Manual of Library Economy / Third and Memorial Edition

Fig. 2.—Returns compiled from Professor Adams’ Report on Library Provision and Policy [Carnegie United Kingdom Trust], Sec. 31.

32.

32. We must consider in some detail the principal expenditures to which library committees are subject.

33. Loans.

33. Loans.—The Libraries Acts give fairly full instructions as to loans for public library purposes. In England under the principal Act “every library authority, with the sanction of the Local Government Board . . . may borrow money for the purposes of this Act on the security of any fund or rate applicable for those purposes.” In parishes the regulations for borrowing prescribed by the “Local Government Act, 1894,” are to apply. As a preliminary to borrowing, an inquiry is held locally by a Local Government Board inspector, who receives evidence as to proposed buildings, sites, amount required, etc., and also hears objections to the proposal. The Local Government Board print bills announcing the inquiry, and these must be posted and paid for by the library authority. At such inquiries full particulars should be prepared as to income, date of adopting Acts, etc., as well as particulars of the proposed scheme. After the inquiry is held it is generally about three months later before the sanction of the Board is received. This states the amount sanctioned and for what period the money can be borrowed for sites, buildings, furniture or books, as the case may be.

The security for loans is declared by the “Public Health Act, 1875,” Section 233, to be the “credit of any fund or all or any rates or rate out of which they are authorized to defray expenses incurred by them in the execution of this Act.” And it is further laid down that “they may mortgage to the persons by or on behalf of whom such sums are advanced any such fund or rates or rate.” It thus appears that neither library buildings nor the library rate can be mortgaged for the purposes of library loans, but only the rate or rates out of which the expenses of the Public Health Act are paid. This practically means the general rate of a district.

34.

34. The Local Government Board will fix the period for which sums of money for particular purposes may be borrowed. Generally the periods are as follows:

The money may be borrowed from the Public Works Loan Commissioners, County Councils, Banks, Friendly Societies or private individuals. The rate of interest varies, according to the state of the money market. Four per cent. may be regarded as an average interest at present, but library authorities have borrowed for as low as 3 per cent.

35.

35. The methods of repayment vary, and this must be entirely a matter for local arrangement, and should follow the practice in vogue with other municipal loans. An equalized repayment of principal and interest on the annuity system has the advantage of distributing the payments uniformly over the whole period, and of placing part of the burden on succeeding ratepayers as well as upon those who establish the library. This is much fairer than making the pioneer ratepayers practically bear the whole foundation cost of establishing an institution which increases in its value to the community as it progresses. On the other hand, buildings are sure to depreciate in value, and the question of repairs is a constant one, so that some authorities maintain that loans on structures should be paid off by annually diminishing instalments of principal and interest. In Scotland repayments of principal must be made from a sinking fund which is to be formed from a certain proportion of the rate put aside annually.

The arrangements for negotiating a loan and drawing up the necessary deeds should be placed in the hands of a solicitor, but in many cases the accountant or town clerk of the district is responsible for all arrangements, and will see that the deed is duly sealed as prescribed by the Act.

In connexion with this it should be noted that by Section 237 of the “Public Health Act, 1875,” a register of the mortgages on each rate must be kept, and that “within fourteen days after the date of any mortgage an entry shall be made in the register of the number and date thereof, and of the names and description of the parties thereto, as stated in the deed.” Furthermore, “every such register shall be open to public inspection during office hours at the said office [local authority’s office] without fee or reward.” As the auditor will call for this register, the clerk to the library authority should see that it is provided, if the local authority has not already done so.

36.

36. The arrangements for loans in Ireland and Scotland are somewhat similar to those just described. In Ireland no power to borrow was given under the principal Act, but the Amendment Act of 1877 gives the power, provided the commissioners of His Majesty’s Treasury approve. The Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland may lend, and power is given to mortgage, as security, either the borough fund, town fund, or the library rate itself. In Scotland the local authority may borrow, without any other consent, on mortgage or bond on the security of the library rate, a sum or sums not exceeding the capital sum represented by one-fourth part of the library rate, capitalized at the rate of twenty years’ purchase of such sum. A sinking fund must be formed, consisting of an annual sum equal to one-fiftieth part of the money borrowed, which is to be invested and applied to the purpose of extinguishing the debt.

Before leaving the question of loans, it may be well to offer a word of warning against the danger of overborrowing, which has very seriously crippled the work of various libraries. In some places as much as one-half the library income has to be devoted to the repayment of principal and interest of loans; in others, one-third is similarly spent. One-fourth is the maximum which in any case should be set apart for the purpose.

