Expanding the Service
During the rest of 1937 the elected representatives were concentrating on providing a suitable library to serve the West Wight area. It was important to place the library in Freshwater, the main town of the western part of the Island. The residents of Freshwater had already complained that the existing library service was inadequate. So plans went ahead for a Freshwater branch library. At the October, 1937 Committee meeting draft sketches of a Freshwater Library were examined and full architectural plans were requested. During the November, 1937 meeting the plans were presented to the Committee. The branch library was to cost £3,210 and £1,283 was to be spent on books. Expenditure on books was to be met from revenues over a three or four year period. The same meeting agreed that Miss Franklin should be given £50 in lieu of unpaid library work and she should be appointed as a temporary library assistant with a salary of £50 a year.
At the beginning of 1938 Arthur Kemp was 78 years old, and his service was to be extended for another year. He now had four library assistants under his control and more staff were to be appointed when the West Wight Library was opened. Ryde also wanted additional staff. Not everyone seemed to want an expanding library service. A letter was received at the April meeting of the Sub-Committee protesting at the building of a branch library in Freshwater. Probably the most important decision taken during 1938 was that open access borrowing be introduced to Newport during that year, and be considered for the village libraries at a later stage.
As changes within the staff took place, so conditions continued to improve. Miss Franklin's appointment became permanent, and late evening work for all the staff was standardised. They would work late on two evenings in one week and three in another, instead of being on call five evenings in a week. The cost of introducing open access borrowing to Newport Library was estimated at £72.18s.
This conversion was carried out by the end of 1938, largely by Arthur Kemp. The Committee were grateful; they agreed to pay him £25 for his additional duties during the introduction of open access, and to compensate him for giving up his annual holiday because the work was urgent. They also agreed that the telephone should be introduced to Newport and Ryde libraries.
The first meeting of the Sub-Committee in 1939 were reminded that library arrangements to the south of the Island were far from adequate. In Ventnor the County Library within the Ventnor Literary Institute was open to the public for 6 hours a week compared with 34½ hours a week in both Newport and Ryde. It was obvious that this was inadequate for atown with a population of 7,000. The Directors of Ventnor Literary Institute agreed to rent out two rooms for a period of twenty years at a nominal rent. The rooms could be used for library purposes, and the County Council would have to provide heating, lighting and staff. The cost of conversion to open access, reference, and reading areas was fixed at £325.
The same meeting was reminded that the number of books issued by Ryde was fast approaching that of Newport. During the last quarter of 1938 only 6,348 separated the two: Ryde 20,537 and Newport 26,885. During the February, 1939 meeting the Sub-Committee was shown plans of the new Cowes Library, and it was agreed that if possible the whole building should be bought or leased from the Ventnor Literary and Scientific Institute.
The Committee met twice during April of 1939. The first meeting noted that the gap in the number of books issued between Ryde and Newport had closed even more. It also decided that keeping birds in cages should not be encouraged by the Education Committee, and vetoed buying the periodical "Cage Birds." The third decision was that libraries should not close during August when the Island tourist trade was at its peak.
The later April discussions were about Arthur Kemp. He had reached 79 years of age in November, 1938, and worked for the library for 34 years, mostly on his own. In April, 1939 he earned £205 per year. The Committee felt that Kemp was neither able to conduct the County Library Service efficiently nor to give adequate supervision to the young and unqualified staff soon to be increased with the opening of new branch libraries at Cowes, Freshwater and Ventnor.
It was therefore decided to appoint a fully qualified Chief Assistant Librarian at a salary of £300 per year. An internal appointment was considered unwise since the successful candidate would soon replace Arthur Kemp.
During the July meeting almost all the business was taken up with branch library matters. The architect spoke at some length about Cowes Library, pointing out the vulnerability of Cowes should war break out, and advising that certain work in the building would receive a 75% A.R.P. grant. The roof of the library would be sufficiently thick to resist an incendiary bomb. The cost of the building was estimated at £7,652, including furnishing. All the building decisions at Ventnor Literary Institute were to be handed over to the Sub-Committee; and an additional £297.14s. worth of books ordered for Freshwater Library. In many ways the most important business of the year was discussed at a special meeting of the Sub-Committee on the 8th September, 1939. The post of Chief Assistant Librarian had been advertised and 83 applications received. Three were interviewed: Miss F. M. Green of the West Riding County Library, Mr. D. A. Kemp of Middlesex County Library and Mr. F. Green of Kent County Library. Mr. F. Green, M.A., F.L.A. was appointed to start on 1st October, 1939 and his interview expenses of £1.19s.8d. were approved. But by the 1st October, 1939 German tanks had moved into Poland and the Isle of Wight was to become a fortress again.
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