communication with Mr. J. C. Sadler, B.A., University Extension Office, High Street, Oxford, from w'hom every information can be obtained. Committees may greatly assist University Extension students by providing during the delivery of a course of lectures in a town a University Extension Table containing the books recommended in the lecturer's syllabus. What, it may be asked, are the purposes of Public Library lectures P The answer is twofold—to stimulate intellectual curiosity, and to show how it can be satisfied in the most profitable manner. It may seem superfluous that the praise of books should be said or sung in an age when the printing press turns them out in myriad copies daily, and yet it is certain that there are many men, women, and children who would be the better for the friendship of literature, Nor is the reading that is donePublic Libraries. 476 always of the class that might be desired. Hence the advantage when a specialist comes forward and explains the charms and importance of his own line of study, and advises as to the best books to be read by those who wish also to become familiar with it. A little judicious counsel from a veteran may save the recruit of learning much useless toil and unprofitable endeavour. Lectures which have a direct bearing upon the books contained in the libraries are obviously the most appropriate and are likely to be the most useful. Who can gauge the intelligence which has been quickened, the solid information which has been gained, and the evenings which have been well and profitably spent by these lectures ? With our friends across the Atlantic the lecturing system has become quite an institution, but we have surpassed them in annexing this work with Public Libraries. There is in this country a growing appreciation of high-class lectures, and there is no reason why they should not reach the same standard of popularity which they have attained in the States. Since the issue of the last edition the number of Public Libraries having science and art classes as part of their work has been enlarged. The aim and object of these classes are of a most important nature, and these schools have had an influence on public taste and the catering for artistic taste on the part of manufacturers which cannot be over-estimated. In all parts of the country they have proved in a hundred ways their usefulness. Although under the designation of Schools of Art they are of modern growth; yet there are at the present time attending these classes throughout the country many thousands of students. In the Science Division there are 112,808 pupils under instruction. The number of art schools and classes has grown to 667 and 85,405 have attended them. Of Schools of Art there are 213 schools with 41,263 students. There is scarcely an industry of prominence which has not in some way benefited by Schools of Art, and in some trades, particularly in pottery, glass, textiles (lace, &c.), silver, iron, brass, and electro-plated ware, the effect of these schools has been so marked that they have now become most necessary, and have in numerous ways exercised a vitalizing influence. To what extent these schools have been the means of supplanting foreign designs by English designers, is known only to those immediately associated with them; and had no other good come out of them than this, their existence would have been more than justified, for there is a distinctly British taste which has only been catered for successfully by British designers.' The majority of these various art classes scattered throughout the country, provide vigorous centres of art, and are aided by occasional loan objects of art from the national collection at South Kensington. Our contention is, that if art occupied some place, however small, in the earlier education of boys and girls, the number of students would be trebled and quadrupled in a few years. Instead of, as at present, these beijig the ultimateLectures and Science and Art Classés. 477 school of the few, they would be the resort of the many. This is the desired end, and any means which lead up to this cannot fail to have a beneficial effect generally, and give a still greater impetus to the demand for art manufactures, and a spirited competition to produce work of a satisfactory character to meet that demand. The aim of all education should be to remove from the mind all feeling that the process of education is mere routine where so much has to be committed to memory, and no schools have given so much inspiration and so much new life to all other studies as the immediate studies connected with schools of art. Their expansion will be a national boon, and, perhaps more than anything else, they will enable us to retain that commercial supremacy which we have so long enjoyed, but which in the future every effort will have to be strained to maintain. They have encouraged higher standards of excellence, and have produced a wholesome emulation which has made its results evident in manufactures. These Government schools were originally designed for the artisan classes, and such among them as showed ability to rise to the higher grade in their own particular trade, and from that to advance, if they showed that still further ability to rise, to the practice of ornamental and inventive art. It can with every truth be said that they have had, however, an even greater utility than this, for they have been creative of designs and ornamentations which have given beauty to the eye and work to the operative. When we turn to art in the leading industries, we find that the best of this has been the immediate product in one form or another of the schools of art. In no art industry is this probably more evident than in lace, pottery, and glass. In one case where an immense industry has arisen, it is stated, and stated with good reason, that it owes its very existence to the influence of a neighbouring school of art, and distinctly new classes of both pottery and glass have been the outcome. In these wares there is an originality of conception and treatment which has led to an immense sale. A similar result has taken place in other industries. In lace curtains and wall papers, instead of sprawling palm trees and flowers to which it would be impossible to give a name, huddled together in ugly confusion, there are now curtains and papers cheaper in price than these horrible abortions, and possessing considerable artistic merit. It is said that one firm alone in Nottingham pay as much as £5,000 a year to seventy designers and apprentices. In metal work again these schools have exercised a most beneficial influence. A sum of money is annually granted by Parliament for instruction in art in the United Kingdom, and is administered by the Science and Art Department. The object of the grant is to promote instruction in drawing, painting, and modelling, and designingfor architecture, manufactures, and decoration, especially among the industrial classes. The amount is liable to be decreased and eventually withdrawn. Payments to teachers therefore mustPublic Libraries. 473 not be looked upon as perpetual, or in any way conferring on the teacher a claim to any payments beyond those offered from time to time. To effect this object, the Department gives aid towards the teaching of elementary drawing in elementary day schools and training colleges ; towards the teaching of drawing in art classes ; towards instruction in art in schools of art; and towards the training of art teachers. The art library and collections of decorative art at South Kensington are also made available for the purpose of instruction in schools of art. No undertaking should be commenced in general reliance upon aid from the Parliamentary grant. An application for such aid should, in the first instance, be addressed to the Secretary, Science and Art Department, London, S.W. With regard to grants towards new buildings erected for the purpose of a Public Library and for a school of art, the plan is for the secretary to inform the Department of the project, and plans must be submitted showing the rooms to be devoted to the purposes of a school of art. The Department may offer sundry suggestions as to the arrangement of the rooms, and upon this will depend the grant given. Pour rooms must be devoted to art, in addition to an apparatus room; one room partly devoted to art, and another room partly devoted to science. The four permanent rooms should measure not less than as follows:—Elementary and Life Class Koom, 30 ft. by 19 ft.; Antique Koom, 23 ft. by 12 ft.; Painting Koom, 18 ft. by 16 ft.; Art Master’s Koom, 16 ft. by 10 ft. The Libraries Amendment Act of 1884 empowers any authority acting under the Public Libraries Act to accept a grant from the Committee of Council on Education towards the purchase of sites or the provision of premises or furniture for schools for science or art. These grants vary from £100 to £500. The official book, giving full instructions, is the “ Directory,” published at sixpence, and as this book goes so fully into the formation of these classes, it is unnecessary to quote the general regulations. So thoroughly is the extension of Public Libraries permeating the public mind that the compilers of this directory have included in their last issue a synopsis of the law of Public Libraries. It is well to keep in mind that where a Public Library, a public museum, a school or schools for science or art, or an art gallery has been already established under any Act relating to Public Libraries or museums, a similar institution may be established in connection therewith without further proceedings being taken under the Acts. At the South Shields Public Library there are science and art classes which are being attended by over 150 students. In comparison with other similar classes in the town the Public Library classes have not only maintained but have strengthened their position. At Norwich Public Library these classes are held, and some beautiful work has been done by the more advanced students. At the Stafford Public Library the number of students on the register is 329. The Hanley Public Library science classesPublic Libraries and Technical Education. 479 are more than justifying their existence. The classes at the Newcastle-upon-Tyne Public Library are gaining ground, but though they are technically connected with the Public Library they are practically a survival of the old mechanics’ institution. At Wolverhampton and Gateshead there are some excellent classes which meet in the library buildings. At Wolverhampton there were last winter 608 students in the science classes, this number being an increase of 73 over the previous year. The whole number regularly attending the evening classes reaches 1,045, and in connection with no Public Library in any part of the country is the work of these classes in a healthier and more vigorous condition than at Wolverhampton. The last report of the Halifax Public Library refers to the alterations at Belle Vue Mansion to adapt it for the purposes of a central library, including rooms for a school of art. The report states that the number of visitors to the Akroyd Museum and Art Gallery during the year had been 110,617, the number of visitors on Sundays during the last seven months of the year having been 40,096. In the science and art examinations in the Watford district 19 examinations have been held, at which 426 papers have been worked. Sixteen examinations have been held in connection with the Public Library classes, at which 136 papers have been worked. Only a limited section of Public Libraries where this work is carried on have been named. Others are adding themselves to the list, and it will soon be looked upon as an indispensable feature of the work of these institutions. CHAPTER XXYI. Public Libraries and Technical Education. We appear, as a nation, to be taking giant strides to overtake the arrears in our national education. In no respects is this more patent than in the universal spirit of inquiry into the relation between Public Libraries and technical instruction. The passing of the Technical Instruction Act of 1889 and the Amendment Act of 1891 illustrate this forcibly. The Bill of 1889 for the promotion of technical instruction is a slightly wider measure than that of the previous year, providing, as it does, for manual education as well as merely theoretical instruction. The powers given by the Bill will be exercised chiefly by School Boards and such local authorities as are empowered to carry out the Public Libraries Acts. Library and museum committees have had to take up the question of technical education. And as these bodies already have the management of educational institutions there is little doubt that the carrying out of a scheme of technical instruction falls most suitably in the hands of these committees. The Bill lays it down that the ratePublic Libraries. 480 for the purposes of technical instruction, whether it be levied by the School Board or by any other local authority, must not exceed a specified sum. No one will complain that this amount is unreasonable, in view of the recognized necessity for this kind of legislation. The Government have by no means acted in advance of popular feeling. The permissive character of the measure has not militated against its effectiveness. The land system has, by its ruinous effects upon the prosperity of the country districts, constantly driven into the already congested labour market a quantity of unskilled labour. This has had the double effect of reducing wages and depreciating the standard of work done. The foreign workman has thus seen his opportunity, and the competition of foreign goods becomes keener and keener. Technical instruction will do much in the way of gaining back for us the ground we have lost much more than would the carrying out of the suggestions of Protectionists and Fair Traders. The children will not be taught the practice of any specific trade. They will be instructed in the principles of science and art applicable to industries, and in the application of special branches of science and art to specific industries. They will thus approach the actual handling of tools with an intelligence which, without the preliminary training, they could not be expected to possess. Notwithstanding the endless variety of superior apparatus for school purposes now in the market, our national schools have very little to attract attention, excite interest, or train the observation of the pupils. Maps and diagrams do duty until they fall off the walls from the effects of mildew and damp. How seldom do we see a good map on the walls. The Ordnance and Geological Surveys have published valuable maps at the public expense. It surely would not be too much to supply every national school with the maps of its own locality, that the children may learn the physical geography around their own homes, and the geography of their own country, and thereby the practical value of maps in general. The total absence of suggestive objects, natural or manufactured, is a most radical defect in our elementary schools, for without them our youths are brought up incapable of appreciating the phenomena of the natural world, and in complete ignorance of the industrial world or its requirements, and consequently know nothing of the various channels into which their own labour might hereafter be practically directed. Hence, when it is time for lads to leave school, both they and their parents are too often utterly at a loss to know what the lad is to be put to, or for what he is fit. He has been taught to work hard to get result fees for his teacher, and he is glad to be relieved from this labour. When it is considered that this little country of ours-—these small islands—annually export 230 million pounds’ worth of manufactured goods chiefly, we must feel, looking back upon the last hal| century, that we have a glorious past, and when we consider the marvellous rapidity of our trade and commerce, itPublic Libraries and Technical Education. 481 must make us feel somewhat jealous, and nervous, perhaps, lest, by any means, or by negligence on our part, we should allow this grand result to fall away from ourselves. A great deal is heard about Continental competition, and that the Germans in particular are running English manufacturers close in some markets, and it makes us somewhat alarmed lest we are allowing our trade and commerce to suffer through any fault on our part. The Commissions appointed to inquire into this matter have almost invariably recorded that our education is very much lacking, especially technical education, which is almost in its infancy in this country. After the child has attended the elementary schools and is just beginning to think and to use his brains, and to reason, he should be introduced to a course of lessons whereby he can bring the thoughts in his mind into substance, and especially in the form of producing some article. There is another consideration, and that is, that the child should be able to follow his proclivities for certain handicrafts. There is now a universal recognition of the fact that we are far behind the century in this matter of technical instruction. To glance at one country only, one of the directors of South Kensington saw at a technical school in Milan 600 men and youths of all trades—masons, painters, and joiners—all of them working away drawing and modelling things which were of practical use in the trades which they might follow. And what was a still more astonishing fact in that particular school—there were hundreds waiting for admission whenever there was a vacancy. This is only one of the many such evidences which could be cited. As indicative of the interest which librarians are taking in the matter, Mr. Lancaster, the librarian of the St. Helen’s Public Library, read a paper on this subject before the Library Association. In the course of his paper he said that “the Public Library can be made subservient to and help in a great measure, indirectly, the cause of technical instruction. We all know how desirable it is to have on our library shelves copies of all the most important and useful books on the staple industries of the district in which the library is placed, and a reference to the number of times such works are issued will prove how greatly they are used. In St. Helen’s the principal industries are in glass, chemicals, and metals; mining is also carried on largely. It is our aim, therefore, to procure all the best books we can get which treat on those branches of industry. Librarians might co-operate with teachers of science and art classes, and with masters, managers, and foremen of works with a view to obtaining for the library the best and most serviceable books on scientific subjects, of which in many cases they have a personal knowledge. Too much importance cannot be attached to the desirability of having in our Public Libraries a good supply of books in all the higher branches of literature; but we ought not to overlook the fact that in St. Helen’s and similar manufacturing centres, where a large proportion of the persons who use the library belongs to the working class, and where some of the occupations followed are of 31Public Libraries, 482 a routine kind, not necessarily requiring much skill, it may be expected that the demand for light reading will be rather large. It is very gratifying to see decorators, designers, and others visiting our reference departments, and looking over fine art works in order to get new ideas to help them in their work. I am always pleased to see such making use of the library, and if a new work on decoration or ornamental art is added to the library they are delighted to be informed, and lose no time in looking over it.” The part which trade journals are taking in this most important question cannot be over-estimated. The author is a member of a firm who own the largest number of monthly technical journals, and is well aware how much trade journals generally have aided to disseminate technical knowledge among workmen. More than this, the truth has been forced home again and again upon employers that if we are, as a manufacturing nation, to maintain our ground, technical instruction and skill will require to occupy a very first place in our attention. The Technical Instruction Act and its Amendment Act are far from being all that could be desired, and differ materially from that previously brought forward by Sir Henry Koscoe, M.P., but they are a good beginning. This may be said even when the clumsy phraseology is taken into consideration. Among the communities where technical instruction is now receiving practical attention are Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham, Leeds, Birmingham, Southampton, Dundee, Warrington, Bootle, and Wolverhampton. Most of these are under the new Act. It would seem that the Act has been already adopted by the Maidstone Town Council, which voted a small sum to the School of Art; by the Wrexham Town Council, and the Bolton Town Council in aid of the new Technical School; the Coventry Town Council, and many other Town Councils. Within six months some forty places availed themselves of these Acts. A long list of places could be given, which shows conclusively that the Act is likely to be adopted universally. The next thing to ensure is that it shall be worked in the most effective manner possible. The recommendation of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, that the surplus from the Local Taxation (Customs and Excise) Act, 1890, shall be devoted to technical instruction, has given a special impetus to the whole question. A separate volume would be required to chronicle all that has been done and is contemplated. The Manchester scheme, as placed before the conference on the working of the Technical Instruction Act, held in that city on November 26, 1889, may be outlined as follows:—"1. That all the efficient Board schools for science and art instruction now existing be recommended for support out of the local rate under the Act, and with a view to their further development according to the requirements of the localities in which they are situate. 2. That all the efficient schools of science and art instruction in the city now in receipt of aid from the Science and Art Department be recommended for support out of the local rate in proportion toPublic Libraries and Technical Education. 483 the nature and amount of efficient technical and manual instruction supplied by these schools or institutions respectively, and with a view to their further development under the Act and having regard to the requirements of the city. 3. That each of such schools be requested to submit to this conference its own suggestions as to the amount and character of the aid desired from the local rate. 4 That in framing the scheme to be submitted it shall be shown that no undue competition of schools in any locality is permitted, and that the instruction in the lower science and art schools shall be contributory to the higher art and technical schools. 5. That the amount of the rate to be levied in the first instance shall not exceed one halfpenny in the pound, and shall not be more than adequate to provide for efficient instruction in the schools now existing—such amount to be determined after the school managers have furnished the conference with their requirements.” At that conference Sir H. E. Koscoe, M.P., and Mr. W. Mather, M.P., emphasized the fact that it was felt by those who took part in the conference that it would enable the Local Authority to arrive at a quick conclusion as to its duty if a scheme were presented to them containing the practically unanimous opinion of all those interested in the carrying out of the Act. It would prevent a great deal of discussion in the Town Council, and probably a scheme so submitted would receive their assent at once. The whole question was the possibility of School Boards taking advantage of the Act to constitute themselves secondary educational authorities. Since he had something to do with the proposing of those amendments which brought the School Board in, he might say that there was no doubt on the part of the authorities to whom any question would finally be submitted as to the interpretation of the Act so far as the position of the School Board was concerned. Hitherto School Boards had been able to carry out science and art instruction only by a sort of underhand method ; but in the Act as it now stood the School Boards were no longer regarded simply as self-constituted committees to carry out science and art instruction, but they were bona -fide authorities, whose business it would be to carry on secondary education under the provisions contained in the Act. Each locality must determine for itself the best way of bringing the Act into force, for the Act recognized local option as its first principle. If the local authority was not inclined to move, the ratepayers could move for themselves, and if they prepared a definite scheme the local authority would submit to the will of their constituents and carry out the Act in all its integrity for the benefit of the general community. As one of the most recent evidences of the spirit of emulation in this department which is making itself felt, the case of Stockport may be cited. Here a large number of industries are carried on, ranging from the making of jam to the building of boilers and engines. The Stockport people have agreed among themselves that the building, which was opened by Sir John Lubbock, M.P., in November, 1889, is the most handsome building in their town.Public Libraries. 484 This admirable institution owes its origin chiefly to a thrice Mayor of Stockport, Alderman Joseph Leigh, J.P., who, in 1886, suggested that a number of local gentlemen should consider the best means of providing the industrial population of Stock-port and the neighbourhood with efficient means for obtaining technical and art instruction. A joint committee was formed, a deputation from which visited the principal technical schools in the kingdom in order to ascertain how to best provide for the special needs of Stockport. The then Mayor further said that if the question were taken up heartily, and £7,000 or £8,000 raised as an endowment fund, he and an unknown friend would contribute a sum of money sufficient to erect the building. Local patriotism lies deeply embedded in the heart of Alderman Joseph Leigh, and he has in many ways done what one would like to see other successful manufacturers doing. He has allowed his native town to participate in his success in life. This handsome building has a frontage of 97 feet, and from front to back is 145 feet. It is the design of Mr. G. Sedger, and is a simple treatment of English Renaissance. Internally the building is noticeable for one thing in particular—adaptation to requirements. The latest improvements are introduced, even to the door knobs. The work of the school is divided into two distinct departments designed to meet the requirements of different classes of students. For those students who have a sufficient amount of time at their disposal during the day the curriculum provided in the department of day classes will probably be found most advantageous, inasmuch as the time devoted to each subject is generally greater than can be allowed in the evening classes. On the other hand the department of evening classes will be found to provide efficient training in the higher branches of knowledge for the numerous class of students whose daily occupations prevent their attending the day classes. In the department of day classes provision has been made for instruction in the following branches:—Art and design, chemistry, dyeing, and mathematical and physical science. In the department of evening classes the following branches of science, technology, and art, and of literary and commercial knowledge, and domestic economy will be fully provided for:—Science— Mathematical and physical science, chemistry and metallurgy, and natural science. Technology—Building trades, mechanical engineering, dyeing, bleaching, and calico printing, textile industries, and hat manufacture. Art—Drawing, painting, modelling, and designing. Commerce and Literature—Commercial geography and arithmetic, grammar and composition, shorthand and bookkeeping, and French and German. Domestic Economy—Dressmaking and millinery, art needlework, and cooking. This illustrates the thoroughly comprehensive scope which has been mapped out, and it is very satisfactory to note that about a thousand students have joined the different classes, some of them coming from a distance. This school bids fair to take a first place among the technical institutions of the country. Stockport has ever been among the most progressive towns ofTheir Relation to Mechanics' Institutes, &>c. 485 the country, and the establishment of this school proves that in the march of technical instruction the town means to occupy a prominent position. The Act has been adopted for its maintenance. The schools at Manchester, Nottingham, Keighley, and Huddersfield are doing excellent work, and altogether a universal spirit of inquiry is abroad as to the bringing into operation of this new Act. By far the best plan, however, is to .set the Public Libraries Acts in force first, and the latter to be the outcome and corollary of. the older institutions. There is no reason again why grants should not be made from the income from the rate for technical instruction to Public Libraries for the purchase of works of technical literature. CHAPTER XXVII. Mechanics’ Institutes, Workmen’s Clubs, and their Relation to Public Libraries. Whatever feeling of rivalry and antipathy there was at one time on the part of the managers of mechanics’ institutes and other similar institutions appears to be rapidly disappearing, if indeed it has not already become a thing of the past. It is impossible to question the fact that mechanics’ institutes have occupied a most important place in the education of the people. Too much praise cannot be given to the real work which has been accomplished by them. Previous to the establishment of these institutions the means of education among the working classes were of a scanty nature ; and about sixty years ago, when the need for increased educational facilities began to be more acutely felt than at any previous period, mechanics’ institutes were established, and it was felt that they would soon take their places as colleges for working-men. The highest hopes were entertained respecting them, and many of these expectations have been realized. More than this, there are not a few mechanics’ institutes which may to-day be reasonably proud of the work they are doing. But even the most sanguine friends of mechanics’ institutes and workmen’s clubs would not claim for them that they have fulfilled every promise and every hope which was held out with regard to them. The causes of the apparent failure are not far to seek. The phrase “ apparent failure ” is used for the reason that over and above whatever appearance of failure there may be, the good record which lies behind them has been so vital that no educational history of the last half century would be complete which did not fully recognize the place they have filled. . The origin of mechanics’ institutes is interesting. Somewhere about sixty or seventy years ago, Dr. Birkbeck was acting as Professor of Natural Philosophy at the Andersonian Institution, Glasgow. Some apparatus required to elucidate one of his lectures was out of repair, and two or three artisans were sentPublic Libraries. 486 for by him to remedy the defects. After he had given them the necessary directions, one of the men observed—“How much better we should be able to do this work, if we understood the objects of these instruments, and the principles upon which they are constructed.” The Professor replied, “ My friends, will you listen to me if I try to explain them to you ? ” “ Oh yes, sir, certainly, if we stay till to-morrow morning,” was the answer. It was given in so sincere and thankful a tone, that, although it was then late at night, the benevolent Doctor commenced an elaborate explanation, and the rays of the next morning’s sun were shining when that group separated—one going to his repose, the others to their daily toil. The readiness and the zeal of these craftsmen to acquire intellectual information produced such an effect upon the Doctor that he invited all the artisans of Glasgow to attend his lectures gratuitously. A mechanics’ class was subsequently formed, and not long after mechanics’ institutes sprang up in various localities. Thus it will be seen how small an incident may lead to a great public good. One of the chief causes which have militated against them is that they have not been made sufficiently practical in the sense that the artisan classes understand that term. It has not been enough for a working man with his limited means to be told that if he became a member of one of these institutes, he would so increase his knowledge as to render it probable that he might thereby improve his condition. That has not gone far enough; and small as the quarterly subscription has been, before parting with it he has tried to see pretty clearly that he would derive some immediate advantage equal to the outlay. Others again have said that the subscription was too low, and that the education which can be procured for little money is but indifferently valued. This is not a particularly good argument, especially at the present time, when on all hands education has progressed by leaps and bounds, and the need for far greater educational facilities is being expressed on all sides. A more important drawback associated with them is that amusement and recreation have very largely usurped the educational work of mechanics’ institutes and workmen’s clubs. But this again is only partially true, and had these institutes been bereft of rational amusements, and left to possess the sombre character of the cloister, the probabilities are that there would be more to lament with regard to them than is heard at the present time. Still, so strong has the recreative element become that draught and chess boards, billiard tables, and dramatic performances have only too frequently elbowed aside the educational character of these institutions, and now many of them are little more than respectable lounges for men fairly well-off, who dislike the smoke-room of the publichouse or hotel, and prefer the quieter and less objectionable place. The library and reading facilities afforded by these institutions have not been and are not particularly great. The libraries have consisted too largely of fiction and other books gathered together indiscriminately, and the newsroom has been so indifferentlyTheir Relation to Mechanics' Institutes, &>c. 487 supplied with a comprehensive choice of periodical literature, that what has been supplied has often made the poverty in the stock of ephemeral literature the more apparent. The one fatal obstacle, however, is that there is no continuity of life in the management of these institutes. The individual mechanics’institute or workmen’s club invariably owes its existence to the activity and energy of two or more individuals, who have galvanized the whole idea into life and useful existence, and the place begins with all the enthusiasm and publicity possible. As long as these heads and originators have remained, life and activity have characterized the work of these institutes. By-and-bye, however, as deaths and removals have decimated the ranks of those who brought the whole thing into completion, a change in the spirit of management has come about, and decay has set its talons upon the institution. The roll of membership has in very many instances declined, and debt and restricted resources are fast accomplishing utter congestion and collapse of all the original purposes of the institution. Far too large a number of them have fallen almost entirely in the hands of cliques, and it is to be feared that in some cases personal ends dictate what shall be done. The one vital difference between mechanics’ institutes, workmen’s clubs and rate-supported Public Libraries is that the management of the two former has no representative character attaching to it, whereas in the other case the continuity is assured by the corporate nature of the institution. A Public Library forms part of the corporate life of the town, and is administered by the elected representatives of the people, who have to give an account of their stewardship to those who elect them to the governing body in which they sit. This applies to the smallest parish which may adopt the Acts, as well as to the very largest city. And hence the main reason why Public Libraries are so rapidly extending and taking the place of mechanics’ institutes and workmen’s clubs. The subscription character of the latter has tended to restrict the membership, and the national and universal character of Public Libraries has been the keystone of their life and vigour. The purpose of this chapter is to indicate how the educational character of mechanics’ institutes and workmen’s clubs can be maintained, and these institutions fill the true place for which they were originally intended. To save them from misuse and falling into the hands of cliques is the earnest desire of many who have at heart the welfare of the buildings in which they have been so long interested. A very considerable number of these institutions have formed the nucleus of Public Libraries, and an excellent beginning has thus been made by a happy wedding of the old love with its creditable past and the new love with its enlarged prospects and solid chances of success. A new lease of life has thus been secured. The managers of other institutions are seriously contemplating what can best ensure a useful future for their institutions. It is to these that a sincere hope may be expressed as to the step which they will ultimatelyPublic Libraries. 