37. Assessment to Rates and Taxes.

37. Assessment to Rates and Taxes.—The assessment of public library buildings to rates and taxes has been for long a burning question, and is still far from final settlement. The limitation of the library rate to a penny in the pound has always been considered by library authorities a strong reason why all additional burdens on the meagre income raised thereby should be resisted. But all local authorities and assessment committees did not think likewise, and a good deal of friction resulted.

In 1843 was passed “An Act to exempt from County, Borough, Parochial, and other Local Rates, Land and Buildings occupied by Scientific or Literary Societies,” 6 & 7 Vict., c. 36, under which a few public libraries obtained certificates of exemption from the payment of local rates, from the Registrar of Friendly Societies, as allowed by this Act. Some of these certificates were recognized by the rating authorities, others were ignored, and it was frequently maintained that a public library was not a scientific or literary society within the meaning of the Act. In 1896, however, a complete change took place as regards this point, by a decision of the House of Lords, which ruled that public libraries were literary societies or institutions for the purposes of the “Income Tax Act of 1842,” under which such institutions were granted exemption from the payment of income tax. Although the case, brought by the Corporation of Manchester against the Surveyor of Income Tax for Manchester, did not directly refer to the Act of 1843, the decision that public libraries were literary institutions effected all that was necessary for the purpose of claiming exemption from local rates under the “Literary Societies Act of 1843.” A full report of this case and decision is printed in the Library for 1896, in the Times law reports and elsewhere. The effect of this decision was to remove any doubt from the mind of the Registrar of Friendly Societies, who has power under the Act to grant certificates exempting public libraries from the payment of local rates, and as a result many libraries obtained certificates, and now enjoy complete or partial exemption. It is not necessary to quote the Act of 1843, which can be obtained for one penny from the King’s printers, but the procedure requisite for obtaining a certificate of exemption may be noted.

38.

38. An application claiming exemption under the 1843 Act must be addressed to the Registrar of Friendly Societies at London, Edinburgh or Dublin, as the case may require. With this must be enclosed a copy of the rules and regulations of the library, signed by the chairman and three members of committee, and countersigned by the clerk or librarian. These rules must include the following, or others in similar terms:—

1. “The —— Public Library is a society established for purposes of literature and science exclusively.”

2. “The library is supported in part by a rate levied in accordance with the Public Libraries Acts, and in part by annual voluntary contributions of money and gifts of books and periodicals. The Library Committee shall not make any dividend, gift, division or bonus in money unto or between any of the members.”

These two rules are absolutely necessary to a successful application, and, if not already incorporated, should be included by special resolution of the library authority before application is made. It is best to send printed copies of the rules, and it should be noted that three identical copies, all signed, must be sent. On these the registrar endorses his certificate, and sends one to the Clerk of the Peace for the district, one to the library authority, and retains one. The form of certificate usually attached is as follows:

It is hereby certified that this society is entitled to the benefit of the Act 6 & 7 Vict., c. 36, intituled “An Act to exempt from County, Borough, Parochial and other Local Rates, Lands and Buildings occupied by Scientific or Literary Societies.”

Date.

The application should show that annual voluntary contributions of money, books and periodicals are received, but there is no direction laid down as to the amount of voluntary contributions which will pass muster. The point is somewhat vague, but it may be assumed that the amount received from gifts, subscriptions, sales, books, periodicals, etc., need not form a substantial proportion of the income. As the English Registrar accepts donations in kind as annual voluntary contributions, it is only necessary to value these to make up a respectable sum.

39.

39. Certificates are not granted as a rule in cases where a charge for admission is made. Furthermore, it is doubtful if the exemption from local rates would be allowed by hostile local authorities for any occupied portions of library buildings. A caretaker’s or librarian’s residence would in all probability be separately assessed, if the certificate were otherwise recognized. By a decision of a Court of Quarter Sessions at Liverpool in 1905, it has been decided that the Corporation of Liverpool is liable for local rates on a library building; but it is not possible to say how far this may affect libraries holding these certificates. Legislation is pending, and till something is definitely settled, the question must remain open.

40.

40. The House of Lords’ decision already noticed also freed public library buildings from income tax, but it should be distinctly understood that inhabited house duty can be charged for the whole of a building, even if only partly occupied as a residence, when included under one roof, unless it can be shown that the library and residence do not communicate directly with each other.

