The Finances and Buildings of Public Libraries at the Outbreak of the First World War

Abstract

It is intended to present an account of the situation of public libraries in England and Wales in 1914 at the culmination of approximately half a century of development. Public libraries evolved as well as could be expected between 1855, the year in which the rate at their disposal was raised from 1/2d. to 1d., and 1914, the year in which Professor Adams of the University of Oxford prepared his report on their provision and policy at the instigation of the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust. It has been widely believed that an air of despondency pervaded the public library service during the two decades prior to I9I9 the year in which the rate limitation was removed. In fact the real crisis situation was not reached until the consequences of World War I had been felt, following which a reappraisal of the library service was imperative if it were not to collapse. The year I9I4 was, as public librarians were about to discover, the last year of an era of relative stability.