This file is part of the following reference:

Clyde, Laurel A. (1981) The magic casements: a survey of school library history from the eighth to the twentieth century. PhD thesis,

James Cook University.

Access to this file is available from:

http://eprints.jcu.edu.au/2051

"A libr a ry • . . wi ll prove a ver i table go dse nd t o the ch i l dr e n •• •ope ni ng f or t hem the magi c casements o f poetry a nd r omance , .••matter-of-fac t pursu i ts , ••. a nd intellectua l deve l opmenL "

The Br i sbane Cour i er ,

7 Apri l , 1908 , p . 4 .

ABSTRACT

The the sis compris es three maj or parts . I n Part I , exis t i ng wri­

ting , both publ i s hed a nd unpubli shed, on the history of s chool librar­

i es , i s s urveyed , showing that there is ava i lable no comprehensive

history of s chool libraries, or even of s chool librarie s in,a country

or r egion . In Part II , t he de velopment o f s chool libraries i s traced

f rom the e ighth cent ur y library a t York t o t he school lib r ary media

centre s o f the prese nt day , with emphasis on British , American , and

Australian school librarie s . This ch rono log ical s urvey covers medieva l

Engl i sh school libraries, the l i b r a r i e s of the grammar schools of six­

t eenth a nd sevent ee nt h century Britain , the e lement a r y and Sunday

school l i b r a r i e s of the nineteenth centur y , the libraries of "public" ,

academy , a nd independent s econda r y school s i n the e i ghteenth and nine­

t e enth centuries , and t he se conda r y , e lement a r y , and Sunday school

librarie s o f the twentieth ce nt ur y . In Part III , "Concept s o f the

Sc hoo l Libr ary", t he development of s choo l librarie s i s considered in

te rms of the r e asons f or which such l i braries ha ve been est abl i shed

and ma int ained over t he centur ies . The five t ype s o f schoo l library

discussed a re: the s chool lib r ary establ ished to s upport the teaching

and l earning activi t ies of the s chool; t he s chool lib r ary established

t o provide r ecrea t iona l r e adi ng; the library establ ished to serve

both the s c hool a nd the communi t y ; the school l i bra ry establ ishe <;l a s

a scho lar s ' library to s e r ve t he needs o f a par t icu l a r group wi thin

t he s choo l ; a nd t he s chool library es t ab l i shed a s a memorial . The

aim of the thesis has been to show t hat s choo l library provis ion is a

great deal o l der than has gener a l ly been assumed , and t hat the

reasons for which t he school libr arie s have been estab l ished a nd

maintained have changed but l ittle over the centuries .

STATEMENT ON ACCESS

I , the unders igned , t he a ut hor o f th i s t hesis , understa nd that t hef ollowing r es trict ion placed by me on access t o t his thesis wi l l notextend beyond thr ee years f rom the date on whi ch t he thesis issubmitt ed to th~ University .

I wish t o place r e s triction on access t o t he thesis as f ollows:

Access to b e restricted to s taff a nd students of James CookUni ve r si t y of North 'Queens l a nd for a period o f t hree year s .

After t his pe r iod ha s e l apsed I understand that James Cook Universityof North Queens land wi l l make i t available fo r us e within theUni ve r sit y Library and , b y mic r o film or othe r photographi c means ,allow access to users in othe r approved librarie s. Al l users con­s ulting t his t hesis wi l l have to s ign t he fo l lowi ng statement:

"In consul.ting t his t hesis I agree no t to copy or c loselyparaphrase i t in whole or in part wi t hout t he wr itten cons entof the author ; and t o make p roper written acknow l edgement f ora ny ass istance which I have obtai ned from it. "

~ e=--~~ .c2..

Laur el Anne Clyde,15 November 1981

CONTENTS

Lis t of Illustrations

List o f Tables

Ack lowledgemen t s

Introduction

Page

vii

xi

xiv

xvi

PART I

Chapter 1:

PART II:

Chapte r 2:

Chapter 3:

Chapter 4 :

Chapter 5 :

PART III:

Chapter 6:

Chapter 7:

Chapter 8 :

Conc l usion

APPENDICES

The Hi s t oriograph y of School Libraries

An Outline His t ory of Schoo l Libr arie s

Ea r l y School Librar i e s to 1800

School Li b r arie s i n the Nineteent h Ce n t u ry

British a nd American Sc hoo l Lib r arie s in t h eTwentiet h Ce n tury

Au s tralian School Librarie s i n t he TwentiethCentury

Concepts of t he School Libra ry

"The Work shop o f t he Schoo l " : The SchoolLibr ary as a Re s ourc e to Suppor t Te a chinga nd Le arning

"To e ncoura ge the Love o f Goo d Book s ".: TheSchool Librar y a s a Centre f or Recreat ional

H ea ding

"To Ser ve the \'/hole Commu nity" : School/Community Librar i e s a nd Library Services

"For Scholars. 4 .A s a Memorial " : Two fur therCo n c ep t s of the Schoo l Libra r y

1

64

121

22 7

300

385

4 59

54 3

62 5

692

Appendix A: Library Provision i n Endowed Grammar Schoolsin England , 1868 69 8

App endix B: Seventeenth Century Gr a mmar School Lib r aryColle c tions 705

Appendi x C : Fi ct i on i n Austral ian Primary SchoolLibrarie s in t he Early Twentieth Century 748

