The Public Libraries Act 1850 ( 13 & 14 Vict. c. 65), sometimes called the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1850, was an act of the

United Kingdom Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...

which first gave local

boroughs A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

the power to establish free public libraries. The act was the first legislative step in the creation of an enduring national institution that provides universal free

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and literature, and was indicative of the moral, social and educative concerns of the time. The legacy of the Act can be followed through subsequent legislation that built on and expanded the powers granted in 1850 and the 4,145 public libraries that exist in the United Kingdom in the 21st century can trace their origins back to this act.

Historical background

In the 1830s, at the height of the Chartist movement, there was a general tendency towards reformism in the United Kingdom. This prompted much new legislation to be passed, such as the Parliamentary Reform Act 1832, the

Factory Act 1833 The Factory Acts were a series of acts passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom beginning in 1802 to regulate and improve the conditions of industrial employment. The early acts concentrated on regulating the hours of work and moral wel ...

, the first instance of a government grant for education in the same year and the

Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 The Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 (4 & 5 Will. 4. c. 76) (PLAA) known widely as the New Poor Law, was an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed by the British Whig Party, Whig government of Charles ...

. The

capitalist Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

economic model had created shift patterns which left workers with free time, in contrast to the agrarian model, and the middle classes were concerned that the workers’ free time was not being well-spent. This was prompted more by Victorian middle-class paternalism rather than by demand from the lower social orders. Campaigners felt that encouraging the lower classes to spend their free time on morally uplifting activities, such as reading, would promote greater social good. In 1835, and against government opposition,

James Silk Buckingham James Silk Buckingham (25 August 1786 – 30 June 1855) was a British author, journalist and traveller, known for his contributions to Indian journalism. He was a pioneer among the Europeans who fought for a liberal press in India. Early life B ...

, MP for Sheffield and a supporter of the

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting Temperance (virtue), temperance or total abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and ...

, was able to secure the Chair of the select committee which would examine "the extent, causes, and consequences of the prevailing vice of intoxication among the labouring classes of the United Kingdom" and propose solutions.

Francis Place Francis Place (3 November 1771, London – 1 January 1854, London) was an English social reformer described as "a ubiquitous figure in the machinery of radical London." Background and early life He was an illegitimate son of Simon Place and M ...

, a campaigner for the working class, agreed that "the establishment of parish libraries and district reading rooms, and popular lectures on subjects both entertaining and instructive to the community might draw off a number of those who now frequent public houses for the sole enjoyment they afford". Buckingham introduced to Parliament a Public Institution Bill allowing boroughs to charge a tax to set up libraries and museums, the first of its kind. Although this did not become law, it had a major influence on William Ewart MP and Joseph Brotherton MP, who introduced a bill which would " mpowerboroughs with a population of 10,000 or more to raise a d for the establishment of museums". This became the Museums Act 1845.

1849 select committee

The advocacy of Ewart and Brotherton then succeeded in having a select committee set up to consider public library provision. A paper entitled "A statistical view of the principal public libraries in Europe and the United States" by Edward Edwards, an assistant at the British Museum Library, came to Ewart's attention and Edwards became a key witness to the select committee. Edwards was "a self taught former bricklayer ... passionately convinced of the value and significance of libraries". The select committee of 1849 produced a report in which Edwards and Ewart ensured that "no stone was left unturned" in proving their case that existing public library provision was inadequate and that provision in other countries was far superior. The select committee reported that "while we learn that, more than half a century ago, the first step taken by a foreign writer was to consult a public library on the subject of his studies or composition; we find that no such auxiliary was at the service of the British intellect".Select Committee on Public Libraries, ''Report'' (1849) The report also argued that the provision of public libraries would steer people towards temperate and moderate habits, the same argument as was made by James Silk Buckingham fifteen years earlier. With a view to maximising the potential of current facilities, the committee made certain proposals, including: * public use of university libraries * improved public access to the British Museum Library * duplicate books from the British Museum Library collection to be redistributed to local libraries In order to achieve such ends, the committee made two significant recommendations. They suggested that the government should issue grants to aid the foundation of libraries and that the Museums Act 1845 should be amended and extended to allow for a tax to be levied for the establishment of public libraries. However, it was not thought necessary to subsidise stock provision for the libraries so the levy was to be used to provide buildings, furnishings and staff salaries. The authors of the report believed that donations from members of the public would be more than adequate to stock the new libraries.

Public Libraries Act 1850

The 1850 act was much more contentious than the Museums Act 1845. The major arguments against the bill included: * Although the boroughs were represented by elected bodies, many people argued that the act enforced taxation without consent. * There was opposition to the act simply on the grounds that founding and maintaining the new libraries would mean an increase in taxation at all, consensual or otherwise. * Concerns were expressed that it would infringe on private enterprise and the existing library provision such as

mechanics' institutes Mechanics' institutes, also known as mechanics' institutions, sometimes simply known as institutes, and also called schools of arts (especially in the Australian colonies), were educational establishments originally formed to provide adult ed ...