488 take. Although in some respects mechanics’ institutes and workmen’s clubs are proprietary institutions, they are in another sense public property, inasmuch as subscriptions from the general public were solicited and obtained when the institution was first launched. Consequently the private benefit which here and there is accruing is a wrong to the original promoters, and an injustice to the local public who have a general interest in the institution. This is sufficient ground why present managers may well take into consideration what are the best steps to adopt. The restrictive character of their trust deeds is, of course, the line upon which they have to act, but even in this respect there are, as a rule, no serious insurmountable obstacles. In no better way can these buildings be preserved for the educational benefit of the public and also for rational amusement than by turning them into Public Libraries. In scores of towns and districts the Acts would at once be adopted if such an offer as this were made. It cannot be too well borne in mind that rate-supported Public Libraries are not antagonistic to mechanics’ institutes and workmen’s clubs. But they certainly are endeavouring to do on a larger and more practical scale the work which those institutions originally set themselves out to accomplish. Difficulties with regard to the staff of mechanics’ institutes and workmen’s clubs, should such a step as that indicated be adopted, could be met by a general understanding that the matter should be seriously borne in mind if the Acts are adopted and the institution becomes the property of the people. Some librarians of institutes which have been turned into Public Libraries had also acted in the same capacity for the mechanics’ institute, and this is a proof that this obstacle is one which can be met. All public appointments should be thrown open, but in such instances it cannot infrequently happen that the best men for librarian and assistants are those who have had charge of the place up to the time of the change being made. This is a question of such importance to the future of the Public Library movement, that the subject is one which may be earnestly pressed upon the attention of committees and trustees of the institutions under discussion. There is no control on the part of the public over the character of the men who may occupy their place at a later date. Would it not be truly wise to ensure the future of their building by placing it under the control of their local public ? If there is a debt upon it, which is so frequently the case, this should be taken over with the building, and by the placing of representatives from the old committee of management of the mechanics’ institute on the library committee, and the transference of the officials where this may be advisable and practicable, the main difficulties would be bridged, provided, of course, that the step is in accordance with the spirit and rendering of the trust deeds. It is opportune to now call attention to the strength and work of existing institutions under these designations. First and foremost there stands the Yorkshire Union of Mechanics’ Institutes,Their Relation to Mechanics' Institutes, &»c. 489 which celebrated its jubilee about two years ago. For life and rigour this union surpasses all other unions of these institutes. Its secretary and lecturer, Mr. Frank Ourzon, is such a host in himself that to know him is to know the secret of the success of this Yorkshire Union. Its present strength may be briefly summarized by stating that there are 280 institutes affiliated to the union, with an aggregate of 60,380 members. Its village library consists of 30,000 volumes, and the books find their way to some of the most remote villages of the huge county of York. Two hundred villages in Yorkshire are now availing themselves of its facilities. The books have been largely given from friends of the union, and boxes of books are named after generous donors. The subscription is a guinea a year for 200 volumes in fifty volumes exchanged each quarter. A weekly record of the circulation is kept by the local institute, and there can be no doubt that these books have been the means of bringing to thousands of Yorkshire village-homes pleasure and instruction. But the reasonable contention is that the book needs of a village cannot be met by the changing of fifty books once a quarter. All honour to the Yorkshire Village Library for the work that it has done and is doing. It is occupying the ground famously until the larger step is seen to be practicable, and that, it is to be feared so far as villages are concerned, is not yet within measurable distance. In filling the breach to supply the book needs of the village people, the Yorkshire Union deserves the thanks of all friends of provincial life, and if any reader feels touched at the lack of books in villages, and would like to do something to make it less so, he cannot do better than communicate with the secretary at Victoria Chambers, Leeds, and so establish a few boxes of books known by the name of the donor. The use of the books in this village library work is shown by the issue for last year being 33,950 volumes. The subscriptions to the individual institutes associated with the union vary from 4s. to 21s. a year per member. A large number of the affiliated institutes are doing an excellent work, and it is noteworthy that the most successful of them are in towns where rate-supported libraries are already in existence. This is especially the case at Bradford, where there are 1,500 members. At Doncaster there is a Bailway Institute with 3,060 members. The mechanics’ institute at Halifax has 1,099 members, and the one at Leeds has 1,339 members, and others could also be named. This shows that Public Libraries and mechanics’ institutes in the large centres go hand-in-hand and work together for the common good. It is refreshing to peruse the last report of the union, for it reveals a power at work in Yorkshire in these institutes which must produce good throughout the county. Of the 274 affiliated institutes and clubs who gave particulars in this section, 42 are exempt from local rates and 46 are not, whilst a few are partially exempt. The work done is to be commended, but it is patent that there are a considerable number whose income is diminishing, and the future of which is far from bright and encouraging. May the hope not be490 Public Libraries. expressed that for these some development into Public Libraries under the rates will sooner or later come about P There are five other associations of these institutes in the country, but the Yorkshire Union is so influential when compared with these that it makes the indications of declining power much more evident. The next strongest association is the Union of Lancashire and Cheshire Institutes. This was established in 1839 by the efforts of the late Richard Cobden and other gentlemen. Its record of work for fifty years is excellent in the organizing of lectures, holding examinations, diffusing information and helping deserving artisans to obtain a collegiate education. Fifty-five institutes are in union with this organization, with a gross membership of over 50,000. As an old secretary of one of the societies affiliated with the union, the present writer knows how large has been the impetus given to adult education in Lancashire and Cheshire by the work of this union in bygone days, before the passing of the Elementary Education Act of 1870. Its work is still very useful, especially in welding together the interests of the smaller sections, such as mutual improvement societies and literary clubs. The next in order in the provinces is the Northern Union of Mechanics’ Institutions. Sixty-nine institutes are affiliated with it, and it is gratifying to note that one of the objects of this union is to promote the welfare of mechanics’ institutions, Public Libraries, working-men’s clubs and reading-rooms throughout the counties of Northumberland and Durham. It was established in 1848, and quite a number of its affiliated societies are strong and healthy. Another of these associations is the Worcestershire Union of Workmen’s Clubs and Institutes. The Working Men’s Club and Institute Union, with its headquarters at 150, Holborn, E.C., has, after twenty-six years’ existence as a voluntary organization, become a corporate body under the Industrial and Provident Societies’ Act of 1876. The number of clubs and institutes affiliated with the union is very large. Many of them are political clubs, and in its vigorous work and splendid organization the union is accomplishing work of a most useful character. Public Libraries under the Acts will never do away with these unions, but on the contrary there will be some strength in working together. Members of these various institutes and unions should all be friends of the Public Library movement, for in numerous instances libraries such as those now being advocated can only be the outcome of clubs and institutes. In banding them together, and so creating a community of interests, a new infusion of life has come, and it is noteworthy that the most conspicuous failures among clubs and institutes have been among the societies not affiliated with any union. Public Libraries are simply an extension of their work. They are in the truest sense pro bono publico, whilst clubs and institutes are for subscription members only. The work of elevating and educating the people is so large that neither libraries nor any other organization can by themselves carry onTheir Relation to Mechanics' Institutes, &>c. 491 the task. There is then room for all, and some of the most earnest supporters of Public Libraries come from the ranks of these clubs and other similar bodies of men. If it will not be considered intrusive, attention may be called to a few of many mechanics’ institutes which would form an admirable nucleus for Public Libraries where they do not already exist. But this is purely suggestive, and all initiative must naturally come from the committees of management of the several institutions. The town of Jarrow-on-Tyne, with a population of 25,469, has a mechanics’ institute with 500 members. The Committee are anxious to make it 5,000. At the winter classes there has been a large attendance, and 690 students presented themselves for examination—a by no means bad record. Appeals are being made to the tradesmen of Jarrow to buy tickets for their assistants. Sleaford has a literary institute which seems to be making progress. There is also here a town library, the books of which have been chiefly bought by funds subscribed by the local public. Sleaford has a population of nearly 9,000. It would be well if all towns possessing libraries not under the Acts would designate them Town Libraries, as is done in Sleaford, so that there might be no confusion, but it is to be hoped that Sleaford will ere long have its Public Library. Accrington is a busy Lancashire town where the question of a Public Library is not new. A year or two ago the resolution passed by the directors of the Mechanics’ Institution in response to the inquiry from the Town Council as to whether the members would be willing to hand over their undertaking to the town, to be carried on as a Public Library and School of Science and Art, under the Public Libraries Acts, was considered at a meeting of the Council in committee. The directors suggested in their resolution that the Council should raise a sufficient sum of money “to cover the cost of the necessary alterations and extensions, and furnish such an endowment as, with a penny rate, will enable the Town Council to increase the efficiency of the work at present carried on by the Institution.” The feeling of the Town Council was that nothing could be guaranteed, and no pledge could be given in the shape of raising a certain amount of money, but a resolution was passed to the effect that if the members of the Institution were willing to hand over their undertaking the Council would do all in its power to carry on the educational work of the Institution more efficiently than it is carried on now. The Hexham Mechanics’ Institute has been living upon its capital during the past decade. There is only as much left now as will make good the expected deficiency next year, and then immediate dissolution will stare the members in the face. It possesses the only library of any consequence in the town, and, should it collapse, it will be a great misfortune to working men and others who have a taste for reading. In some quarters there is a disposition to invoke the intervention of the Libraries Act, and to make the library of the Mechanics’ Institute the nucleus of a larger and more valuable collection of books.492 Public Libraries. The Moot Hall, centrally situated, might possibly be leased for the purpose. At New Swindon, in Wiltshire, there is the Great Western Railway Mechanics’ Institution, which is doing good work. Wiltshire does not yet possess a library under the Acts, and there would be some appropriateness in Swindon becoming the first place to adopt the Acts. Barnard Castle, Castleford, Cleckheaton, Goole, Keighley, Malton, and Ripon, have all mechanics’ institutes but no Public Libraries, and all these places need these rate-supported institutions. In Weymouth there is a working-men’s club, and some of its members would like to see it turned into a Public Library. The club is very central, close to the Guildhall, and was built at the cost of Sir H. Edwards, then M.P., for its specific purpose. It contains an excellent reading-room and billiard-room on the ground floor, and over these a room capable of seating 300 or 400 persons. There is an excellent foundation in this club for a Public Library, and Weymouth should set a good example, and lead the way in that part of the country. These are but a few cases. Y ery many others could be cited. In Todmorden the advisability of adopting the Acts has been discussed, and it is much to be regretted that the Cooperative Society should have come to an adverse decision in respect to a Public Library for Todmorden, recently when the question was to the front, Some of the members thought they should be very chary in giving away the library. Another, in blissful forgetfulness of the adoption of the Act, made the astounding assertion that by giving the library to the town they would lessen the advantages of the persons who had the privilege of using the library at present, as it would certainly increase the number of readers! Adopting the Act is the grand object of creating readers at a less cost, adding to the number of suitable books and other conveniences in harmony with the age in which we live, and, in a word, to make life more desirable. About £8 a year may be taken as a fair average of the rent of the houses in Todmorden and neighbourhood, so that the contribution in the penny rate would not be extravagant. Whilst reference is being made to this part of the subject there is another branch so closely allied that reference may be made to it here. Young Men’s Christian Associations possess some libraries, and in small towns where these organizations exist the excuse is sometimes made to those seeking to promote the adoption of the Acts that there are already libraries existing in such institutions as those just mentioned. But without for a moment seeking to question the usefulness of Young Men’s Christian Associations, it can scarcely be said that their libraries meet the book needs of the districts where they are situated. Young Men’s Christian Associations occupy a place of importance, but it is straining the argument considerably when opponents of the Public Library movement maintain that there are already plenty of books for the public stored in such institutions as those to which reference is now being made.493 The British Museum Library and its Work. Whitehaven, North and South Shields, Barnsley, Carlisle, and a number of other places have their Public Libraries housed in buildings which were formerly mechanics’ institutes. Nottingham took over the Artisans’ Library for its Public Library, and occupied the same building until the library was removed to larger premises. In this town there is a mechanics’ institute which is reasonably claimed to be second to none of its kind in the kingdom. The membership reaches 3,830. This institution was the home of the Science and Art classes from 1862 to 1881, when they were transferred to the University College, and thus really prepared the ground for that useful place, the work being of a varied and admirable nature. Any record of the educational institutions in operation must include this excellently managed mechanics’ institute. What has been done in some of these towns in the handing over of their institutions will, it is hoped, have its influence upon other places to take a similar step. The progress of the movement in very many towns depends in the immediate future upon the public spirit of the committees of management of mechanics’ institutes and workmen’s clubs. The matter is commended to their thoughtful consideration. CHAPTER XXVIII. The British Museum Library and its Work. The British Museum Library will challenge comparison with any other national library in the world. So much may be unhesitatingly claimed for it, not only with regard to this institution as a library, but in the use made of it, and in every other department of its work. Of all the public institutions which go to make London what it is, there is none which plays a more important part than the British Museum. No library in Great Britain, not even in any of the universities, nor the Advocates’ Library in Edinburgh, or the Bodleian in Oxford can for an instant compare with that of Bloomsbury. Learned Berlin has nothing worthy of pitting against it. The Vatican Library is, no doubt, rich in ecclesiastical history, but is poorer in every other department of literature. Paris alone is superior to the British Museum Library so far as the number of books is concerned, though in the entire management the Bibliothèque Nationale is infinitely behind that in the metropolis of this nation of shopkeepers. Further than that the reader at the British Museum borrows twice as many books as the French reader. But notwithstanding the two million books and nearly two hundred thousand pamphlets in the national library in Paris, the British Museum is by far the richest in English books, as, of course, should be the case. But in French, Italian, Slavonic, and German literature, it is only second, if second, to the Public Libraries of France, Italy, Russia, Austria, and Prussia. Scholars from all parts of the world come to consult its Oriental treasures.494 Public Libraries. Neither Cairo, nor Stamboul, nor Bagdad, nor Bokhara has such a store of Korannic commentaries, and in his recently-published “ Bibliography of the Eskimo Language,” the complier notes with some amazement that he found the finest collection of texts in the hyperborean tongue in a private library in Washington, while the next finest was not in Copenhagen—as one might have expected from the relation of the Danes to Greenland, and the fact that Kink, the greatest of Arctic authorities, worked there —but in the capital of Great Britain. Yet of all the great libraries that which is pre-eminently national is perhaps the youngest. It began long after the academical collections had assumed shape, and it was houseless and practically unincorporated when many of the semi-private and professional ones had grown to respectable proportions. The truth is that it was only until a century ago or thereabouts that any great need was felt for a Public Library. Books were printed in comparatively small numbers, and a capacity to read any except in English or Latin was vouchsafed to only a limited number of individuals. Scholars had their college and university collections, or they purchased what they required for their own studies. But on the part of the people generally education was scant, and the desire to read far from being universal. It was only thirty-six years ago that the magnificent reading-room was commenced. Years before that the pressing need of increased accommodation had been brought repeatedly before the House of Commons ; but a few stickleback advocates for economy opposed any additional outlay, and the indecision or indifference of the Government helped to delay the matter from year to year. What a world of hampered national progress lies at the door of these false economists who have from time immemorial turned down their thumbs when a few extra thousands of pounds have been required for our national institutes, and when the expenditure of hundreds of thousands of pounds has been under discussion they have been found far too frequently, when the division bell rung, recuperating their presumably exhausted nature in the dining-room or the smoke-room of the House of Commons. In 1854 a Vote was got through for £101,142 for new buildings and fittings, and within three years the vast structure was completed. It is a well-known fact that the reading-room is circular. It contains some 1,250,000 cubic feet of space, and its surrounding libraries 750,000 cubic feet. As Public Libraries are beginning to follow the style and character of the Museum Reading-room a ground plan of it is shown. The cylinder 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 publications, old and new, and in various languages. The floor of the room is occupied with nineteen large and sixteenThe British Museum Library and its Work. 495 A Superintendent. B Catalogue Tables. C Headers’ Tables. D Access for Attendants. E Entrance from Royal Library. F Entrance from North Library. G For Registration of Copyrights. H Ladies’ Cloak Room. J Attendants’ Room. K Gentlemen’s Cloak Room. L For Gentlemen. M Umbrella Room. N Assistants’ Room. ECmiAN CALLER V,J496 Public Libraries. smaller tables, fitted up with ample accommodation for 360 readers ; two of these are reserved for the exclusive use of ladies, but ladies can take seats at any of the other tables. 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, 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 manuscript catalogue. Every attention is paid to the comfort of readers. More uniform civility and courtesy on the part of the officials could not be found in any public building in the world. This is the case with those in the most subordinate posts to the very highest in the Museum. It would almost appear that the entire staff had entered into a solemn compact among themselves that this national institution should be noted for this conspicuous feature in its management. Whether that be so or not, the fact should be chronicled far and wide, especially among other librarians. The staff of the British Museum Library have grasped the fact that they are public servants administering a public institution supported out of public money. It cannot be other than satisfactory that the highest institution of its kind should be so conspicuously noted in this respect, and the lesson will have its effect through all the ramifications of this now ever-extending profession. In no capital in Europe is admission granted to the national library with so free a hand as at the British Museum. A nominal guarantee of respectability is all that is required to give any one above the age of twenty-one ready access to incomparably the best library in the world. Any book asked for is handed in due course to the reader, and practically no limit is put to the number of books he may ask for at the same time. An official, chosen out of a staff of men of unusual attainments for his intimate knowledge of books and his wide acquaintance with the literature of the world, is seated in the room to answer questions and to help students in their literary researches. It is, therefore, a paradise for scholars and students. There is a copybook heading somewhere which says something about the unwisdom of making comparisons, but while the Bibliothèque Nationale is the largest library in the world at present it is the worse managed. There is not only a long time to wait for the books as an invariable rule, and the time may be several days in some cases, but every reader seems to be regarded as a questionable character whose pilfering propensities have to be closely watched. When a would-be reader enters the student’s room, which is about half the size of the British Museum Reading-room, a functionary hands him a ticket, on which name and address must be written, but not the title of the book wanted. This ticket No. 1 is handed to an assistant librarian, who gives another ticket, on which again is written the name and address and the title of the book required.The British Museum Library and its Work. 497 If the book is not in the catalogue of historical works, or in a catalogue of books published since 1881—the only catalogue accessible to readers—it is requisite to see that the place and date of publication are on the ticket, otherwise the reader may have to wait weeks for it. When the work is found, it does not come to the reader direct. It is taken by the attendant who found it to another, who transcribes the title, press mark, &c., on to ticket No. 1. The work is carried to the reader by another uniformed official. When he wishes to go out, he must get ticket No. 1 stamped to indicate that the book has been returned. The man at the door will not allow him to pass out unless he return the paper given him with the mark of the official seal opposite the title of each book. Not only so, but he will not allow him to pass with anything in the shape of a book, though his own property, without a. permit note signed by a librarian. Added to all this is a system of espionage in the form of an individual dressed in a gold-braided uniform and cocked hat. This gorgeous janitor walks with military step about the reading-room awing the readers as he looks from one to another with quick glances from his martial eye. The restrictions with regard to ink are decidedly French, and there are other restrictions and formalities that cause wonder at once to cease that the British Museum reading-room should be infinitely more used than that of the national library in Paris. The statistics of the British Museum reading-room for last year show’ the remarkable extent to which the public are availing themselves of the benefits of that institution. The number of volumes returned to the general library from use in the reading-room was 764,014; to the Boyal Library, 14,584; to the Grenville Library, 1,006; and to the presses in which books are kept from day to day for the use of readers, 446,522 ; making a total amount of 1,226,126 volumes supplied to readers during the year. The number of readers during the year has been 197,823, giving an average of about 652 daily; and an average of over six volumes daily for each reader, not reckoning those taken from the shelves of the reading-room. The following figures show the progressive increase during successive years over those preceding1882, 12,618; 1883, 6,092; 1884, 1,746; 1885, 4,611; 1886, 17,553; 1887, 5,885; giving an increase of very nearly 50,000 readers in the six years. The daily average of readers has increased steadily from 455 in 1881 to 622 in the past year. Coincident with this is the increase in the tickets for books placed in the baskets in the centre of the room. The daily average of these tickets in 1884 was 964; in 1885, 1,055; in 1886, 1,087; in 1887, 1,163; showing an average increase of 199 works each day since 1884. As the staff: of the reading-room has not been increased since the latter year, it would naturally be expected that the average time taken to procure the books would increase likewise, and this is found to be the case. In 1884 the average time taken by the attendants to supply a work was fourteen minutes, it was sixteen minutes last year. Prior to 1875 the average time was between half-an-hour and three-quarters, although the number of readers never exceeded 32Public Libraries. 