Append i x D: Librarie s in New South Wale s Pri mary School s ,1909-1915 759

785

vi

Appendix E : Sur vey of Libr aries in I ndep endent SecondarySchools i n Queens l a nd , 1978 763

Appendix F: Visits to School 'Li b r a r i e s a nd RelatedI ns tit uti ons, 1978-1981 776

Appendix G: A Colle c tion of Photographs of Americ an HighSchool Librar i es Showing t h e Typ ical Us e o fWa l l Sh elving a nd Central Seat i ng , 1931 780

' Appe nd i x H: Books Borrowed From Hous e Librarie s in anEnglish Pub l i c Schoo l , c .1905

BI BLIOGRAPHY 788

vii

LIST OF ·ILLUSTRATIONS

Page

The tenth century s chool mas ter 's books r given t o theLibrary of St. August i ne 's Mona s tery, Canterbury.

Plan o f the Audit Room, Winches t er College, which f ormedthe Library 1412-1446. . .

Winchester College: p l a n o f the Chant r y in 1669 .

Plan of the Norman Libr ary, St. Swithun 's Priory.

Wi nche s t er Col lege : plan o f t he r oom above Fromond'sChant r y .

70

76

78

80

81

132

The Roya l Grammar School, Guildf ord, 1557-158 6 , grounda nd fi r st f loor plans . 85

The Roya l Grammar Schoo l , Gui ldfor d , i n about 1750. 87

The chained libra r y a t the Royal Gramma r Schc~l , Gui l dfor d ,in t he late 1960 s . 87

Shrewsbury School Libra r y Benefactors ' Book , 1596 . 89

The f irs t page of t he 1613 catalogue o f Shrewsbury Schoo lLibrary. 90

The title page of Christoph e r Wase 's ConsiderationsConcerning Free-Schools , .. . t (Oxford, 167 8). 98

The t itle page o f Char les Hoole' s A New Discover y of theOl d Art of Teaching Schoole , (London , 1660). 100

The s eal of the Free Grammar School in Louth,Lincolnshire. 103

Nort hwich School: Pe ter . Woodnoth 's r eply to Ch r istopherWase' s questi onnai re, mid- 16 70s . 107

The Pa r ish Chur ch a nd Gr ammar School of King' s Norton. 11 2

The chained library, Bol t on Schoo l . 118

The new l i brary a t Shrewsbur y School , 1818. 122

Rugby School: the Classical Lib r a ry, "Upper Bench",184 2 .

Rugby School : a nineteenth cent ury view o f the TempleReadi ng Room.

Rugby School: the Mus eum in the nine t eenth century.

133

133

"Lawless Orname nt i ng Frankl s Wri ting-D esk", by Geor geCruikshank . 136

A nine t eenth cent ury dame school. 14 2

The title page o f Little Goody Two-Shoe s, (London, 1765). 143

The t i tle page of The Sunday School, (London, n . d.). 145

Clapham School .

Single- a nd double-sided bookcas es, 1892.

147

161

v i i i

Sunday-School Model Li b r ary .

The Library of Gr eenvi l le High .School, Mississippi , i nthe 1890s .

A Sunday s choo l library borrowers ' card , in use i n 1884 .

Cheltenham Ladies ' College Library i n 1913 .

Chelt enham Ladies ' College Library i n 1936.

The Li brary of the Girls ' High School , Brooklyn NewYork , around 1915 .

The library a t Hutchinson Cent ral High School , New YorkState , around 1919.

The library at Schenley Hi gh School , Pittsburgh ,Pe nnsyl vania , a round 1918.

The l ibrary a t Manchester Hi gh School f or Girls i n 1911.

Primary schoo l ch i l dren using l ibrary books a t Kur r iKurri Public Schoo l , 1910.

A "magic l antern" in us e in a s c hoo l .

Ske tch from the Queens l and Educa t ion Office Gaze tte ofthe appr oved library book shelves.

An early c l assroom at Rockhampton Girls ' Grammar School ,Queens land , s howi ng the lib r ary s he l f .

Frensham, Mittago ng , New South Wales: the forme r d ini ngr oom, showi ng bookshelves .

Somer vi l le House (The Br i sbane High School fo r Gi r ls) , ·Queens l a nd : the 1934 l i br a r y , a s shown on al i b rar y bookplate , . and in a 1979 pho t og r aph .

Thr ee Queensland i ndepe nde nt seconda r y school librariesin t he 1930s.

The Roberts Centre , Church of Eng l and Grammar School ,Bri sbane : floor plans a nd sketch .

The title page of the 1883 catalogue of SherborneSchoo l -Librar y .

The t i tle page o f the 1866 ca t alogue of TonbridgeSchool Library.

The title page of the 1882 catalogue o f CharterhouseSchool Library .

The Vaughan Library , Harrow School , in the nineteent hcentur y .

The title page of the 1887 cat a l ogue of the VaughanLibrary , Harrow School .

Sketch of Mt . Isa Christian College , 1980 .

A clas sroom a t Albert State School , Maryborough ,Quee ns land , in t he first decade o f t he twenti e t h ·century .