. * Access to certain publications would neither promote

civil society Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.16 & 17 Vict. c. 101). The following year the ( 17 & 18 Vict. c. 64) granted library authorities the for there to be a poll of ratepayers for the act to be adopted and uptake was instead authorised by a two-thirds majority at a public meeting of those who possessed or occupied a house of £10 annual value. This referred to homes that might reasonably be expected to have a net annual rental value of £10 a year or more. However, a poll could still be requested by any five voters present. In 1855, similar amendments were introduced in England and Wales in the more wide-ranging Public Libraries Act 1855. This included provision for the 1d rate and the authority to buy books, newspapers, maps and specimens. It also contained the amendment that had already been made in Scotland, that of the two-thirds majority at a public meeting of ratepayers.

Further legislation

The 1850 act was noteworthy because it established the principle of free public libraries, but in practice it was unsatisfactory. It placed many limitations on the type of councils that could adopt it, the amount of money that the boroughs were permitted to spend and the ways in which this money could be spent. Efforts were later made to develop the act further and remove many of these restrictions. The

Public Libraries Act 1855 The Public Libraries Act 1855 ( 18 & 19 Vict. c. 70) amended the Public Libraries Act 1850 The Public Libraries Act 1850 ( 13 & 14 Vict. c. 65), sometimes called the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1850, was an act of the United Kingdom Parli ...

( 18 & 19 Vict. c. 70) increased the maximum rate that boroughs could charge to fund libraries to 1d. Like the 1850 act, the bill for this act had to be guided through the House of Commons by William Ewart. It met with a great deal of opposition and Ewart was obliged to abandon a proposal to enable municipal boroughs to adopt it by simple resolution of the town council. There was some confusion regarding the provision of public libraries outside corporate towns; that is those towns incorporated by legal enactment and entitled to pass by-laws and use a common seal. This resulted in difficulties in extending public library provision to rural areas. The Public Libraries Act 1855 tried to resolve these difficulties by stating that a library authority could be a borough council, an improvement board or commission, a parish vestry or group of vestries, provided they covered a minimum population of 5,000. Since the 18th century, improvement boards had been established in many urban areas to take responsibility for paving, lighting and cleaning of streets, but over time their functions became wider in scope. From 1835 onwards, their responsibilities were assumed by elected town councils in the reformed boroughs but they continued in the urban areas outside the boroughs. Becoming a public library authority was another extension of their authority. A decade later, an amending act was passed, the ( 29 & 30 Vict. c. 114), which eliminated entirely the population limit and replaced the two-thirds majority previously required for adoption with a simple majority. It also allowed neighbouring parishes to combine with an existing or potential library authority. This act applies to both England and Wales and Scotland. A year later the ( 30 & 31 Vict. c. 37) was passed to amend and consolidate the application of the law to Scotland. It established a form of library committee composed of a maximum of twenty members, of which half were to be members of the council and the other half to be selected by the council from householders.

Legacy

The Public Library Acts of 1855 and 1866 were the last to be advanced by William Ewart, who retired in 1868. He had made great efforts to promote the public library system in Great Britain and perhaps his greatest achievement was the complete elimination of the population limits, as it allowed even very small towns or parishes to set up a public library. It was later found that this could present a problem, as many public libraries were established by library authorities that did not in fact have enough money to run a library satisfactorily. Despite the rise in the level of tax public libraries could levy, it was still very difficult for boroughs to raise enough capital to fund new libraries. The growth of the public library movement in the wake of the 1850 act relied heavily on the donations of philanthropists such as

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie ( , ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the History of the iron and steel industry in the United States, American steel industry in the late ...

John Passmore Edwards John Passmore Edwards (24 March 1823 – 22 April 1911)ODNB article by A. J. A. Morris, 'Edwards, John Passmore (1823–1911)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, May 200 accessed 15 Nove ...

and

Henry Tate Sir Henry Tate, 1st Baronet (11 March 18195 December 1899) was an English merchant and philanthropist, noted for establishing the Tate Britain, Tate Gallery and the company that became Tate & Lyle. Early life Henry Tate was born in White Copp ...

References

Citations

General and cited references

* LISU (2009)
Number of Libraries
Accessed April 12, 2010. * * * {{cite book, last=McMenemy, first=David, title=The Public Library, year=2009, publisher=FACET, location=London * Max, Stanley M. (1984). "Tory Reaction to the Public Libraries Bill, 1850." ''Journal of Library History'' (1984): 504-524. in JSTOR * Minto, J (1932). ''History of the Public Library Movement in Great Britain and Ireland'' London: Library Association * Murison, W J (1971). ''The Public Library: its origins, purpose and significance'' (2nd ed), London: Harrap * Sturges, P. (1996). "Conceptualizing the public library 1850–1919". In: Kinnell, M. and Sturges, P. (eds.) ''Continuity and Innovation in the Public Library: the Development of a Social Institution''. London: Library Association.

External links

History of the Public Libraries Act

Select Committee Report 1849

1850 in British law United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1850 Public libraries in the United Kingdom Library law Social history of the United Kingdom