498 300, or the number of tickets 5,500; but in that year the superintendent of the reading-room organized the attendants into sections, the tickets being sorted and distributed to the attendants of the respective sections of the library. The printing of the catalogue began in 1881, and over one-third of it has been completed. This third comprises about 950,000 titles. As 40,000 volumes, on an average, are added to the library every year, the catalogue is subject to constant alterations and additions. Formerly these were inserted in the shape of written slips, but the volumes of the catalogue became so bulky and numerous that it was found impossible to provide room for them. The space available for the printed catalogue will, it is estimated, suffice for the wants of three centuries to come. The compilation of this catalogue is costing £4,000 a year. There is space in the shelving in the centre of the reading-room for 2,000 volumes, in which it will be possible to record eighteen million titles, or, in other words, the accumulation of three centuries to come. There is no fear, therefore, of the catalogue being cramped. It is more difficult to understand where all the books to which the aforesaid titles will apply are to be disposed. It is stated that the authorities are negotiating for the purchase of some property close at hand, with a view to carrying out a considerable extension of the library. In the middle of 1888 the resignation of Dr. Edward A. Bond was announced. For fifty-two years he had been a member of the staff, and for ten years had occupied the post of principal librarian. It is to Dr. Bond that readers owed the introduction of the electric light into the reading-room. This improvement, so acceptable during the dark winter days, was followed by a considerable extension of the hours when the room was available, and by the removal of certain regulations respecting the renewal of tickets of admission. The appointment of a successor was watched with keen interest on the part of the public. Mr. E. Maunde Thompson was appointed his successor. He is Hon. LL.D. of St. Andrew’s, and Hon. D.C.L. of Durham. Now that the new regulations with regard to fiction have had a fair margin to see how they work, and the storm raised by their promulgation has quieted down, it is feasible to see what led to these new and somewhat stringent regulations. The secret of the decree was found in the fact that a number of the men and women who were accustomed to gather daily beneath the dome did so merely to pass away the time. Some of them did not possess homes, but merely places in which to pass the night, and in the strictest sense they could be numbered among the unemployed. Thought and the acquisition of knowledge were utterly beyond these fashionable loungers, but fiction they loved, and of this they could have enough and to spare in the Bloomsbury buildings. This was becoming an intolerable nuisance. And the abuse of its privileges on the part of many of these public-building parasites was notorious. Literary men engaged in genuine research were pressed out, and those desiring to make reference toThe British Museum Library and its Worh. 499 some work or works could not find a vacant chair or desk. As many as 200 of such readers might be excluded in a single day by even twenty of the fiction vampires, who would take up their position immediately the doors were opened in the morning, and monopolize places for the entire day. Some of these gentry would go out to lunch at twelve and return at three, leaving their places occupied by the books and papers upon the desk. The offenders were watched,their wants were for a time supplied. Then came the decree which sent dismay through their number, that no fiction should be supplied which was not five years, old, and more than this the reader would be required to state his reasons in writing should he require a modern work of fiction. A rescript issued a year ago was welcomed by all who care for the true welfare of this noble institution. It was to the effect that unoccupied seats, even should there be books on the table, will not be reserved for anyone under any circumstances whatever. At first sight it certainly seems hard that a reader who may be temporarily called away should be liable to have his seat confiscated by anyone on the look-out for a comfortable resting-place. But it must be remembered that under the old system it was a most common practice for selfish people who live in the neighbourhood, to hasten to the library in the morning, and, after reserving a place, to go away and perhaps never return for hours. This was a distinct hardship upon legitimate workers, many of whom are dependent for their living upon the National Library, and who perhaps are unable to arrive until the day is well advanced. By all such the rule in question has been welcomed, as not only desirable, but a necessary restriction upon a practice which had long ceased to be merely objectionable. There are other classes who frequent the British Museum reading-room with whom it will be necessary to deal. The reading-room is not free from a very unsavoury number, who make it exceedingly disagreeable for those who have to work in their immediate neighbourhood. There is still another class. Official statistics tell us that insanity is on the increase. It seems that a regular practice has grown up among middle-class families in London, who happen to have a lunatic member, of procuring a ticket for the reading-room for that member if sufficiently harmless. The patient is thus cheaply provided for during many hours of the day. It is difficult to find a fair mode of limiting the number of readers without encroaching upon the few rights of those not rich. A great deal was done when the files of newspapers were removed to another room. A similar removal of the Post Office Directories would eliminate many persons who come to address envelopes. Stricter conditions as to age or purpose in the issue of tickets, even a little delay in their issue except in special circumstances, and a return to the old system, by which they had to be renewed every six months, would improve matters. A sentence or two about the presence in the room of employés of “ next of kin ” and similar commercial undertakings. Is it not straining the privi-5°° Public Libraries, leges accorded to the community in making use of the reading-room, to have the time of public servants taken up in continually attending to the demands of persons who are not there for the purpose of literary research or study, but solely in the interests of employers outside, who are conducting businesses of dubious advantage to the bulk of the population ? No one would grumble at any reader occasionally applying for a book of which he had no pressing want ; but when the newspaper room is used daily, all the year round, for a purpose that surely was never bargained for or foreseen when that addition to the readers’ accommodation was instituted, we submit, in the public interest, that some action should be taken in the matter. The question has been raised as to whether a catalogue of the newspapers could not be prepared. The periodicals in the National Library are fully and carefully catalogued in the general index. At present if one inquires whether a particular paper is in the Museum, the answer given is to the effect that all current newspapers are received and kept there. If anyone wishes to refer to some defunct journal, of, say, 40 or 50 years ago, the reply made is, that if an application is made on the regular specified form, inquiry will be made as to whether such journal is in the Museum collection or not. The list of periodicals in the Museum Library has been published, with an index, in a handbook to be obtained at the Museum : could not the same be done for the newspapers ? The work would not be a very voluminous one, nor need it occupy a very long time in preparation. Further, is it absolutely necessary that the newsroom should be closed at four p.m. ? The reading-room is available till seven p.m. all the year round : could not the newsroom be kept open till, say, five p.m., at least ? It is probably owing to these drawbacks that the average attendance in the newsroom, some 54 or 55, is so small. The principal librarian is considering the suggestion that bulletin boards shall be publicly displayed in the library, on which readers and students can post their wants, and in this way open up communication with others also interested in their special pursuits. This plan already works well at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, andin several of the principal Public Libraries of the United States, including that in connection with Harvard University. The one great need is that Public Libraries with their reference departments shall be established all over London. It is utterly impossible for the British Museum reading-room to meet the growing demands made upon the space available for readers, and the only possible way of meeting the difficulty will be by opening other sources of supply. That, however, is coming, for London has experienced a wave of Public Library enthusiasm. Some considerable misconception has prevailed among the Public Libraries of the country as to the number of duplicate copies of books which are available for distribution. With regard to foreign works this has only occurred when presentation copies have been sent by foreign authors, and the same works haveObject Lessons in Public Libraries. 501 been purchased out of the sum set aside annually for the purchase of foreign books. Of English works some authors send copies to the British Museum, and the publishers do the same, so that duplicates and at times triplicates find their way to that institution. These are distributed to the various Public Libraries in the country. But it must not be imagined that the supply is unlimited, and it is very certain that the demand far exceeds the supply. It is quite unnecessary to impress upon the principal librarian the wisdom of sending these duplicates only to rate-supported libraries. This is a necessity of which he is already fully aware. This is seen from a circular which is sent to Public Libraries making application, in returning which librarians have to state the amount of the rate, and what the rate produces, and how it is spent. CHAPTER XXIX. Object Lessons in Public Libraries. This title is used in order to distinguish libraries, most of which are being conducted with an express object in view. In most of these places unsuccessful attempts have been made to adopt the Acts, and friends of the movement have been unwilling that the districts should go without Public Libraries, and have started them supported by voluntary contributions or subscriptions. Without any desire to disparage the efforts which have thus been made, it is safe to urge that only in very exceptional cases should these object lessons be started as a substitute for a library under the Acts. This is urged not on the ground of the non-success of the existing object lessons, but as a matter of policy. It has become manifest that in most instances they retard rather than help on the adoption of the Acts. The active opponents to the adoption of the Acts point to the library and ask why they should tax themselves with a rate for the maintenance of the library when they can have one free of expense to themselves personally. These object lessons are again efforts naturally of a limited character to what libraries under the Acts would be, and residents overlook this fact, and come only too often to the conclusion that if the object lesson is as large and important as would be a library under the Acts, there would not be much to show for their money. The motives which have led to these small libraries being established are worthy of the men who have devoted time, thought, and energy to them, but the movement has now reached a stage when it can dispense with further examples of a similar character. Abbboath. In 1873 steps were taken with a view of securing to Arbroath the benefits of the Public Libraries Acts. A leading part was5°2 Public Libraries. taken in the promotion of the scheme by a number of the prominent gentlemen of the town, including the large ratepayers. A public meeting was held, and the subject was discussed, but the opponents succeeded in defeating the proposal by a great majority* The defeat of the Acts caused considerable disappointment to a large number, and in order, as far as possible, to meet their views, the managers of the Arbroath library entered into negotiations with the shareholders of the Arbroath subscription library with the view of securing the books belonging to them, and the premises occupied by them, as the nucleus of a Public Library. The consent of the shareholders was obtained, and, under certain conditions, the whole books and property were handed over to the new managers along with the sum of £1,160, which was subscribed by a number of gentlemen for the purchase of books. In order to give the community an opportunity of becoming possessed of so valuable an institution, the promoters made it a condition that if the Public Libraries Acts were adopted before January 1, 1880, all the books, fittings, and money should be transferred to the managers under these Acts. In 1879 the movement was again revived to secure the adoption of the Acts, and a requisition was got up and presented to the magistrates in terms of the Act, and accordingly in December of that year voting papers were issued, which resulted in a majority of 666 against the adoption of the Acts, the numbers being, for, 966, against 1,632. There has been no further movement made since that date. The number of books is 16,000, and the subscription is 2s. 6d. a year. The issue averages seventy-five per day, and of these eighty per cent, are fiction. Arbroath should bring forward the question once again, and so place itself in line with all the progressive towns of Scotland. Baillie, Mitchell, and Stirling’s Libraries. The Glasgow people are truly a penny-wise and pound-foolish community. Had the citizens of this large capital of the North been wise on the last occasion, they might have seen to-day a large central library erected, or a portion of the new municipal buildings set apart for a central library, instead of being taken over by the Water Commissioners. With the magnificent libraries, which would have been handed over to the city on the adoption of the Public Libraries Acts, it is difficult to see why the unusually hard-headed dwellers in Glasgow said “ No ” to so well-sugared a plum. The Glasgow libraries have been so well dwelt upon by a former librarian of one of these institutions that it would be superfluous to do anything but give the brief facts. On September 29, 1887, there was opened what is called Baillie’s Institution, and which is in effect an addition to Stirling’s Library. There are now in Glasgow three public collections of books besides the library of the University, which, of course, is not public, and if these three were gathered togetherObject Lessons in Public Libraries. 503 and suitably housed, the library accommodation would be moderately fair. What is now wanted is some £30,000 or £40,000 to erect a building, and some Glasgow merchant might wisely follow another example and stipulate for the adoption of the Libraries Acts. There are plenty of very wealthy men in Glasgow who might fittingly complete the work that Stirling and Mitchell and Baillie have begun and carried on. There lacks only the will. The Mitchell Library, founded in 1874, is valuable and useful. But, being only a consulting library, it does not meet the reading wants of more than a fraction of the community. This great collection of about 81,000 books and pamphlets is practically locked away from the majority. In one of their recent reports the library committee make a remark which is to the point at the present time. They refer to libraries in other cities which have benefited by the operation of the Libraries Acts, in failing to take advantage of which Glasgow now stands alone among our great communities. This is the simple fact, and it is a standing reproach to the city. Half the education of the children of the masses, which has been provided at such a heavy cost, is being absolutely wasted, because they cannot get books to sustain or extend their knowledge, and to enable them to put education to its most delightful uses. In the desire to do something in the way of putting the Mitchell Library on a much more satisfactory footing, as regards accommodation, than that on which it has hitherto been compelled to remain from sheer want of funds, the Town Council appointed, during 1889, a special committee to consider the whole question of ways and means, so that the institution may be maintained in a position somewhat w'orthy of the city. It has, for the present, been closed pending the removal to more suitable buildings. This is one good result from the work of the committee. The new home will be in the old Corporation Water Trust Offices, at 23, Miller Street. Acting under some not altogether commendable influences, the ratepayers have hitherto declined to sanction the adoption of the Acts, and consequently the institution in question must be starved, and not healthily supported, if something be not done in the shape of Parliamentary action, stimulated by the Town Council. The special committee referred to is a highly representative body. Stirling’s Public Library was founded by Walter Stirling, merchant and magistrate in the City of Glasgow, in 1791, and is open daily free to the public for consultation from 10 a.m. till 10 p.m. There is a lending department attached, which is kept up by a yearly subscription. In 1871 the Glasgow Public Library (founded in 1804), got up by private subscriptions, was amalgamated with Stirling’s, and the two now form the Stirling’s and Glasgow Public Library. The centenary of Stirling’s Library will be celebrated this year. The report for the year ending March 31, 1890, showed that the total number of books issued in the lending and reference departments had been 223,757, giving an increase over last year504 Public Libraries. of 16,214. The daily average for 304 days was 736. During the year, 620 books had been added by purchase and donation. There are now 865 subscribers to the library. At the beginning of last year the overdraft on the library’s bank account was £1,967 19s. 6d., but on an appeal being made to the Lord Provost and other citizens a sum of £967 11s. was received, reducing the debt to about £1,000. The report concluded by saying, “ The directors are aware that they will have much more difficulty in procuring the balance of the overdraft than they have had in procuring the large sum already collected.” The debt has been further reduced to £500. Barnet, Herts. By the will of Mrs. Julia Hyde, lady of the manor of Hadley, Barnet, the sum of £10,000 was bequeathed for the purpose of providing a library for the parishes of Hadley and Barnet. The trustees have leased premises in Barnet, for a newsroom, reading-rooms, and library containing upwards of 4,000 volumes. Bethnal Green. The Bethnal Green Library secures a vast amount of cheap advertising. If a member of the .Royal family sends a small parcel of books, or another takes the chair at the annual festival banquet, the entire country is soon made acquainted with the fact by means of paragraphs which go the complete round of the press. There never was in the entire history of Public Libraries so much begging as there has been, and still is, for the Bethnal Green Library. It has the distinguished, but somewhat questionable, honour of being the only library where begging boxes have followed a miscellaneous procession through the leading thoroughfares of the East-end. It is the proud boast of its long list of patronesses, vice-presidents, trustees, committee, &c., that the institution is supported entirely by voluntary contributions, and these tell out to between £1,500 and £1,600 a year. The whole of the report is one long list of donations of money, books, and pamphlets, culminating in the first resolution at the thirteenth annual meeting, held in March, 1889, duly moved and seconded:— “ That this meeting, on receiving the report of the Bethnal Green Public Library, recommends that it be printed and circulated under the direction of the committee, and records its gratification on account of the success which it has received during the past year; also recognizes the Divine favour which it continues to enjoy.” The latter part is, no doubt, a pious acknowledgment for the “ siller,” which has been so liberally placed on the plate. When figures showing the actual and real working of the library are concerned, these are as scarce as blackberries in a Devonshire lane in November. The statistics are decidedly lumped, and there has to be contentment with the bald fact that about 50,000 people visited the institution last year, and that this was an increase upon the previous year of 8,000. There are brief para-Object Lessons in Public Libraries. 505 graphs devoted to particulars of “Free Popular Concerts and Lectures,” “ Evening Classes,” and “ Science Chats with Boys.” There never was, in the entire history of libraries, so much cry and so little wool. Taking the number of days open as 300, these 50,000 visits melt down to about 170 as a daily average. The cost of maintenance for the year was £837 14s. 8d. Of this sum £16 15s. 8d. was actually spent in the purchase of books, magazines, and newspapers. Could absurdity go further P Printing and stationery absorbed £101 11s. 6d.; carriage of parcels, advertising, postage, petty cash, cost of special appeal, sundries, &c., reached £257 19s." lid.; and salaries £357 2s. These 50,000 visits during 1888-9 cost the donors and subscribers over 4d. for each visitor on every occasion when a visit was made to the institution. Years ago, when the Public Library movement in London seemed quite dead, there was some need of a library supported by voluntary contributions, but that need is now long since past. To bring this library under the rates, and levy an infinitesimal part of a penny for its maintenance, would place it under popular control, which it now is not, and would rescue it from being what it unquestionably is—a charitable institution. Bethnal Green has paraded its work so profusely and so constantly that the time has now arrived when the public have a right to know more about it. The question is left here for the present, but it is too important to be allowed to rest. Chippenham. A small reading-room and library was opened here about five years ago. Reports of the speeches made at one of the annual meetings are before the writer. To judge from the tone of these speeches the library must surely be an adjunct to one of the political parties in the town, for they were of a strongly partisan character. If the library were brought under the Acts this would be next to impossible. Any attempt to give rate-supported libraries a party or creed character should be at once nipped in the bud, no matter where it is. There must be many people in Chippenham who would value a real Public Library open to all political parties, for then there would be no annual meetings, which at present are turned into electioneering propaganda. IIA WARDEN. A neat structure of corrugated iron, wood-lined, with a spire, has been erected near the grammar-school, Hawarden, as a library and reading-room. It is one of the finest private libraries in the country, and consists of more than 20,000 volumes. Contrary to the usual practice obtaining in private libraries, Mr. Gladstone allows his books to be sent out to almost anyone in the neighbourhood who wishes to read them. At one time this liberty was unlimited ; anyone could take out a book, and keep it an indefinite period, provided that he simply left an acknowledgment of having5o6 Public Libraries. borrowed the book. This privilege, however, was so much abused by some persons that a few years ago a rule was laid down limiting the time for which a book might be kept to one month. The author’s conviction becomes deepened that the only way to secure for all time private gifts of this nature for the fullest use of the public, is by the reasonable request that the people will maintain them by a self-imposed rate. High Wycombe. The library in this town was founded by Mr. J. O. Griffits, Q.C., Recorder of Reading and J.P. for this borough. The building was purchased and altered by this gentleman, who also subscribed largely to the endowment fund. The fund was raised by subscriptions and the proceeds of a fancy fair, and amounted to £3,030. On the completion of the endowment fund, Mr. Griffits presented the building and its contents to the Town Council for the use of the inhabitants, the only restriction in the conveyance being that no rate should be levied for its maintenance ; if so, the property reverts back to Mr. Griffits. The wisdom of the stipulation that no rate should be levied may be doubted. A better plan would have been to bring it under the Act and levy ^d., or any fraction of the penny for the matter of that. The institution would then, in the truest sense, be the people’s property. The library is in the hands of the Town Council, but no reply has yet been sent to the query as to whether any portion of the rates goes towards its maintenance. Hobwich (Lanc.). For a number of years a ground rent belonging to the township had been accumulating, and the trustees were willing to devote tfie same to a public purpose. A hospital for infectious diseases was spoken of as being a suitable object. After mature deliberation it was decided to establish a free lending library. For this purpose a room was fitted up in the Public Hall, and 1,500 volumes were purchased. The library is open on Tuesdays and Saturdays from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. The income from cards, catalogues, fines, and bank interest meets the expenses for librarian’s salary, &c. Horwich should bring its little institution under the Acts. It would then have a healthier existence. Hull. Hull is one of the few remaining very large towns which have not yet adopted the Acts. For more than thirty years a certain determined and undaunted class of the community in Hull have been contending with their fellow-ratepayers for the establishment in their midst of a Public Library. They will take no denial, and in their fight for the cause in which they are associated they acknowledge no defeat. Four times has the movement sprung into vigorous life, and four times have the townspeople decreed its extinction. Hull was first agitated by the consideration ofObject Lessons in Public Libraries. 507 this question as long ago as 1857, and at that time the proposal seems to have been so decisively vetoed that not until 1872 did the advocates of the system once more muster sufficient courage to place their forlorn hope in the forefront of municipal politics. Again the cause was lost, and an interval of ten years was allowed to elapse before another attack was contemplated on the prejudices, or principles, or purses of the ratepayers. This plebiscite took place in 1882; but the third time of trying was attended with no better success than its predecessors. Out of twelve wards only four showed majorities in favour of the proposal, and in these cases the proportion of “ Ayes ” was altogether inferior to the excess of “Noes” in the eight remaining constituencies. The votes recorded reached a total of 10,101, of which 5,889 were given against and 4,212 for the proposal, the majority being 1,677. In the face even of this reverse the leaders of the movement continued to cherish their project with unconquerable zeal, and now for the fourth time within the present generation Hull found itself called upon to say yea or nay to a question that will probably never be finally answered until the ratepayers, either from slow conviction or weariness of spirit, respond in the affirmative. On this occasion the fight was short and sharp, and ably generalled. The whole town was well and carefully mapped out and actively canvassed by an army of voluntary workers. But the result in September, 1888, when the poll was taken, was disheartening. For the adoption of the Acts, the number stood at 5,370, and against 13,604. The number of papers void was 7,926, and the doubtful votes reached 117. There are a couple of comforting facts contained in these figures. The first is the magnitude of the poll: 27,077 papers returned out of a constituency of 36,000 is remarkably good. The second is that the promoters have not lost ground. On the previous occasion Hull polled 4,212 in favour, this time 5,370, or 1,148 increase. The result of so overwhelming a majority was a blow, not less to those who defeated it than to those who promoted it. The people of Hull declined to profit by one of the greatest opportunities for self-improvement which the Parliament of this country has ever provided. They elected to remain under a disability which every other town of the same size in England has succeeded in removing. The figures were unhappily so plain in their significance that there was no room to attribute the result to accident or exceptional circumstances. It is Avritten large in the result of the poll that a great majority of Hull ratepayers are unwilling to make the trifling sacrifice which the establishment of a Public Library involves. Their opinion has been taken twice in six years, and the last result is less favourable than the first. There is no denying that this is va sore discouragement to many who laboured well and bravely in the cause of popular education in Hull. But if the defeat produced disappointment it also created a firm determination that sooner or later those Acts should be adopted in Hull. Among the numerous gentlemen in Hull who keenly felt the defeat was Mr. James Keckitt, J.P., Swanland Manor, near Hull,Public Libraries. 508 who has for so many years been intimately associated with the trade in East Hull. In 1888 this gentleman called a few local men together, and, after expressing his regret at the vote on the Public Library question, which he regarded as a public calamity, said he had determined to remedy that defect so far as possible. THE JAMES BECKITT PUBLIC LIBBABY, HULL. With this object in view, he undertook to provide the necessary buildings and books, and the entire cost of maintaining and working a Public Library for the use of those persons residing in Eastern Hull, where his works are situated. Mr. Reckitt was5°9 Object Lessons in Public Libraries. wishful to prove that a Public Library could be maintained out of a rate of Id. in the £, and therefore offered to subscribe an amount equal to a penny rate on the whole of the property in the borough on the east side of the river. This munificent offer was received with acclamation by all classes, and a committee was at once formed to carry out the details. This committee was appointed on a purely non-political basis, and consisted of representatives of all classes and all shades of opinion in the district. Mr. Reckitt has erected a beautiful and suitable building for the purpose, stocked it with 8,000 volumes of the best books, and provided the wherewithal for carrying on the scheme. The benefits of the institution are to be confined to East Hull, Mr. Reckitt believing that in time its advantages to that part of the borough will be so apparent and so much appreciated that the ratepayers will, in other parts of the town, establish for themselves like institutions. It was a condition of the scheme that no more should be spent in establishing and maintaining the library than will be represented by a penny rate on the ratable value of the district. The library is entered through a wide arched doorway in the centre of the front, opening into a vestibule with mosaic and tesselated floor and dado. A pair of swing glass doors on the right lead into the ante-room, in front of the librarian’s counter. A reference reading-room is on the left hand, and to the right is the corridor leading to the reading-room, which is a large apartment occupying the whole width available at the back of the building. The library is between the front and the reading-room. All the divisions of reading-room, library, reference-room, and corridor are made of light wood screens filled in with glass, so that the librarian can see all over these rooms from the library. The reading-room is a very large and well-proportioned room, about 50 ft. long by 32 ft. wide, with an open timbered roof ceiled across at the collar beams, at a height of 23 ft. from the floor. On each side are four pairs of square-headed windows, and at the end three large Gothic-headed windows extending well up into the gable, and ensuring a plentiful supply of the newspaper student’s desideratum-light. A marble water fountain is built into the wall immediately opposite the glass doors. The walls are divided into bays, and are lined with selected match-boarding up to the window-cills, where a neat capping completes the dado. The style of architecture is Gothic, with pointed arches and simple mouldings. The front elevation is evenly balanced, having a deeply recessed arch in the centre forming the entrance, with three arched windows on each side. The same arrangement of windows is continued on the first floor, and in the centre over the doorway is a bold oriel window, above which is a three-light mullioned window, and the four corners of the tower, 65 ft. high, have octagonal stone turrets, and a stone parapet above the main cornice. The internal arrangement is most commodious and suitable. The ratable value of the property on the east side of the river Hull is about £126,700, and a penny rate produces £528 per year.Public Libraries. 5ïo It will thus be seen that Mr. Reckitt’s gift to the town amounts to over £10,000, as this amount capitalized would not yield his intended annual contribution of £528. It may be mentioned that the population in East Hull is about 40,000. In the event, at any time, of the Public Libraries Acts coming into force in Hull, Mr. Reckitt will hand over to the town, free of charge, the building and books. The town, of course, would then provide for the maintenance out of the library rate. To provide for the initial expenses Mr. Reckitt has made other payments, augmenting his gift to about £12,000. The first report has been issued. This stated that the lending department had been from the first day of opening extensively used. The number of inhabitants in the district was 45,264 persons, and during 1890 101,837 volumes had been issued to 3,856 actual borrowers. Of these books, 66,455 volumes were fiction, 16,124 history, science, travels, and miscellaneous, and 19,258 juvenile. The daily average was 332-8. The balance-sheet showed that the library could be efficiently maintained out of a penny rate. The proportions of the penny rate for the population of Eastern Hull was about £621. The amount expended was £564 2s. 10d., leaving a margin of £166 16s. 6d. The reading-room had been open 311 days during the year, and the daily average attendance was 158. Luton. No place in the county of Bedfordshire more needs a rate-supported library than Luton. For some years there has been a small library supported by voluntary subscriptions, but it has for a long time been felt that until it was brought under the Acts it would only languish, and its best efforts do little to meet the reading requirements of the people. In 1881 an unsuccessful attempt was made to adopt the Acts, and it was felt that a further trial of strength might be made in May, 1888, prior to which the friends of the movement had worked energetically to educate the people, and some capital meetings had been held. A mortgage of £1,400 on the present building appeared to frighten a great many people from siding with the movement, but it was pointed out at the meetings that the town would get value of at least £4,000, as the site is in the very centre of the town. The library is well arranged, and only requires a settled income, with the other advantages which would naturally accrue if the Acts were adopted. The present trustees worked ardently for the adoption of the Acts, and the people of Luton will, when this desirable end is accomplished, have a building and library ready made. The rate would yield about £350. For the poll in May, 1888,6,102 papers were issued and about 5,000 of them were collected. The voting was—for the adoption of the Acts 992, and against 2,856; nearly 1,000 papers were blank or informal. With a large industrial population, such as there is in Luton, this was to be greatly regretted. In the districts in America, whereObject Lessons in Public Libraries. 