British Public Libraries Research Articles

Early British Public Library Annual Reports: Then and Now Part II

This article continues the study of public library annual reports which commenced in the previous issue of this journal (vol. 20, no. 3, November 2004, pp. 223–38). This second paper assesses the value and contemporary importance of the reports in the expansion of the public library movement, considering criticisms from both then and now. It is suggested that these documents should be of wider significance than just as sources for historians of libraries.

The Library as Clinic: A Foucauldian Interpretation of British Public Library Attitudes to Social and Physical Disease, ca. 1850-1950

Characterized by the pursuit of enlightenment and progress, the municipal public libraries that began to appear in Britain after 1850 were notable cultural ingredients of modern society. Yet public libraries also displayed less liberal dimensions of modernity, as places where scientific rationality was at times mobilized to counter perceived diseases, broadly constituted by disorder, deviancy, poor discipline, irrational recreation, and economic and political radicalism. The public library's role as a meaningful for the eradication of social diseases, to which the masses were seen to be prone, necessarily required the attraction of a mass clientele, which, ironically, generated fears of physical disease arising from the spatial mixing of users and the sharing of printed materials. Just as Foucault employed the birth of the clinic as a metaphor for the emergence of modern medicine and its expert discourse in the setting of the scientific hospital around the turn of the nineteenth century, so also the notion of library as clinic can be seen to encapsulate later discourses of control associated with public librarianship.

Early British Public Library Annual Reports: Then and Now Part I

Of the 566 library authorities functioning in Britain and Ireland by 1918, most seem to have published annual reports on their progress, at least at some point following their establishment. So far as they survive and can be traced, these documents, though varying greatly in length, commonly contain a narrative or textual commentary on the progress of the institutions during the report period, statistical and tabular details about the institutions such as information regarding stock, issues, and borrowers, and lists of data such as committee members, donations received and periodicals taken. Some published annual reports documenting the working of public libraries also contain data as to the progress of allied cultural institutions such as museums, art galleries, technical and adult education facilities, and parks and recreation grounds. They were often signed by the local public library committee chairman and addressed to a local council, although some were signed by a librarian or curator and addressed to the library or other committee. In both cases they were accessible to members of the public, and it seems fair to assume that the staff of the institution concerned would commonly have had a hand in their writing. Following the acquisition by the Thomas Parry Library at the University of Wales Aberystwyth of a large collection of historic public library annual reports which the Library Association was on the verge of discarding, the AHRB (Arts and Humanities Research Board) agreed to fund a fifteen-month project between April 2000 and July 2001 to examine the utility of these documents to historians of the period ca. 1850–1919. In view of the lack of thematic historical work on public library annual reports (and indeed on annual reports as a wider genre), this two-part essay will address the genesis and character of these documents from a broad perspective, and assess their impact and significance for contemporaries and for historians in a range of disciplines. After describing the evolution of the public library annual report as a genre, this first paper will discuss the nature of their use to date, and will argue that current common historiographical assumptions as to the limited utility of these documents are flawed. The second paper will assess the value and contemporary importance of the documents in the expansion of the public library movement.

Public Libraries and National Identity in Britain, 1850–1919

This essay suggests that even the most inventive recent works in British public library history have been surprisingly deficient in assimilating the important conclusions of recent theories and historiography of national identity. The defence that library history can have nothing useful to say in relation to national identity is refuted with reference to this recent wider literature. Theoretical models for research into national identity in British public libraries for the period 1850–1919 are explored, particular areas of library history of relevance to national identity are described, and questions which should be considered in the further research this issue merits will be iterated.

Discipline and the Discipline: Histories of the British Public Library

This essay suggests that historians of British public libraries may be restricted in their ability to pose certain questions about their subject matter because of the structure of the institutions of library history. These limitations are particularly illustrated by the popularity of myths of the "good old days" within library commentary, by the treatment of critics of public libraries, and by the problematic deployment of concepts such as social exclusion and problem patrons. Some of these difficulties may, however, be overcome, either within or outside of the current institutional orientations of library history, by reflection on the concept of public history.

A dangerous occupation? Violence in public libraries

Outlines the problem of violence in British public libraries, where incidents commonly involve problem groups from drunks to unruly youths to irate patrons. The problem can be more extreme in US libraries with several librarians being killed, in a country that averages 20 workplace murders each week. Current feelings amongst library staff are of managerial apathy and a reluctance to tackle the problem with appropriate resources. Discusses the reasons for violence and suggests measures that can be employed to reduce the threat and deal with incidents if they occur. Risk assessment is the crucial first step in this process and risk management strategies should follow. This should incorporate security measures and staff training. Results of a survey of library workers carried out in 2001 to gauge a random “snapshot” view of violence in libraries is discussed and compared to a similar survey undertaken in 1995 by McGrath.