A Queens land primary s chool classroom i n t he 19 70s.

16 2

202

204

235

235

272

273

275

276

308

310

321

32 7

329

334

335

350-352

428

43 1

433

43 5

436

45 1

454

454

i x

A seventeenth century hornbook. 465

A page from a nine t e e n t h c entury chapbook , J a ck 'a nd Jill . 466

A page f rom the chapbook Tom 'Tuck e r . 469

The title p age of J ames J a neway's 'A Token , f o r 'Ch i l d r e n . 471

The title page of John Cotton ' s Spiritual 'Mi l k ' f o rBosto n Babes . 47 3

An i l l u s t r ati on f r om Benjamin Harris ' The ProtestantTutor. 474

The ti t le page of Thoma s Boreman 's The Gigantick Historyo f the Two Famous Gian t s . 477

Th e title page o f J ohn Newbery ' s A Little PrettyPocket-Book . 480

Bristol Grammar Schoo l : the gener a l l i b r a ry in 19 36 .

The Libra r y at Aldenham School , Els tre e , in 1937 , wi tha por t r a i t o f Ceci l S tott .

A clas s of schoo l ch i l dren having a n i llustrated l e s s onat t h e ' Ca t h a y s Branc h Library children 's hal l ,Cardif f .

The s t o r y hour ' a t Br ooklyn , New Yo rk , Public Li brary i nt he 19 20s.

517

523

56 5

565

"Wo r k i ng the Proble ms " after a l e s s on in t he SchoolDepartme n t of the Publ i c Library i n Port l and , Oregon ,in 1915 . 5 70

Th e title page o f the f i r st Ca t alogue o f Books f or theYoung , i ssued by Bootle Publ i c Library , 1891.

The covered handcart us ed by the lib r ari a ns at theBootle Public Libra r y from the l ate 1890 s t odeliver library book s to schools .

" Li b r a r y Corners " in rural s chool s i n the United Statesi n the 19 30s .

Three p ubl i c library bookmob i l e s ervices to school s inthe United St a t es of America in 1930 .

A s choo l library provided b y the Cardiff Educat ionCommittee i n the f i rst decade of the twentiethcentury.

The Be l levue School Branch Libra ry , Edinburgh " i n t h e1930s .

Sketch of two school/communi ty l ibrar ies : Lawr enceWeston, Br isto l (196 2); a nd Redefield , Oxfor d(196 8 ) •

Sketch plan of t h e s choo l/community l ibr a r y a t ,Eg r emon t ,Cumbr ia , 1964 .

aoronia High Schoo l Community 'Li b r a ry , floo r p l an1975.

Eton College Libr a r y, a n 1816 view .

577

579

585

587

591

60 2

608

609

616

634

x

A sec t ion o f t he War de n a nd Fe l lows ' Library ,Winchester College , 1980 .

The Busby Library , Westminster .Schoo l , with a por t r a i to f i t s founder , 1980 .

The library a t King Edward' s School , Birmi ngham, in theeight eenth cent u r y .

The libr a ry a t Sor¢ Akademi , Sor¢ , Denmar k , in 1979.

Plan of Winchester Colleg e , showing Fromond 's Chant ryi n the Clois t er.

The a r chi t ec t ' s s ketches for the Memorial Libra ry a tSomer¥i l le Ho us e, Bri s bane .

Somervi l le Hous e, Br isbane: t he octagona l ReferenceLibrary in 1949.

Somervil le House , Br isbane : the Joan Pal mes memorialwi ndows .

The War Memor ial Libr a r y , Br i sbane Grammar Schoo l :a r chitect 's sketch.

The War Memor ial Li brar y , Brisbane Grammar Sc hool :the i nterior in t he 1930 s .

The War Memorial Library , Lancaster Roya l GrammarSchoo l : two photographs of the library in 1979.

The Ravensbou r ne School for Boy s , Bromley : thel i bra r y in the 19 30 s .

The Ravensbourne School f or Boys , Bromley : thelibrary in 1979 .

639

641

643

646

665

66 9

671

6 72

680

68 2

684

689

689

I.

II.

III.

IV.

V.

VI.

VII.

VIII.

IX .

X.

XI.

XII .

XIII.

XI V.

XV.

XVI.

XVII .

XVIII .

XIX .

XX.

XXI.

XXII .

XXIII .

XXIV.

xi

.LIST OF TABLES

Libraries in Endowed Grammar Schools inEng l a nd , 1868 ..

Groups Se rved by Librari es in Endowed Schoolsin England, 1868.

Library Provis ion in Endowed Grammar Schools inEngland , 1868.

Element ary Schools i n England and Wal es , 1835 .

The Library of St . Mary Redc l iff , 1861 .

Dursley Pa rochial a nd School Library.

Common School Librarie s i n New York State;184 1-1861.

Common School Libra r i e s in Ohio , 1856-1869 .

Common Schoo l Librarie s in Indiana , 1855- 1874.

Ontario, Canada, School Libraries, 1874 .

Libraries in Academi e s in New York State ,1848-1855 .

New So ut h Wale s School Librari es , Lithgow a ndDungog Di stricts .

Engl a nd : The Average Percentage o f Total FundsAllocated fo~ Book Pur chas e s by Al l EducationAut hor i t i e s .