511 the straw plait industry is carried on, they have their Public Libraries, and why should Luton be left behind these places P Since the poll was then taken many friends have been won over, and on the next attempt there is good reason to hope that the movement will be crowned with success. Marylebone (London). Two determined efforts have been made to carry the Acts in Marylebone. The vote taken in 1888 went against the adoption of the Acts, notwithstanding the fact that a large sum was promised towards the erection of buildings. The vote taken again in May, 1891, went also against the adoption of the Acts, but the result showed that the friends of the movement had doubled their votes and the opposition had failed to hold its ground. The apathy displayed was remarkable, and this is the raw material upon which the provisional committee will work. With a most influential organization and well-marshalled forces the promoters of the movement worked on the two occasions when the poll has been taken in a business-like manner, and, although beaten, they are not discouraged. The leaders determined that although Marylebone had declared against a Public Library it should have one of these institutions on a moderate scale, and so provide friends and foes with ocular demonstration of the large and ever-extending use made of the reading-room and the books in the lending library. To Alderman Frank Debenham and Mr. J. Ii. Hollond belongs the credit of initiating the scheme, and to them much is due for generous support in other ways. Immediately the plan was launched subscriptions were promised, and a suitable habitation was found in a block of modern buildings situated in Lisson Grove. These were opened on August 12,1889, by a quiet ceremony, and there is no question about the library and reading-room being largely used by the people. A branch was opened in Mortimer Street about twelve months ago, and is greatly appreciated by the people of that district. Between 500 and 700 people visit the two libraries daily, and in the evening both places present an air and appearance of business. The reading-stands and the tables are well occupied, and not infrequently there are over 100 readers in the rooms at one time. A good selection of newspapers and magazines is provided. In the lending departments there are 6703 volumes of thoroughly good and readable literature. Every class of literature is represented, and greater care and discretion could not have been exercised in the selection of materials for the reading tastes of Marylebone. The nucleus of a reference department has been formed, and already there are about 1,000 books in this section. The issues for home reading are about 140 per day, and the appreciation of the library is extending. When the movement for the adoption of the Acts was in progress three years ago, those who were not favourable said that a Public Library was not wanted, was not asked for, would not be512 Public Libraries. appreciated, and would be sure to fail if started. The experience at Marylebone, as everywhere else, proves exactly the reverse. There, as elsewhere, it is the supply which creates the demand. Quietly and unostentatiously they are pursuing their work of usefulness. Readers crowed the stands and the tables, and all ages and classes use its books. It is easy to see what will be the immediate expansion in its work when a large central library and several branches are opened. All in the parish who care for true and lasting progress, and who give a single thought to the reading requirements of the day, will work for this object, and side with those who have at heart the general good of the community in which they live. A children’s library is in course of formation. Paddington (London). The failure of the attempt to carry the Acts in March, 1887, in Paddington, came as a surprise to many, as did also the vote in May, 1891. On this last occasion the adoption was rejected by a majority of 2938. In 1887 the majority against was over 4,000, so that the question is gaining ground. An analysis shows that, comparing the Northern Ward, composed of a working-class population, with those districts adjacent to Hyde Park, there was the same degree of apathy among the rich as there was reluctance on the part of the poor to give a decided vote. It was only proposed to levy a halfpenny rate, but this the opponents represented would soon be insufficient, and a request for more would be made. The movement had many warm and earnest friends, and while they accepted the defeat with a good grace they determined that notwithstanding the refusal to adopt the Acts Paddington should have an object lesson in library work. Liberal subscriptions were promised, and a large house was taken for a term of five years at £70 a year. An appeal was made for subscriptions and books, to which there was a fair response. Mr. F. D. Mocatta and Mr. John Aird, M.P., have been good friends financially and in other ways to the movement. In June, 1888, the building was opened to the public by the Lord Chief Justice, who still remains president of the library. About 3550 books have been given, and this is the number of volumes in the library at the present time. It is a very common experience, when books are asked for for a library, that the ordinary run of mortals do not send their best books. Those who make giving a principle of life send useful and readable books ; but too many, unfortunately, looking around their shelves, consider that a library may be a mausoleum of dead literature, as it has been expressed, and get rid of what they can most spare from their own collection. It is not being argued that books should not be asked for or accepted when sent. By no means, for out of a number sent some are sure to be worth placing upon the shelves, and cataloguing. If, however, the books in the Paddington library represent the high-water mark of Paddington book giving, the sooner the Acts are adopted and a good selection of books bought the better. A gift of 500 volumes from Mr. J. PassmoreObject Lessons in Public Libraries. 513 Edwards to Paddington is a gift worthy of the man, and there are some other sets of books which reflect the practical character of the donors. Some 200 people use the library each day. The placing of the advertisement pages of several of the London dailies at an early hour each morning in a very accessible place leading to the main entrance is a decided boon for the unemployed, and a facility of which large and increasing use is made. Paddington will sooner or later adopt the Acts. The whole question in London now stands on a higher platform. Place after place has adopted the Acts, and the people who really think about the matter at all see the need of these libraries and their genuine utility among the people. If only the apathy among the rich in Paddington can be conquered, success is assured. With a ratable value ranking among the highest of the metropolis, and with exceptionally low rates, few districts are in a more favoured condition for adding the infinitesimally small burden which an additional halfpenny rate would entail. Will the wealthy districts of the West allow themselves to be placed in the shade by the struggling parishes of the East P Paddington will not do justice to its intelligence and culture if it allows itself to be taught a lesson in educational progress by districts smaller and less important. On all hands within the parish the movement has gained friends. If some of those possessing the means would give a practical illustration of the Gospel of Wealth the whole question would be furthered. Rochester. At Rochester there is a Free Library which is not yet under the Acts. This institution had its origin in a subscription raised during 1887 in connection with the Jubilee. In all a sum of £671 was raised, and with this sum and the handing over of a small library which had belonged to a workmen’s club, operations were commenced in the library room of the Corn Exchange, the use of which was given by the Town Council. The library was opened in June, 1888, and now consists of 2,599 volumes, with an average weekly issue of 500. A book for every twelve persons of the population cannot, of course, be the extent of the ambition of the influential library committee whose names appear on the report. The average of fiction in the issues is 84 per cent. Kent has not yet taken its place in this Public Library movement, and Rochester might take a worthy step by showing the way to some of the other Kentish towns. To be enrolled among enfranchised towns should be the aim of the mayor and those who act with him on the committee. The library, if dependent on subscriptions, will only starve. Stboud. An attempt was made in 1887 to adopt the Acts, but Stroud was not able to add itself to the list. Mr. J. G. Strachan bought the town grammar school for £800, and presented it to the town, 335H Public Libraries. and gave an additional £600 for the necessary alterations. There were some other large gifts, bringing the amount up to a total of £3,500. The opening ceremony took place in September, 1888. The structural alterations and the internal fittings of the library cost about £700. A handsome portico was added to the building, and rooms for the librarian were built at the back. Busts of Shakspere and Milton are carved in bas-relief above the portico. The interior is divided by pitch pine and glazed partitions into three compartments, one containing the books, a librarian’s counter and an indicator, the second the news reading desks, and the third the tables for book and periodical reading. The library has accommodation for about 6,000 volumes, and of these some 3,500 are now on the shelves, and are being well used. A sum of £1,000 was invested as an endowment, and in addition to this something like £250 is guaranteed annually for five years. Stroud has thus got a library. Long before the five years have expired, there is every reason to think that Stroud will have seen the error of its ways, and will adopt the Acts with a canter when next the question comes to a vote. CHAPTER XXX. The Public Libraries of Australasia and South Africa. Oun Colonies are decidedly forging ahead in the way of Public Libraries. Less than four years ago the Chief Justice of Victoria, in opening a Public Library at Brighton, near Melbourne, made the statement that in the colony of Victoria there was a Public Library for one in every 4,800 of their population as against one for every 277,000 in the United Kingdom. Whether the comparison is a fair and accurate one need not be questioned, but certain it is that in the matter of these public institutions our colonies have grasped their vast importance, and are determined that they will learn a lesson from the old country’s lethargy. So far they have succeeded, and their Public Libraries are, without almost an exception, doing a work of which the colonies themselves may not alone be proud, but the old parent may look on with admiration at the rapid strides which her strong and vigorous offshoots are making in this direction. Up to within a comparatively recent date little was heard or known in this country about the Public Libraries at the antipodes. One institution alone had been heard much of, and that the Melbourne Public Library. Now, however, our information is more complete, and we in this country are indebted for that almost entirely to Mr. Clifford W. Holgate, M.A., barrister, of Lincoln’s Inn, who, in the year 18§4, visited Australia and took a special interest in seeing for himself what the Public Libraries there were doing. The results of his observations were published in 1886, in two pamphlets, one headed “ An Account of the Chief Libraries of Australia and Tasmania,” and the other “ An Account of the ChiefThe Public Libraries of Australasia and South Africa. 515 Libraries of New Zealand.” The library world is thus indebted for the dissemination of information in this case, as it is in other departments, to the enthusiasm and interest in the subject of a private individual, and not to any government or association. The Melbourne Public Library was founded in 1853, under a management of five trustees, and aided by a grant of £10,000 for building purposes, and £3,000 for the purchase of books. From the date of opening in 1856 down to 1869 the work developed very satisfactorily, and in the latter year it became apparent that the library, museum, and art gallery could no longer be administered by the original five trustees, and an Act of Incorporation was passed by which the government of this institution was vested in a board of not less than fifteen trustees. In the same year the Copyright Act of Victoria was passed, granting to the Library similar privileges to those held by the British Museum Library. The colony shows its democratic spirit in library work as in other sections of its life. No books are allowed to be removed from the rooms, and, as a supplementary rule to this, all books must be returned to the shelf from whence they were taken by the reader. This plan saves considerable labour to the attendants, but it is not clear that from a librarian’s point of view it works well. The public have access to every work in the library with the exception of certain valuable manuscripts and works of art kept in the librarian’s room, and a certain portion of the gallery devoted to medical works. The library contained, in 1888,114,868 volumes and 115,871 pamphlets and parts. It was visited during that year by 405,390 persons, nearly double the number of those who used the library in 1882. From the year just named the electric light has been in operation with satisfaction to all concerned. The system of lending books to country libraries has been carried out with much success. In 1888 the number of country libraries receiving loans was thirty-seven, and the number of volumes lent was 6,150. The library has for this department 125 cases of books, and from one to six at a time are lent to the provincial libraries in the colony, free of all charge to them except the cartage to and from the railway stations. The loan can be renewed at the end of the twelve months, or other cases may be sent, at the option of the borrowers. Each case contains fifty volumes, and the case itself is fitted up with shelves, so that the local institutions are sent at the same time the books and the necessary shelves for them. The trustees of the library insure at their own expense the whole of the lending library books, and the borrowers enter into a bond to replace any books damaged or to pay for any loss. A dictionary catalogue has been completed and is now in use as well as the large printed alphabetical catalogue of authors. A new wing has recently been added to the building. No fewer than 314 Public Libraries, athenseums, and mechanics’ institutes furnished statistics to the Government statist for the year 1887, showing that their total receipts were £42,884, of which the Victorian Government contributed £11,303. ThePublic Libraries. 5*6 number of volumes in the libraries of the institutions which made returns was 391,720, and the estimated number of visits to them 3,670,000. It seems, however, that it is a case of cum grano salis in this as well as other things. Some peculiar discoveries were made in the early part of 1888, when the Chief Secretary had his attention directed to the laxity prevailing amongst committees of management of Public Libraries throughout the colony in the expenditure of the annual grant of £7,000 voted by Parliament for the purchase of new books. According to the facts disclosed, close inquiry is needed into the management of the Public Libraries established in many of the principal towns throughout the colony. Five cases are quoted as samples of the rest, and certainly there is need for inquiry. In one case a sum of £205 was available for the purchase of new books, and yet the number of books was less by ninety-three in 1887 than in the previous year. In the next instance there is neither increase nor decrease in the number of books, but the secretary states that only £12 of the amount contributed by the Government had been available for the purchase of books and periodicals, the rest having been absorbed in working expenses. In another case the increase in the books, after presumably spending the Government grant, was nine. Later on we have a decrease of 113 after spending Government money. And so it is clear that some system is required whereby the authorities shall satisfy themselves that the grant is expended for the purpose for which it is intended. A little necessary supervision would have saved these disclosures. The Public Libraries of South Australia are developing. The number of Public Libraries, athenaeums, and mechanics’ institutes which made returns for the year 1889 was 135. These showed a total number of books of 124,030 with a gross circulation of 218,992, and the number of book boxes in circulation was 189. On June 30,1889, the Adelaide Public Library contained 28,834 volumes, and had had 72,105 visitors for the half-year. During the year 1889-90 the additions were 1,342. The medical library from the Adelaide Hospital has been transferred to the Public Library, and is available for circulation amongst medical men and others, subject to special regulations. History and chronology had been the departments chiefly strengthened by the board during the year; arts and manufactures, mathematics and physics, botany and agriculture, were the departments to be strengthened in 1890-91. The Adelaide Public Library, the main institution of its kind in South Australia, is a handsome structure. It is, in conjunction with the Museum and Art Gallery, modelled on the lines of the British Museum. The reference reading-room is 43 feet by 30 feet, and a magazine room about the same size. The room in which the library is placed is 120 feet by 40 feet. The room is well proportioned, ventilated, and lighted. It has two galleries. The presses and shelves are of deal and cedar. The public have access to every part of the library except to the top gallery, where valuable illustrated and other works are kept.The Public Libraries of Australasia and South Africa. 517 Over a page of foolscap-size paper of the Government report is occupied by a detailed list of the cost for the year of every newspaper and periodical taken for the newsroom of the library. This list is very comprehensive, and embraces many periodicals which would not usually be found on the tables of the newsrooms of English Public Libraries. All the letters of the alphabet are absorbed in the cataloguing, but the advantages of such a discursive method are not by any means patent. At the end of 1887 a Public Libraries Bill was passed. This Bill instituted a new departure so far as South Australia is concerned. From the Bill it seems that Public Libraries may be established in a municipality or district council except in Adelaide, “and for that purpose the existing institute within such municipality or district council and the real and personal estate of such institute may be taken over by the corporation or district council within which it is situate, in the manner and subject to the conditions and restrictions hereinafter prescribed.” The process is a comparatively simple one. Ten ratepayers of the municipality are to sign a requisition asking the mayor to convene a meeting to decide whether a Public Library shall be established in the municipality. The mayor is thereupon to call a meeting of ratepayers, stating in his notice the object of the meeting, and whether it is proposed to take over any existing institute. The meeting may be adjourned, and if a vote is carried at the first or the adjourned meeting by a majority of two-thirds of the ratepayers present, the Governor may at any time thereafter by proclamation declare that a Public Library shall be established in the municipality. No poll is to be taken ; but the decision of the meeting is to be final. When the Public Library is thus instituted the local council are to declare a “library rate,” without appeal to the ratepayers, of not less than one halfpenny and not more than one penny on the ratable property. If at the meeting, or any adjournment of it, it is decided not to establish a Public Library, the question is not again to be discussed for a year at least, unless a majority of those present decide “ that the matter may be again brought forward and considered within that period.” The foregoing provisions are also to apply to district councils. As we read the measure, each district council will have power to establish only one Public Library. When the Library is established in accordance with the procedure already described, it is to be managed by a committee of ten, half of whom are to be appointed by the corporation or district council, and the other half to be elected by the ratepayers at a meeting assembled for the purpose. At least three of the committee are to be members of the council or corporation, and all are to hold office for a year, but will be eligible for reappointment or re-election. The committee will have the power to make rules and regulations, which, however, will have no force until approved by the Minister of Education. The library is to be free to every ratepayer in the municipality. If it is to be decidedPublic Libraries. to take over an existing institute, notice of this resolution is to be sent to the Minister of Education for his approval. He is then to find out if the members of the institute are willing to hand over the property to the municipality. If he is satisfied that they are willing, and believes the transfer will be generally beneficial, he is to signify his approval, and is to publish an order in the “ Gazette ” to that effect, and thereupon the institute is to become the property of the municipality. The South Australian Institute circulates among the provincial institutes certain books belonging to a separate and special department of the library. These are sent out in'boxes containing about thirty volumes each. There are at present about 166 English book boxes and twenty-three German book boxes in circulation. The advantages offered to institutes which become affiliated to the South Australian Institute are — a share of the annual Government grant; the loan of boxes of books; power of subscribing as an institute to the South Australian Institute circulating library; aid in procuring and paying for lectures; and a copy of the Government “Gazette,” Acts of Parliament, and other official papers. In order to participate in the grant to the amount of £20 per annum, they are compelled to keep their reading-room open free to the public on Saturdays from 6 to 10 p.m. A large quantity of matter respecting the Public Libraries of New South Wales is to hand. In 1887 there were said to be 150 Public Libraries, athenaeums, or mechanics’ institutes in the colony of new South Wales. In the Government returns there is no record of what these provincial libraries are doing. Tfiis SYDNEY PUBLIC LIBBABY.The Public Libraries of Australasia and South Africa. 519 is unfortunate, as the real criterion of library work lies quite as much in what is being done by country towns and villages as in what provision is made in the large centres of population. It is satisfactory to know that nearly all the provincial towns in the colony of any importance have either a mechanics’ institute or a school of art with a library. Of the work of the Sydney Public Library there are ample data. The new buildings of the Public Library in Bent Street have been opened since 1884. They cost £15",000, and will accommodate 80,000 volumes, and 200 extra readers. The building is shown in the accompanying sketch. The Public Library w~as established on October 1, 1869, when the building and books of the Australian Subscription Library were purchased by the Government. The books thus acquired formed the nucleus of the present library. The number of volumes originally purchased was about 16,000, and on December 31, 1889, it had increased to 81,631, including those in the lending branch, or lent to country libraries. The lending branch was established in 1879, to meet a growing public want, and, under the present system, any person may, on the recommendation of a clergyman, magistrate, or other responsible person, obtain, under certain simple regulations, the loan of any of the works on the shelves, free of charge. The scope of this institution was further extended by the introduction of a system by which country libraries and mechanics’ institutes may obtain on loan works of a select kind, which in many instances would be too expensive for them to purchase on account of the slender funds at their disposal. Under this system, boxes are made up containing from 60 to 100 books, and forwarded to the country libraries on application, to be returned or exchanged within four months. This system, although only initiated within the last few years, has already met with a large measure of success. In the course of 1889, 95 boxes of books were forwarded to 68 institutions, some of them at considerable distances from the metropolis of the colony. The distance which these books were carried in 1889 amounted to 36,905 miles, being on an average 385 miles for each box—an enormous distance, partly accounted for by the fact that some places to which books are sent are most readily accessible through the other colonies. All the charges in connection with the dispatch and return of books, insurance, &c., are defrayed by the State, and the system in vogue in New South Wales is the most liberal of its kind in existence. The conditions upon which books in boxes, each containing lots of about 60 volumes, are lent by the trustees of the Public Library, Sydney, to libraries in country districts of New South Wales, are as follow :— 1. Books will be lent only to trustees or committees of Public Libraries, schools of art, mechanics institutes, or libraries of municipalities, that may be beyond the boundary of the city of Sydney. 2. All books authorized to be lent under these conditions shall be bound in good strong binding, placed in boxes constructed of nearly520 Public Libraries. uniform size, and numbered from 1 upwards. Each box shall contain about 60 volumes, according to its catalogue, in which no alteration can be made. 3. Printed catalogue slips of the contents of each box, stating the value of each book, together with forms of application for loans, are supplied. 4. Trustees or committees of country libraries, &c., wishing to obtain books on loan, must make application in writing, stating which particular box of books they desire to borrow ; and their application must be accompanied by an undertaking in the form approved by the Trustees of the Public Library, Sydney, to indemnify them against loss. 5. Borrowers in their applications must give a full description of th% library, room, or building in or from which it is proposed to deposit or lend the books, and must specify the time for which they desire to retain the use of the books. They must also submit, for the approval of the Trustees, the conditions or regulations under which it is proposed to lend any books so obtained from the Trustees, who reserve to themselves the right of refusing any application without assigning any reason therefor. All works of fiction are excluded from these boxes. The popularity of the Public Library is clearly proved by the number of persons availing themselves of its privileges. In 1870 there were 59,786 visits, and in 1889 the number stood at 132,983. The institution forms a separate department, and is under the control of the Minister of Public Instruction. Its cost to the State was, during one year, salaries £4,095, maintenance £572, and books £3,583, making a total of £8,190. This appears to be a somewhat heavy expenditure for the actual work done by the library. The reference and lending departments are open on Sundays. In the reference department all persons over eighteen years of age are allowed access to the shelves, and may take out any number of works, but when done with they must leave them on the library tables to be put away by the attendants, and books are not allowed to be removed from the building. In the last return to hand the number of Public Libraries, &c., in New Zealand which made returns was 303, and the aggregate number of volumes among these was 292,108. They had a gross number of 13,684 subscribers. The number of libraries which received grants was 361. The amount granted was about £4,000, and the amount to each was based on the income of the individual institution, the income being derived from rates, subscriptions, donations, net proceeds of lectures, entertainments, &c. Some new regulations with regard to these grants were made in 1888. It seems that of the last £6,000 vote granted in aid of country libraries, &c., a goodly proportion of it was expended in the purchase of novels, instead of reference works on agricultural subjects. Complaint was made that the books cost the country libraries more than would have been the case had they been purchased at headquarters, and made grants of books instead of money. For these reasons the Parliament refused to vote the grant, but it is hoped that when some new plan has been devised these small subsidies will be again established. It is noteworthy that in the colony of New Zealand thereThe Public Libraries of Australasia and South Africa. 521 are Public Libraries for the school children in connection with the system of education administered by the Education Department. The chief library event in New Zealand during recent years was the opening of the Public Library at Auckland, in March, 1887, and the deposit in it of the valuable collection of Sir George Grey, K.C.B. In 1873, the committee of the Auckland Mechanics' Institute petitioned the General Assembly, urging the absolute necessity for the establishment of a Public Library as a means of education and of preserving the status of the people. The petitioners were referred to the Public Libraries Acts as a means by which the desired object might be obtained. These Acts are permissive as with us in England, and in 1880 the Acts were adopted, and Jd. in the pound was levied to support the library. Considerable additions have been made to the books since then. The gift of Sir George Grey of art and literary treasures was a very valuable one, particularly in early South Sea literature. The number of volumes presented by this veteran colonial statesman was between 8,000 and 9,000, but the mere number insufficiently describes what has been given. One who has seen them says that no description could make intelligible the rare beauty and value to bookmen of some of the books and missals. One of them dates from the ninth century, and many others are of great antiquity. In addition to books and manuscripts there is a collection of native carvings in wood from the South Sea Islands, and others by the natives of New Zealand. He has thus set an example which will, it may be hoped, be followed by other colonists. Auckland is determined not to be behind Melbourne and Sydney in its Public Library, and it has already established a position of sound educational value, and created a real taste for reading and study which no schools could ever have done. It is visited daily by from 600 to 700 people, and on Sunday afternoons by about half this number. The cost of the building, including the approaches, was £24,375, and for fittings and furniture about £3,000 was spent. Some of the conditions of the lending branch of the Public Library are a little singular. The sum of 6s. per annum has to be paid for use of books, and 6s. deposit for safety of book or against damage, except in case of valuable books, when the price of the book has to be deposited. Among the further conditions are—that books kept over ten days, excluding the day of issue, render the borrower liable to a fine of 6d. per day; no person under fourteen years of age will be eligible to borrow books, except by the librarian’s permission; borrowers leaving the district are to get their tickets cancelled, or they will be held responsible for any books taken out in their names; books cannot be exchanged on the day of issue, neither can books be re-entered on the day of return. In Queensland it does not appear that as yet there are any Public Libraries, but there is a school of art in almost every town and village, consisting of a library and reading-room, and the nucleus of a museum, which are all much frequented by the522 Public Libraries. inhabitants of the respective towns. Nearly all of these institutions are aided by grants from the Government. The gross number of these is about fifty-seven, showing an aggregate of 81,423 books and 6,212 subscribers. The capital city of Brisbane has not a Public Library, but it has at last been determined to build on^. In Tasmania, in 1887, thirty-three Public Libraries made returns, showing an aggregate of 65,000 volumes. The trustees of the Tasmanian Public Library, in Hobart, have long had under consideration the want of a classified index or catalogue of the 10,000 volumes contained in the National Library of Tasmania. Some time ago a committee was appointed to consider the question, to decide on the best form for a catalogue which should be a complete guide both to the general reader and to the special student, and to superintend its compilation. The committee, in conjunction with the librarian, have carefully considered and. compared some of the best modern library catalogues, and have decided on the compilation of an entirely new catalogue on what is known as the “ dictionary ” principle. The new catalogue will comprise in one alphabet: (1) author’s name, wuth full title of work ; (2) short title of work under one or more leading wTords; (3) lists of books on special subjects under subject headings, e.g., Tasmanian mineralogy, English history. The trustees and the librarian are to be congratulated on having undertaken to supply a long-felt want, and on the choice of a form for their catalogue which is well up to the most approved modern models. This Public Library of Tasmania was started in its present form in 1870. It is for reference only. In 1872 a penny rate was imposed in behalf of the library, but subsequently this was altered, and it has since been maintained by the Municipal Council out of the rates. A visit has been paid to some of the South African libraries since the issue of the last edition. The number of libraries is large, considering that the real development of the South African colonies has come within comparatively recent years. The chief libraries of note in the Cape Colony, and the particulars concerning them, are as follows. These receive special Government grants:— Established. i No. of Volumes. J | No. of Subscribers. Average Circulation Monthly. A verage Attendance | of Visitors per diem. REVENUE. EXPENDITURE. 1 Government | Grant. | Subscriptions, | &c. 3 o | Salaries. | | Books. Periodicals & Newspapers. j Sundries. i £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ Beacon sfield 1889 963 118 181 52 100 629 729 132 20 116 460 728 Cape Town 1818 44383 338 1213 100 300 322 980 517 198 40 134 889 East London (East) ... 1876 3793 96 341 25 87 94 184 53 54 20 74 181 Graham’s Town 1863 9403 315 1070 160 200 357 720 215 185 80 87 567 Kimberley 1882 8272 387 1065 235 300 1349 1681 487 543 3 28 303 1461 King William’s Town 1861 12024 253 2663 90 300 484 913 ; 132 210 131 285 758 Port Elizabeth 1848 18197 404J3465 300 300 1066 1366 I 433 419 101 262 1215The Public Libraries of Australasia and South Africa. 523 In addition to these, there are 57 libraries receiving grants under a Government regulation. These have been established at various intervals from 1838 to 1889. The largest has 5,650 volumes, and the smallest 156 books. Nearly all have subscribers, ranging from 230 to 11. The number of visitors per day is in no case large. The Government grant varies from £100 to £25 per year according to the size of the library, and in the aggregate amounts for these 57 libraries to £1,730 a year. The revenue is thus obtainable not from the rates, but from this grant and the local subscriptions. Our Australian and South African colonies are thus ahead of us in bestowing small Government grants upon country libraries. One capital feature in nearly all these libraries is the amount spent in books, and this in many cases exceeds the grant, in some cases being even double the sum of that which is given by the Government. A total of 57 small town and country libraries is really very creditable. The Public Libraries at Natal an Annual Income. fd Ox CO 03 CO 03 Ox OO OS 00 - CD CDCD P CD 1 ¡B ffl CO 1 05 CO COCO.. CO CD 1 CO COCO rf- 00 Newsroom Opened. 300 Lon. 160 300 350 3000 Public 1200 350 7500 2000 Daily Average of Visits to all Depts. I • "iHm I1-"1*“1 1—1 1—1 1-1 1—1 1 1-1 l 1-1 ^ Rate in £ Levied. £ 240 68 270 210 3100 1000 Draries 751 1113 3000 3968 120 » From Rate. Annual Income. £ 20 220 90 194 44 89 1500 461 10 From other Sources. £ 240 90 500 300 662 824 1020 4500 4429 Annual Expenditure. Wto OiS Ox GO ►— 03 a» 1 • ^ Ci 1 OO O * to 1 rfx CO CO 1 *2V mm mm mm r* Rates per £ Levied in District. 1 1 to 1 »-* 1 1 1 to to CO 1 OO Ox . MOx 1 03 03 * to M tO 1 M Total No. of Staff. £ 25 12 1000 8100 1000 500 Cash. Approximate Value of Gifts since Opening. 923 200 16283 No. of Vols. A. J. Hutchinson. Not appointed. Annie Jackson. D. Rushton. G.G.Killingley W. J. Hagger-ston. Jas. Matthews. T. J. George. Emily Chambers. Geo. Easter. J. P. Briscoe. G. Burton. T. W. Hand. Jas. Cowper. T. Harwood. Not appointed. Name of Librarian, 1891. STATISTICS OF PUBLIC LIBRARIES—ENGLAND.