(a) The acts are permissive in character and not compulsory, and can only be put in force by a vote of a majority of members in an urban district or city, or of a majority of voters in rural districts.
(b) The amount of rate which can be collected is limited to one penny in the pound of the rateable value of the district, though in some towns power has been obtained by special legislation for local purposes to increase the amount to 2d. In a few cases, as at Birmingham, no limit is fixed. The incomes produced by the penny in the pound range from less than £10 in a rural district to over £25,000 in a large city.
(c) Municipal libraries are managed by committees appointed by the local authorities, who may, if so disposed, delegate to them all their powers and duties under section 15 of the act of 1892. The local authorities in England have also power to appoint persons on such committees who are not members of the council. By the Scottish principal act of 1887 committees are to consist of one-half councillors and one-half non-councillors, not to exceed a total of 20, and these committees become independent bodies not subject to the councils. Glasgow has contracted out of this arrangement by means of a special act. In Ireland, committees are appointed much on the same system as in England.
(d) Power is given to provide libraries, museums, schools for science, art galleries, and schools for art. Needless to say it is impossible to carry on so many departments with the strictly limited means provided by the acts, although some towns have attempted to do so. The Museums and Gymnasiums Act of 1891 enables an additional rate of ½d. to be raised for either purpose, and many places which have established museums or art galleries under the provisions of the Libraries Acts have also adopted the Museums Act in order to increase their revenues.
(e) The regulation and management of public libraries are entrusted to the library authority, which may either be the local authority, or a committee with a full or partial delegation of powers. The library authority can buy books, periodicals, specimens of art and science, and make all necessary rules for the proper working of the libraries. A staff can be appointed, and arrangements may be made with adjoining local authorities for the joint use of one or more libraries. Buildings may also be erected, and money borrowed for the purpose on the security of the local rates. These are the main provisions of the library legislation of the United Kingdom as at present existing. Revision and amendment are wanted as regards the abolition or raising of the rate limitation, and some clearer definitions as to powers which can be exercised, as, for example, the right to spend money on lectures. The rate limitation is the most serious obstacle to progress, and it affects the smaller towns to a much greater degree than large cities or areas.
Between 1850 and 1910 about 630 local government areas of all kinds adopted the Public Libraries Acts. Of these a considerable number had in 1910 not yet put the acts in operation, whilst the London Government Act 1899, by joining various previously independent vestries or boards, extinguished about 23 library areas. The Metropolitan County of London in 1910 comprised 25 library areas, or counting also the City, 26, and only Marylebone, Bethnal Green and parts of Finsbury and Paddington remained unprovided. Practically every large city or district council has adopted the Public Libraries Acts or obtained special legislation, and the only important places, in addition to Marylebone and Bethnal Green, unprovided in 1910 were Bacup, Crewe, Dover, Jarrow, Scarborough, Swindon, Weymouth, Llandudno, Govan, Leith, Pollokshaws and Wishaw. In all, 556 places had library systems in operation, and among them they possessed about 925 buildings.
The progress of the public library movement was very slow up to 1887, the year of Queen Victoria’s jubilee. From 1887, however, when many districts established libraries as memorials to Queen Victoria, the progress has been much more rapid. An immense stimulus to the movement was given from about 1900, when Mr Andrew Carnegie (q.v.) began to present library buildings to towns in England as well as to Scotland and the United States. The result of this action was to increase the number of municipal libraries from 146 in 1886 to 556 in 1910; and in the 10 years up to 1910 during which Mr Carnegie’s gifts had been offered, no fewer than 163 places had put the acts in operation, a yearly average of over 16 adoptions.
There is one municipal library whose importance demands special mention, although it is not rate-supported under the provisions of the Public Libraries Acts. This is the Guildhall library of the Corporation of the City of London, which is a free public reference library with a periodicals reading-room, and a lending department for officials and members of the corporation. A library was established for London by Sir Richard Whittington between 1421-1426, and several notices in the civic records show how well in those times the citizens cared for their books. But it did not remain without accident; in 1522 the Lord Protector Somerset carried off three cart-loads of books, and during the great fire of 1666 the remainder was destroyed together with the library buildings. Nothing was done to repair the loss until 1824, when a committee was appointed, and rooms set apart for library purposes. In 1840 a catalogue of 10,000 vols. was printed, and in 1859 a second was prepared of 40,000 vols. In consequence of the large and increasing number of the readers, the present fine building was commenced about ten years later, and, after having cost £90,000, was opened in 1873 as a free public library.
There are now upwards of 136,000 printed vols. and 5900 MSS. in the Guildhall library. The contents are of a general character, and include a special collection of books about London, the Solomons Hebrew and rabbinical library, and the libraries of the Clockmakers Company and the old Dutch church in Austin Friars. Recently the fine collection of books by and about Charles Dickens, called the National Dickens Library, was added, and other special libraries of a valuable nature, as well as an extensive and well-cared-for collection of London prints, and drawings.
There is such a variety of library buildings in the United Kingdom that it is not possible to single out British library administration. examples for special description, but a brief statement of their work and methods will help to give some idea of the extent of their activities.