Sa n Francis co Eleme nt a r y School Libraries, 1918.

Uni ted State s a nd Cal ifornian ElementarySchool Library Facilities , 1963 .

Allocation of Commonweal th Funds fo r SecondarySchoo l Librari es, 1969-1971.

State Primary Schools Possess i ng Cent r a lLibrarie s.

Late" Seve nteenth Ce ntury Grammar SchoolCollections .

Sherborne School Library , 1894.

Tonbridge School Libr ary, 1866.

Br isto l Grammar School: Borrowing from theGener a l Library, Term One , 1928.

Br ist ol Gramma r Schoo l : Borrowing from theGene r a l Libra ry , Final Term , 1929 .

Br istol Grammar School : Annual Bor rowi ng f romt he General Library .

Aldenham Sc hool Li br a r y: Fiction and Non­Fiction Book s Borrowed , 1925-1954.

Page

12 5

126

127

150

153

154

179

181

182

185

199

222

259

278

288

354

362

41 7

427

430

518

519

520

525

xxv.

XXVI.

XXVII •

XXVIII.

XXIX.

XXX.

XXXI.

XXXII.

XXXIII •

XXXIV.

XXXV.

XXXVI .

XXXVII.

XXXVIII.

xii

Aldenham School Library: Pe r cent age ofNon-Fiction Book s Borrowed to TotalBor r owi ngs , 1925~1954.

The Gl ennie School, Toowoomba: The Growt hof the Library Collections.

Bookstock in Libraries in Government Seconda r ySchools in Australia.

Bookstock in Libraries in IndependentSeconda r y Schools in Australia.

Aus tralian Seconda r y School Libraries: BooksBou ght with Commonwealth Funds, 1 969~1972, by

. 6 37 Schools.

Rockhampton, Queensland: Book Collections inGove r nment Primary Schools, 1972.

Rockhampton , Que en sland: Book Colle c t ions inGove r nment Primary Schools , 1972.

BOOF.3tock, by Sub jects , of Five Eng l ishSecondary Schools, 1978.

Cardiff Schoo l Libraries : Book s t ock i n 1907.

Car d i f f School Librarie s : Loan Fi gur es, 1899­1907 .

Schoo l Libraries Supplied by Edinbur gh Publi cLibr ary, 19 26-1931.

Classroom Libraries Suppl ied by EdinburghPub l ic Library, 1926-1931.

Edinburgh Public Librarie s: I s sues fromSchoo l Libraries a nd Cla s sroom Libra ries,192"6-1951.

Gr ea t Horton : Wesley-Place Sunday SchoolTeachers' Library, 1862.

526

531

534

535

536

538

5 39

541

593

594

597

599

600

65 3

xiii

DECLARATION

I declar e tha t t his thesis i s my own work a nd ha s not beens ubmi t ted in any form fo r anot her degree or dipl oma at any univer sityor other institution o f t e r t i ary education . I n f orma tion derived f romthe published or unpublished wor k of othe r s ha s been acknowl edg ed inthe t ext and a l i s t of r eferences i s g i ve n .

Laurel Anne Clyde15 NovernQer 1981

xiv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The writing of a thesis can be a traumatic business for the

author, the author's friends, and even for others only remotely con­

cerned with the process: The trauma was reduced, and the process

made a little more enjoyable (for the author, at least), through the

assistance provided, and the interest shown, by so many people in

Australia and overseas.

Between 1978 and 1981 I visited almost fifty schools in

Australia, the United Kingdom, and Europe; a list of them appears in

Appendix F. I should like to thank the school principals and the

s chool librarians who made the visits possible. Not only was the time

I spent in these schools invariably made pleasant by the hospitality

shown, but I was always given easy access to school and library

records. On ~any occasions principals and librarians spent a great

deal of time sharing with me their own knowledge of the history of

their school and its library. Particular thanks are due to Mr. James

Lawson, Librarian at Shrewsbury School, and Mr. Paul Yeats-Edwards,

Librarian of the Warden and Fellows' Library, Winchester College,

who sha r ed with me the results of their own published and unpublished

research on the history of their libraries, and to Mrs. Joan Potter,

Librarian at Merchant Taylors' School, Crosby, who allowed me to read

her unpublished thesis on school libraries in Lancashire, and dis­

cussed issues raised in it .with me.

I take this opportunity to thank all those people in some

sixteen countries who responded to my letters, and those in this

xv

state who responded to my questionnaire survey of Queensland

independent seconda ry schools. The range 'of my correspondence during

the last three years, with t eachers, librarians, church authorities,

e duc a t ional administrators , library educators, archivists, museum

curators, and others, has been truly vast, and I have e n joyed this

contact with colleagues and interested "laymen" throughout the world.

Of e normous prac t i cal a ssistance has been the work o f Ms.