Historical Perspectives on Problem Patrons from the British Public Library Sector, 1850-1919

Summary Failure to engage an historical perspective can lead to exaggeration of the novelty of the “problem patron” phenomenon in libraries. In fact, from the institutions' earliest years, there were significant levels of fear that British public libraries would be abused by their intended users. This paper examines the experience of the problem patron in British public libraries in the years 1850-1919, and the definitions and solutions suggested by supporters and staff of these libraries. Contemporary sources are used to suggest that some observations about this period may have continued relevance for present discussions of the “problem patron.”

Combating racial discrimination in British public libraries: the role of the Quality Leaders Project

Addresses a number of issues concerning racial discrimination in UK public libraries. It examines Black librarianship in the UK in 2001; records the development of the Quality Leaders Project which focuses on policy development, management and leadership issues in the context of Black workers and community needs; and discusses the potential contribution of this approach.

Book Review: Usage of British public libraries: report on an exit survey June 1999

Book Review: Usage of British public libraries: report on an exit survey June 1999

Travelling Hopefully: Progress and the Nineteenth Century Public Library

Public libraries today are under the auspices of the Department of National Heritage. Many are now administered by local authority heritage departments. The word ‘heritage’ invokes the past, it implies that we should look back for our inspiration. Recently there have been suggestions that recalling the past and revisiting ‘the vision of our forefathers’1 recapturing ‘the spirit of dedication and evangelism of the founding fathers of British public libraries’2 might help to bring about a renaissance of the ‘public library movement’.3 This paper takes a brief look at the vision of those founding fathers. It was originally delivered at the Library History Group's ‘Libraries and Modernity’ conference held at Manchester in June 1997.

The Public Libraries Act of 1850

ABSTRACT The Public Libraries Act of 1850 provided the catalyst for British public library development. The background and the relevance of this seminal piece of legislation are discussed and analyzed. The utilitarian and idealist views held by middle-class social reformers in early Victorian Britain are evaluated in terms of their effect on the debate and passage of the Act. The following conclusions are drawn: The social concerns of middle-class reformers were instrumental in the development of the British public library movement; utilitarianism and idealism were the guiding social philosophies; and the framers of the Act envisioned public libraries primarily as an agency for both social control and betterment of the working class.

British Public Library Development

ABSTRACT Manchester, England and Glasgow, Scotland were models for industrial development in the nineteenth century and served as prototypes for the institution of the public library. The creation and evolution of the public library in the two cities is discussed and analyzed, and the following conclusions are drawn: The city of Manchester quickly created a public library due to local enthusiasm and a pre-existing foundation of library service, whereas the city of Glasgow, once freed from the restraints of fiscal concerns, rapidly developed one of the finest public library systems in Britain.

Culture and Consumption: Fiction, the Reading Public, and the British Novel in Colonial India

Q. D. Leavis opens her classic and caustic account of the novel, Fiction and the Reading Public (1932), by documenting the British public's immense affection for the genre. She reports that although novels comprised approximately a third of the total holdings in British public libraries in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, they were requested more than four times as often as works of nonfiction. From this, Leavis concludes:

Book Review: Careering along with books: studies in the history of British public libraries and librarianship in honour of the 85th birthday of Dr William A. Munford

Book Review: Careering along with books: studies in the history of British public libraries and librarianship in honour of the 85th birthday of Dr William A. Munford

Conference Proceedings as Disseminators of New Knowledge: the Library Association and British Public Libraries, 1878 – 1882

Conference Proceedings as Disseminators of New Knowledge: the Library Association and British Public Libraries, 1878 – 1882