— Continued.Penrith .... 8981 1882 1883 — 6129 644 — 6773 55 850 87 yes 1 133 17 149 2 8 1 Peterboro’.. 25172 1891 - Plymouth .. 84179 1871 1876 — 17000 13000 — 30000 810 3000 — yes ., 1 1100 60 1228 5 8 9 2000 Poole 15405 1885 1886 4452 1713 6165 120 85 yes yes 1 190 210 2 1000 Portsmouth 159255 1876 1878 1883 — 22000 8000 — 30000 965 11095 42 3903 \ — 9 2500 Preston* .. 107573 1878 1879 17000 — — 17000 340 5000 66 yes 1500 1 1275 130 1000 5 8 3 2000 Queenboro’ 1062 1887 1888 — 500 .. ,, 500 150 è {Kent) 1877 1879 Reading.... 60054 1883 2 12832 4307 3133 20272 519 6785 70 yes 2000 l 1000 54 1500 6 0 7 .. Richmond .. 22684 1879 1881 — 8920 8065 — 16985 418 2985 71 yes 900 l 669 233 900 6 0 5 2100 Rochdale .. 71458 1870 1872 — 30410 12558 — 42968 728 4985 83 yes — l 967 51 918 5 7 6 — 8987 Rotherham 42050 1876 1880 — 8694 1000 — 9694 139 4800 85 yes l 564 285 739 2 3 2 1500 Rugby 11262 1890 1891 — 1800 150 — 1950 — — — yes % % l 210 — — 4 0 2 *10 — Runcorn.... 20050 1881 1882 — 4339 745 — 5084 166 820 75 yes l 182 — — 1 — — St. Albans.. 12895 1878 1882 1883 __ 4050 500 — 4660 55 306 80 yes 250 l 150 — — 1 — — St. Helens* 71288 I860 1877 1 12743 3853 1477 18073 379 2000 80 yes 1200 l 1112 46 1161 5 Sale {near 9644 1890 1891 2000 — — 2000 — — — yes — l 205 — — 2 ' ’ 5 1 • • Manchester') 1852 1850 Salford .... 198136 1850 4 13276 47217 30470 90963 1048 6849 60 yes 2372 l 3200 — 3200 18 .. * . Salisbury .. 15980 1890 1890 788 12 — 800 — — — yes 180 l 220 — — 1 Sheffield* .. 324243 1853 1856 4 30632 13324 49900 93856 1412 15346 66! yes i| 4484 823 5345 6 2 15 — 16533 Shrewsbury 26967 1883 1882 1885 — 4571 2228 — 6799 200 yes l 475 — — 3 — — Sittingbo’rne 8302 1887 1888 1889 — 5000 — — 5000 — — — yes — l 103 — — 3 9 1 — — Smethwick 36170 1876 1877 1877 1878 2 — — — — — — — yes 800 l 388 — — 5 4 2 — 200 SouthShields 78431 1871 1873 1 13026 6440 — 19466 460 55 yes 1660 l 850 527 1198 4 6 4 2000 600 Southampt’n 65325 1887 1889 — 9304 1263 — 10567 367 3845 78 yes 1117 l 1071 14 1064 6 8 4 400 , # Southport* 43026 1875 1875 1 17783 3404 — 21187 382 4000 66 yes 1500 n 960 25 1046 3 8 6 16000 Stafford .... 20270 1879 1882 1882 — 5100 2000 — 7100 120 L700 75 yes .. 1 240 .. 1 Stalybridge 26783 1888 1889 8940 — — 8940 287 78 no 1 175 213 3 10 3 Stockport .. 70253 1860 1875 — 14469 8406 — 22865 560 2216 58 yes lobo 1 961 30 935 4 0 3 650 Stockton- 49731 1874 1877 — 7080 ,, — 7080 250 3175 70 yes 1300 1 642 40 628 2 10 3 150 on-Tees John Stuart. Not appointed. W.H.K. Wright. Eliza Smith. T.D.A.Jewers. W.S.Bramwell A. Hall. W. H. Green-hough. Geo. Hanson. J. Ridal. J.W. Kenning. J. D. Jones. C. Plowman. A. Lancaster. Geo. Bethell. John Plant. G. W. Atkinson Thos. Hurst. A. C. Phillips. Mrs. George. Jos. Bailey. Thos. Pyke. O.T.Hopwood. Thos. Newman Thos. Jackson. A. McLeod. J. D.Buckland. T. H. Wright.STATISTICS OF PUBLIC LIBRARIES—ENGLAND.—Continued. No. of Vois, in Libraries. a> ö 03 rd Annual •0 Approxì- * 9 a) a> o SH O j; A ft xuuuiut;. 50 «rt •S © « 4 © . m.2 Librarian, •-Ö fSh 3 Ê Ph $ © < g m «4-1 o o &b a 3 Ö © hi Referenc a 2 w 1 >* s p 'S & ._© ö ’S © g S3 5 Pi-5 o o 05 * © <1 o S* eô ‘T* ßji oS P a o 6 © a§ la ^ ft w 8P |.S oi Ph ê 1 H Cash. No. of Yols. 1891. £ £ £ «. £?. £ Stockton, Sth 15476 1890 Not appointed. Stoke-on- 25027 1875 1878 — 7430 1570 — 9000 150 2613 80 yes 500 1 287 86 359 5 7 2 3000 .. A. J. Caddie. Trent 1866 1860 1866 1860 Sunderland 130921 — 17538 1372 — 18910 453 3170 78 yes 1282 1 1750 86 940 4 6 4 - — W. T. Fraser. Tam worth.. 6614 1881 1882 1882 — 2710 130 — 2840 40 300 85 yçs 100 1 50 79 140 6 8 1 220 F. Hughes. Tipton 29314 1883 1890 2 — — — — — — — yes — — — 250 — — — — — Not appointed. Tonbridge.. 10123 1881 1882 1882 — 6126 — — 6126 53 ¿600 80 yes .. 1 140 16 169 — 1 G. Pre«snell. Truro 11131 1885 1886 1885 1886 4000 3000 4000 80 50 yes yes 300 1 116 116 1 Wm. Gibson. Tunstall.... 15730 1885 200 3200 200 75 1 170 _ 1 Mark Flint. Twickenham 16026 1882 1882 — 6910 1830 — 8740 Ì93 1826 80 yes 400 1 337 *50 # # 1 9 3 E. Maynard. Tynemouth 46267 1869 1870 2 22725 4258 — 26983 537 4098 65 yes 1 600 45 627 ¿6 0 5 500 Geo. Tidey. Walsall* .. 71791 1857 1859 2 13860 — — 13860 250 yes 1600 H 556 — 531 — 2 .. .. A. Morgan. Warrington* 52742 1848 1848 — 10873 14930 — 25803 145 w’rks 1362 77 yes — 1 549 242 755 5 6 3 C. Madeley. Warwick .. 11905 1865 1866 8728 872 — 9600 77 1119 84 yes — 1 220 15 ¿235 6 0 1 50 Thos. Haynes. Watford.... 16819 1871 1874 — 7113 2500 — 9613 160 1373 75 yes 400 1 289 172 430 6 3 4 4800 6000 J ohn W oolman Wednesbury WBromw’ch 25342 1876 1878 — 7136 1830 — 8966 239 yes 1 308 — 386 5 4 3 ,. Thos. Stanley. 59489 1870 1875 3 10314 2631 765 13710 233 1165 77 yes 1433 1 689 70 807 5 8 3 1730 D. Dickinson. West Ham.. 204902 1890 — — — — — — — — — — 1 3250 — — — — — — A. Cotgreave. {Essex) Weston- super-Mare 15873 1886 1890 — 670 664 1334 — — - : yes 191 1 •• — 338 — 4 •• Benj. Cox.Whitehaven 18044 1887 1888 — 4116 802 — 4918 100 1010 75 yes 300 1 230 70 317 5 4 l 233 401 J. Simpson. Widnes 30011 1885 1887 — 3154 423 — 3577 188 90 yes 685 1 430 ,. 451 4 6 2 120 AnneJ.Proctor Wigan* 55013 1876 1878 — 11280 25992 400 37672 280 4000 70 yes 1000 2 1380 — 1380 4 8 5 14822 H. T. Folkard. Willenhall.. 16852 1877 1878 — 4000 100 — 4100 50 600 55 yes 500 1 110 131 241 2 Eliza Marsh. Willesden .. 61266 1891 Not appointed. Wimbledon 25758 1883 1887 — 6239 2207 — 8446 283 2263 76 yes 674 1 660 90 760 1 5 4 500 T. H. Babbitt. Winchester 19073 1857 1851 1857 — 4000 1300 — 5300 130 1100 70 yes ¿?500 1 370 — 370 2 J. Burchett. Winsford .. 10440 1887 1888 — 3500 160 — 3600 74 700 80 yes 236 1 164 32 196 1 7 2 165 Wm. Kissock. Wlvrhmptn* 82620 1869 1869 — 26585 5800 — 32385 271 2000 70 yes 1300 1 1062 150 1192 6 9 5 1000 3000 J. Elliot. Wood G-reen 25830 1891 Not appointed. Woolton .. 4545 1890 1890 — 1200 — — 1200 65 240 90 no 1 70 — 60 4 4 1 40 Alf. J. Aid red. Worcester .. 42905 1879 1881 — 11500 11500 — ■23000 233 80 yes 1Ï00 1 655 150 8Ô0 5 Sam. Smith. Workington 23522 1890 1890 yes 275 1 235 30 302 — 210 350;Not appointed. Yarmouth, G 49318 1885J1886 1 8481 2276 614 11371 441 3184 .72 yes ¿fllOO 1 708 89 813 6 10 4 250 3562|Wm. Carter. WALES AND ISLE OF MAN. Aberystwith 6696 1874 1874 — 3546 — — 3546 72 yes 150 i 100 J. Jenkins. Bangor .... 9892 1870 1871 1873 — 1200 100 — 1300 60 150 l 150 10 1 80 500 P. Williams. Barry 13268 1891 Not appointed. (nr. Cardiff) Cardiff .... 128849 1862 1862 2 20162 15147 1520 36829 467 5860 77 yes 3000 l 3006 131 1531 4 2 6 — — J. Ballinger. Carnarvon.. 9804 1887 1887 — — 2000 — 2000 — — — no 130 l 90 — 90 1 Mrs. Thomas. Pontypridd 19971 1887 1887 — 1700 — — 1700 l Geo. Hughes. Swansea* .. 90423 1870 1876 1874 4 7143 24271 2393 33807 550 1622 yes 2600 l 1381 910 1677 7 6 10 E. Thompson. Welshpool.. 6489 1887 1888 1887 — 3190 2000 — 5190 Wrexham .. 12552 1878 1879 — 2839 899 — 3738 102 972 80 yes 462 l 184 3 # # B. Gough. Douglas 20000 1886 1886 — : o30o 837 — 6142 120 1582 70 yes 300 l 480 *50 520 4 0 2 900 — (J. of M.) COUNTY OE LONDON. Battersea .. 150458 1887 1887 2 10635 7315 1 9902 27852 983 12666 76 yes 3000 l 2800 250 3000 6 0 12 124 3000 L. Inkster. Bermondsey 84688 1887 — — — — 1 — — — — — — — l 1460 — — 6 U — — — John Erowde. Bromley.... 70002 1891 Not appointed. Camberwell 235312 1889 1890 3 — — 20000 20000 550 10059 73* yes 1100 l 3800 — — 13 Ed. Foskett.STATISTICS OF PUBLIC LIBBAKIES—LONDON—Continued. •6 No. of Vois, in Libraries. a> g 6 fl «8 »0 48 Annual *0 Approxi- ° .2 2 fl *0 xncorne. 1 mate value O a> CO a oeutriu. . og & £A b oi wits since Opening. Place. O R OQ 6 £ 51 O o fcn o a> o3 .5 A o Name of n o Î ft o < -I I 1 g 'S Lending. Reference. •3 pp Total n rR c3 A 'S« 3’§ g > «1-5 1 2 % £ 2*3 o fi « .3 î « From Rate From othe: Sources. |-9 ê o 3 EH Cash. No. of Vols. Librarian, 1891. d. £ £ £ s. d. £ Chelsea .... 96253 1887 1887 1 ., 5170 18484 623 4833 80 yes 1939 1 2798 288 2697 — 13 t , J. H. Quinn. Christchurch 13264 1888 1889 — 2600 110 — 2710 68 360 76 yes 637 1 460 8 — 2 20 H. W. Bull. Clapham .. 43698 1887 1889 — 6340 720 — 7060 370 4200 62 yes 1 1000 6 0| 4 2500 J. R. Welch. Clerkenwell 65885 1887 1888 — 9200 1818 — 11018 355 3340 76 yes 1805 1 1400 207 1534 5 3 7 1027 3610 J. D. Brown. Fulham .... 91640 1886 1887 — 10000 .. — 10000 540 , # 60 yes 1200 1 1680 104 1739 — 6 15 600 Henry Burns. Hammer- 97237 1887 1889 — 7858 1609 — 9467 717 5900 77 yes clOOO I 931 218 1140 6 3 4 150 S. Martin. smith Holborn Dist 33503 1891 i Not appointed. Kensington 166322 1887 1888 2 13000 12000 25000 750 9447 yes 2020 3300 97 4487 5 1* 18 1000 H. Jones. Lambeth .. 275202 1886 1888 4 — — 28000 28000 1561 14070 yes 3761 1 5200 5 9£ 22 51000 F.J.Burgoyne. Lewisham .. 72274 1890 Chas. W. Goss. Nwngtn(/S^r) 115663 1890 Not appointed. Poplar Putney .... 56317 17771 1890 1887 1888 3602 1441 _ 5043 232 76 yes 800 1 600 193 700 4 Not appointed. C. F. Tweney. Rotherhithe 39074 1887 1890 — — 1400 — 1400 60 yes 400 1 680 6 4 3 Ï00 Wm. Marilher. St. George, 78362 1890 — — — — — — — — — — 2 3500 — — — — — F. Pacy. Hanov’r-sq St. Giles and 39778 1891 Not appointed. St. George St. Martin - 14574 1887 1889 — 10000 8000 — 18000 yes 1 2100 , # 4 9 9 Thos. Mason. in-Fields Shoreditch.. 124009 1891 Not appointed. StkeNwngtn 30913 1890 1890 — 3550 — 3550 — — yes 311 1 738 25 763 3 25 1816 i Jas. Fernley. Stratford .. (seeWest Ham) Streatham .. 48742 1889 1891 — 6100 — — 6100 490 3100 60 yes 1100 1 1150 80 5 Thos. Everatt. Wandsworth 46720 1883 1885 — 8188 3949 — 12137 327 2990 78 yes 1000 1 860 77 916 5 0 6 C. T. Davis. Westminster 55760 1856 1857 1 20100 — 3053 23153 534 3971 50 yes 2500 i 1530 151 1558 4 3| 6 450 H. E. Poole. Whitechapel 74420 1889 Not appointedSCOTLAND. Aberdeen .. 121905 1884 1885 — 23156 8853 — 32009 951 7923 67 yes •• 1 1740 372 2052 4 7 14 •• Airdrie .... 19135 1853 1856 8000 8000 # # yes 1 1 Alloa 10711 1885 1888 — 6868 701 — 7569 Ì34 1205 80 yes — 1 163 83 236 1 11 3 1*500 Ayr 24800 1890 — — — Buil ding in course of erection. — — 1 — — — — — — Brechin 8955 1890 — — — do. do. do. — — 1 — — — — — Dumbarton 16908 1881 1883 1884 — 3590 — — 3590 50 1430 75 yes 1 216 101 309 1 Dundee .... 155640 1866 1869 39915 16961 — 56876 981 47 yes 1 2515 61 2862 8 Dunfermline 22365 1880 1883 — 11643 2551 — 14194 238 2788 50* yes 800 1 280 100 380 2 600 Edinburgh.. 261261 1886 1890 — 46392 22279 — 68671 2661 44246 43 yes 6500 l 6900 — 6800 .. 28 50000 Elgin 7799 1891 Forfar 12057 1870 1871 —. 6024 278 — 6302 32 580 70 no 1 132 — 4 iè 2 Galashiels .. 17249 1872 1874 — 6000 — — 6000 .. 884 66 yes 1 235 1 Grangem’th 5833 1887 1889 — 2000 — — 2000 55 600 70 yes *150 1 160 2 1250 Hawick 19204 1878 1878 — 7500 1000 — 8500 200 1465 65 yes 1 250 — 246 4 4 1 Inverness .. 19214 1877 1883 — 5246 1230 — 6476 40 1000 40 yes 220 1 300 35 335 Kirkwall .. 3895 1890 1891 — 3000 — — 3000 — — — — — 1 — — — — — — Paisley .... 66427 1867 1871 — 17000 10000 — 27000 208 1444 62 yes 800 1 986 4 31600 Peterhead .. 12195 1890 — — — Building in course of erection. Selkirk 5662 1888 1889 — 3666 384 — 4050 66 816 c75 yes 160 1 90 10 100 2 3f 1 7 Tarves .... 2400 1883 1876 — —• 2300 300 50 no .. f 23 1 24 1 12 Thurso .... 3930 1872 1875 — 4274 — — 4274 Ì64 492 75 no 1 36 5 37 1 133 Wick 8463 1887 1888 — 3825 1175 -v 5000 88 1481 56 yes 188 1 195 .. 1 700 .. Alex. W. Robertson. .. Win. Lithgow, .. W. Simpson. — Not appointed. — Not appointed. W. J. S. Pater- 186 860 son. J. Maclauchlan Alex. Peebles. Hew Morrison. Not appointed. Wm. Grant. Mrs. Dick. Wm. Campbell Mrs. Elliott. S.F.Donaldson Not appointed. Morris Young. Not appointed. Mrs. Scott. J. Young. H. Manson. Geo. Bain. IRELAND. Banbridge .. I Belfast ___ Coleraine .. Cork ...... Dublin* .... Dundalk.... Ennis...... Kingstown.. Limerick .. Lurgan .... Rathmines.. Sligo ..... I 5600 255896 11000 75070 352090 13207 6300 17340 37072 11447 27729 10110 1890 - I I - ! 1882 1888 - - 1881 — — — — — Acts not put in operation. 1855 — ,— — — — do. do. do. — — — — — — — — 1877 1884 1 I 20001 — ! lyes! 1500 1856 1858 — 8000 — — 8000 50! 200 1 80 i yes 150 1 85 2 ., 1860 — — — — — Acts not put in operation. 1884 1884 — 400 1 .. 1 1 50 I yesl 170 l 150 3 11 2 .. 1889 — — — — — Acts not put in operation. 1891 1887 1887 — 2000 1000 — 3000 50 800 50 yes 300 a 4 350 — 3 8 2 500 1880 1880 — — 1800 — 1800 60 yes 150 — 70 *50 — 1 *3*00 .. Not appointed. G. H. Elliott. Not appointed. Not appointed. Patrick Grogan M. Comerford. Not appointed. M. Connell. Not appointed. Not appointed. John Loton. D. Saultry.558 Public Libraries. APPENDIX I. [Suitable for Handbills.] WHY SHOULD EVERY TOWN HAVE A PUBLIC LIBRARY % I. Because a rate-supported Public Library is as necessary for the mental and moral health of the citizens as good sanitary arrangements, water supply, and street lighting are for the physical health and comfort of the people. II. Because the rate for its support is slight, and the boon immense; the utmost amount permitted by the Public Libraries Acts is One Penny in the Pound per Year on the Ratable Value. III. Because a Public Library is town property, into which any person can enter during the recognized hours without let or hindrance. IV. Because it is the University of the working classes. V. Because it is open to ALL classes, rich and poor, and where Public Libraries exist they are actually used by all classes, from the professional man to the humblest working man. In a large Midland town there are two chimney sweeps and two members of Parliament ambng the borrowers. VI. Because it is an educational institution ; and education deepens the sense of the duties and privileges of citizenship. VII. Because the existence or absence of a Public Library in a town is being accepted as a standard of the intelligence and public spirit manifested in that town. VIII. Because the newsrooms attached to Public Libraries afford a place of rest, recreation, and improvement, without any charge for admission. IX. Because for young people of both sexes a Public Library affords some place to which they can go, instead of loitering aimlessly about the public streets. X. Because a Public Library is one of the best investments a district can make for the welfare of its citizens. XI. Because there is no rate for which there is an immediate and tangible benefit as out of the penny rate for the support of a Public Library. XII. Because it brings the vast stores of our noble English literature within the reach of all. XIII. Because it cultivates habits of reading, and reading brightens life and makes the home more cheerful and attractive.559 Appendix I. XIV. Because all progressive towns have adopted the Public Libraries Acts, and no town or village alive to the needs of to-day should be without one of these admirable institutions. XV. Because in no town where they have been established is the rate felt as a burden, and it is, in fact, in many cases the most cheerfully paid item in the rate-paper. XVI. Because Public Library buildings always improve the adjoining property. Some tradesmen advertise their business as being within so many minutes’ walk of the Public Library. XVII. Because we do not want Old England to be behind other countries ; and the United States, France, Germany, and the Australian Colonies have long ago accepted Public Libraries as absolute necessities. XVIII. Because the great usefulness of Public Libraries in towns where they are established has been proved beyond any possible doubt. XIX. Because a Public Library provides a place of reference for Patents, Maps, and Technical Books, Government Documents, &c., to which the artisans in every town should have easy means of access. XX. Because it is said that the workmen of some other countries are better educated than ours, and Englishmen are determined that this shall not be so ; and as one forward step in this direction every town ought to have a Public Library. Thomas Greenwood, Author of “Public Libraries.” THE OPINIONS OF SOME LEADING MEN ON PUBLIC LIBRARIES. [will form suitable paragraphs for circulars, etc.] The Late Lord Iddesleigh.—All that I have seen of these institutions is encouraging, except the smallness of their number. The Rev. C. H. Spurgeon.—I am in favour of Public Libraries everywhere. Their cost is small and the benefits great. The Marquess of Bute.—The universal consent of mankind has now made the use of a Public Library a necessary instrument of learning. Mr. Sydney Buxton, M.P.—Anything which helps to promote the Public Libraries movement will always have my warmest sympathy. Mr. Samuel Plimsoll.—The movement for establishing Public Libraries has my hearty sympathy, as I consider it a valuable means of helping upwards the working classes. Mr. J. A. Froude.—Public Libraries,#if the right books are in them, will be of immense value. But we read more and more nowadays for amusement, and the most absurd books are the most popular. The Hon. C. Ritchie, M.P.—There is no more abiding pleasure, in my opinion, than that to be derived from reading, and I would gladly see the facilities for the pursuit of this pleasure, in the shape of Public Libraries, largely extended. The Rev. J. Clifford, D.D., ex-President of the Baptist Association.—I rejoice in the progress of the movement on behalf of Public Libraries, and trust that the day is not far distant when their benefits will be rendered accessible to every English man, woman, and child. Mr. Justin McCarthy, M.P.—I think a Public Library is one of the560 Public Libraries. greatest blessings with which a community can be endowed. I should almost wish to test the civilization of every population by asking—What is your number, and how many Public Libraries have you % Sir Frederick Leighton, ex-President of the Royal Academy.—It seems to me that the uses of Public Libraries are so obvious, and so generally recognized, that no words can be needed to emphasise them. Such Libraries, if properly used, should be powerful engines of civilization. The Duke of Argyll.—No one can doubt the value of Public Libraries who admits the value of education at all. Unless education is to stop at the “three R’s ” the self-education of adults by careful reading is an essential. The difficulty is to make reading at all systematic, and so really instructive. Mr. Henry Broadhurst, M.P.—Without doubt, money cannot be more profitably spent than in placing knowledge of the highest kind within the reach of all who care to avail themselves of it. Next to good sanitation, there are few sources of public expenditure more justifiable than in providing good libraries for the people. Mr. L. J. Jennings, M.P. for Stockport.—There are few institutions likely to be of greater service to working men and their families than Public Libraries. The taste for reading is the only one which never palls, in youth or age, and I do not know how it is to be gratified among the poor except by the establishment of Public Libraries. Mr. Frederic Harrison.—The Public Library movement is perfectly free from suspicion of belonging to party, class, or sect. Of all the Acts passed in the last fifty years there is none which has done more quiet good with less burden on the country, absolutely without hitch or complaint, than the Public Libraries Act. Sir Charles Russell, M.P.—I have a high opinion of the great advantages to be derived from Public Libraries, and I think it a matter of regret that the Public Libraries Acts have been availed of to so limited an extent. I think this is to be attributed not to indifference amongst the public, but to unwillingness to add to the already enormous burden of taxation. Mr. Thomas Burt, M.P.—I attach the utmost importance to the Public Libraries movement. It is certainly amazing, and not at all creditable, that thirty years after the commencement 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 wrork. The Late Henry Ward Beecher.—A man that should establish in Brooklyn a Public Library for the common people would be a regenerator of the city ; and if he pleased to have his name inscribed, that name could never go below the horizon. He might not see the result ; for the visible effect wmuld be nothing as compared with the unseen. The complex effect wTould appear in generation after generation, and his name would be glorious. Mr. Robert Giffen, LL.D. (of the Board of Trade), in his address, as President of the Statistical Society, on “The Progress of the Working Classes in the Last Half-Century,” said :—To a great deal of this expendi ture 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 opens out careers even to all. The value of the Public Library, for instance, in a large city is simply incalculable.Appendix I. 561 The Late Right Hon. John Bright.—There is no blessing that can be given to an artisan’s family more than a love of books. The home influence of such a possession is one that will guard them from many temptations and from many evils. To the young especially this is of great importance ; for if there be no seed time there will certainly be no harvest. It is impossible for anybody to confer upon young men a greater blessing than to stimulate them to associate themselves constantly with a Public Library, and draw from it any book they like. The Late Lord Granville.—As a Londoner I must own that I sometimes feel ashamed at the contrast which London presents to provincial cities in availing itself so little of the Public Libraries Act. I hope that when London has something like a municipal government, accompanied by that public spirit and by that esprit de corps which always go with it, it will not lag behind the provinces in this important and intellectual race. The possession of a Publie Library is a proof of the intelligence and the public spirit of the towns which possess them. The Bishop of London.—I look upon Public Libraries everywhere as being of the highest importance and value for the cultivation of the great body of people at large. No doubt there will be a perpetually increasing number of those who would be glad to have the opportunity of reading books which it is imposssible for them to buy or hire. It is a very excellent arrangement that there should be, for common good, Libraries of the kind to which all may resort—Libraries which are open to the highest and the lowest, the richest and the poorest. Mr. Henry George.—There would be a great and increasing surplus revenue from the taxation of land values, for material progress, which would go on with greatly accelerated rapidity, would tend constantly to increase rent. This revenue arising from the common property could be applied to the common benefit, as were the revenues of Sparta. We might not establish public tables—they would be unnecessary ; but we could establish public baths, museums, libraries, gardens, lecture-rooms, music and dancing halls, theatres, universities, technical schools, playgrounds, gymnasiums, &c. The Right Hon. Joseph Chamberlain, M.P.—I am a great believer in the advantages of a miscellaneous reading. I believe that by it we open our minds 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 possession there is no favour conferred ; it is a right which is enjoyed by all. The Archbishop of Canterbury.—Public Libraries are a necessity of the time, and I shall be glad to see them freely used. Social institutions, these libraries are, of the most important kind, but that does not imply Socialistic, any more than the word chart implies Chartist. I would also remind you that these libraries would not have been possible in England thirty years ago, not merely on account of the prejudices entertained against them, but still more in consequence of the lack of that elementary education which would have enabled people to use them with enjoyment or profit; but our present system of elementary education has rendered these libraries a necessity. 36562 Public Libraries. The Bishop of Rochester.—Sooner or later you must succeed in what is but the proper completion of the Elementary Education Act of 1870, and the true safeguarding of that memorable extension of the franchise, from which a new era of English history will assuredly begin. Your effort is but the duty of wise men, who love their country, who do not fear knowledge of any kind, so long as it is exact and complete ; who feel that the education a man gives himself is far more valuable than any other ; who expect, not without reason, that in course of time the trifling additional expense from a halfpenny rate will be more than saved by a diminution of the public charges. The United States have long been ahead of us in this question of Public Libraries, as I well know from personal observation. Right Hon. A. J. Balfour, M.P.—I hail with satisfaction the establishment in other towns of a Public Library like that which I see around us, and I could wish no better fortune for my old friends and constituents of Hertford, than that they may one and all acquire that taste for literature, and that habit of reading which can be satisfied in a Library like this in which we are seated, and which will, I am convinced—and I speak from no narrow personal experience, but from a knowledge of what many have felt in all generations of mankind—proye a source of satisfaction, which will not fail them in times of care or trouble, which are independent of seasons, which are independent of the favour or disfavour of mankind, and which are perhaps the most precious heritage which has been given to mankind by the invention of printing. Mr. John Bums.—I, with other workmen, have laboured under great difficulties through having no Public Libraries in our district years ago. This has been altered by the erection of good libraries, which all classes heartily appreciate. This is noticeably so with those people who, in their ignorance, opposed their establishment, but now readily use them. I consider Public Libraries indispensable for the education of all classes, particularly the working classes, whose wages will not permit of the expenditure required in order to enjoy extensive reading. I am in favour of Public Libraries being supported by the rates. The voluntary system is unfair to the generous portion of the public. Rating distributes the cost over the whole community, which in return will receive a reduction in other rates, a reduction consequent upon the education derived from the use of Public Libraries. Sir John Lubbock, M.P.—A Public Library is true fairyland, a very palace of delight, a haven of repose from the storms and troubles of the world. Rich and poor can enjoy it equally, for here, at least, wealth gives no advantage. You can transport yourself without delay and without expense to any part of the globe, or even into the regions of the skies. You can call up the greatest men of the past or the present, of this or any other country. Surely to the works of Englishmen, at least, Englishmen have some right. The literature of England is the birthright and inherit anee of every Englishman. England has produced, and is producing, some of the greatest of poets, of philosophers, of men of science. No country can boast a brighter, purer, or nobler literature, richer than our commerce, more powerful than our arms, the true pride and glory of our country. To this literature the very poorest of our fellow-townsmen have access. Lord Coleridge.—The time has gone by when it was necessary to defend libraries and reading. I remember when it was said if you instructed the people in reading, all sorts of difficult consequences to society wouldAppendix I. 563 result. We have got past all these notions now, and have come to feel the enormous advantage of reading and of Public Libraries, and I trust that we have got on so far as to realize that it was our plain duty to extend to other people the advantages we ourselves enjoy. Every man who does not acquaint himself with what others have said must at last become a very commonplace and dreary individual. The most agreeable men are those whose minds are enriched by culture and education. A great library enables men to appreciate these points ; makes a workman better capable of doing his work, and appreciating the thoughts and opinions of the great men who lived before our time. Whatever tends to enlarge and liberalize the mind has a practical bearing upon that in which we are all interested—namely, the supremacy of this great country. Mr. John Morley, M.P.—It is profoundly true, as Burke said, that education is not reading a paicel of books, but exercising restraint, discipline, virtue, and justice. The parcel of books, however, if well chosen, reconciles us to the discipline, interprets the virtue and justice, and awakens within us the diviner mind as to what is best in others and ourselves. There is much to make people question whether the spread of literature, as now understood, does awake the diviner mind. The statistics of the books taken out of Public Libraries are not all that could be wished. In one large town of the north, fiction forms 76 per cent, of the books borrowed ; in other great towns it is respectively 82 per cent., 84 per cent., and 67 per cent. The average in this country is about 70 per cent., whereas in the United States it is only 60. In Scotland also there is a larger demand than in England for books that are called serious. I am myself a voracious reader of fiction, and only wish to see the amount read reduced from 70 to about 40 per cent, of the reading of the people, the difference being made up by other literature. Sir Edward Clarke, M.P.—There is no better way of combating intemperance in this country than by the increase of education. The necessary idleness of much of the day with those who are engaged in manual labour, and the limit of space in their homes caused by the pressure of population, tend to drive men into habits of intemperance ; but these are things which can be met in a very large degree by the creation of Public Libraries. In the provincial towns these libraries exist to a much greater extent than in London, and wherever they have been established they are found to be so popular, and increasingly popular, that towns which have them would be astonished and appalled at the idea that they in future should be without them. In many parts of London the homes of the working men are so uncomfortable, and so far from being places where they can have any sort of useful recreation, that there is hardly any choice with the men between their little and uncomfortable homes and the public-house. I am convinced that Public Libraries will be a source of great and abiding and steadily increasing benefit to the community. A penny rate will not be sufficient in itself to establish and equip them. Such an addition to the rates is extremely small, and if the proposal meant a really serious burden to the ratepayers I would not advocate it; but it will be so small in comparison with the benefits to be received that I hope every parish will not hesitate by a great majority to accept the proposition. I further believe that these libraries will tend to reduce the burden of rates, because they will help to reduce pauperism and crime. The Rt. Hon. W. E. Gladstone, M.P.—Without the blessing of reading, the burden of life for many of us would almost be intolerable, andPublic Libraries. 564 the riches of life would be reduced to the merest penury. ... I am one of those who look with more, I think, than a common interest upon municipal institutions, and who attach to them a value that I can hardly express. But I will put in one sentence what I have to say : I am firmly convinced that without municipal institutions England would not have been England---that is to say, it would have been a fundamentally different England to the England that it now is. I admit that centres of population give facilities for the work of a Public Library which it cannot enjoy where they are more diffused ; but at the same time in this country it is quite plain that we must have a very large population outside of our municipalities, a population that is not included in the municipalities, yet will, in many cases, be considerably centred ; and I look forward with pleasure and satisfaction to the day when millions of persons who cannot enjoy the advantages will, through the enactment of a sound and solid system of local government, embracing the whole of the rural, the whole of the non-civic and non-municipal districts of the country, be placed within the reach of multitudes of benefits and advantages from which they are now in a considerable degree excluded ; and will likewise have that inestimable profit which has been enjoyed in our municipal towns of a regular education in public duties, reaching downwards through all ranks, and embracing masses of the population, and giving to the English character much of its firmness and tenacity of tissue. The Bight Hon. A. J. Mundella, M.P.—The public are manifesting an appetite for knowledge, and unless pure literature is provided there is a great danger that its place will be taken by impure literature. I am bound to say that I do not think that literature of the worst kind is circulated to any extent among the masses of the people. Occasionally I have purchased publications at small shops in the lowest neighbourhoods, and I have found that they were not so gross and bad as intolerably dull. Such publications are altogether without literary merit, and I maintain that a youth who has had access to Oliver Goldsmith, Thackeray, Dickens, and other such writers, would not condescend to touch the pitiful rubbish to which I have alluded. I believe that the very best antidote for impure literature is pure literature, and in my opinion the way to elevate a man, to keep him in the paths of virtue, purity, and nobility, is to make him a reading mam No secular blessing is better than a taste for reading, which taste, of all others, is the most refining and the cheapest. The pleasures that debase a man are those most costly to the body, soul, and pocket, while the pleasures that elevate him are happily becoming cheaper every day. Let no ratepayer begrudge his education rate and his penny for the Public Libraries. These are his best investments. Let them observe how, during recent years, the criminal population have diminished—how the diminution is especially noticeable among criminals under thirty years of age ; observe the decrease in the amount paid for outdoor relief; and, lastly, observe the reduced consumption of alcoholic drinks. Education has done more than anything else to bring these happy results about. There must be higher and better education, and a continuity of it, and they must have more night schools and more Public Libraries. Testimony of Mayors. In reply to letters respecting the use and influence of Public Libraries in their towns, these letters of a few Mayors will be read with interest. ItAppendix II. 565 would have been an easy task to greatly extend the number, but these are representative of others received. The Mayor of Birmingham says :—The closing of the libraries, if it were proposed, would “excite the most violent opposition.” The Lord Provost of Aberdeen says :—To all appearance the belief in the advantages, direct and indirect, of the libraries established in this city is “ universal and strong.” The Mayor of Reading writes :—I have pleasure in saying that the Public Library in this town has been an unqualified success, and has conferred signal advantages upon the inhabitants. The Mayor of Northampton says :—During our late strike in the staple trade the libraries became a capital counteractive to the public-houses, being literally thronged from morning till night. The Mayor of Leeds says :—The Public Library in this borough has been established for upwards of fifteen years. It has been very successful in its operations, and has proved itself to be one of the most important educational institutions in the borough. The Mayor of Newcastle-on-Tyne writes:—There can be no question that the Public Library in Newcastle has been a great benefit to the inhabitants, and is more used by the citizens of all classes than the Corporation ever contemplated as probable when it was initiated. I think there is only one opinion in the city as to its value. The Mayor of Manchester says :—The operation of the Acts in this city has unquestionably been advantageous to the best interests of the community, and I think it improbable that the closing of the libraries would have any support whatever, as they are among the most popular and most indispensable institutions of the city. The Provost of Dundee says that the Public Library, Museum, and Art Gallery exert a powerful, refining, educational influence on the community, and that a proposal to suspend the Act would meet not only with strong but practically unanimous opposition. Similar testimonies to the operations of the Act have been received from the Mayors of Liverpool, Norwich, Coventry, Chester, Cambridge, and Reading, the Provosts of Galashiels, Dunfermline, and Forfar, and from forty-one other English and Scotch towns. APPENDIX II. PUBLIC LIBRARIES ACT, 1855. 