41. Insurance.

41. Insurance.—Library buildings and their contents should be fully insured against fire. To ascertain insurable value take the cost of buildings at the contract price, including all charges which would have to be incurred again for rebuilding; furniture at the contract price; lending library books at 3s. 4d. per volume all over; and reference library books at 5s. per volume all over, and thus obtain a total. An allowance is sometimes made for depreciation, but a full covering value is always safe. The policy will state these various items separately for the purposes of insurance, but will likely charge a uniform percentage on all. 1s. 6d. per cent. is a fair charge in a good office, but insurances can be effected for as low as 1s. 3d. per cent. Library buildings form a safe risk, and unless in a case of temporary premises with bad surroundings, 1s. 6d. per cent. should be regarded as a maximum charge. Some offices return the premium once in five years or so by way of bonus. Insurance policies should be revised every few years to keep pace with the growth of the library. Paintings, valuable MSS. and rare books must be made the subject of special insurances. The same may be said of temporary exhibitions, especially of loan articles, which ought to be covered by a policy for the period of the show. Plenty of fire-buckets should be provided in public library buildings to cope with the first outbreak of fire. Hydrants, save in large buildings, are not necessary, on account of their cost and practical inutility. If a fire cannot be checked at its onset by means of buckets, it is time to ring up the fire-brigade.

42.

42. Another insurance that should be provided is against claims for damage or injury to children who use juvenile departments which may be caused through any defect in the building or its fittings; and in connexion therewith it should be remembered that children cannot legally be held contributory by their carelessness or misbehaviour to such accidents as would cause injury.

43.

43. Health insurance must be paid by the library committees for all employees of sixteen years of age and more who earn less than £250 a year.

44. Contracts, Agreements, Requisitions.

44. Contracts, Agreements, Requisitions.—Contracts for regular supplies should be renewed annually. The principal items of this kind are:

Books, bookbinding, periodicals and newspapers, printing, stationery, cleaning materials.

Local sentiment is generally in favour of procuring all supplies locally, where possible, and when this can be done without absolute disadvantage to the library it is the most convenient course. Tenders can be invited either by public advertisement or on the nomination of members of committee and the librarian. To begin with, public advertisement is, perhaps, the fairest way; afterwards, quality of service and other considerations will decide. Specifications should be prepared and sent out according to requirements.

45.

45. All specifications and contracts should be carefully preserved. The former should be entered up in a specification book, which need be but an ordinary foolscap folio blank book, ruled faint. Accepted contracts should either be filed in boxes or guard books, or copied into a contracts book similar to the specification book. Accepted estimates for occasional work should be fastened to the accounts. It is important to be able to lay hands on any given document or its terms without the slightest delay. All tenders for regular supplies and estimates for occasional work should be opened in committee, in meeting duly convened, unless by special resolution the librarian or a sub-committee is authorized to deal with them. Envelopes, printed with the address of the library and having the words “Tender for ——” printed boldly in one corner, should be enclosed with all invitations for estimates to prevent the risk of accidental opening.

46.

46. In connexion with contracts it is important to note that Public Library Committees and officers are subject to the penal provisions of the “Public Bodies Corrupt Practices Act, 1889,” 52 & 53 Vict., c. 69, in the event of bribes or commissions being given or received in connexion with pending contracts or supplies. As this does not seem to be generally known, the essential words of the Act are quoted:

“Every person who corruptly solicits or receives, or agrees to receive, for himself, or for any other person, any gift, loan, fee, reward, or advantage, as an inducement to any member, officer, or servant of a public body, doing or forbearing to do anything in respect of any matter or transaction in which such public body is concerned; and every person who shall, with the like object, corruptly give, promise, or offer any gift, loan, fee, reward, or advantage to any person, whether for the benefit of that person or of another, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour. Any one convicted of such an offence shall be liable to imprisonment for two years, or to a fine of £500, or to both imprisonment and fine; and, in addition, be liable to pay to such public body the amount or value of any gift, loan, fee, or reward so received by him; and be adjudged incapable of holding any public office for seven years, and to forfeit any such office held by him,” etc.

47.

47. Agreements for leases, loans, joint use of libraries with adjoining authorities, or between committee and librarian or other persons, should be drawn up by a solicitor. Minor agreements may be drawn up by the library authority, but they should all be stamped with a sixpenny stamp if in connexion with a consideration of £5 and over. The legal limits within which agreements between various kinds of library authorities can be made are duly set forth in the various Public Libraries Acts, and, as these matters seldom arise in the course of ordinary library routine, there is no need further to consider the subject.

48. Suggestions on Management.

48. Suggestions on Management.—It is well to keep a book or to provide forms to enable readers to make suggestions on the management of the library. Frequently such suggestions take the form of complaints, but it is a useful thing to allow free opportunity for the expression of public opinion. In some libraries separate books are kept for propositions of new books not in the library and suggestions on management. A simple form, on which the reader can make suggestions on management or of books, is preferable. When these forms are made readily available, and are kept in public view, together with a locked box in which the slips can be lodged through a slit in the lid, they are much more effective as a means of drawing suggestions than special MS. books which have to be asked for. A useful form of slip is the following:—

Fig. 3.—Suggestion Slip.

