Three Centuries of a City Library / an Historical and Descriptive Account of the Norwich Public Library Established in 1608 and the present Public Library opened in 1857

by Geo. A. Stephen

were printed. In this catalogue the hours of the Lending Department were stated to be from 11 a.m. till 3.30 p.m. on week-days.

The publication of an annual report was revived in 1879 when a report covering the period December 1st, 1877 to December 31st 1878 was submitted to the Town Council. It showed that the stock consisted of 4,400 volumes, of which nearly 1,000 had been added during the year; and that during the period 1,545 borrowers’ tickets had been issued, and 27,408 volumes had been issued, as compared with 15,312 vols. issued from September 1875 to September 1876.

In 1879 the Librarian requested the Committee to allow him to purchase works relating to Norwich, which eventually led to the formation of the Local Collection, which is described on pp. 77-81.

The library rate was one penny in the pound from the date of the opening of the library until 1871, but for several years afterwards it was either about three farthings or one halfpenny. The rate was raised to three farthings in the pound in 1880, and in the following year it was raised to one penny in the pound, thereby providing £937 : 10 : 0 for the year, since which time the full library rate has always been levied. Mr. F. W. Harmer took a prominent part in securing the increase in the library rate. He pointed out that to spend the product of a halfpenny rate on the plea of economy was really the reverse of economical, as it just sufficed to pay standing charges, leaving little or nothing for the purchase of books.

The annual report for the year ending March 25th, 1888, is interesting as it records that the great burden of the debt on the building had been cleared off, and briefly reviews the work of the Library after ten years’ service of the Librarian, as follows:

“The present Librarian was appointed in 1877, starting with a stock of 3,500 books in the Lending Department and almost none in the Reference Department; whereas the present stock consists of 11,500 for Lending and 5,000 for Reference purposes, about 1,200 of the latter, with 1,650 pamphlets, pictures, &c., being of a local character and purchased with fines imposed for detaining books beyond the time allowed for reading.

“The number of borrowers in 1877 was 1,540, whereas the number in 1887 was 3,550; the number of issues of books in the same period increasing from 27,000 to 77,000—about 10,000 of the population of the city over 14 years of age having taken advantage of the boon afforded by this department.”

The report draws attention to an increase in the hours of the lending library, which hitherto had been 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m., to 11 a.m. till 9 p.m. every week-day except Thursday.

The establishment of a juvenile department as a means of stimulating interest in the Library was one of the first suggestions made by Mr. Easter after his appointment, and although the Committee did not entertain it then he did not abandon it, and the subject was raised in the press and in Committee in 1885. As a result the Mayor, Mr. John Gurney, who was keenly interested in the proposal, offered to give £100 on condition that an additional £150 was raised, but he died before the establishment of the scheme. The Chairman of the School Board, Mr. (afterwards Sir) George White, who was a member of the Committee, promised to raise the matter at a School Board Meeting, but the scheme, to be financed by public subscription, did not come to fruition until 1889. In that year the total amount of subscriptions reached £276 : 14 : 9, and 3,667 volumes suitable for juveniles were obtained.

Batches of books were forwarded to every elementary school in the City, and the head teacher in each was made responsible for the distribution of the books to the scholars in standards IV and upwards. The tables published in the annual report for the year ending March 1890 show that 3,621 books were sent to 38 schools, and that the total issues for the first seven months was 52,312. In the report for the year ending March 1893 the Committee reported:

“The Juvenile Department having proved a source of labour and cost much beyond what was anticipated, a Sub-Committee appointed to report on the subject recommended that the School Board should be asked to contribute to the expense of repair and renewal of books, and to urge upon their staff increased care and vigilance in the management of the Department. This expense the Board report they are unable legally to incur.