Page:The library a magazine of bibliography and library literature, Volume 6.djvu/356

The Clerkenwell Open Lending Library. 1 SOME interest having been expressed in the experiment of throwing open the Lending Library book-shelves at Clerkenwell to enable readers to examine and choose books for themselves, it is proposed, in compliance with many requests, to briefly describe the method. In doing this, attention shall be directed chiefly to a description of its organisation and working, with the results so far as they have been observed in Clerken- well. Before proceeding to describe the system, it may be interesting to glance briefly at the historical aspect of the question. There is absolutely no novelty about the principle of open access, because it has been allowed in all kinds of libraries, both reference and lending, for some hundreds of years. As most librarians know, the libraries of mediaeval times were per- fectly open, but in keeping with the manners of the age, the books were chained to their places above or below suitable read- ing desks. Examples of such open libraries still exist, and reference may be made to the writings of Edwards, Blades and Clark, by those interested in the subject. In later times the open library was almost universal in collegiate, proprietary, subscription and commercial libraries, and still later, when public rate-supported libraries were established, was made a feature in quite a number of reference departments. Cambridge was early in the field, and in due course was followed by Liverpool, Wigan, Bradford, Birmingham, and other towns too numerous to mention. The State authorities were also very early in appreciating the valuable advantages of unrestricted access -to the books in their public libraries, and the British Museum, Patent Office and South Kensington libraries may be cited as cases in point. The colonial libraries gave similar privileges, especially at Melbourne, and, as is well known to you all, a carefully made selection of reference books, freely open to the public, forms part of every American library of any con- 1 Read before the Seventeenth Annual Meeting of the Library Association, at Belfast, September, 1894.