Pauline Roberts, in charge o f inter-library l oans in the Library

Resour ce s Centre, Townsville College of Advanced Education. I have

benef i tted , t oo, from the advice a nd assistance o f Mr. Brian Pump,

Instructor in Educational Media at Townsville College of Advanced

Education; his expertis e in photography, and espec i a l l y in work with

o l d photographs, has added greatly to the quality of the illustra­

tions. Miss Nancy Miller, of Parramatta, New Sout h Wale s, made the

travel arrangements wh i ch got me r ound the world; Miss Margaret

McCristal, Deputy Principal, St . Raphae l ' s College, James Cook

University o f North Queensland, l ooked after my tangled affairs in

Australia while I was away; and London friends Diana and Nicholas

Forrest provided a base in Bri tai n and did s o much to make my

r esearch there ' a nd in Europe ea s i er and more pleasant.

Above all, I shou l d like to thank Mr. Ron Store, Principal

Librarian at Townsville College o f Advanced Education, who very care­

fully read through the final draft of this thesis; I have bene­

fitted grea tly from his const r uct ive criticism a nd s uggest i ons , a nd

particularly from his knowledge of the history of schools and

librarie s in Queens l a nd .

xvi

INTRODUCTION

Cecil Stott, i n his Presidential Address at the Annual Conference

o f t he School Library Association on 30 December 1970 , c ommented that

it wa s strange that, as fa~ as he knew, "no one has yet set o ut to

tell the s tory of school libraries".l Two yea r s later, the historia n

P .J . Wallis noted that "the history of schoo l l ibraries is s t i l l

waiting t o be written". 2 Stott po int ed out that both general histor-

i e s of educa t i on and historie s o f libraries and librarianship f a iled

t o p r ovi de cover age of t he development o f schoo l l i b r a r i e s ove r the

cent u r ies , and quo ted examples :

They do not appear a s an index entry in the i nde x of FosterWats on ' s great book The Engl i sh Grammar Schools t o 1660 : theirc ur r i cu l um and prac tice (publi shed or i gi nal l y in 1908 , r eprintedi n 1969) wher e an account o f s c hool libraries and t he i r usewould have i lluminated a great deal of what i s sai d on t e achingme thod, espec ial ly' as Fos t er Watson 's own book i s fu l l ofin f ormation about the book s themselves ... . Nor does the subjec tf ind a p l ace in the co l lec ted l ecture s or essays assembled underthe t itle of The English Library Before 1700 (1958) , ed i ted byFr a ncis Worma ld a nd C.E . Wri gh t , which deals primarily with theb i b l iograph i ca l aspect s o f l i br a rie s .

He f urthe r noted that , wh i le the his t or y o f school l i b r a r i e s has not

been .t.hozouqh.Ly inve s-tigated, "the material avai lab l e is l arge , a nd

i s to be sought -i n a great variety o f s our ces " . 3

1. Cecil A. Stott , "Schoo l s a nd School Libraries Over TwoCentur i es: 1", The Schoo l Librarian, 19(1971) , p .21.

2 . P. J . Wall is . r e vi ewi ng Gwendolen Woodward and R.A. Chris tophers ,The Chained Library of -the Royal Grammar School , Guildfor d ,Ca t alogu e . (Guildford , 1972) , i n Library History , 3 (1973) , pp .36-:-37 .

3 ~ Stott , "Schools and School Li br arie s Ove r 'fwe Centuries: l it ,p .21.

xvii

Since the Middle Ages, school libra ries have been recognised as

a n important f ea ture o f ma ny schools ; even the idea o f t he schoo l

l ibr a r y as the "pivot ll o r "centr e " o f the s c hool is s e v eral hundred

years o ld . The physical f orm of the school library ha s c hanged ove r

t he c enturie s , with librarie s i ncreasing i n size and in s ophis t i c a t i o n

of o rga nisat i on a nd administra tion . However it needs t o be s tressed

tha t, whi le the physical e xpres s i on o f the idea o f a s choo l l ibr ary

ha s unde r gone great change , the i dea itself i s f ar from new.

Sister M. Constance Mel vin , in a t hesis on the history of public

s chool l ibraries in Pennsylva nia , has s uggested that if "we accept • • .

the essent ials of the s choo l [a s being] t he pupi l and the t eacher" ,

then we shou l d "acknowl edge as the primary e leme nt s o f the l i b r a r y the

b ook and t he r e ade r ". Just a s lit he o ne- room log s choo l ' house is c on-

s i dered t he predecessor of the modern s chool " , so "a ny col lec tion o f

books , other tha n texts , •.• in t he s chool " for the us e of members of

t he schoo l , shou l d be treated as a f orerunner of t he modern s c hoo l

l ibra r y ; ! Defining t he s chool library has been a p rob l em f or many

wr i ters on the subject over the years. Most definitions which have

been deve loped are too narrow, o f ten failing to t ake into consi dera-

tion ma ny types· o f schoo l libr ary which have exi s ted in t he past, and

.wh i ch s t i l l e xist t oday . . Sister Melvin ' s i s one of the more compre-

hensive published definitions , yet i t , t oo, fai ls to t ake ac count of

many i mportant aspec t s of school l i b r arie s, including those which

s erve t he public a s wel l a s . the school population , and tho s e which·

give empha s is to non-book ma t eria ls of various sorts in the ir collec-

t ions.