A small locked box to contain these, and lettered on side “Suggestions,” should be provided. If one of these boxes is placed in each important department of the library, readers will be encouraged to air their views. Even if nothing more valuable should be received than a complaint about a draught or the manner of the librarian, it is better than the dull indifference and apathy which are met with in libraries where readers are discouraged from taking any part in the administration. Occasionally some brilliant, if impossible, suggestions on management are received by means of these slips and boxes, and suggestions of desirable books can always be depended upon. Every means of interesting readers in the work of the library should be adopted, and this will be found a very effective method.

49. Accounts.

49. Accounts.—By the principal English Act, Section 20 (1), it is ordained that “separate accounts shall be kept of the receipts and expenditure under this Act of every library authority and its officers, and those accounts shall be audited in like manner and with the like incidents and consequences, in the case of a library authority being an urban authority, and of its officers, as the accounts of the receipts and expenditure of that authority and its officers under the Public Health Acts.” In Ireland the same provisions apply, that is, library accounts are to be kept and audited like those of the local authority, and copies of the accounts are to be sent within one month after auditing to the Lord Lieutenant. In Scotland the accounts are to be kept separately in special books, and are to be audited by “one or more competent auditors.” In all cases the books are to be open to public inspection, and in Scotland abstracts of the accounts are to be inserted in one or more newspapers published or circulated in the district.

No special system of library book-keeping has been laid down, the nearest approach to a form being that prescribed by an order of the Local Government Board, dated 26th November 1892, for parishes whose library accounts are audited in like manner to those of Poor Law Guardians. In Greenwood’s Public Libraries, fourth edition, 1894, pages 343-345, some details are given of this system, and the first edition of this Manual also gives specimens of forms, etc.

50. Financial Statement.

50. Financial Statement.—The form of financial statement for public libraries in parishes, prescribed by the Local Government Board, alluded to in Section 49, is the best for all purposes. As shown in the section on Annual Estimates, it provides for every kind of receipt and expenditure. Printed blanks giving the whole of the items copied from the L.G.B. Order of 1892 have been published. In addition to a blank tabular form for showing particulars of loans, etc., the statement includes spaces for the undernoted items, all duly set out to form a balance sheet:

FINANCIAL STATEMENT.

51. Audit.

51. Audit.—In cases where library accounts are audited under the “District Auditors’ Act, 1879,” it is imperative that all the forms and consequences should be borne in mind. District auditors have power to surcharge expenditures for items which in their opinion cannot be legally incurred under the provisions of the Public Libraries Acts, and it should also be remembered that the committee-men who sign the disputed cheque are held liable. The powers vested in library authorities are so wide that it is very doubtful if some district auditors are not exceeding their authority by objecting, as they have done in some places, to payments for publications, subscriptions to societies, expenses of lectures, and other items. In cases of surcharge appeal for relief should be made to the Local Government Board, when it is a first offence, or when there is good grounds for challenging the decision of the auditor. The cost of auditing accounts is laid down in the “District Auditors’ Act, 1879,” according to the following scale. The library authority is required to purchase the necessary stamps to cover the amount:

Needless to say, very few libraries will have to pay more than £10. The charges for auditing by a firm of chartered accountants are generally according to an agreed scale.

Bibliography

52. Rating

52. Rating:

Greenwood, Thomas. Public Libraries, 1891, p. 376.

Adams, W. G. S. Report to the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust of Library Provision and Policy, 1915.

Chambers and Fovargue. Law relating to Public Libraries, 1899.

Credland, W. R. Rating and Taxation of Public Libraries. In Greenwood’s Year-Book, 1897, p. 45.

For articles, see Cannons, B 38-44, Taxation, etc.

53. Insurance

53. Insurance:

Davis, C. T. Fire Prevention and Insurance. In Greenwood’s Year-Book, 1900, p. 53.

Poole, R. B. Fires, Protection, Insurance. U.S. Education Report, 1892-93, vol. i. p. 724. For articles, see Cannons, D 46, Fire Prevention, Insurance.

54. Accounts

54. Accounts:

Brown, J. D. Manual of Library Economy, Ed. 1, 1903, p. 30.

Hopper, F. F. Order and Accession Department. In A.L.A., Man. of Lib. Econ. Preprint of chapter xvii., 1911.

For articles, see Cannons, E 6-7, Accounts.

