30.
30. Local circumstances alter the conditions materially in every place, and hitherto there has been a lack of uniformity in presenting financial statements which makes any attempt to produce a model budget to be suspect. The form of the statement is often governed by the practice of the Borough Accountant, who arranges the order of items in accordance with his own views; but wherever it is possible to do so, it would be well if the form of annual estimate conformed with the order adopted in the report made by Professor W. G. S. Adams to the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust in 1915, On Library Provision and Policy, which would arrange in some such order as in the table on [page 46].
Each of these items will probably need analysis, and the order given here may be inverted; indeed, the form shown is merely meant to be suggestive and to show the nature of the information which the Council usually requires when it is considering the annual estimates.
| Public Library Committee Estimate, 1919. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Expenditure. | |||||
| Actual 1917. | Estimate 1918. | Actual 1918. | Estimate 1919. | ||
| 1. | £897 | Books and Binding | £900 | £910 | £920 |
| 2. | £300 | Newspapers and Periodicals | £350 | £380 | £380 |
| 3. | etc. | Salaries and Wages | .. | .. | .. |
| 4. | .. | Rent and Loans | .. | .. | .. |
| 5. | .. | Rates and Taxes | .. | .. | .. |
| 6. | .. | Maintenance: | .. | .. | .. |
| 7. | .. | Lighting | .. | .. | .. |
| 8. | .. | Heating | .. | .. | .. |
| 9. | .. | Cleaning | .. | .. | .. |
| 10. | .. | Balance | .. | .. | .. |
| Income | |||||
| 1. | From 0d. rate | .. | .. | .. | |
| 2. | From other sources | .. | .. | .. | |
Fig. 1.—Form for Annual Estimates.
31.
31. The distribution of the income over the various items is again subject to local circumstances; but, thanks to the inquiry of Professor Adams, a [table] of comparative distribution of income drawn from the figures of about 500 library systems throughout the kingdom has been published, which gives the best information at present available. It is qualified by the facts we have emphasized in the last paragraph, and still more by the changed conditions which result from the European War, which have increased such items as salaries, and reduced the book-purchasing (and indeed every other purchasing) power of libraries considerably. We give the table of percentages of expenditure for libraries with, and without, loans, merely remarking that it may serve as a rough guide by which library committees may work. Again, the librarian, in submitting his budget for the use of his committee, will analyse the items into general administrative, central, reference and branch libraries’ expenditure, and under each will show salaries as distinct from wages paid for unskilled service; and books will be divided into “new,” “replacements,” etc.; periodicals into those filed permanently and others; maintenance charges into building expenses, furniture and fittings, stationery, repairs to fabric and furniture, and so on. The Council as a rule does not require so detailed a statement.
Classified Percentages of Library Expenditure