Britain: An official handbook > 1993

PROMOTION OF THE ARTS
Besides a number of great private
collections, such as that of the London
Library, there are the rich resources of the
learned societies and institutions. Examples
are the libraries of the Royal Institute of
International Affairs, the Royal Geographical
Society, the Royal Academy of Music, the
National Library for the Blind and the Book
Trust. The Poetry Library, owned by the
Arts Council, is a national collection of
twentieth century poetry written in or
translated into English.
University Libraries
The university libraries of Oxford and
Cambridge are unmatched by those of the
more recent foundations. However, the
combined library resources of the colleges and
institutions of the University of London total
9 million volumes, the John Rylands
University Library in Manchester contains
3 4 million volumes, Edinburgh 2 million,
Leeds L8 million, and Birmingham, Glasgow,
Liverpool and Aberdeen each have over 1
million volumes. Many universities have
important research collections in special
subjects; examples include the Barnes Medical
Library at Birmingham and the British
Library of Political and Economic Science at
the London School of Economics.
Special Libraries
Numerous associations and commercial and
industrial organisations run library and
information services. Although most are
intended primarily for use within the
organisation, many special libraries can be
used, by arrangement, by people interested in
the area covered, and the specialist
publications held are often available for inter-
library lending.
Public Libraries
Local authorities in Great Britain and
education and library boards in Northern
Ireland have a duty to provide a free lending
and reference library service in their areas,
and Britain’s network of libraries has a total
stock of about 156-7 million books. Public
libraries issue an average of ten books a year
for every person in Britain. Sixty per cent of
these are works of fiction for adults. Over
half of the total population are members of
public libraries. Some areas are served by
mobile libraries, and domiciliary services
cater for people unable to visit a library.
Many libraries have collections of compact
discs, records, audio- and video-cassettes, and
musical scores for loan to the public, while a
number also lend from collections of works of
art, which may be originals or reproductions.
Most libraries hold documents on local
history, and nearly all provide children’s
departments, while reference and information
sections and art, music, commercial and
technical departments meet the growing and
more specific demands in these fields. The
information role is one of increasing
importance for many libraries, and greater
use is being made of information technology,
including microcomputers and reference
databases.
The Government remains committed to
providing a free basic library service—the
borrowing and consultation of books and
other printed materials—but believes there is
scope for greater private sector involvement.
Under the Public Library Development
Incentive Scheme it makes available £250,000
a year to encourage new developments and
increase efficiency in public library services in
England. Priority is given to projects
involving collaboration with other libraries
and the private sector.
Public library authorities charge for some
services, such as research services and the
lending of non-printed materials, including
cassettes and records.
The Public Lending Right Scheme,
introduced in 1979, gives registered authors
the right to receive payment from a central
fund (totalling £4-75 million in 1992-93) for
the use of their books borrowed from public
libraries in Britain. Payment is made in
proportion to the number of times the
authors’ books are lent out.
The Government is advised on library and
information matters by four library and
information services councils or committees,
representing England, Wales, Scotland and
Northern Ireland.
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