18 and 19 Victoria, Cap. LXX. An Act for further promoting the Establishment of Public Libraries and Museums in Municipal Towns, and for extending it to towns governed under Local Improvement Acts and to Parishes. [30th July, 1855.] WHEREAS it is expedient to amend and extend the Public Libraries Act, 1850 : Be it therefore enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, as follows : Acts repealed.—I. The Public Libraries Act, 1850, is hereby repealed, but such repeal shall not invalidate or affect anything already done in566 Public Libraries. pursuance of the same Act ; and all Libraries and Museums established under that Act or the Act thereby repealed shall be considered as having been established under this Act, and the Council of any Borough which may have adopted the said Act of One thousand eight hundred and fifty, or established a Museum under the Act thereby repealed, shall have and may use and exercise all the Benefits, Privileges, and Powers given by this Act; and all Monies which have been borrowed by virtue of the said repealed Acts or either of them, and still remaining unpaid, and the Interest thereof, shall be charged on the Borough Rates, or a Rate to be assessed and recovered in the like Manner as a Borough Rate to be made by virtue of this Act. II. In citing this Act for any Purposes whatever it shall be sufficient to use the Expression, “ The Public Libraries Act, 1855.” Interpretation of Terms.—III. In the Construction of this Act the following Words and Expressions shall, unless there be something in the Subject or Context repugnant to such Construction, have the following Meanings assigned to them respectively; that is to say, “Parish” shall mean every Place maintaining its own Poor; “ Yestry ” shall mean the Inhabitants of the Parish lawfully assembled in Yestry, or for any of the Purposes for which Yestries are holden, except in those Parishes in which there is a Select Yestry elected under the Act of the Fifty-ninth Year of King George the Third, Chapter Twelve, or under the Act of the First and Second Years of King William the Fourth, Chapter Sixty, or under the Provisions of any Local Act of Parliament for the Government of any Parish by Yestries, in which Parishes it shall mean such Select Yestry, and shall also mean any Body of Persons, by whatever Name distinguished, acting by virtue of any Act of Parliament, Prescription, Custom, or otherwise, as or instead of a Yestry or Select Yestry ; “ Ratepayers ” shall mean all Persons for the Time being assessed to Rates for the Relief of the Poor of the Parish ; “ Overseers of the Poor ” shall mean also any persons authorised and required to make and collect the Rate for the Relief of the Poor of the Parish, and acting instead of Overseers of the Poor ; “ Board ” shall mean the Commissioners, Trustees, or other Body of Persons, by whatever Name distinguished, for the Time being in Office and acting in the Execution of any Improvement Act, being an Act for draining, cleansing, paving, lighting, watching, or otherwise improving a Place, or for any of those Purposes ; “ Improvement Rates ” shall mean the Rates, Tolls, Rents, Income, and other Monies whatsoever which under the Provisions of any such Improvement Act shall be applicable for the general Purposes of such Act. Town Councils.—IY. The Mayor of any Municipal Borough the Population of which, according to the then last Census thereof, shall exceed Five Thousand Persons, shall, on the Request of the Town Council, convene a Public Meeting of the Burgesses of the Borough, in order to determine whether this Act shall be adopted for the Municipal Borough, and Ten Days’ Notice at least of the Time, Place, and Object of the Meeting shall be given by affixing the same on or near the Door of every Church and Chapel within the Borough, and also by advertising the same in One or more of the Newspapers published or circulated within the Borough, Seven Days at least before the Day appointed for such Meeting ; and if at such Meeting Two-thirds of such Persons as aforesaid then present shall determine that this Act ought to be adopted for the Borough, the same shall thenceforth take effect and come into operation in such Borough, and shall be carried into execution in accordance with the Laws567 Appendix II. for the Time being in force relating to the Municipal Corporation of such Borough. Provided always, that the Mayor, or, in his Absence, the Chairman of the Meeting, shall cause a Minute to be made of the Resolutions of the Meeting, and shall sign the same ; and the Resolutions so signed shall be conclusive Evidence that the Meeting was duly convened, and the Vote thereat duly taken, and that the Minute contains a true Account of the Proceedings thereat. Expenses.—V. The Expenses incurred in calling and holding the Meeting, whether this Act shall be adopted or not, and the Expenses of carrying this Act into execution in such Borough, may be paid out of the Borough Fund, and the Council may levy by a separate Rate, to be called a Library Rate, to be made and recoverable in the Manner hereinafter provided, all Monies from Time to Time necessary for defraying such Expenses ; and distinct Accounts shall be kept of the Receipts, Payments, and Liabilities of the Council with reference to the Execution of this Act. Local Boards.—YI. The Board of any District, being a Place within the Limits of any Improvement Act, and having such a Population as aforesaid, shall, upon the Requisition in Writing of at least Ten Persons assessed to and paying the Improvement Rate, appoint a Time not less than Ten Days nor more than Twenty Days from the Time of receiving such Requisition for a Public Meeting of the Persons assessed to and paying such Rate in order to determine whether this Act shall be adopted for such District, and Ten Days’ Notice at least of the Time, Place, and Object of such Meeting shall be given by affixing the same on or near the Door of every Church and Chapel within the District, and also by advertising the same in One or more of the Newspapers published or circulated within the District, Seven Days at least before the Day appointed for the Meeting ; and if at such Meeting Two-thirds of such Persons as aforesaid then present shall determine that this Act ought to be adopted for the District, the same shall thenceforth take effect, and come into operation in such District, and shall be carried into effect according to the Laws for the Time being in force relating to such Board. VII. The Expenses incurred in calling and holding the Meeting, whether this Act shall be adopted or not, and the Expenses of carrying this Act into execution in any such District, shall be paid out of the Improvement Rate, and the Board may levy as Part of the Improvement Rate, or by a separate Rate to be assessed and recovered in like Manner as an Improvement Rate, such sums of money as shall be from Time to Time necessary for defraying such Expenses : and the Board shall keep distinct Accounts of their Receipts, Payments, Credits, and Liabilities with reference to the Execution of this Act, which Accounts shall be audited in the same Way as Accounts are directed to be audited under the Improvement Act. Parishes.—VIII. Upon the Requisition in Writing of at least Ten Ratepayers of any Parish having such a Population as aforesaid, the Overseers of the Poor shall appoint a Time, not less than Ten Days nor more than Twenty Days from the Time of receiving such Requisition, for a Public Meeting of the Ratepayers in order to determine whether this Act shall be adopted for the Parish ; and Ten Days’ Notice at least of the Time, Place, and Object of the Meeting shall be given by affixing the same on or near the Door of every Church and Chapel within the Parish, and also by advertising the same in One or more of the Newspapers published or circulated within the Parish, Seven Days at least before the Day appointed for. the Meeting; and if at such Meeting Two-thirds of the Ratepayers568 Public Libraries. then present shall determine that this Act ought to be adopted for such Parish, the same shall come into operation in such Parish, and the Yestry shall forthwith appoint not less than Three nor more than Nine Ratepayers Commissioners for carrying the Act into execution, who shall be a Body Corporate by the name of “ The Commissioners for Public Libraries and Museums for the Parish of , in the County of and by that name may sue and he sued, and hold and dispose of Lands, and use a Common Seal: Provided always, that in any Parish where there shall not be a greater Population than Eight thousand Inhabitants by the then last Census, it shall be lawful for any Ten Ratepayers to deliver a Requisition by them signed, and describing their Place of Residence, to the Overseers or one of the Overseers of the said Parish, requiring the Votes of the Ratepayers at such Meeting to be taken according to the Provisions of the Act passed in the Fifty-eighth Year of the Reign of King George the Third, Chapter Sixty-nine, and the Votes at such Meeting shall thereupon be taken according to the Provisions of the said last-mentioned Act of Parliament, and not otherwise. Retiring from Office,—IX. At the Termination of every Year (the Year being reckoned from and exclusive of the Day of the First Appointment of Commissioners) a Meeting of the Vestry shall be held, at which Meeting One-third or as nearly as may be One-third of the Commissioners, to be determined by Ballot, shall go out of Office, and the Vestry shall appoint other Commissioners in their place, but the outgoing Commissioners may be re-elected ; and the Vestry shall fill up every Vacancy among the Commissioners, whether occurring by Death, Resignation, or otherwise, as soon as possible after the same occurs. Meetings of Commissioners.—X. The Commissioners shall meet at least once in every Calendar Month, and at such other Times as they think fit, at the Public Library or Museum or some other convenient Place ; and any one Commissioner may summon a Special Meeting of the Commissioners by giving Three clear Days’ Notice in Writing to each Commissioner, specifying therein the Purpose for which the Meeting is called : and no Business shall be transacted at any Meeting of the Commissioners unless at least Two Commissioners shall be present. Minutes of Proceedings.—XI. All Orders and Proceedings of the Commissioners shall be entered in Books to be kept by them for that Purpose, and shall be signed by the Commissioners or any Two of them ; and all such Orders and Proceedings so entered, and purporting to be so signed, shall be deemed to he original Orders and Proceedings, and such Books may be produced and read as Evidence of all such Orders and Proceedings upon any judicial Proceeding whatsoever. Accounts,—XII. The Commissioners shall keep distinct and regular Accounts of their Receipts, Payments, Credits, and Liabilities with reference to the Execution of this Act, which Accounts shall be audited yearly by the Poor Law Auditor, if the Accounts of Poor Rate Expenditure of the parish be audited by a Poor Law Auditor, but if not so audited, then by Two Auditors not being Commissioners, who shall be yearly appointed by the Vestry, and the Auditor or Auditors shall report thereon, and such Report shall be laid before the Vestry by the Commissioners. Expenses.—XIII. The Expenses of calling and holding the Meeting of the Ratepayers, whether this Act shall be adopted or not, and the Expenses of carrying this Act into execution in any Parish, to such Amount as shall be from time to time sanctioned by the Vestry, shall569 be paid out of a Rate to be made and recovered in like Manner as a Poor Rate, except that every person occupying Lands used as Arable, Meadow, or Pasture Ground only, or as Woodlands or Market Gardens, or Nursery Grounds, shall be rated in respect of the same in the Proportion of One-Third part only of the full net annual Yalue thereof respectively ; the Yestry to be called for the Purpose of sanctioning the Amount shall be convened in the Manner usual in the Parish ; the Amount for the Time being proposed to be raised for such Expenses shall be expressed in the Notice convening the Yestry, and shall be paid, according to the Order of the Yestry, to such Person as shall be appointed by the Commissioners to receive the same : Provided always, that in the Notices requiring the Payment of the Rate there shall be stated the Proportion which the Amount to be hereby raised for the Purposes of this Act shall bear to the total Amount of the Rate. Vestries Combining,—XIY. The Vestries of any Two or more neighbouring Parishes having according to the then last Census an aggregate Population exceeding Five thousand Persons may adopt this Act, in like Manner as if the Population of each of those Parishes according to the then last Census exceeded Five thousand, and may concur in carrying the same into execution in such Parishes for such Time as they shall mutually agree ; and such Yestries may decide that a Public Library or Museum, or both, shall be erected in any One of such Parishes, and that the Expenses of carrying this Act into execution with reference to the same shall be borne by such Parishes in such Proportions as such Yestries shall mutually approve ; the Proportion for each of such Parishes of such Expenses shall be paid out of the Monies to be raised for the Relief of the Poor of the same respective Parishes accordingly ; but no more than Three Commissioners shall be appointed for each Parish; and the Commissioners so appointed for each of such Parishes shall in the Management of the said Public Library and Museum form One Body of Commissioners, and shall act accordingly in the Execution of this Act ; and the Accounts of the Commissioners shall be examined and reported on by the Auditor or Auditors of each of such Parishes ; and the surplus Money at the Disposal as aforesaid of such Commissioners shall be paid to the Overseers of such Parishes respectively, in the proportion in which such Parishes shall be liable to such Expenses. Rates Levied.—XY. The Amount of the Rate to be levied in any Borough, District, or Parish in any One Year for the Purposes of this Act shall not exceed the Sum of One Penny in the Pound ; and for the purposes of the Library Rate all the Clauses of the Towns Improvement Clauses Act, 1847, with respect to the Manner of making Rates, to the Appeal to be made against any Rate, and to the Recovery of Rates, shall be incorporated with this Act; and whenever the Words “Special Act” occur in the Act so incorporated they shall mean “The Public Libraries Act, 1855.” Accounts of Soard.—The Accounts of the said Board and Commissioners respectively, with reference to the Execution of this Act, shall at all reasonable Times be open, without Charge, to the Inspection of every Person rated to the Improvement Rate or to the Rates for the Relief of the Poor of the Parish, as the Case may be, who may make Copies of or Extracts from such Accounts, without paying for the same; and in case the Board or the Commissioners, or any of them respectively, or any of their respective Officers or Servants having the Custody of such Accounts, shall not permit the same Accounts to be inspected, or Copies of or Extracts570 Public Libraries. from the same to be made, every Person so offending shall for every such Offence forfeit any Sum not exceeding Five Pounds. Power to Borrow.—XVI. For carrying this Act into execution, the Council, Board, or Commissioners respectively may, with the Approval of Her Majesty’s Treasury (and as to the Commissioners, with the Sanction also of the Yestry and the Poor Law Board), from Time to Time borrow at Interest, on the Security of a Mortgage or Bond of the Borough Fund, or of the Rates levied in pursuance of this Act, such Sums of Money as may be by them respectively required, and the Commissioners for carrying into execution the Act of the Ninth and Tenth Years of Her Majesty, Chapter Eighty, may from Time to Time advance and lend any such Sums of Money. Provisions of Borrowing.—XVII. The Clauses and Provisions of “The Companies Clauses Consolidation Act, 1845,” with respect to the borrowing of Money on Mortgage or Bond, and the Accountability of Officers, and the Recovery of Damages and Penalties, so far as such Provisions may respectively be applicable to the Purposes of this Act, shall be respectively incorporated with this Act. Lands, &c., Appropriated.—XVIII. The Council of any Borough and the Board of any District respectively may from Time to Time, with the Approval of Her Majesty’s Treasury, appropriate for the purpose of this Act any Lands vested, as the Case may be, in a Borough in the Mayor, Aldermen, and Burgesses, and in a District in the Board; and the Council, Board, and Commissioners respectively may also, with such Approval, purchase or rent any Lands or any suitable Buildings ; and the Council and Board and Commissioners respectively may, upon any Lands so appropriated, purchased, or rented respectively, erect any Buildings suitable for Public Libraries or Museums, or both, or for Schools for Science or Art, and may apply, take down, alter, and extend any buildings for such Purposes, and rebuild, repair, and improve the same respectively, and fit up, furnish, and supply the same respectively with all requisite Furniture, Fittings, and Conveniences. XIX.—“The Lands Clauses Consolidation Act, 1845,” shall be incorporated with this Act; but the Council, Board, and Commissioners respectively shall not purchase or take any Lands otherwise than by Agreement. Lands Sold, &c.—XX. The Council, Board, and Commissioners aforesaid respectively may, with the like Approval as is required for the Purchase of Lands, sell any Lands vested in the Mayor, Aldermen, and Burgesses, or Board, or Commissioners respectively, for the Purposes of this Act, or exchange the same for any Lands better adapted for the Purposes; and the Monies to arise from such Sale, or to be received for Equality of Exchange, or a sufficient Part thereof, shall be applied in or towards the Purchase of other Lands better adapted for such Purposes. General Management.—XXI. The general Management, Regulation, and Control of such Libraries and Museums, Schools for Science and Art, shall be, as to any Borough, vested in and exercised by the Council, and as to any District in and by the Board, and as to any Parish or Parishes in and by the Commissioners or such Committee as such Council or Board may from Time to Time appoint, the Members whereof need not be Members of the Council or Board or be Commissioners, who may from Time to Time purchase and provide the necessary Fuel, Lighting, and other similar Matters, Books, Newspapers, Maps, and Specimens ofAppendix II. 571 Art and Science, for the Use of the Library or Museum, or School, and cause the same to be bound or repaired when necessary, and appoint salaried Officers and Servants, and dismiss the same, and make Rules and Regulations for the Safety and Use of the Libraries and Museums, and for the Admission of the Public. Property Vested.—XXII. The Lands and Buildings so to be appropriated, purchased, or rented as aforesaid, and all other Real and Personal Property whatever presented to or purchased for any Library or Museum established under this Act, or School, shall be vested, in the Case of a Borough in the Mayor, Aldermen, and Burgesses, in the Case of a District in the Board, and in the case of a Parish or Parishes in the Commissioners. XXIII. If any Meeting called as aforesaid to determine as to the Adoption of this Act for any Borough, District, or Parish shall determine against the Adoption, no Meeting for a similar Purpose shall be held for the Space of One Year at least from the Time of holding the previous Meeting. City of London.—XXIV. The Lord Mayor of the City of London shall, on the Request of the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Commons of the City of London, in Common Council assembled, convene a Public Meeting in Manner hereinbefore mentioned of all Persons rated and assessed to the Consolidated Rate in the City of London, in order to determine whether this Act shall be adopted in the said City; and if at such Meeting Two-thirds of such Persons then present shall determine that this Act ought to be adopted for the City of London, the same shall thenceforth take effect and come into operation in the City of London, and shall be carried into execution in accordance with the Laws for the Time being in force relating to the City of London; Provided always, that the Resolution of such Public Meeting, signed by the Lord Mayor, shall be reported to the said Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Commons, in Common Council assembled, and entered on the Minutes thereof, and that such Entry shall be Evidence : the Expenses incurred in calling and holding the Meeting, whether this Act shall be adopted or not, and the expenses of carrying this Act into execution in the City of London shall be paid out of the Consolidated Rate, and the Commissioners of Sewers of the City of London may levy a Part of the Consolidated Rate, or, by a separate Rate, to be assessed and recovered in like Manner as the Consolidated Rate, all Monies from Time to Time necessary for defraying such Expenses, and distinct Accounts shall be kept of the Receipts, Payments, and Liabilities of the said Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Commons with reference to the Execution of the Act. XXV. The Admission to all Libraries and Museums established under this Act shall be open to the Public free of all Charge. XXVI. This Act shall not extend to Ireland or Scotland. The following Acts are omitted from this edition as they can be obtained for the small amounts named, w'hich include postage, from Messrs. Eyre & Spottiswoode, East Harding Street, London, E.C.:— Public Lib aries Amendment Act (England and Scotland), 1866. (2d.) Public Libraries Act (1855) Amendment Act, 1871. (2d.) Public Libraries Amendment Act, 1877. (2d). Malicious Injuries to Property Act(1861)(England and Ireland), (lljd.)572 Public Libraries. Public Libraries Act, 1884. (2d.) Public Libraries Acts Amendment Act, 1887. (Hd.) Public Libraries Consolidation (Scotland) Act, 1887. (3d.) Public Libraries Acts Amendment Act, 1889. (Id.) Technical Instruction Acts, 1889 (l^d.) and 1891. (Id.) AN ACT TO AMEND THE PUBLIC LIBRARIES (ENGLAND) ACTS. 18th August, 1890. BE it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows: Who shall be Voters.—1. The persons who shall be voters for all purposes of the Libraries Acts shall be—(a.) Where the library district, as defined by this Act, is a borough or part of a borough, the burgesses of that borough, and the burgesses enrolled in respect of qualifications in such part, respectively ; and (b.) Elsewhere, the county electors registered in respect of qualifications in the library district. All references in the Libraries Acts to ratepayers or vestries or to persons assessed to and paying any rate shall be construed with respect to any library district as references to the voters mentioned in this section. Amendment of Law as to ascertaining Opinion of Voters.—2. (1) The procedure for ascertaining the opinion of the voters for any purpose of the Libraries Acts shall be by voting papers and not otherwise. (2) Any requisition under the Libraries Acts (which for the purposes of this Act includes a request of a town council) shall be addressed to the district authority requiring them or him to ascertain the opinion of the voters with respect to the question or questions stated in the requisition, and such authority shall, subject to the provisions of this section, proceed to ascertain the opinion of the voters by voting papers according to the provisions of this Act. (3) All expenses in connection with ascertaining the opinion of the voters in any library district by means of voting papers shall be borne in like manner as the expenses of holding a public meeting under the Libraries Acts are to be borne with respect to that district, or would be borne if this Act had not passed. Limitations of Rate.—3. The Libraries Acts may be adopted for any library district subject to a condition that the maximum rate to be levied in the district or in any defined portion of the district in any one year for the purposes of the said Acts shall not exceed one halfpenny or shall not exceed three farthings in the pound, and such limitation if fixed at one halfpenny may be subsequently raised to three farthings, or altogether removed, or where it is for the time being fixed at three farthings may be removed, and for the purpose of removing or raising such limitation the like proceedings shall be taken as are required to be taken with respect to the adoption of the Libraries Acts. Provided that the district authority shall not ascertain the opinion of the voters upon any question with respect to the limitation of the rate unless requested to do so by the requisition, and unless the question is one which the voters are under this section authorised to determine. Provided also, that nothing in this Act shall be construed to authorise the levy of any rate exceeding one penny in the pound for any one year in any library district, excepting the City of London.573 Appendix II. Regulations for ascertaining the Opinion of the Voters.—4. The procedure for ascertaining the opinion of the voters for the purposes of the Libraries Acts shall be in accordance with the regulations contained in the First Schedule to this Act. One Year to expire after Ascertainment of Opinion of Voters.— 5. Where the opinion of the voters in any library district is ascertained, either upon the question as to the adoption of the Libraries Acts, or upon the question as to the limitation of the rate, no further proceeding shall be taken for ascertaining the opinion of the voters until the expiration of one year at least from the day when the opinion of the voters was last ascertained, that is to say, the day on which the voting papers were collected. Adoption of Principal Act for Larger Area excludes Adoption for Smaller Area comprised therein.—6. Where the Libraries Acts have been adopted for any library district which comprises any other library district, no proceeding shall be taken for the adoption thereof for such last-mentioned district without the consent of the Local Government Board ; but, save as aforesaid, the Libraries Acts may be adopted for any library district. Amendment of 52 Viet., c. 9, s. 3.—7. Section three of the Public Libraries Acts Amendment Act, 1889, shall be extended so as to enable any library authority, with the consent of the voters and of the Charity Commissioners, to agree for the like purposes as in that section mentioned wTith the governing body of any library established or maintained out of funds subject to the jurisdiction of the Charity Commissioners, and situate in or near the library district, and the inhabitants of such library district shall be entitled to use the said library so long as the agreement shall continue in force, and the other provisions of that section shall apply. Power to grant Charity Lands for Library Purposes.—8. Any person holding land for ecclesiastical, parochial, or charitable purposes may, subject as hereinafter provided, grant, convey, or enfranchise by way of gift, sale, or exchange for any of the purposes of the Libraries Acts, any quantity of such land, not exceeding in any one case one acre, in any manner vested in such person. Provided that no ecclesiastical property shall be granted or conveyed for such purposes without the consent of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for England; that no parochial property shall be so granted or conveyed save by the guardians of the Poor Law Union comprising the parish to which the property belongs, or without the consent of the Local Government Board ; and that no other charitable property shall be so granted or conveyed without the consent of the Charity Commissioners ; and the land taken in exchange or the moneys received for such sale shall be held on the same trusts as the land exchanged or sold. Provided also that land situated in the metropolis or in any town of over twenty thousand inhabitants which is held on trusts to be preserved as an open space, or on trusts which prohibit building thereon, shall not be granted or conveyed for the purposes of this Act. Any land granted or conveyed to any library authority under this section may be held by such authority without any licence in mortmain. Extension of 18 & 19 Viet., c. 70, s. 18, to the Metropolis.—9. The power conferred upon the board of any Improvement Act district by section eighteen of the Public Libraries Act, 1885, as amended by the Public Libraries Acts Amendment Act, 1887, of appropriating for the purposes of the first-mentioned Act any lands vested in them shall extend574 Public Libraries. to the vestry of any parish in the metropolis, and to the Board of Works of any district therein, provided that such Act shall have been adopted in such parish or district. Definitions.—10. For the purposes of this Act—The Expression “ Libraries Acts ” means this Act and the Acts with which this Act is to be construed as one: The expression “library districtv means any district for which the Libraries Acts may, subject to the provisions of this Act, be adopted: The expression “district authority” means the body or person whose duty it would have been, but for the passing of this Act, to convene a public meeting in any library district under the Libraries Acts: The expression “county electors” means the persons registered as county electors under the County Electors Act, 1888. 51 Viet., c. 10, Repeal.—11. The enactments specified in the Second Schedule to this Act are hereby repealed to the extent in the third column of that schedule mentioned, without prejudice to anything done in pursuance of those enactments. Short Title and Construction.—12. This Act may be cited as the Public Libraries Acts Amendment Act, 1890, and this Act and the Public Libraries (England) Acts, 1855 to 1889, may be collectively cited as the Public Libraries (England) Acts, 1855 to 1890. This Act shall be construed as one with the Public Libraries (England) Acts, 1855 to 1889. Extent of Act.—13. This Act shall not extend to Scotland or Ireland. SCHEDULES.—First Schedule. Regulations for ascertaining the opinion of the voters in a library district. For the purposes of these regulations the expression “presiding officer ” means, in the city of London or any borough, the Lord Mayor, or mayor, or a person appointed by such Lord Mayor or mayor respectively, in any Improvement Act? district, or Local Government district, the chairman of the commissioners or board, or a person appointed by him, and elsewhere a person appointed by the district authority to act as presiding officer. Procedure by Voting Papers.—1. The district authority shall before the day appointed for the issuing of the voting papers, provide the presiding officer with a copy of the burgess roll or county register, as the case may be, or of such part or parts thereof as shall contain the names of all the voters in the library district. 2. On the day appointed for issuing the voting papers the presiding officer shall send by post or cause to be delivered to every voter at his address appearing in the roll or register a voting paper in the form contained in Part III. of this schedule or to the like effect. 3. Every voting paper shall bear the number of the voter on the roll or register, as the case may be, and shall contain directions to the voter, in accordance with these regulations, as to the day on which and the hours within which the voting paper is to be collected or sent, and as to the place at which, if sent, it will be received. 4. The district authority shall, before the issue of the voting papers, appoint such a number of competent persons as may be necessary to collect and receive the voting papers and to assist in the scrutiny thereof on such terms and for such remuneration as may be reasonable, and shall also appoint a convenient place within the district at which the voting papers are to be received, but the district authority shall not be required toAppendix //. 575 collect any voting papers which have been sent by them to addresses beyond the limits of the district. 5. Voting papers shall be collected between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. of the third day after that on which they were issued. Such day is hereinafter in these regulations referred to as the polling day, and such last-mentioned hour is hereinafter referred to as the “ conclusion of the poll.” 6. A voting paper shall not after collection be delivered up to any person except the presiding officer or a person appointed to receive voting papers. 