CHAPTER IV
THE MATERIAL OF THE ANNUAL REPORT. STATISTICS, WORKING RECORDS. FORM OF THE ANNUAL REPORT

55. Statistical Methods.

55. Statistical Methods.—It seems desirable to describe here, as being concerned with committee work, the various statistical and other methods adopted to show the operations of the library. Every business concern of any consequence has what approximates to a statistical department, in which records are kept and analysed of every transaction of the business, and from these useful deductions are made. Such statistics, with the necessary proviso that the keeping of them should not impede more obvious work, are desirable for libraries, and although they are necessarily of a quantitative rather than qualitative character, they are nevertheless of value as showing the use made of the several departments and of the various classes of the stock. Statistics usually kept include: the stock; accessions; the issue of books and material in each department according to their classes; the number of readers’ tickets in force; and the attendances at the reading rooms. Sometimes records are kept of the occupations and ages of readers, and the wards from which they are drawn.

Hitherto all these statistics have been of doubtful comparative value, owing to the great divergence in the methods of computation adopted, and the methods of administering the library have a definite effect upon the resultant figures. For example, in the few libraries where so brief a time as a week is allowed for the reading of a volume, the issue figures will be higher than in those where a fortnight or more is allowed. Then, the amounts charged as fines for undue detention of books, ranging from 1d. a week or part of a week to 1d. a day beyond the time allowed, make a difference of some moment. Again, in some libraries it is usual to record the number of borrowers continuously, only counting off the lapsed tickets, while in others only those borrowers who are actually using the libraries within the year are counted. It would be well if an effort were made to standardize all these methods. A scheme for standardizing the form in which they are to be presented has been reached, and is described below (Section 62).

56.

56. A satisfactory record of the relative circulation of books can be made only of a classified stock. Certainly comparisons cannot be fairly made while one librarian classes his periodicals as science, useful arts, etc., and another groups his together as miscellaneous. Then, some librarians, rightly we think, separate Juvenile Fiction issues from Adult Fiction issues; and, indeed, divergences and anomalies are frequent and are confusing.

Suggested rulings for Issue Record books, for lending and reference libraries respectively, are given on page 62.

The record book should have about thirty-five lines to the page, exclusive of the headings, to allow one line for each day and leave room for adding up the columns. The dates, 1 to 31, may be printed down each column, but this will mean leaving gaps for Sundays. It is better to write the dates in for each month, omitting Sundays, which may be entered on a separate page or pages. The issues of each year should be kept together in a series; and a page or more, as required, should be left for the necessary summaries, which can be entered up to show the total issues month by month in cumulative form. If this is done regularly the figures for the annual or other reports are quite easily obtained. The accessions book, if kept entered, added and classified up to date, will give similar information about books.

57.

57. It is usual to count volumes separately. Thus a work in five volumes is counted as 5 in the record. Illustrations, pamphlets, broadsides and other material in separate form are usually counted in the same way, but are sometimes indicated as being of this separate character in separate columns. There are minor problems in counting which interest librarians, and upon which opinion is divided. Thus, when a series of prints are formed into a public exhibition, it is sometimes the practice to count each print as having been issued once. They may, however, have been examined by hundreds of people during the exhibition, and sometimes an allowance is made for that fact. Again, the consultation of a magazine in the reading rooms is usually not counted; but the same magazine when bound is counted if issued from the shelves in the reference library. Directories, time-tables, and similar quick-reference works are often omitted from the statistics. There seems no reason why all these uses of material should not be recorded, so long as the character of the use is made clear in the reports of the librarian. Otherwise the frequent complaint of librarians that their figures represent only part of their work seems to be justified; and it is well to remember that public criticism of libraries is in the main based upon their statistics. At the same time if the recording of statistics means the placing of barriers between books and readers, it is a safe principle to prefer fewer statistics and more accessibility.

Fig. 4.—Suggested Rulings for Issue Record Books.

The record of the number of readers should be confined to those whose tickets are “live” ones. This does not mean necessarily that tickets not in active use at the time statistics are compiled should be regarded as “dead.” A borrower may leave his ticket in abeyance for several months with the intention of using it later. It does mean that only those tickets should be counted which are valid at the time. As we have seen, validity ranges from one to three or more years in different libraries, and the figures as a rule will be only approximately sound. If, however, all valid tickets are included, and if the number of tickets issued within the year covered by the annual report is also indicated, the record will be a serviceable account of the use made in relation to the population of the district served. It is usual to show the number of actual borrowers divided into burgesses and non-burgesses; of non-resident borrowers (employees, scholars, etc.); and of supplementary tickets (non-fiction, teachers’, illustration, music, etc.) held by them.

58.