It is difficult today, after a decade which has seen the introduction of the 35 hour week, when people spend more time at recreation than at work; and when as a result of these…
Abstract
It is difficult today, after a decade which has seen the introduction of the 35 hour week, when people spend more time at recreation than at work; and when as a result of these developments there has been a substantial growth in interest in leisure and its uses, to realise the difficulties which must have faced the pioneers of nineteenth century public library service in establishing a service which was accessible to its intended clientele, the working class; in particular the difficulty of establishing adequate opening hours. Today because of changing economic and social circumstances there has been a tendency to curtail the opening hours of libraries. While this has been done with some reluctance in most cases, it has been accompanied by very little discussion of its impact on library services and the users of those services. Historically the problem of opening hours for public libraries has been very little discussed. The general tendency has been to dismiss the matter as a very minor problem. Allred for example writes These libraries were soon opened at hours convenient to the working man.
Graham Barnett, Joseph D Hendry, Alan Duckworth, Gerry M Smith and Peter Jackaman
BEFORE THE French Revolution a number of libraries were open to the public, often the result of public‐spirited donations on the part of local men of letters or wealthy bourgeois…
Abstract
BEFORE THE French Revolution a number of libraries were open to the public, often the result of public‐spirited donations on the part of local men of letters or wealthy bourgeois. Books were generally scholarly and of little interest to the majority of the population, who for the most part were in any case illiterate.
BORN in 1780, one of twelve children of a successful Quaker banker, Elizabeth Gurney herself became converted to Quakerism at the age of 18 and eventually, after the death of her…
Abstract
BORN in 1780, one of twelve children of a successful Quaker banker, Elizabeth Gurney herself became converted to Quakerism at the age of 18 and eventually, after the death of her father, became a minister of the church. At the age of 20 she married the London businessman Joseph Fry, by whom between 1801 and 1816 she bore 10 children. In between the birth of the children she carried out her ministry, visiting Quaker groups throughout the country, and pursued philantrophic activities. In 1819–20 she became concerned by the conditions of the homeless in London and was responsible for establishing a night shelter providing food and a bed.
Of all industrial activities in these islands that of mining is perhaps the oldest. The extraction of the mineral wealth of the country — tin, iron, copper, gold, coal and so on �…
Abstract
Of all industrial activities in these islands that of mining is perhaps the oldest. The extraction of the mineral wealth of the country — tin, iron, copper, gold, coal and so on — has been carried out since Roman times in most parts of the UK. The scale on which this was done in different periods and locations varied considerably. Coal mining, for example, as soon as it advanced beyond a quite primitive stage, involved fairly large units of exploitation with several hundred people employed, while tin mining in Cornwall was carried out often by fairly small family units of between thirty to forty individuals, lead mining falling mid‐way between these mo extremes and employing between 50 and 200 men usually. The principal lead mining areas in Great Britain were: [1] Durham and Northumberland (the North Pennine field) [2] the North and West Ridings of Yorkshire [3] the Derbyshire Peak [4] Flintshire [5] Cardiganshire and south west Montgomery and [6] the Lanarkshire and Dumfriesshire borders. Of these the Scottish field was the smallest, contributing about 5% of the total British output. Commonly a major problem facing those trying to exploit these mineral resources was the isolated location of many of the mineral areas. Employers had to attract workers to the mining location. To do this they found it necessary to resort either to the forcible pressing of paupers and felons, thereby instituting a form of serfdom to bind the worker to the mine for life and, effectively, to bind his children after him, or to providing conditions and amenities which would prove attractive to free workers.
PETER BROPHY, PETER JACKAMAN, FT BELL, MIKE PEARCE, CN EASTCOTT and BRENDA WHITE
THE COMMENT by Don Revill in the August issue of NEW LIBRARY WORLD raises a number of interesting points. The allocation of library book funds between departments or between site…
Abstract
THE COMMENT by Don Revill in the August issue of NEW LIBRARY WORLD raises a number of interesting points. The allocation of library book funds between departments or between site libraries has always proved a sticky problem, and, as Revill points out, a variety of solutions have been advocated. Of course, the actual division of the funds presents no real problem (everyone is willing to spend the money!) once the bases on which this division is to be made have been decided. Thus the real decisions boil down to judgements of the relative value (to the university? to the state? to the librarian?) of such factors as:
Peter Jackaman, Paul Cook, Colston Hartley, John Smith, Alan Duckworth, Susan Salt and JS Parker
THE RELATIONSHIP of a library with those it serves and the writers and other communicators who form its sources is both interesting and complex; and one in which many facets…
Abstract
THE RELATIONSHIP of a library with those it serves and the writers and other communicators who form its sources is both interesting and complex; and one in which many facets remain to be explored. One aspect of this, the importance of which is not always adequately appreciated, is the role of the library as agent for different sectors of society.
LOOKING BACKWARDS IN 1986 That this editorial is almost wholly serious must not be taken as heralding a change in the editorial tone of voice for 1986. Normal demotic style will…
Roger Stoakley, JR Haylock, Peter Jackaman, David Gerard, Norman Tomlinson, JW Ellison and Claudia Molenda
THE RECENT SQUEEZE on local government expenditure has highlighted the dissarray that exists in the public library service in England and Wales, and the extraordinary measures…
Abstract
THE RECENT SQUEEZE on local government expenditure has highlighted the dissarray that exists in the public library service in England and Wales, and the extraordinary measures being adopted by some authorities. Some of this disorder can perhaps be attributed to widely‐held attitudes prior to local government reorganisation. As a profession we have never been particularly good at co‐ordinating our approach to library services. Traditionally, many chief librarians looked upon their systems as their own unique empire. There was a deep‐rooted reluctance, perhaps even a fear, of pursuing common policies and practices with a neighbouring authority. The reason for those attitudes is not altogether clear, but they reflected an alarming narrowness of vision within our profession.
Clive Bingley, Helen Moss and Clive Martin
WITH, several days later, some residue yet of disbelief, allow me to tell you that at the end of October L actually went dancing. After an interval of 15 years since I last…
Abstract
WITH, several days later, some residue yet of disbelief, allow me to tell you that at the end of October L actually went dancing. After an interval of 15 years since I last electrified my system in similar fashion, I may further tell you that dancing is no longer what it was.
The Seminar on Library Interior Layout and Design organised by IFLA's Section on Library Buildings and Equipment, and attended by people from over twenty‐two countries, was held…
Abstract
The Seminar on Library Interior Layout and Design organised by IFLA's Section on Library Buildings and Equipment, and attended by people from over twenty‐two countries, was held at Frederiksdal, Denmark, in June 1980. This present article neither reports on the Seminar's proceedings, as it is hoped to publish the papers in due course, nor describes fully the Danish public libraries seen, but rather uses the Seminar's theme and the library visits as a point of departure for considering some aspects of the interior layout—the landscape—of public libraries. Brief details of the new Danish public libraries visited are given in a table at the end of the article.