1 . Sister M. Constance Melvin, History of Public ~chool Libraries inPennsylvania , (Ph.D . t hes i s , University of Chicago, 1962), p.23 .

xviii

In this thesis a s chool library will be consider ed as a library

in or attached to a schoo l , usually owned, whol ly or i n par t , by t hat

school , a nd regarded by the s choo l as a schoo l l ibrary . It may s erve

teachers , t rustees , f e l lows , pupi l s of the school (or particular .

t ypes of pupi l , s uc h a s members o f ~he t op form , monit ors, col leger s ,

boarders, or prefec t s), the l ocal communi ty, or any combinati on o f

the s e groups . There may be more t ha n one l i br a r y i n a sc hoo l , each

serving one or more o f t hese groups. The l i b r ary may be a r efe r ence

library or a l e nding library; i t may require t he payment of s ub­

scr iptions or be f ree t o t hose who are e ligible to us e it.

My r esearch began as an i nve sti gation o f t he his t ory of s choo l

l i b r arie s in east e r n Aus t ral ia . As more and more i n f ormation on t he

nine t ee nth and ear ly twent ieth c ent ury h i s t or y of Austra l ian schoo l

l i brari e s wa s l ocated , the f ield o f r e s earch was nar rowed to t he

history of l ibrarie s in government , church, and independent schools

in Queens land . An exp l orati on o f the earlie s t evidence for school

l i brarie s in this s t a te l ed to a n i nquiry int o the sources of their

f ounders ' i deas, and a n investi ga tion of the educational theorie s

which had i nfluenced them. This line of r e s ea r ch l ed f i rst to

Syd ney a nd further work on the ea r l y schoo l l i b r a r i e s in New Sout h

Wales which had s o i mpre s s ed Queensl a nd educ a tors , and then to

Br itai n a nd t o the Eng l ish a nd Scot t ish schoo l l ibrari e s on which

t hose i n n i neteenth century New So ut h Wale s were modelled. As I

bega n to f i nd information about the ear lies t his tory of Eng l ish

schoo l l i b r aries, it became apparent that be f or e the his t ory o f

school libraries in a ny one country could be adequately disc us sed ,

a framewor k wa s needed whi ch would t ake account of the very consid­

e rable .age o f school libr a rie s in ·.Europ e, and of t he wide range o f

xix

type s o f school library provision which had existed over t he

centuries a nd wh i ch continued t o exis t e ven i n nineteent h and

t wentie th cent ury New South Wales and Queensland .

This thesis, t hen, attempt s to provide such a framework f or the

discussion of the history of schoo l l ibraries, ba s ed on the ,reasons

fo r which school libraries have been establis hed and maintai ned from

the eighth ' cent ury onwards . The most i mportant of the s e r ea s ons wi l l

be dis cus sed in Part III i n relation t o the particular "concept" of a

schoo l library with which each is a s sociated.

Other f rameworks have been provi ded by l i brary historians for

the writing of school libr a r y his t ory ; l ike de fi niti ons o f t he s choo l

libr ary, thes e t end t o be t oo r est r i c t i ve , omitt i ng bo t h pr e-

nine t eenth century s chool l i b r a r i es a nd many t ype s o f modern schoo l

libraries . In the smal l amount of r e s earch l i t erature avai lab le , the

history of school librarie s t ends t o be d i scus s ed i n r elati on t o the ir

supposed evol ut i on from "two shelves of books in a cupboard in t he

cor ner " to lithe modern school library r e s o urc e cent re ll• W.A. King,l

f or inst ance, outlined a f ive-st age patter n of de velopment fo r schoo l

libr a rie s:

1 . Small collections of books in c lassrooms.

2 . The "s t or eroom" stage with books stored cent ral ly (us ually in acupboard), a nd with a r egular t eacher in charge .

3. A l i brary r oom wi thout a libra rian in char ge.

4 . A l i brary r oom wi t h a libra rian i n charge'.

5. The l i brary "programmed" as par t o f the t eachin g and l earningp rocess in a school.

Wh i le this t ype of s cheme may de s cribe the development of a l arge

1. The El ementa ry School Li brary , (New York, 19 29 ) .

xx

numbe r of s chool librari e s, it doe s not t ake account of the f act t hat

ma ny began a t s tage four, some o f t hem centur ies ago , with a s eparat e

r oom and a l ibrarian. It does not t ake account of t he maintena nce

s imultaneously in many s choo ls o f "small collections o f books i,n

c lassrooms" (stage one) , i n addi t i on. to a ce nt ral ised s chool l ibrary

under the cont rol o f a libr a rian (stage f our). It a lso do e s not

acknowl edge the fact that ~any s chool s ha ve no t s een , and do no t see ,

s t age five as a de s i r ab l e goal towards wh i c h t o a i m. l

In d iscussing the h i story of schoo l libra rie s over t he l ast

t welve hundr ed years , I ha ve mainly us ed as exampl es various schoo l

l i b r a r i e s i n Great Br i tai n , t he United States o f Ame r i ca , a nd

Aus t r al i a. In add i t i on , some e xamples ha ve been taken from New

Ze a l a nd, Canada , South Africa , France , Denmark , Germa ny , Pola nd, a nd

Sweden ; the e mpha s i s i s, however , on schoo l l i brarie s in "we stern",

Engli sh- s peaking coun t r i es . Ge ne r a l l y o nl y li t era ture in English has

been consul t ed ; ~~ong ~he e xceptions are .wor ks t r a ns l ated fo r me

f r om Polish , Fr e nch, German , a nd Rus sian, and some ear ly school

libr a r y cata l ogues in Latin, Greek, a nd No rman French .

