That the Public Libraries Act [state date of principal Act] and all subsequent Acts amending the same be, and are hereby adopted, for the county borough of ————— [state place], and shall be in force throughout the borough [or other area] on and after the . . . . . . day of . . . . . . . . [state year].
16.
16. As the power of adopting the Acts in populous areas is now vested in the local authorities, there is no longer, as formerly, any need to educate opinion among ratepayers as to the necessity for establishing public libraries. The Library Association has issued a useful pamphlet, The Establishment of Public Libraries, 1909, and most of the other propagandist literature of a useful kind appears in the various books of Mr Thomas Greenwood (Public Libraries, British Library Year Book, etc.), and these should be consulted by anyone in a rural parish who desires to raise the question in a practical form. As regards urban districts the initiative may safely be left in the hands of the intelligent members of council, who will sooner or later move in the direction of placing their districts in line with all the other large towns in the country.
17.
17. At present about 534 towns and districts in the United Kingdom have adopted the Public Libraries Acts, or local Acts, and this number includes every large town in the country. The principal areas still unprovided with public libraries are the Metropolitan Borough of Marylebone and the towns and districts of Bacup, Crewe, Scarborough, Swindon, Govan, Leith, Pollokshaws and Wishaw; together with Dover, Jarrow, Llandudno and Weymouth, which, though they have adopted the Acts, have taken no steps to put them into force.
18. Endowments.
18. Endowments.—Little need be said about the foundation of public libraries by endowment or bequest. The wills of Stephen Mitchell and George Baillie, of Glasgow, are models of what a liberal bequest should be, both as regards the amounts bequeathed and the conditions laid down for the formation of the library itself. The practical condition attached to all the gifts made by Mr Andrew Carnegie and Mr J. Passmore Edwards for public library purposes should be adopted by every benefactor who proposes to found a library. This is the very sensible one that, if the gift of money is accepted by the community, the local authority must adopt the Public Libraries Acts, in order to maintain the library in a state of efficiency for all time. The only alteration suggested in the form of future bequests is that, when money is offered to a small town on the condition that it adopts the Libraries Acts, the whole of the gift should not necessarily take the form of a building fund. Small towns usually have very inadequate incomes from the library rate, and for this reason it might be wise if a fair proportion of the gift were directed to be invested as a book fund. A large library building without books is by no means as useful to the people as a much less ambitious building provided with a fund which permits of the annual purchase of £50 to £100 worth of books, independently of the library rate. At the same time, the endowment of libraries in the manner suggested would not always act as an encouragement to town councils to provide proper funds for libraries; indeed, it might act as an excuse for withholding them.
19. Appointment of Committees.
19. Appointment of Committees.—The first step after the Libraries Acts have been adopted by a local authority will be the appointment of a committee, and it is desirable that only capable men should be elected. The best interests of the library will be served by a committee consisting of good business men and literary or professional men or women, in about equal proportions. It is quite evident that the legislature did not contemplate the formation of public libraries by committees consisting exclusively of the rank and file of local authorities, who are chiefly concerned with paving, drainage and other equally material matters. By Section 15, Sub-section 3, of the “Public Libraries Act, 1892,” it is ordained that “an urban authority may if it think fit appoint a committee and delegate to it all or any of its powers and duties under this section, and the said committee shall to the extent of such delegation be deemed to be the library authority. Persons appointed to be members of the committee need not be a member of the urban authority.” The “Public Libraries (Ireland) Amendment Act, 1877,” gives similar power to elect members outside the local authority. Section 4 ordains that “the committee in which the general management, regulation and control of such libraries, museums or schools may be vested under the provisions of the 12th Section of the principal Act may consist in part of persons not members of the council or board or commissioners.” By the “Public Libraries Consolidation (Scotland) Act, 1887,” Section 18 ordains that the local authority shall “appoint a committee, consisting of not less than ten nor more than twenty members, half of whom shall be chosen from amongst the magistrates and council, or board, as the case may be, and the remaining half from amongst the householders of the burgh or parish other than the magistrates and council, or board, and three members of such committee shall form a quorum.” It is further ordained, Section 21, that this committee “shall manage, regulate and control all libraries and museums established under this Act, or to which this Act applies; and shall have power to do all things necessary for such management.” It is thus clear that local authorities are fully empowered to select the best expert advice it is possible to obtain in the district, and that the administration of the library should not rest entirely in the hands of the local authority. It is therefore advisable that library committees, while consisting of a majority of members of the local authority, should be strengthened by a good proportion of members selected from among the best qualified citizens. The principle of co-option is compulsory in the case of Education Committees, and so far as this principle is concerned the arguments for its adoption on Library Committees are equally cogent.