7. The persons appointed to collect the voting papers shall, either before or as soon as may be after the conclusion of the poll, deliver the voting papers collected by them to the presiding officer or to a person appointed to receive the same. 8. A voting paper may be sent by prepaid post or by hand to the presiding officer at the place appointed by the district authority for the receipt thereof, so that it be received by the presiding officer at such appointed place before the conclusion of the poll. Voting papers, except those collected by persons appointed by the district authority, shall not be received at the appointed place after the conclusion of the poll. 9. Every person appointed to collect voting papers shall be appointed in writing by the district authority, and shall carry such writing with him while employed in the collection, and shall show it to any voter who may require him to do so. If any person so appointed fails to comply with this regulation, or if any unauthorized person fraudulently receives or induces any voter to part with a voting paper, such person shall be guilty of a misdemeanour, and liable, on conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds, or to both imprisonment and fine. 10. A voting paper which contains the answer “yes ” or “no ” to any question put to the voters, and is duly signed, shall be deemed to be a valid voting paper with respect to that question. A voting paper shall be deemed to be duly signed if signed by the voter with his full name or ordinary signature. 11. Where any voter is unable to write he may cause his voting paper to be filled up by another person. In such case he shall attach his mark to the voting paper, and such mark shall be attested by such other person, who shall sign his name and append his address thereto. A voting paper to which such mark is attached, and which is duly attested, shall be deemed to be duly signed. 12. Any person fabricating a voting paper, or presenting or returning a fabricated voting paper, knowing that the same does not bear the true answer or signature of the voter to whom it was sent or intended to be sent, shall be guilty of personation, and liable to the penalties of that offence, as provided by the Ballot Act, 1872. 13. The presiding officer shall, as soon as may be after the conclusion of the poll, proceed to a scrutiny of the voting papers, and shall compare the same with his copy of the roll or register, and ascertain how far the voting papers have been duly signed by the voters. 14. A question put to the voters shall be deemed to be answered and determined in the affirmative or negative, according as the majority of valid voting papers returned contain the answer “ yes ” or “no ” to that question. 15. Immediately on the conclusion of the sciutiny the presiding officer576 Public Libraries. shall report to the district authority the number of voters who have voted “ yes ” or “ no ” respectively to each question put to them, and the number of voting papers which are invalid. 16. The presiding officer shall seal up in separate packets the valid and invalid voting papers, and shall transmit them, together with his report, to the district authority. 17. Upon receiving the report of the presiding officer the district authority shall cause the result of the poll to be made public in such manner as they shall think fit. III.—Form of Voting Paper. Public Libraries Act. Borough (Parish or other Library District) of No. (Here insert number of voter in borough roll or county register, as the case may be.) Question 1 Are you in favour of the adoption of the Libraries Act for the borough (or parish, &c.) of Answer 1 (To be filled in “.Yes” or “No”). [To be omitted if Libraries Acts already adopted.] Question 2 Are you in favour of the rate being limited to one halfpenny in the pound ? Or to three farthings, or of the existing limitation of the rate under the Libraries Acts being removed, or of the existing limitation to one halfpenny being raised to three farthings, as the case may require. Answer 2 (To be filled in “Yes” or “No”). [To be omitted if no question stated in the requisition as to limitation of rate.] Question 3 Are you in favour of an agreement being made with (here designate the body or bodies, according to section three of the Public Libraries Acts Amendment Act, 1889, or section seven of this Act) for the purpose of (briefly state objects of proposed agreement). Answer 3 (To be filled in “Yes” or “No”). [To be omitted if no such question raised.] Signature of Voter. 1. This voting paper will be collected by an authorized collector between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. on day, the 18 (insert polling day), or may be sent by prepaid post or by hand, addressed to (state name or designation of presiding officer, and place appointed by the district authority). If it is sent it must be received at such address before 8 p.m. on the above-mentioned day. 2. You may require the collector to show his authority in writing. No authority is valid unless it is (signed by A.B., or sealed, or as the district authority may direct). Appendix II. Second Schedule. 577 Year and Chapter. Title of Act. Extent of Repeal. 18 & 19 Yict. c. 70 The Public Libraries (England) Act, 1855. Section eight, from “ Provided always ” to . the end of the section. Section twenty-three. 40 & 41 Yict. c. 54 The Public Libraries Amendment Act, 1877. The whole Act. 50 & 51 Yict. c. 22 The Public Libraries Acts Amendment Act, 1887. Section eleven. MUSEUMS AND GYMNASIUMS ACT, 1891. 54 & 55 Vict., Chap. 22. An Act to enable Urban Authorities to provide and maintain Museums and Gymnasiums. (July 3rd, 1891. Be it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords spiritual and temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows : Short Title.—1. This Act may be cited as the Museums and Gymnasiums Act, 1891. Extent of Act.—2. (1.) This Act shall extend to any district where the same is adopted as hereinafter provided, but only so far as the adoption extends. (2.) This Act shall not extend to Scotland or the administrative county of London. Adoption of Act.—3. (1.) This Act may be adopted by any urban authority for their district either wholly or so far as it relates to museums only or to gymnasiums only. (2.) The adoption shall be by a resolution passed at a meeting of the urban authority, and one month at least before such meeting special notice of the meeting and of the intention to propose such resolution shall be given to every member of the authority, and the notice shall be deemed to have been duly given to a member of it, if it is either— (ia.) Given in the mode in which notices to attend meetings of the authority are usually given ; or (b.) Where there is no such mode, then signed by the clerk of the authority, and delivered to the member or left at his usual or last known place of abode in England, or forwarded by post in a prepaid letter, addressed to the member at his usual or last known place of abode in England. (3.) Such resolution shall be published by advertisement in some one or more newspapers circulating within the district of the authority, and by causing notice thereof to be affixed to the principal doors of every churchPublic Libraries. 578 and chapel in the place to which notices are usually fixed, and otherwise-in such manner as the authority think sufficient for giving notice thereof to all persons interested, and shall come into operation at a time not less than one month after the first publication of the advertisement of the resolution as the authority may by the resolution fix, and upon its coming: into operation the Act shall extend to that district. (4.) A copy of the resolution shall be sent to the Local Government Board. (5.) A copy of the advertisement shall be conclusive evidence of the resolution having been passed, unless the contrary be shown ; and no objection to the effect of the resolution, on the ground that notice of the intention to propose the same was not duly given, or on the ground that the resolution was not sufficiently published, shall be made after three months from the date of the first advertisement. Power to provide Museum and Gymnasium.—4. An urban authority may provide and maintain museums for the reception of local antiquities or other objects of interest, and gymnasiums with all the apparatus ordinarily used therewith, and may erect any buildings, and generally do all things necessary for the provision and maintenance of such museums and gymnasiums. Admission to Museum.—5. A museum provided under this Act shall be open to the public not less than three days in every week free of charge, but subject thereto an urban authority may admit any peison or class of persons thereto as they think fit, and may charge fees for such admission or may grant the use of the same or of any room therein, either gratuitously or for payment, to any person for any lecture or exhibition, or for any purpose of education or instruction, and the admission to the museum or room the use of which is so granted may be either with or without payment as directed by the urban authority, or with the consent of the urban authority by the person to whom the use of the museum or room is granted. Admission to Gymnasium.—6. (1.) A gymnasium provided under this Act shall be open to the public free of charge for not less than two hours a day during five days in every week. (2.) Subject thereto the urban authority— {a.) may regulate the admission of the public to such gymnasium, either by classes or ptherwise as they think fit, and may charge fees for such admission ; and (b.) may, for not more than two hours in each day, grant the exclusive use thereof to any person or body of persons for the purpose of gymnastic exercises, for such payment and on such terms and conditions as they think fit. (3.) An urban authority may (for not more than twenty-four days in one year nor more than six consecutive days) close the gymnasium for use as a gymnasium, and grant the use of the same gratuitously or for payment to any person for the purpose of any lecture, exhibition, public meeting, entertainment, or other public purpose, and the admission on such days shall be either with or without payment as directed by the urban authority, or with the consent of the urban authority by the person to whom the use of the same is granted. Regulations and Bye-laws.—7. (1.) An urban authority may make regulations for all or any of the following matters, namely :—579 Appendix II. (a.) For fixing the days of the week or hours of the day, as the case may be, during which the museum or gymnasium is to be open to the public free of charge : (b.) For giving special facilities to students for the use of the museum : (c.) For fixing the fees to be paid for the admission of persons to the museum and for the use thereof either by students or in any other special manner: (d.) For regulating the use of the gymnasium either by classes or otherwise, and fixing the scale of fees to be paid for such use : (e.) For prescribing conditions on which the exclusive use of the museum, or any room therein, or of the gymnasium is granted in any case : (/.) For determining the duties of the instructor, officers, and servants of the urban authority in connection with a museum or gymnasium : {g.) Generally for regulating and managing the museum or gymnasium. (2.) The urban authority may make bye-laws for regulating the conduct of persons admitted to the museum or gymnasium, and may by any such bye-law provide for the removal from the museum or gymnasium of any person infringing any such bye-law by any officer of the urban authority or by any constable. All the provisions with respect to bye-laws contained in sections one hundred and eighty-two to one hundred and eighty-six of the Public Health Act, 1875, and any enactment amending or extending those sections, shall apply to all bye-laws from time to time made by an urban authority under the powers of this Act. Closing of Museum or Gymnasium for Kepaira.—8. An urban authority may at such time as they think fit close a museum or gymnasium provided by them for repairs, and shall give a fortnight’s notice of their intention to close the same by affixing a notice to that effect on the door of the museum or gymnasium, as the case may be, or otherwise as they think fit, Appointment of Officers and Servants.—9. An urban authority may appoint and pay such officers and servants as they think fit for the purpose of a museum or gymnasium provided under this Act, and may employ and pay instructors in connection with a gymnasium. Expenses and Borrowing—10. (1.) The fees and other money received by an urban authority under this Act shall be applied in defraying the expenses of the museum or gymnasium in respect of which they are received. (2.) So far as such expenses are not so defrayed, they shall be defrayed as part of the general expenses of the execution by the urban authority of the Public Health Acts, (3.) An urban authority may borrow for the purposes of this Act in like manner and subject to the like conditions as for the purpose of defraying the said general expenses, and for that purpose sections two hundred and thirty-three, two hundred and thirty-four, and two hundred and thirty-six to two hundred and thirty-nine, both inclusive, of the Public Health Act, 1875 (relating to borrowing), and sections two hundred and forty-two and two hundred and forty-three of the same Act (relating to loans by the Public Works Loan Commissioners), as amended by section two of the Public Works Loans Act, 1879, shall apply. (4.) Separate accounts shall be kept of the receipts and expenditure of an urban authority in connection with any museum or gymnasium estab-Public Libraries. 580 lished under this Act, and such accounts shall be audited in like manner and with the like power to the officer auditing the same, and with the like incidents and consequences as the accounts of the urban authority are for the time being required to be audited by law. (5.) The amount expended by an urban authority under this Act shall not in any year exceed the amount produced by a rate of a halfpenny in the pound for a museum, and the like amount for a gymnasium established under this Act. Acquisition of Land.—11. (1.) Land for the purposes of this Act may be acquired by an urban authority in like manner as if those purposes were purposes of the Public Health Act, 1875, and sections one hundred and seventy-five to one hundred and seventy-eight, both inclusive, of that Act (relating to the purchase of land) shall apply accordingly, but no land shall be so acquired otherwise than by agreement. (2.) An urban authority may, with the consent of the Local Government Board, appropriate, for the purposes of this Act, any land which may be for the time being vested in them, or at their disposal. Power to Sell.—12. (1.) Where it appears to an urban authority that a museum or gymnasium which has been established under this Act for seven years or upwards is unnecessary or too expensive, they may, with the consent of the Local Government Board, sell the same for the best price that can reasonably be obtained for the same, and shall convey the same accordingly. (2.) Any moneys arising from such sale shall be applied towards the repayment of any money borrowed for the purpose of the museum or gymnasium sold, and, so far as not required for that purpose, shall be applied to any purpose to which capital moneys are properly applicable, and which may be approved by the Local Government Board. Powers of Act cumulative.—13. All powers given to an urban authority under this Act shall be deemed to be in addition to and not in derogation of any other powers conferred by Act of Parliament, law, or custom, and such other powers may be exercised in the same manner as if this Act had not been passed. Interpretation.—14. In this Act the expression “ urban authority ” means an urban sanitary authority under the Public Health Acts, and the expression “district” means an urban sanitary district under those Acts. Application of Act to Ireland.—15. In the application of this Act to Ireland the following provisions shall have effect:— (1.) The expression “Public Health Acts” shall include the Public Health (Ireland) Act, 1878, and the Acts amending the same ; (2.) The Public Health (Ireland) Act, 1878, shall be substituted for the Public Health Act, 1875, and in particular a reference to sections one hundred and seventy-five to one hundred and seventy-eight of the Public Health Act, 1875, shall be taken to be a reference to sections two hundred and two to two hundred and four of the Public Health (Ireland) Act, 1878, and a reference to sections one hundred and eighty-two to one hundred and eighty-six of the Public Health Act, 1875, shall be taken to be a reference to sections two hundred and nineteen to two hundred and twenty*three of the Public Health (Ireland) Act, 1878, and a reference to sections two-hundred and thirty-three, two hundred and thirty-four, and, two hundred andAppendix III. 581 thirty-six to two hundred and thirty-nine, both inclusive, of the Public Health Act, 1875, shall be taken to be a reference to sections two hundred and thirty-seven, two hundred and thirty-eight, and two hundred and forty to two hundred and forty-three, both inclusive, respectively, of the Public Health (Ireland) Act, 1878, and a reference to sections two hundred and forty-two and two hundred and forty-three of the Public Health Act, 1875, shall be taken to be a reference to section two hundred and forty-six of the Public Health (Ireland) Act, 1878 ; (3.) The Local Government Board for Ireland shall be substituted for the Local Government Board ; (4.) A reference to a place of abode in England shall be construed to be a reference to a place of abode in Ireland. APPENDIX III. FORMS OF REQUISITION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES. It is not deemed necessary to give these in the present issue. The form need be but very simple, and yet no two legal gentlemen drawing it up would be likely to use exactly the same phraseology. It would naturally begin, “We, the undersigned, being burgesses (or ratepayers) of , do hereby request you. to issue voting papers in accordance with the Public Libraries Acts, 1855, and all Acts amending same,” &c. _____ A more complicated requisition is that for Scotland, and is here given : FORM OF REQUISITION FOR SCOTLAND. In ordinary Burghs the address would run thus :— To A. B. Esquire, Provost (or Chief Magistrate) of the Burgh of [The undernoted form of a Requisition to the Sheriff is from Sheriff Lees’ Handbook of Sheriff Court Styles] :— Unto the Honourable the Sheriff of the County of , or any of his substitutes:— My Lord,—We, the undersigned, being ten householders in the parish of , require you, in terms of “ The Public Libraries (Scotland) Act, 1867,” to convene a meeting of the householders of said parish, for the purpose of considering whether said Act, as amended by Acts passed in the years 1871, 1877, and 1887, shall be adopted by said parish ; and to take the other steps provided by said Acts to ascertain the opinion of the majority of the ratepayers of said parish in regard to the adoption of said Act, so amended, and to give effect to such opinion, if favourable to its adoption.—We are, Your Lordship’s obedient servants. FORM OF PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT FOR BOROUGHS. Borough of Public Libraries Acts, 1855, and all Acts amending the same. Whereas by a request in writing duly signed by the requisite number of ratepayers of the borough of residing in the said borough, I have been requested to take the opinions of the majority of the ratepayers of the said borough by the issue of a voting paper to each ratepayer, and the subsequent collection and scrutiny thereof, upon thePublic Libraries. 582 question whether the Public Libraries Act, 1855, and all other Acts amending the same, shall be adopted for the borough of Now therefore I give notice as follows :— 1. I shall cause a voting paper to be delivered, by persons appointed by me for that purpose, to all persons enrolled as burgesses of the said borough, at the place of abode stated in the Burgess Roll of each such person, on 2. Any person enrolled as a burgess of the said borough who shall not have received such voting paper on that day, will be entitled on personal application to the town clerk, at his office in the Town Hall, on any of the three following days, between the hours of 10 in the morning and 4 in the afternoon, to receive a voting paper and to fill up the same in the town clerk’s presence, and then and there to deliver the same to him. 3. The vbting papers will be called for and collected by the persons appointed by me for that purpose, on , between the hours of 8 in the forenoon and 7 in the afternoon, and if any voting paper duly delivered shall not have been collected, through the default of the person appointed to collect the same, the voter in person may deliver such voting paper to me at the Town Hall, before on the day of , 18—. 4. The scrutiny of such voting papers will commence at the Town Hall, in the said borough, on the day of , at 10 o’clock in the forenoon, and be continued until completed. Dated this day of , 18—. Mayor. Where intimidation is being practised the following bill should be circulated:— Warning.—Whereas the promoters of the Public Library movement are informed that certain voting papers have been filled up, and what purports to be the names or marks of the voters written thereon, at times when such voters were not present, and without the sanction of such voters: Now this is to give notice to all whom it may concern that the promoters will object to all such voting papers at the time of the counting, and further, will institute proceedings against the person or persons (whose names are now or may hereafter be in their possession) who have been guilty, either as principals or accessories, of forgery as aforesaid. Notice.—Forgery is a felony, and punished by penal servitude for life; the knowingly uttering a forged document is punished as forgery. A test case has been submitted for legal opinion, and declared to be a forgery. Legal proceedings were instituted against the offender. The promoters will be obliged by intimation of any papers that have been filled up against the wish or in the absence of the voters. CERTIFICATE OF BILL POSTER. Local Board. I hereby certify that on the day of , 189—, I duly posted copies of the annexed notice (marked A) on the principal doors of the following churches and chapels in the above-mentioned district namely :—Appendix III. 583 On the same day I also posted copies of the said notice in the other places in the said district where public notices are usually posted. As witness my hand this day of , 18—. (Signed) PUBLIC LIBRARY MOVEMENT. Instructions to Canvassers and others. [Useful where there is a large number of workers.] 1. You are entrusted with the duties of ascertaining how every voter in your district intends to vote on this question; of seeing that every voter who is in favour of a Public Library does vote; of endeavouring to secure the adhesion of every doubtful voter, and of trying to convert any voter opposed to the library, or to, at least, obtain a promise of neutrality. 2. Remember that the Committee regards you as personally responsible for the voters in your district. You must obtain the assistance of as many persons to help you as necessary. Select those best acquainted with your district. 3. From time to time report the result of your work to the Ward Chairman. If you require further assistance do not fail to ask for it. 4. Unpledged or doubtful voters, and the back streets, courts, and terraces in your district, should receive very special and careful attention. 5. Keep yourself well supplied with the various leaflets issued by the 'Committee, and leave one or more at every house in your district. They may be obtained at the Central Committee Room. 6V Any instances of improper practices on the part of our opponents, especially intimidation of voters, and threats to raise the rent, should be «carefully noted in writing, and at once sent to , with the names and addresses of any witnesses. 7. Carefully ascertain whether any voter in your district is unable to personally fill up his voting paper. Offer to fill it up for him, and witness his mark thereto. Be sure that you closely follow the directions printed on the voting paper. fi. The Central Committee Room is at and is open from a.m. to p.m. Any information or help you may require may be there obtained. 9. The following arguments in favour of a Public Library may be useful to you. Put them as clearly as you can to any doubtful voter in your district:— (a) The rate cannot exceed Id. in the £ on the ratable value of the voter’s premises. (&.) It is no more under the Public Libraries Acts in any town in England. (c.) This limit of Id. in the £ is fixed by Act of Parliament, unlike the School Board rate, which is not limited by any Act of Parliament. (d.) If the rent is 5s. a week, the rate will be Is. a year, or Id. a month. If the rent is 4s. a week, the rate will be less than lOd. a year. If the rent is 2s. 6d. a week the rate will only be Jd, a month. Other examples—584 Public Libraries. Library Rate. Rental per Year. Per Year. Per Quarter. Per Month. £ 8 8d. 2d. id. £10 lOd. 2|d. |d. £12 Is. Od. 3d. Id. £16 Is. 4d. 4d. lid. £20 Is. 8d. 5d. l§d. £24 2s. Od. 6d. 2d. £30 2s. 6d. 7id. 2id. £36 3s. Od. 9d. 3d. (e.) The voter and his family will have the use of the reference library, the use of the newsroom, and the use of books at home. (/.) Who use the library ? In Leeds, seven working-men to one professional man. The same is the case elsewhere. {g.) Will the library be much used ? In Bradford and Nottingham 3,000 people visit the library daily in each town; that is over ly000,000 a year. {h.) It is said that the library will be filled with “ trashy novels.” This is untrue. Remember that worthless novels will not be admitted by the Library Committee. (i.) It is said that books are so cheap that the working man can afford to buy them. How many books can a working man buy for the Is. which he will pay in a year to the library rate if his rent amounts to 5s. a week ? (j.) Existing libraries are not injured. In most cases the shares go up, not down. (Jc.) It is said that men, especially the unemployed, will frequent the newsroom instead of the public-houses. So much the better ! Not a single Yote must be lost. Let work, good honest work be your watchword. Every householder on the Burgess List will have one vote. N.B.—The voting papers will be delivered on t and will be collected on .You must use your utmost endeavours to induce the voters to fill them up in favour of the library as soon as possible after the delivery. [Suitable for Handbill to distribute among Borrowers.] HOW TO USE THE PUBLIC LIBRARY. Text-Books as a Basis of Reading.—In much of your use of the library you will do well to make your text-books the basis. That is, you will feel an interest in some subject which is touched upon in your lesson, and will wish for more information about it than is found there. Such information you can find in some larger and more complete work in the library, which, perhaps, may be quoted or in some way referred to in your text-book. Do not undertake to read all of the works thus referred to, but make yourselves masters of what you do read and consult. Use of Reference Books.—Become familiar, also, with the use of works of reference* particularly such as are arranged in dictionary or alphabetical form. These are not designed to be read through, but to be consulted forAppendix III. 585 information which one part of the volume may contain, independently of all other parts. In the same way, you should form the habit of using maps and atlases when reading any work which is concerned with the location of places. Beading for an Essay.—In making use of the library for the preparation of an essay, seek for that which will be suggestive. That is, when you come to write, let it be something which you have thought out for yourselves from the statements you consulted, rather than something transferred bodily to your pages, with no mental effort. You will find yourselves just so much stronger mentally for every effort you make to think for yourselves. Habits of Reading.—Strive to acquire wholesome habits of reading, and to maintain them. Come to the library with a definite book or subject in mind, rather than with an aimless desire for “some book—na matter what.” Concentrate your attention on the subject you are reading about, for it is worse than useless to dawdle through it. Read carefully and thoroughly, so as to be able to digest one subject in your mind before passing to another. Do not form the habit of returning your books every two or three days. Such a practice, if persisted in, will make your reading a morbid habit, rather than a benefit. Imaginative Literature.—It is not intended that you should be limited in your reading to books which simply contain information. It will be well for you to become familiar with the best works of poetry, fiction, and other departments of literature in which the imagination is the chief element. Ask your teacher for suggestions about books of this class. He will be glad to direct you to some work which you will find it a positive benefit to read. Do not forget, however, that, of all the powers of the mind, the imagination is one that is most easily abused, and do not allow this class of reading to claim too much of your time. Excessive Beading.—A proper ambition is commendable in reading, as in other things, but there is nothing meritorious in the mere act of reading, apart from any good results. Remember that one book, thoroughly digested, is better than twenty quickly hurried through, and then as quickly forgotten. Nor should your reading interfere with your ordinary school duties, but be made supplementary to them. So, also, it should not interfere with your regular outdoor exercise. Some pupils, certainly, will not need this caution, but it is of great importance that it should be heeded by those who do need it. Assistance.—While you will gain much in making yourselves independent of assistance in the simpler matters of study and research, do not hesitate to ask for help when you really need it. The librarian and his assistants will be very glad to give you help or suggestions on any matter about which you are seeking for information, and you will find them interested to help you. Reviewing.—It will be well for you occasionally to review your reading for a series of weeks or months, noting down what new ideas you have gained from the books you have read, and noticing whether your advance has been, on the whole, in the right direction. If it has not been, begin at once to correct the error. It will be useful practice for you to enter in a note-book, from time to time, such facts or memoranda as you consider of special value to you. The very act of writing will tend to fix them in your memory, even though you should never look at the memorandum again. Life is too short to read many books through but once,Public Libraries. 586 but you will occasionally find a book which so impresses you that you wish to go through it a second time. You will be surprised to find not only how your interest is almost doubled on the second reading, but how the two views you have obtained of the book, supplementing each other, have served to fix an image of its main ideas in your mind. In brief, then— 1. Begin by basing your reading on your school text-books. 2. Learn the proper use of reference books. 3. Use books that you may obtain and express ideas of your own. 4. Acquire wholesome habits of reading. 5. Use imaginative literature, but not immoderately. 6. Do not try to cover too much ground. 7. Do not hesitate to ask for assistance and suggestions, at the library. 8. See that you make your reading a definite gain to you, in some direction. [The foregoing is a series of suggestions by Mr. W. E. Foster, of Providence, R.I., U.S.A.] [Would make up into a veky neat and effective four-page 8vo Circular.] CIRCULAR OF INFORMATION CONCERNING THE PUBLIC LIBRARY. Note.—This circular is designed by the Library Committee to stimulate the inhabitants of the Borough to make greater use of the advantages the Public Library offers. All persons interested in the work of the library will help the committee by handing this circular to any acquaintance they may know to be unaware of the facilities given for reading and study. Copies of this circular, for distribution, may be obtained at the library. Public Library, Street. Lending Department. Open daily 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. This department of the library is formed for the issue of books for home reading and contains over volumes, every one available for issue to borrowers. The works comprise a liberal and wide selection of the best literature of all classes, and recent books of interest are constantly being added. Every person wishing to borrow books has only to obtain a library ticket entitling them to take books home. The committee has placed as few restrictions as possible in the way of obtaining this, and it is only necessary that a guarantee form, properly filled up, with the signatures of two ratepayers of the borough, should be left at the library. The printed guarantee forms may be had gratis at the library. Call, or send for one. There is also attached a Juvenile Lending Library with some volumes of literature for the young, containing many of the best modern books for boys and girls. Readers’ Proposal Book.—In this book, it is open to readers andAppendix III. 587 borrowers to enter the particulars of any book tiley may deem desirable to be placed in the library. These proposals are submitted to the committee at each meeting. The librarian and his assistants are always ready to give readers any reasonable help in searching for books on particular or special subjects. Reference Library, News Room, &c. Open daily, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. This department is open freely to everyone. The only requisite to obtain the most valuable books for perusal within the building, is the filling up of an application form for each book wanted, with title and number of book required, and name and address of reader. The Reference Library is not quite a repository for dictionaries, directories, almanacs, &c., which it is sometimes thought a reference library is, but it is also a collection of the most valuable works in all branches of literature, which, on account of their rarity or value, cannot be issued for home reading, or have some other reasons for being consulted within the building only. There are more than volumes, many of them very beautiful works on the fine arts, and the best books on ornamental design, architecture, engineering, &c. The library is rich in general English topographical works, county histories, &c., and has a particularly good collection of local books and works on Shakespeare. News Room.—Displayed on stands in the reading-room is a varied selection of the leading newspapers, London, local, and provincial. Magazines and Periodicals. —A comprehensive selection of magazine and periodical literature is taken regularly, including the leading trade and technical journals, the popular monthly and quarterly magazines and reviews. Students’ Room.