Britain: An official handbook > 1956

392
BRITAIN: AN OFFICIAL HANDBOOK
* copyright ’ libraries of the country and are entitled to receive a copy of each new
book published in Britain.
Other great libraries are1 2: the London Library (the largest public subscription
library, 600,000 volumes); the University of London Central Library (580,000)2;
Edinburgh University Library (625,000); Glasgow University Library (426,800);
St. Andrews University Library (519,500); the John Rylands Library, Manchester
(500,000); the Science Museum Library (390,000); the Patent Office Library
(356,000); the Victoria and Albert Museum Art Library (300,000); the National
Library for the Blind (300,000—Braille and Moon types); the British Library of
Political and Economic Science (350,000); the British Museum (Natural History)
Library (300,000); the India Office Library (280,000); Queen’s University Library,
Belfast (200,000); the Royal Institute of International Affairs Library (91,000); the
Royal Geographical Society Library (90,000); the Imperial Institute Library
(100,000); the Public Record Office Library (which contains the National Archives
and the National Register of Archives); the Royal College of Music Library
(160,000); the British Drama League Library (90,000); the Library of the Royal
Institute of British Architects (60,000); the Royal Academy of Music Library
(60,000); and the Central Music Library (29,000). The Arts Council has founded
a reference library of modem English poetry, which is housed with the National
Book League.
An important feature of library services in Britain is the co-operation within
the closely knit network of libraries which greatly increases the value of the service.
Library co-operation is organized regionally in the first instance, through Regional
Library Bureaux, and is finally centralized in the National Central Library with
its widespread system of outlier libraries (public, university and special) giving
access to a total stock of 21 million books.
The public libraries of Britain are maintained in every county and county
borough and in many boroughs and urban districts by 578 public library authorities.
Together, these authorities provide more than 31,000 service points; they hold
over 58 million books and make more than 380 million loans a year. A feature of
the service in rural areas is the travelling van, which is an itinerant library.
In addition to lending books, and providing special libraries for children, public
libraries engage in many kinds of extension activities, such as play readings, lec¬
tures, film shows, music circles and co-operation in University Extension adult
education.
The two principal professional bodies to which librarians belong are the Library
Association and the Association of Special Libraries and Information Bureaux
(ASLIB). Whereas the Library Association, with a membership of over 11,000,
attempts coverage of the whole field of library work—public, university and special
—ASLIB, which is a documentation centre and is financed by the Department of
Scientific and Industrial Research, operates in a more specialized field. One of its
activities, for example, is the maintenance of an index of translations, especially
from Russian and German, which have been or are being made in Britain.
Books
The output of new books in Britain amounts to over 13,000 new titles a year—in
I954> for example, British publishers issued a total of 19,188 separate titles, of
which only 5,846 were reprints or new editions. In that year, the annual figures for
1 This list provides only an arbitrary selection of some of the largest libraries. Unless
otherwise stated these libraries are situated in London where there are more than 500
libraries; and see also p. 370.
2 The total holding of all the libraries (college and special) of London University is over
2$ million volumes.