Changing with the Times

1924 also saw the adoption of the Public Libraries Act by such counties as Devon, Oxfordshire and Nottinghamshire.

By the end of 1924, the County Library stock had grown to 15,804 books with 73,888 books being issued to 5,030 registered borrowers in that year .29jt was during the following year ending March, 1926 that significant changes took place within the County Library. During the year 1925 the number of books issued had increased to 87,024 and the number of registered readers to 5,726. This was 6.6% of the population or serving about the same percentage as a progressive authority like Kent County Library. The large increase in number of books issued was not caused by a sudden increase in the population of the Island but rather by the injection of £400 for replacement books. This boost to the bookstock, the first since the service had been started had an instant effect on the number of books lent out. Fresh books meant fresh readers or a revival of old ones. A rate of 1¼d. in the £ produced £501. This changed the library from at best a moribund institution to an expanding county library service.

1925 was not a freak year designed to establish the library service and then allow it to stagnate for another twenty years. By the May of 1926 the Higher Education Sub-Committee were to report:

"Arrangements have been made for the purchase of new books and the re-binding of as many books as possible during the forthcoming year."

New books helped to increase the issue figures. At the end of the 69 days ending 17th July, 1926, 21,545 books were issued from the Library in Newport. In spite of there being more books than ever before, donations still formed a sizeable bulk of the new additions, including books from as far afield as Lahore.

This all helped the use of the service. At the end of the 74 days ending 23rd April, 1927, 25,367 books were issued and more new books had either been added or rebound. More centres were opened and the service was expanding on a scale unimaginable a decade before.In January, 1927 the Seely family play a final part in the history of the County Library when Sir Hugh Seely requested that certain changes be made to the £1OO per annum indenture that his father had arranged in 1899. The Seely estates had become so large it was decided to reduce them in size. To guarantee the continued £1OO a year Sir Hugh assigned £4,000 of War Stock at 21/2% per annum that would provide the £100 per year. This change was readily agreed by the County Council.

During the year ending 31st March, 1928, £266 was spent on books and periodicals. This new infusion of stock helped contribute to higher issue figures: 27,658 books in the 77 days ending 21st July, 1928. Despite these increases in books borrowed and twenty four years after he was appointed Arthur Kemp was still working single-handed. Although considerable changes had taken place during the few years up to the end of 1928 all was obviously far from well within the County Library Service. During the February, 1929 meeting of the Higher Education Sub-Committee a report was received from the Library Sub-Committee. The report was blunt and to the point, saying that the Library Service consisted of a Central Library at Newport and 32 village libraries where the books were changed quarterly. The total stock was estimated at 20,676 volumes.

The report traced the financial background to the service, and pointed out that prior to the adoption of the Library Act the total income had proved insufficient to maintain the library:

"Hence the library has fallen into a condition which could only with moderation be described as unsatisfactory."

Even the levying of a rate of one farthing each alternative year had not had the desired affect:

"this sum had proved insufficient to provide renewals at the rate which is required in a library so extensively used."

Arthur Kemp had estimated that out of a total stock of 20,000 books, 6,000 needed rebinding and 5,000 replacing. The Sub-Committee felt this estimate was moderate and conservative. The Committee added:

"We are unanimously of opinion that the Library has reached a condition when it needs the expenditure of a considerable capital sum in order to place it in a satisfactory condition ... In conclusion we would add our unanimous opinion that unless the library can be maintained in proper condition it should be closed."

The Committee recommended that a rate of one farthing in the pound should be levied annually for library purposes until the library was in a satisfactory condition. This was agreed. The County Council also agreed the rate and in the year ending 31st March, 1930, out of a total library expenditure of £985; £640 was spent on books.

The increase in stock resulted in rising issue figures and the monthly issue figures at Newport Library remained constantly over the 10,000 mark. New centres were opened at Binstead, Gatten and St. Helens. It became necessary to purchase more book boxes and the monthly transport bill to transport the book boxes around the village libraries reached £l. Between 1921 and 1931 the population of the Island had fallen considerably, so by the end of 1931 it was only slightly higher than in 1911. In spite of this the library service was expanding faster than seemed possible. Additional grants from the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust for book purchase coupled with the improved rates made a book replacement policy work. This was reflected in the number of books borrowed throughout the county. More books did sometimes create problems. At the November, 1931 meeting of the Higher Education Sub-Committee the members had to consider for the first time the question of censorship. The matter was discussed and they reached the following conclusion:

"That the Committee are unable to suggest a practical means of censoring the contents of works of literature ... The Librarian to exercise discretion in the choice of persons to whom books are issued."

During 1931 the service remained static. There was little more that could be done. Saturation point had been reached. More new books were still needed, but with the closed access method of issuing books there was a limit to what one man could handle, and Arthur Kemp was now 71 years old. He had run the library service single-handed for 26 years and seen the service develop from 12,000 books at Newport to a real county-wide library service.

The Sub-Committee gradually became aware of the deficiency created by employing only one member of staff, and in June, 1931 agreed that a well-educated youth of about 18 years should be appointed as Assistant Librarian at a commencing salary of E60 a year. The post was advertised, and out of 5 applicants, Donald Penning, aged 17 years was appointed to start work on 20th July, 1931. The Committee obviously felt that appointing an assistant to help Arthur Kemp was a radical enough decision to make during one month. A salary increase for Kemp was discussed but no action was taken. However, more money for the service was approved. A library rate of three-eighths of a penny was approved, to allow an annual expenditure of £765.

The Newport Library needed more space to house the expanding stock and to accommodate the book boxes used for village libraries. The chess room that had been included as part of the original Seely Library had been taken over by the Technical Institute early in its formation. It was requested the chess room be given back to the library but this could not be agreed without causing problems to the school. In order to vacate the chess room the school would need two classrooms and a laboratory. But the space was urgently required by the library, as the number of books lent by the library increased. During the 105 days ending 16th July, 1932, 54,613 books were issued at Newport Library alone. More money came into the bookfund during 1932 in the form of a £250 book purchase grant from the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust.

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