—There is also a separate room for students, for which the ticket of admission may be easily obtained. [Then would follow prices and particulars of catalogues, and the names of the librarian, assistants, and library committee.]588 Public Libraries. FORM OF BEQUEST. I bequeath out of such part of my personal Estate as may by Law be bequeathed for such purposes, to the Mayor, Alderman, and Burgesses of the Borough of , in the County of , the sum of , free from Legacy Duty, for the benefit of the Public Libraries of the said Borough, to be expended in such way as they may deem expedient; and I direct that the Receipt of the Town Cleric of the said Borough shall be an effectual discharge for the same Legacy.INDEX. A Aberdeen Public Library, 236 Accounts of Public Library Commissioners, 568, 569 ----audit of, 343, 344 Acts, Museums and Gymnasiums. See Museums and Gymnasiums Acts. ----Public Libraries. See Public Libraries Acts. Adaptation of Old Buildings, 381 Adelaide, Public Library in, 516 Administration of Public Libraries, 409 Adoption of the Public Libraries Acts, how to bring about the, 76 et seq. ----an expenses fund desirable, 84 ----by a poll, 79 ----by public meeting, 78 ----canvassing desirable, 87 ----each step taken to be legal, 84 ----expenses as to the, 436 ----forms of requisition, 581 ----no politics as to the, 84 ----notice of poll, 87 ----number of adoptions to 1891,1 ----simple majority enough, 87 ----usual opponents of the, 85 ----voting paper, form of, 576 ----voting papers, delivery of, 88, 574 ----year to elapse between each vote as to the, 571 Advertisements in catalogues, 406 Africa, South, Public Libraries in, 522 Airdrie, library movement in, 238 Alexandria, ancient library of, 3 Alloa, library movement in, 238 Altrincham, library movement in, 151 America, number of Public Libraries in, 4, 40, 524 Ancient libraries, 3, 46 Arbroath, library movement in, 262, 502 Architecture of libraries. See Building, and Plans. Army recruiting and Public Libraries, 125 Ashton-under-Lyne, library movement in, 92 Aston Manor, library movement in, 152 Astor Library, New York, 540 Audit of library accounts, 344 ----stamps for, 345 Australia, Public Libraries in, 514 Austrian libraries, State aided, 3 Average cost of library books, 403 Axon (W. E.) on Manchester libraries, 120 B Balfour (Rt. Hon. A. J.) and Hertford Public Library, 172 Banbridge, library movement in, 282 Barking, library movement in, 203 Barnet (Herts), library movement in, 504 Barnsley, library movement in, 93590 Index. * Barrow-in-Furness, library movement in, 95 Barry (Wales), adoption of Acts, 269 Bass (M. T.) and Derby Library, 168 Bath, library movement in, 426 Battersea, library movement in, 297 Bebington, library movement in, 446 Bedford, library movement in, 153 Belfast, library movement in, 283 ------ librarian candidates at, 284 Bequests to libraries, form of, 588 Berlin Library, 3 Bermondsey, library movement in, 299 “ Best books guide,” 401 Bethnal Green Library, 504 Bibliography, handbooks of, 408 Bideford, library movement in, 221 Bill-poster, certificate of, as to adoption of Acts, 578 Bilston, library movement in, 154 Binding. See Bookbinding. Bingley Public Library, 96 Birkdale (and Southport) Public Library, 97 Birkenhead, library movement in, 154 Birmingham, library movement in, 155 ----rate in, 157 ----reading of fiction at, 160 ----reference catalogue, 158 ----Shakespeare’s Library, 159 ----students’ room in, 36 ----Sunday opening at, 159 ----thefts of books at, 160 Blackburn Library, 97 Blackpool Library, 96 Blind, books for, in Public Libraries, 372 Bloomsbury and Holborn, library movement in, 302 Blue-books. See Official Publications Board Schools, their effect in the future, 10 ----------and Public Libraries, 451 ----------and Public Library books, 231 ----------as branch Public Libraries, 448 Bodleian Library, 48 Bookbinding, 419 ----and injury from gas, 387 Bookcases. See Shelving Book storage, 383 Books, average cost of, 403 ----cutting of, 410 ----disinfection of, 371 ----duplicates, 361 ----gifts of, 361 ----mutilation of, 369 ----purchase of, 361, 400 ----rare, in Public Libraries, 42 ----selection of, 402 ----shelving of, 409 ----stamping of, 410 Booksellers and Public Libraries, 31, 38, 205 Book-supports, 398 Bootle, library movement in, 101 Bolton, library movement in, 98 Borrowing under the Acts. See Loans Boston (U.S.A.), libraries in, 533 Boys’ reading-room, 385 Bradford, public library movement in, 102 Branch libraries, 369 Brechin, library movement in, 243 Brentford, library movement in, 203 Brierley Hill, library movement in, 154 Bright (Rt. Hon. J.) at Manchester Public Library, 71 ----on the 1850 Bill, 63 Brighton, library movement in, 204 Briscoe (J. P.) and Nottingham Library, 190 ----and Carlton Library, 164 Bristol Public Library claimed as earliest in England, 50 ----library movement in, 221 ----periodicals at, 225 British Museum Library, 3, 58, 493 ---------- catalogue of the library, 498 ---------plan of the reading-room, 495 Bromley-by-Bow, library movement in, 302 Bromwich (West), library movement in, 199 Brown (J. D.) and Clerkenwell, 314 Buda Pesth Library, 3 Buildings adapted for libraries, 381Index. Buildings, new libraries, 382 ---------Mr. Mountford on, 384 —— See also Plans Burnley, library movement in, 426 Burton Latimer, library movement in, 427 Business books for library management, 399 Buxton, library movement in, 161 C Camberwell, library movement in, 303 Cambridge, library movement in, 163 ----college libraries, 47 ----free access to books in library, 41 Canada, Public Libraries in, 544 Canterbury, library movement in, 206 Canvassing for Public Library movement, 87, 583 Cardiff, Public Library movement in, 270 Carlyle, T., on need of Public Libraries, 9 Carnarvon, Public Library movement in, 273 Carnegie (A.) and Library at Aberdeen, 238 ----Ayr, 240 ----Dunfermline, 246 ----Edinburgh, 248, 254 ----Elgin, 252 ------ Fraserburgh, 264 ----gifts to Public Libraries, 530 ----Grangemouth, 238 ----Inverness, 255 ----Kirkwall, 256 ----Peterborough, 258 ----See Pittsburgh, 531 Card catalogue cases, 399 Carlisle, library movement in, 105 Carlton, library movement in, 164 Catalogues in local press, 362 ----of Public Libraries, 405 ----------advertisements in, 406 Cataloguing, 405 et seq. Chain Library at Wimborne, 49 Chairs for libraries, 396 Charity Commissioners and Public Libraries, 573 59i Chelsea, library movement in, 305 ----Keats collection in, 305 Cheltenham, library movement in, 225 Chesterfield, library movement in, 161 Chetham library, 51 Chicago, Public Libraries in, 544— 546 Children’s Library at Nottingham, 190 China, libraries in, 16 Chippenham, library movement in, 505 Chiswick, library movement in, 347 Clapham, library movement in, 308 Clarke (Sir Edward) on “Socialism and Public Libraries,” 27 Classification of books, 403 Clerkenwell, advertisements of library on street lamps, 295 ----library movement in, 311 ----litigation as to the poll, 312, 434 ----Skinner’s Company’s gift to, 314 Clitheroe and Over Darwen, library movement in, 105 Clubs (Workmen’s) and Public Libraries, 485 Coats (Sir Peter) and Paisley Library, 256 Colchester, library movement in, 427 ----adoption of Acts. See page xxxi. Coleraine, library movement in, 286 Colne, library movement in, 427 Colonies, gifts of books from, 46 Commissioners and committees of libraries, 90, 352, et seq. ----vestrymen, and non-vestrymen, 353, 355 Commissioners, election and retirement of, 568 ----meetings of, 568 ----notes for, 342 ----powers of as to rules, &c., 570 Committees (Library), some too large, 353 Concerts at Public Libraries, 201 Constantinople Library, 4592 Index. Continental libraries, 2 ----compared with British, 3 Copenhagen Library, 3 Cork, library movement in, 286 Corporation, definition of, 7 Counters for libraries, 392 Coventry, library movement in, 165 Cracow Library, 3 Crestadoro (Dr.) and Manchester Library, 120 Crime and education, 30 Croydon Library, movement in, 348 D Darlaston Library, 166 Darlington Library, movement in, 105 Denton Library, 107 Deptford Library, 346 Derby Library, 168 Dewey (M.) and system of press marks, 411 Dewsbury, library movement in, 108 Dickens (Charles) at Manchester Public Library, 71 Dilke (Sir C.) and Chelsea Library, 305 Discount off books, 401 Disinfection of books, 371-2 Doncaster, library movement in, 109 Douglas (Isle of Man) Library, 291 Dresden Library, 3 Dublin libraries, 287-8 Dumbarton, library movement in, 243 Dundalk Library, 288 Dundee Library, 244 Dunfermline Library, 245 Duplex Indicator, 395 E Ealing, library movement in, 349 Eastbourne, library movement in, 427 Ecclesiastical Commissioners and the Public Library Acts, 573 Edinburgh, library movement in, 247 Education in Great Britain, cost of, 13 ----“Free,” Mr. Goschen on, 18 ----minister of, wanted, 14 ---- technical versus Public Libraries, 479 ----versus crime, 9, 10, 30 Edwards (E.) on Public Libraries, 56 ----on Manchester Public Library, 120 ----his work, 58 Egyptian libraries, 3 Electric light in Public Libraries, 387 Elgin, library movement in, 252 Ennis, library movement in, 288 Epictetus, aphorism of, 19 Exeter, library movement in, 228 Exmouth, library movement in, 427 Expenses of library vote versus library, 567 Ewart (W. ) summary of his work, 61 “ Ewart Bill ” of 1850, 1, 55, et seq. F Falkirk, library movement in, 263 Fiction in Public Libraries, 26, 33 ----at Birmingham, 159 ----at Folkestone, 207 Fines on books, 365, 416 First library under the Acts, 68 Fittings for libraries, 389, et seq. Fleetwood Public Library, 95 Folkestone, library movement in, 206 Forfar, library movement in, 253 Formation of Public Libraries, 388 France, National Library at Paris, 3 Fraserburgh, library movement in, 264 “Free” Library, the word a misnomer, 15 Fulham, library movement in, 314 Funds of Public Libraries, 376 G Galashiels, Libraries, 254 Gas in Public libraries. See LightingIndex. 593 Gateshead-on-Tyne. See Lighting, 110 Gibbon (E.) and Want of Public Libraries, 56 Gifts to Public Libraries, 5, 6, 46 Gilstrap (Sir W.), gift to Newark, 181 Gladstone (W. E.)on State aid to libraries, 22 -----and Hawarden Library, 505 -----and St. Martin’s Library, 330 See Preface Glasgow, libraries in, 503 -----Acts rejected in, 264 Guildhall Public Library, London, 339 H Ham (West). See Stratford Hammersmith, library movement in, 315 Handsworth Library, 169 Hanley Library, 193 Harris Library at Preston, 135 Harrogate, library movement in, 111 Hartlepool (East) Library, 111 ----(West) Library, 112 Harvard Library (U.S.A.), 4 Harwich, library in, 506 Hastings, library movement in, 427 Haverfordwest, library movement in, 279 Hawarden, library in, 505 Heating of libraries, 387 Herbert (Hon. A.) on Taxation, 13 Hereford, library movement in, 171 Herschell (Sir J.), aphorism of, 19 Hertford, library movement in, 172 Hey wood (J.), gift to Kensington, 316 High Wycombe, library in, 506 Hinckley, library movement in, 174 Hindley, library movement in, 112 Holborn (London), library movement in, 302 Hove, Acts adopted in, 208 Hucknall Torkard, library movement in, 164 Hull, library movement in, 507 I Iddesleigh, Lord, and official records in Public Libraries, 43 Imperial expenditure, annual, 12 Indicators, 392, 395 Infection from books, alleged, 371 Insurance of libraries, 370 Intimidation during voting as to Library Acts, 90 Inverness, library movement in, 255 Ipswich, library movement in, 211 Ireland, library movement in, 281, et seq. Isleworth, library movement in, 428 Isle of Wight, library movement in, 428 Islington, library movement in, 346 J Jackson, Mr,, on Museums, 59 Japan, libraries in, 17 Jedburgh, library movement in, 267 Jevons (S.) on Public Libraries, 39 Jones (H.), and movement in Kensington, 316 Juvenile readers in Public Libraries, 40, 372 ----at Nottingham, 190 K Kendal, library movement in, 113 Kensington, library movement in, 316 ----Hey wood gift to, 516 ----periodical rack, 397 Kidderminster, library movement in, 176 Kingston-on-Thames, library movement in, 349 Kirkwall, library movement in, 256 “ Kirkwood ” tract on Public Libraries, 53 L Ladies as library assistants, 366 -----on library committees, 279 -----separate reading rooms for, 385, 386 38594 Index. Lambeth, charges as to voting papers in, 322 ----library movement in, 318 ----popularity of the libraries in, 17 ----rate raised from Jd. to Id., 321 Lands, buying and selling of, 570 Lavatories in Public Libraries, 386 Leamington, library movement in, 177 Lecture halls in Public Libraries, 385 Lectures and classes in Public Libraries, 470 Leeds, library movement in, 114 Leek, library movement in, 177 Leicester, library movement in, 178 Leigh, library movement in, 429 Leith, library movement in, 267 Lending libraries, 413, et seq. Lending library ledgers, 415 Lending library, legality of, 433 Leominster, library movement in, 171 Lewisham, library movement in, 323 Librarians as public officials, 35 ----qualifications, &c., 356—359 ----salaries, 357 Libraries, age of existing, 3 ----ancient and modern, 3 ----earliest in England, 49, 50 ----number of volumes in, 3 ----private, 5 ----relative size of, 3, 4 Libraries,public,arguments against, ---------------for, 20, et seq. ----------and booksellers, 38 ----------arrangement of, 389 ----------a source of recreation, 36 ----------Committee, Report of, 55 ----------cost of, in Great Britain, 13 ----------Eastern Counties, 203 ----------first under the Acts, 68 ----------future of, 422 ----------in America, 524 ----------in Australia, 514 ----------in Ireland, 281 ----------in London, 291 ----------in Midland Counties, 151 ----------in Northern Counties, 91 ----------in Scotland, 234 Libraries, public, in South and West of England, 221 ----------in South Africa, 514 ----------in Wales, 269 ----------meant for all classes, 23 ----------official publications in, 14, 15 ----------politics to be avoided in, 20 ----------special collections in, 42 ----------Sunday opening of, 458 ----------temporary premises for, 369 Library Association, 361 Lighting of libraries, 387 Limerick, library movement in, 288 Liverpool, library movement in, 118 ----local Act, 433 ----students’ room, 36 Livesey(G.), gift to Clerkenwell, 303 Llandudno, library movement in, 279 Loafing in Public Libraries, 27, 82 Loans and Public Libraries, 377, 380 ----powers to borrow, 570 ----term of years for, 379 Local Boards and Public Library Acts, 567 Local collections in Public Libraries, 42, 403 Local Government Board and library accounts, 344 Local taxation, inequality of, 11, 22 ----------0f Public Libraries, 366 ----------exemption of some libraries, 368 London claim to the first Public Library, 50 ----first adoption in, 292 ----Guildhall Public Library, 339 ----library movement, 291, et seq. ----number of adoptions in, 291 ----statistics of the London libraries and parishes, 295 ----vestries and the Acts, 294 {See also under separate parishes.) Londonderry, library movement in, 290 Longforgan, library at, 445 Longton, library movement in, 193 Longstaff(Dr.), gift to Wandsworth, 336 Loughborough, library movement in, 174Index. 595 Lowestoft, library movement in, 213 Lurgan, library movement in, 290 Luton, library movement in, 510 Lytton (Lord) on Public Libraries, 71 M Magazine indicator, 395 Maidstone, library movement in, 215 Majority for adoption of Acts, definition of, 232, 433 Manchester, library movement in, 120 ----first Public Library under 1850 Act, 50, 68 Manners (Lord J.) on the 1850 Bill, 63 Mansfield, library movement in, 180 Marylebone, library movement in, 511 . Masonic books at Wigan, 149 Mechanics’ institutes, decay of, 32 ---------and Public Libraries, 485 ---------different from Public Libraries, 86 Merthyr Tydvil, library movement in, 280 Middlesborough, library movement in, 124 Middleton, library movement in, 126 Middlewick, library movement in, 151 Midland Counties, library movement in, 151 Millom and Penrith, 126 Minet Library, Camberwell, 303 Mining, books on at Wigan, 148 Moss-Side, library movement in, 127 Mountford, Mr., on library building and fitting, 384 Much-Woolton, library movement in, 128 Mullin’s (J. D. ) Birmingham Libraries, 159 Munich Library, 3 Museums Act of 1845, 59 Museums and Gymnasiums Act, 577 N Nantwich, library movement in, 151 Nelson (Lane.), library movement in, 128 Nettleford (F.), gift to Lambeth, 318 Newark, library movement in, 181 Newbury, library movement in, 429 Newcastle-on-Tyne, and Patent Office publications, 45 ----library movement in, 129 ----Thomlinson collection at, 132 Newcastle - under - Lyne, library movement in, 181 Newington (Surrey), library movement in, 325 Newport, library movement in, 228 New South Wales, libraries in, 518 New York, libraries in, 540 New Zealand, libraries in, 521 Newspapers, choice of, 363 ----do not supplant books, 1 Newsrooms, 417 News-stands, 395 Nicholson Institute at Leek, 178 Noble (J.), offer to Lambeth, 321 Northampton, library movement in, 184 ----scarce pamphlet found at, 186 Northern Counties, library movement in, 9 North Shields, library movement in, 133 North wick, library movement in, 186 Norwich, library movement in, 214 Nottingham, library movement in, 187 ----record of work at, 190 Notting Hill, library at, 318 Novel reading. See Fiction. O O’Brien (M. D.), and “ Free ” Libraries, 26 Occupations of borrowers in libraries, 23 Official information as to Public Libraries, 14, 15, 56 Official records in Public Libraries, 43596 Index. Oldbury, library movement in, 167 Oldham, library movement in, 134 Opinions of leading men on Public Libraries, 559 Opposition to Public Libraries lessening, 2 Osborne (B.), on the 1850 Bill, 62 Oswestry, library movement in, 274 Over Darwen, library movement in, 105 Overdue books, 414 P Paddington, library movement in, 512 Paisley, library movement in, 256 Pamphlet boxes, 399 Panizzi (Sir A. ), 58 Paris, has largest library in the world, 3 Parishes and the Library Acts, 567 — combining, 569 Patent Office publications, 45 Penge, adoption of Acts, 547 Penny limitation of the rate, 21, 569, 572 ----importance of the, 84 Penrith, library movement in, 126 Periodical racks, 397 Peterborough, library movement in, 191 Peterhead, library movement in, 258 Perth, library movement in, 268 Picton room at Liverpool Library, 119 Plans for Public Library buildings, 106, 149, 158,179, 181, 196, 216, 249, 306, 310, 313, 385, 495 Plymouth, library movement in, 230 Pontypridd, library movement in, 274 Poole, library movement in, 232 Poor rate, cost of pauper per head, 12 Poplar, library movement in, 326 Portsmouth, library movement in, 217 Post-card for bespoken books, 169 Potteries, library movement in the, 192 Precept for rate, 343 Press marks and numbers, 409 —— Mr. Dewey’s system, 411 Preston, library movement in, 135 -----and library committee powers, 353 Public Libraries Acts, amending of the, 431, 437 -----conference of commissioners as to the, 431 -----full text of the, 565 et seq. -----main provisions of, 65, 89 ----- methods of voting for the, 78, 88, 574 ----- number of adoptions of the, 1 Public records in Public Libraries, 43 Pushkin Library, 4 Putney Library, movement in, 324 R Rare books in Public Libraries, 42 Rate (library), at Birmingham, 157 -----no poundage for collection, 366, 569, 572 -----not to exceed a penny, 21, 84 -----precept for, 343 -----Sheffield, 141 “ Ratepayer,” word unsuitable, 8 Rates compared in fifty-two towns, 11 -----library exemption from, 368 Rathmines and Rathgar, library movement in, 289 Reading, library movement in, 216 Reference libraries, 417 Religious services at opening ceremonies, 343 Reports of Public Libraries, 362 Richmond (Surrey), library movement in, 350 Requisitions to local authorities, forms of, 581 Rochdale, library movement in, 138 Rochester, library movement in, 513 Rome, libraries in, 4 -----Vatican Library, 3 Rotherham, library movement in, 138 Rotherhithe, library movement in, j 328Index. Rules and regulations, power to make, 570 Runcorn, library movement in, 195 Rural libraries, 438 -----State aid to, 442 Russia, Public Libraries in, 3, 4 S St. Albans, library movement in, 172 St. George’s, Hanover Square, library movement in, 329 St. Helen’s, library movement in, 144 St. Martin-in-the-Fields, 330 St. Petersburg Library, 3 Sale, library in, 197 Salford Library, 139 Salisbury Library, 232 Saunders (H.), Q.C., and library movement, 318 School libraries, 449 Schools. See Boards, School Science and art classes and Public Libraries, 470 Scotland, form of requisition as to Acts in, 581 ----library movement in, 235 Secretary needful for library committee, 216 Sectarian literature in libraries, 41 Selborne (Lord) on the 1850 Bill, 64 Selkirk, library movement in, 259 Shelving for books in libraries, 389 ----Tonks’patent, 392 ----dangers of high, 179 Shopkeepers and Public Library movement, 85 Shoreditch, library movement in, 328 Shrewsbury, library movement in, 198 Sibthorp (Col.) on the 1850 Bill, 62 Sites for libraries, 382 ----provided by Corporations, 187 Sittingbourne, library movement in, 217 Sleeping in Public Libraries, 36 Sligo, library movement in, 289 Smethwick, library movement in, 199 597 Smith (Miss D.), gift to Lambeth, 319 11 Socialistic” argument and Public Libraries, 23—27 Southampton, library movement in, 218 Southport, library movement in, 96 South Shields, library movement in, 142 Southwark, library movement in, 329 Spencer (Herbert) and Socialism, 24—26 Stalybridge, library movement in, 143 State and Public Libraries, the, 25 Statistics and Public Libraries, 546 ----uniformity in keeping wanted, 374 ----of Public Libraries, 548—557 Stock book for libraries, 399 Stockport, library movement in, 87 Stockton, South, library movement in, 143 Stoke Newington, library movement in, 335 .Stoke, library movement in, 193 Stonehouse, library movement in, 429 Stratford (West Ham), library movement in, 333 Streatham, library movement in, 333 Stroud, library movement in, 513 Students’ rooms in Public Libraries, 36 Subscription libraries, how affected by public, 31 Subscriptions to Public Libraries, legality of, 364, 432 ----accepted at Reading, 216 Sunday opening of libraries, 458 ----at Birmingham, 159 ----at Bradford, 104 ----at Manchester, 122 Sunderland, library movement in, 144 Swansea, library movement in, 275 Sydney, library movement in, 519 T Tables for reading-rooms, 395 Tanaka (J. ), Japanese librarian, 17Index. 598 Tarves, library movement in, 261 Tasmania, libraries in, 522 Tate (H.), gift to Streatham, 333 ----gift to Lambeth, 319 Taunton, library movement in, 429 Taxation (imperial), annual amount of, 12 ----Auberon Herbert on, 13 ----compulsory and voluntary, 13 ----local, unequal, 10 ----of fifty-two towns compared, 11 Technical education and Public Libraries, 479 Temporary premises for libraries, 369 Thackeray (W. M.) at Manchester Public Library, 71 Thomlinson Collection at Newcastle, 132 Thurso, library movement in, 261 Tipton, library movement in, 199 Toronto Public Library, 545_ Torquay, library movement in, 430 Tottenham, library movement in, 430 Town Councils, powers of as to Public Libraries, 566 Travel, books of, in libraries, Truro, library movement in, 233 Tunstall, library movement in, 194 U United States. See America Y Vanderbilt (G.), gift to New York Vatican Library, 3 Ventilation of libraries, 386 Vienna Library, 3 Voter, definition of, 572 Voting papers, delivery of, &c., 88, 572 W Wales, library movement in, 269 Wallis (G.) on museums, 59 Walsall, library movement in, 200 Wandsworth, library movement in, 335 Watford, library movement in, 173 Wednesbury, library movement in, 201 Welshpool, library movement in, 278 Westminster Library, 336 Westcotes (Leicester) Library, 180 Weston-super-Mare Library, 234 Weymouth Library, 430 Whitechapel Library, 338 Whitehaven Library, 146 Whittington (Sir R.) and Guildhall Library, 339 Wick, library movement in, 262 Wigan Library, 147 ----Free access to books at, 41 ----Reference Library Catalogue at, 148 Willesden, library movement in, 350 Wimbledon, library movement in, 351 Wimborne, old library at, 48 Winsford, library movement in, 195 Wolverhampton, library movement in, 201 Wood Green, library movement in, 351 Workington, library movement in, 150 Workmen’s Clubs and Public Libraries, 485 Worcester, Public Library movement in, 202 Wrexham, Public Library movement in, 279 Writing in libraries, 37 Y Yarmouth, library movement in, 209 York, library movement in, 430 Pardon & Sons, Printers, Wine Office Court, Fleet Street, London, E.C.Advertisements. 599 W. & A. K. JOHNSTON S MORE IMPORTANT ATLASES, &c. The TARTANS of the CLANS of SCOTLAND, containing 72 Plates of Tartans, Historical Account of each Clan, Illuminated Armorial Bear-ings of the Chiefs, Badges, War Cries, and Marches of the Clans, Map of the Highlands of Scotland, divided into Clans, etc. Imperial ito, elegantly bound, price £2 2s. Only a few copies now remain for Sale. Prospectus and Specimen Plate of Tartan free on application. The ROYAL ATLAS of MODERN GEOGRAPHY, 1891 Edition, containing 64 Maps and Indexes to 176,500 Places. Imperial folio, half-hound Russia or Morocco, price £6 6s. The HANDY ROYAL ATLAS of MODERN GEOGRAPHY, New and Enlarged Edition, containing 52 Maps and Complete Index. Imperial 4to, half-bound Morocco, price £2 12s 6d. The COSMOGRAPHIC ATLAS, containing 66 Maps, Political, Historical, Classical, Physical, Scriptural, and Astronomical, with Indexes and Explanatory Letterpress. Fifth Edition. Imperial folio, full-bound cloth, price £1 Is. 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Many Books greatly reduced in price. WILLIAM aLAISHER, WHOLESALE BOOKSELLER, 265, HIGH HOLBORN, LONDON. PRESS NOTICES OF FORMER EDITIONS OF “PUBLIC LIBRARIES” Contemporary Review.—“Anyone wanting all the information on these heads will find it in this interesting work.” Illustrated London News.—“ We have to thank Mr. Greenwood for bringing together a large mass of materials.” Spectator.—“ This is a useful, as well as interesting book. We hope that it may do good service in promoting the movement.” Daily News.—“ If any able man in want of a mission will take this book in his hand and lead a Public Library movement in London, he may perform a lasting public service.” Christian World.—“Any local Pranklin who desires to see his fellow-townsmen have the untold stores of our wonderful literature placed within easy reach of their hands, could not spend a few shillings in a wiser way than by obtaining therewith Mr. Greenwood’s book. In its pages he will find all the latest and most needful information on the subject of Public Libraries, accompanied by some exceedingly practical hints as how to set to work.” Newcastle-on-Tyne Daily Leader, August 2nd, 1890.—“Mr. Greenwood’s account of * Public Libraries ’ is very full and complete. It deals historically with the movement which led to their establishment ; it discusses their organization and management ; it describes, we believe, all the rate-supported libraries either here or in America ; and it furnishes a good deal of statistical information with regard to them.’’Advertisements. 601 THE NORTH OF ENGLAND School Furnishing Company, LIMITED, Makers of every Description of FURNITURE FOR PUBIJÇ IJBF^IEJ, LECTURE HALLS, Churches, Schools, Institutesy etc. etc. ESTIMATES GIVEN FOR Newspaper Stands, Reading Tables, Counters, Bookshelves, Librarians’ Tables, &c. &e. ARCHITECTS’ OWN DESIGNS CAREFULLY CARRIED OUT. Makers of Burgoyne’s Brass Newspaper Clip. THE NORTH OF ENGLAND SCHOOL FURNISHING CO., Ltd., 121, NEWGATE STREET, LONDON, E.C. ALSO AT DARLINGTON, NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE, SUNDERLAND, AND MIDDLESBRO’. 396q2 Advertisements, GARD CATALOGUE CABINET. A PERFECT ALPHABETICAL CATALOGUE. Additions are immediately recorded in their exact alphabetical order ready for reference. THE CABINETS ABE STRONGLY HADE OE POLISHED OAK OB WALNUT, WITH ASH DBAWEBS DOVETAILED. Five-Drawer Cabinet ....................... £3 2 6 Size, outside measure, 22£ in. high by 14 in. wide by 19J in. deep, back to front. Cabinets made with any number of Drawers, 12s. 6d. per drawer. The larger Cabinets being made proportionately stronger, EACH DRAWER WILL HOLD 1,400 CARDS. Specimen Cards, with quotations according to quantity required, on application to HEKKY stoke St sok» Manufacturers and Patentees, BANBURY. Ijondon Agents: Messrs. WATERSTON & SONS, 8, St. Bride Street, London, E.C. CAWTHORN & HUTT, BRITISH LIBRARY, 24, C0CKSP0R STREET, CHARING CROSS, S.W. WILL FORWARD POST FREE ON APPLICATION, LIST OF SURPLUS COPIES OF RECENT WORKS, WITHDRAWN FROM THEIR LIBRARY, AND OFFERED AT REDUCED PRICES, PERFECT AND CLEAN FOR CASH ONLY. ESTABLISHED 1740. TO CURATORS OF PUBLIC LIBRARIES, AND BOOK BUYERS, A Catalogue (52 pages) of Antiquarian and Standard Works, with a large number of Interesting Miscellaneous Books (Local Topography, Art, Architecture, Voyages, Travels, Americana, &c.), published bi-monthly, and sent free to any address. Special attention given to Lists of Books wanted. PUBLIC LIBRARIES SUPPLIED ON LIBERAL TERMS. U. MAGGS 159, Church St., Paddington Green, London, W. LIBRARIES PURCHASED IN ANY PART OP THE COUNTRY.Advertisements. 603 PARIS. ESTABLISHED 1882; BRANCH HOUSE IN LEIPZIG. H. WELTER, LIBRAIRIE FRANÇAISE ET ÉTRANGÈRE, 59, RUE BONAPARTE, 59. La Librairie H. WELTER est tout spécialement organisée pour fournir aux BIBLIOTHÈQUES, aux INSTITUTIONS, aux ÉCOLES, aux LABORATOIRES, aux SÉMINAIRES, aux SOCIÉTÉS SAVANTES, aux PROFESSEURS, aux SAVANTS, etc., les LIVRES ET JOURNAUX FRANÇAIS ET ÉTRANGERS, NEUFS OU D’OCCASION dont ils peuvent avoir besoin. Elle s’est, tant par les soins qu’elle apporte à l’exécution des commandes qui lui sont confiées, que par la modicité de ses prix et l’habileté dans la recherche de livres d’occasion ou épuisés, attachée une clientèle dans tous les pays du monde. Messieurs les Bibliothécaires, les Professeurs et les Savants, en s’adressant à elle, peuvent être assurés d’avoir mis leurs intérêts entre des mains dignes de leur confiance. Maison Leipzig depuis Oetobre, 1890. «1 LIBRARY AGENT >> EXPORT AND SECOND-HAND BOOKSELLER. Books, Newspapers, and Periodicals of every description supplied by Mail, or otherwise, to all parts of the world. Commissions at Auctions, &c., faithfully executed. Extensive Stoch of Second-hand Boohs. Catalogues issued at intervals. Branch House in Leipzig since October, 1890. Bl BLIOTHEKS-AGENT, EXPORT-BUCHMIDLER Md ASTIQDAB. Bücher, Zeitungen, und Zeitschriften jeder Art liefere ich mit Post oder sonstiger Versendungsweise nach allen Ländern der Erde. Mein reichhaltiges Antiquariat setzt mich in den Stand, auch vergriffene une seltene Werke zu den wohlfeilsten Preisen zu liefern. Filiale in Leipzig (H. WELTER, Querstrasse 8) seit October, 1890.6o4 Advertisements. PRESS NOTICES OF FORMER EDITIONS OF "PUBLIC LIBRARIES.” Scotsman, July 7th, 1890.—“ There has been published a third edition of Mr. Thomas Greenwood’s book upon ‘Public Libraries.’ The work is re-written in this issue without changing its character. It has become more complete. It was previously the fullest and most trustworthy account before the public of the working and progress of the Public Library movement. The revision has established more firmly than ever its claim to this distinction. The work is not only a history of the movement, but a complete manual of the organization and management of Public Libraries. The continued improvement of the book cannot but do good service to the cause which it seeks to promote.” Daily Chronicle, August 2nd, 1890.—“Mr. Thomas Greenwood’s book on ‘Public Libraries ' has been entirely re-written for a third edition. . . . All the facts essential to the chronicle of the movement in each case are recorded. Many of the buildings in which the libraries are housed have been pictured to illustrate the text. The earlier chapters contain much interesting information regarding the principles and history of the movement. Even the Public Libraries of America and Canada and of Australasia find a place in the book. Mr. Greenwood has laboured indefatigably at his task. He has amassed and digested a portentous quantity of useful information on a subject of deep interest and surpassing importance.” Liverpool Post, August 20th, 1890.—“A third edition, re-written and brought up to date, of Mr. Thomas Greenwood’s invaluable book, ‘Public Libraries,’ has been sent us. It is a rich mine of facts and information for all who are interested in the move* ment for the extension of Public Libraries, and of counsel and direction as to the formation, administration, and use of these institutions. It must be gratifying to such an indefatigable worker in such a good cause to be able to announce that the Public Libraries Acts have now been adopted in 209 places, though four years ago, when the first edition of Mr. Greenwood’s book was published, and when thirty-six years had elapsed from the passing of the Ewart Bill there had been only 133 additions.” The Companion Volume to “PUBLIC LIBBABIES.” /qujeu/ns ai?d ßrt Qaileries, BY THOMAS GREENWOOD, F.R.G.S., Author of “PUBLIC LIBRARIES,” “EMINENT NATURALI8TS," Etc. PRICE FIVE SHILLINGS. 450 PAGES ILLUSTRATED. Art Journal.—“ A useful and comprehensive account of the Museums of the world.” Graphic, October 19,1889.—“ ‘ Museums and Art Galleries * by Thomas Greenwood, is so excellent a work that we have little doubt that it will soon pass into a second edition, Mr. Greenwood truly says that the subject is practically without a literature, and his own book is a good attempt to fill the gap. There are a few omissions and one or two |mistakes; but that is* little in such a book, covering so large an amount of ground. ^ Museums are becoming of more and more importance, and Mr. Greenwood’s book is likely to be the standard work for some .time to come.” Spectator, September 28, 1889.—“Mr. Thomas Greenwood, who some time ago published a book on ‘ Public Libraries ’ has followed it up with ‘ Museums and Art Galleries.’ Although he is an enthusiast as regards the educational value of Museums and Art Galleries, and has ideas of his own, which he expresses in special chapters on * The Relation of the State to Museums,’ and ‘ The Place of Museums in Education,’ the value of this book lies essentially in/the fact that it tells, in not too guide-book a style, all about the existing Museums and Galleries in the United Kingdom. Mr. Greenwood does not hesitate to tell mimicipal authorities unpleasant truths, as when he warns the Glasgow people that there is a lively prospect of the whole of their collection of pictures being destroyed by fire, and that their museum is‘situated in an inconvenient and unsuitable position, and neither care nor money has been lavished on the collections.’ Mr. Greenwood has spared no pains to gather, verify, and arrange his facts, and his book is ,so good that we regret being compelled only to hint at its excellencies.” PUBLISHED BY SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT & CO., Limited.This book is a preservation facsimile. It is made in compliance with copyright law and produced on acid-free archival 60# book weight paper which meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (permanence of paper) Preservation facsimile printing and binding by Acme Bookbinding Charlestown, Massachusetts 2007