As Appe nd i x F will show, I was able t o visit many s choo l

1. A s i mi l a r scheme , designed t o show t he pattern o f evol uti on ofs chool l i bra ries, wa s deve loped by J e n-chi Cha ng :

1. The c lassr oom l i b r a r y, often based on public library books .2 . A separ a t e r oom f or the library.3 . · A par t -time t eacher-librarian.4. The s chool library as t he centre o f the s choo l , with a full-

time teacher-librar i a n .

Much t he same ob jections can be made with regard to this s chemea s were noted in r elation to t ha t developed by King . For f ur t herde t a i ls of this s cheme, s ee J en-chi Chang , "The School Librar y " ,Ala bama Sta te Educa tion ·As socia t i on Journal, 2 , 1 (1960 ) , pp . 11- 12 ,45 -46 , 48 .

xxi

libr aries in the easter n s tates of Australia , and in Gr eat Bri ta i n ,

t o col l ect inf o rma t i on fo r t his study . The Aus t ralian s choo l

libr a r i e s were visited on journeys f rom Townsville by ca r and by

p lane , occupyi ng altogethe r about thre e t o f our months. Se lected

Eng l i sh and Scotti sh school librarie~ were vis i ted duri ng a seven­

month period in 1979/1980, prior organisa t ion for t he travel and the

visits taking approximately twelve months . I was a l s o able t o visit

some s choo l l i b r arie s in De nmar k and the Nethe r lands , and i n ot her

European count ries . Ar rangements for thes e visits were made either

direct ly with t he school s concerned , t hrough t he country 's associa ­

tion of profes~ional libr a r i ans, or through its school library

service .

I had a l so p l anne d to vi s it s ome s chool librari e s in the United

States of Amer ica , particul a r ly those menti oned i n nineteenth century

r e port s, in arti c l e s, a nd in man uals, a s ha v ing been i n e x istence

f rom an ear l y date . I began pre liminary corre spondence wi t h t hose

schoo l s, with major research libr aries, a nd with professiona l

associati ons a t t he s ame time as I b egan t o make arrangement s with

Br iti sh s chools and organisati ons. Responses from America to

l ette r s, however , we re few and not very encouragi ng ; by t he t i me I

was ready to l eave Austral ia , with my Eur opean and British visits

organised , I stil l did not have s uf f ici e nt information on material

avai labl e in t he United Sta t es to make p lans fo r a research trip f rom

London . Neve rtheless I was able to col lect a good deal of inf orma­

tion on Amer ican s choo l l i b r arie s from other sources . The Libr ary of

New Sout h Wa l es i n Syd ney , for ins t ance, had a considerable coll ec t i on

of r epo r t s and other publ ications, part icularly on s choo l librari e s i n

Califor ni a, while the Library Associat ion I,i b r a ry i n Londo n had a

xxii

comprehensive collection of material, especially on school libraries

in e a s ter n states. But b e c a us e I was not able to visit individual

school libraries in the Unit ed States , as I was abl e to do in Great

Britain and Australia, there are s ome sections of this thesis in

which I have had to rely most heaviLy on examples from the latter two

countries, even whe n I have been aware that appropriate examples of a

particular type o f school library provision also exis t ed in the

United States.

Sour ces of information for t h i s thesis have included nineteenth

a nd twentieth cent ur y · a r t i c l e s and monographs, government r eports,

sixte enth a nd seventeent h cent ur y publicatio ns on educatio n, literary

sour ces (e s pe cially s chool s t or ies ) , historie s o f individual schoo ls ,

schoo l magazines, news paper r eports, p ub l ished and manuscript s chool

library catalogues , a r c h i v a l materials, s chool libr ary documents and

records, evidence from s ur v i v i ng book c o l lect i o ns , and oral e v i de nc e .

The use of some of these sour ces ha s involved particular difficulties.

Not the least o f . t hese wa s the difficulty of deciphering handwritten

documents da ting va r ious l y from the twelfth century to the present;

my neglected sk i l l s in palaeography, acquired many years ago, and not

much used since, were r apidly r efurbished under guidance in England

t o cope with the problem.

Other diff i culties ·we r e a s sociated with the use of j ournals and

schoo l magazines. The maj or indexing and abstracting service s

covering the fields of librarianship a nd education do not nor ma l l y

index material written prior to the 1920s and 1930s; some a r e even

more recent in coverage. Most have used a variety o f different

terms over the year s under which to i ndex material. on the history of

s chool libr aries, ·s o that a manual search can be very time-con suming,

xxii i

particular l y whe n a change of t erm i s not l i sted i n the int roducti on

or no t ed as a cross- reference • . 'Ma ny of the journals themselves were

poorly i nde xed ; some also had an inadequate table o f contents. I am

no t t he first r esearcher t o f i nd t ha t there wa s a great deal of

mater ial on school librari es i n t he pages of the major journals

which was not no ted in the i ndex or contents l ist . l Thi s r e sult ed in

a page- b y- page scanning. of early issues of the Libra r y J ournal prior

t o 193 0 , a nd of all iss ues of t he Australian Library J ourna l , QUI LL,

t he J ourna l of t he School Library As sociation of Queens l and , The

Australia n Schoo l Li br a r i a n, Education News , and The Tea cher- Librarian .