Portsmouth Public Libraries: the first fifty years

BRITISHPUBLICLIBRARYHISTORYhas several surprising features. To begin with, the provision of local, rate-supported public libraries was sanctioned by Parliament remarkably quickly. Furthermore, the campaign to secure legislation was not initiated by a public figure, but by a supernumerary assistant on the staff of the British Museum Library, Edward Edwards, a name known to the compilers of the Dictionary of National Biography, but not to social historians of the Victorian age. More surprisingly, the first Public Libraries Act (1850) was passed twenty years before the first Education Act. For over a century the Public Libraries Acts (this low-powered service was regulated by an extraordinary number) were permissive. Local authorities were not obliged to provide a library service or, if they did, to maintain it at a minimum level of efficiency. From 1855 until 1919 there was a statutory rate limit of a mere penny in the pound (thus William Munford's admirable short history of the British public library movement is called Penny rate). About thirty of the larger cities went to the trouble and expense of promoting a Private Bill by which Parliament gave them permission to levy more than a penny. Portsmouth was not one of them. Thomas Kelly has shown that towns most eager to provide a library service were those where useful community libraries already existed? These were usually learned subscription and popular circulating libraries provided by enterprising booksellers, and the humbler libraries of Mechanics' Institutes, also, in effect, subscription libraries. The early establishment of public libraries in large, developing cities, such as Manchester and Sheffield, came about because it was felt that the benefits enjoyed by the privileged few should be extended to all. A vital feature of the early Acts was that they required a majority poll of the ratepayers in favour. A simple resolution of the local council was not enough. As ratepayers were a select minority, drawn from the classes who could afford to belong to subscription libraries, the establishment of a public library meant that they had to be charitably minded enough to vote for an increase -in their rates so that the poorer members of the community could have a library service they themselves might not use. The rate limitation, so tiresome to committees and chief librarians, was an encouragement to adoption when this depended on the goodwill of the ratepayers. But the strangest feature of all in the early history

Marketing development in the public library sector: an empirical analysis

Most studies of market development have concentrated on the private sector. This paper, in contrast, focuses on the not-for-profit sector by analysing market development in the British public library sector. This paper firstly presents a summary of the nature and extent of marketing develop ment in the library services sector. The paper continues by addressing the issue of why some local authorities under take a high level of marketing activity, while others do very little. A wide range of potential influences on the degree of marketing activity, both at the macro and micro level, was empirically analysed. This study concludes that the level of marketing activity is highly influenced by both the range of services offered by the local authority and the presence of a marketing function within a specific organisation.

CD‐ROMs in public libraries: a survey

This article summarizes the main findings of a survey, undertaken in early 1994, of open access CD‐ROM in British public libraries. The survey examined how well Public Library Authorities (PLAs) were implementing CD‐ROM technology for public use and how well the general public were fairing with CD‐ROMs. The survey was both quantitative and qualitative in nature: current national statistics for CD‐ROM distribution in PLAs were sought, case studies of 13 PLAs who provided open access CD‐ROM were conducted and finally an end‐user survey of 4 of these libraries was undertaken. The principal findings of the survey are as follows. In 1992 only 5% of PLAs provided CD‐ROMs for public use, but by 1994 this figure had risen to 12%. London and English County PLAs had the highest proportion of CD‐ROMs for public use. PLAs with CD‐ROM services were not necessarily the big spending authorities. National newspapers accounted for the majority of CD‐ROMs in use. The main management concerns were lack of adequate user training and documentation. All PLAs wanted to update and expand their CD‐ROM services. This matched one of the main demands from users, which was for more facilities, but PLAs failed to address the users' other main demand ‐ the provision of greater assistance. The predominant user group was young students. Educational institutions played a significant role in training users in the use of CD‐ROMs. Most users searched newspaper and business titles. Finally, there was a high level of user satisfaction with CD‐ROM searching.

Investing in Children:A real strategy for future development?

It is almost twenty years since Janet Hill's seminal work, Children Are people 1 was published in the UK. Since then, other books have been written about British public library services to children2,3,4 but none of these have taken a visionary approach. There has been little attention paid to the ways libraries have responded to the multifarious influences presented by society or any real attempt made to anticipate a future role or philosophy for public library services to children. Research in the area has been thin and has not kept pace with research in the school library field. Concern about the low profile of children's libraries and lack of understanding at national or government level of their role in the intellectual, social or cultural development of the child has been a source of concern for a number of years. A recent report by a working party set up to look at the current state of library services for children. Investing in Children, attempts to redress this balance. This article assesses how effectively this has been achieved and analyses how practitioners have responded to the report.

The chief officer/ councillor relationship in British public libraries

Explores the relationship between the chief librarians of public libraries and members of their local authori ty councils, as a crucial element in the management of these public libraries. Factors affecting this rela tionship include: political pressures; power balances; personal agendas; the prestige of the officers; status of library services within the authori ties. Reviews and discusses Bob Usherwood's investigation of public library politics and governance ( Public library politics: the role of the elected member: Library Association Publishing, 1993) and complements his work through an examination of the counterbalancing point of view; that of the officers, based on a PhD research project which explored the opinions of UK and Canadian chief library officers on censorship. Results indicate that for UK chief librarians, politics is acknowledged as the key element in their relationship with councillors, and that officers consider acuity of political knowledge and intuition to be crucial management components. Party politics and public image were acknowledged as predominant influ ences for many councillors, and offi cers were very much aware that politicians of different political per suasions might promote different roles and stock selection policies for the public library.