School maga z i nes, issued by many schools i n Grea t Britain , the

United Stat e s of America (" s chool yearbooks ") , and Austra lia , often

contain a great deal o f material r e levant t o the history of t heir

school library . Many printed a regular "Li b r a r y Notes " column or

page , which often i ncluded a l i s t of new books and other mater ials

added to the l i b r a r y s i nce t he l a s t i s s ue. Access to t hese magazines

can , however, be difficul t , s i nce t here i s no comprehensive listing

o f t hem a va i l abl e for any country , and no l arge central i s ed col lec-

t ion of them (t hough t he Nationa l Li br a r y o f Australia has r ec ent l y

attempted to fi l l t his gap fo r Austral ian schools).2 I us ed copies

held i n t he schools t hemselves, i n publ ic , s ta t e , and academ i c

lib r ari e s, a nd i n t he possession of i nd i viduals. I f ound few com-

p lete runs available , even for olde r and wel l-known s choo l s . The

magazine s themse lves were ne ver indexed ; many we re without even a

1 . Me lvin , Hi story of Public School Li b r a r i e s in Pennsylvani a,p . 17 .

2. Anonymous , "School Magazines l'/anted" , 'Educa t i on News , 16 ,2 (1977) ,p .3 .

xiv

table o f contents , · while tho s e contents lists which were i ncluded

were often un r el i able. l As wit h some o f t he j ournals, then, each

page o f each i s sue of a school magaz i ne had to be scanned for

televa nt information and .photogr aphs .

Fewe r problems were e ncountered in the us e o f f iction, . particu-

lar ly schoo l s tories , for historica l p urposes . In a n a r t i c l e on

n i neteenth century Austral ian schools a s seen t hrough t he eyes of

i maginative wr iters , J ohn Cleverley ha s commented on the rich sources

avai lable on schoo l s and schooling in lite r a ture, and on the use of

such writ i ng by his t orians: 2

To attempt a history of Australian education thr ough literature,a professor once told me , wa s properly a t a s k for retirement ,f it on ly for the l a t e and br ief span of my declini ng year s .The n e ve r ybody kn ew that wri ting based on fac t - t he stu f f ofhistory - wa s reliable . Fic t i o n and verse , o n the other hand ,were p r i nc i pa l l y inventions of t he human mind . In t his con­t ext , h istory derived from l i t era r y s ource s appeared a contra­dict ion in t erms: how could truth corne out of falsehood ? Butt imes change . Today fac t ha s lost i ts aura o f obj ectivi t y,whereas f ic t ion is commonly accepted as one form o f h i storicalstatement.

Many wr i ters who . mention school l i brar ies in t hei r novels, like

Frede r ic Farrar , t a ught .for a t i me; ot hers , like Rudyar d Kipling,

wrote about schools t hey had kn own as s choo lboys ; still others , like

Char lotte M. Yonge , were familiar with the i nt erna l organisa t ion and

managemen t of schools of ,v a r i o us sor ts . Visi tors , t oo, ha ve c a r e -

1. I n t he i nt roduction t o her t hes is , Ol d School Librarie s ofLancash i re: A Con tinued History 1885- 19 78 , (M.A. thesis , Lough­bo roug h Uni versity of Technology, 1979), p . 12 , J oan M. Pottera l s o noted t hat school magazines we r e "a mos t f r uitfu l a nd com­prehensive source ll of inf ormatio n on s chool l ibra rie s, lI a factwhich j ustified the l abour involved i n go ing t hroug h hundreds ofi s sue s, many o f them unf ortuna t ely wi t hou t i ndex or content sp.age . ... II ..

2. John Cl ever ley , "Onc e Upon a Ti me", Educa tion News , 16 ,8 (19 79),pp.16-23.

xxv

fully observed a nd ' written about schools . As Cleverley says ,l t hei r

"i mag i na t i ve reco ns truc tion s which pr esent "their own view o f r eal i ty

u s e fully complement conventional da t a . 1I He goes on , "The c aution

mus t hold though t hat li t e r a tur e appl ied t o historical e nds must be

subj ect to the s ame c r i t ical i nte l l i gence appl ied to historic al

evidence from whatever source . "

Many issues r elevant t o t he history of school l ibrarie s are

di scussed only brie fly, i f a t a l l , i n this t hesis; most of the se

would be us e ful a r eas f or fur t her r e s earch . The y include : the

relation ship bet wee n developments in the phi losophy a nd practice of

educa t ion a rid the deve lopment o f schoo l l i bra rie s; t he r ela t i ons hip

be tween deve l opment s in l i bra rianship gene ra l ly a nd t he h i s t ory o f

schoo l l i b r a r i e s; a nd t he r elationship between devel opment s in

ch i ldren's li t erature a nd in the t e achi ng o f r eadi ng and changes in

s choo l lib r arie s. Further r e s earch i s needed on the his t ory o f

school lib r arie s i n each country ; once t his i s ava i l abl e , compar a t ive

s t ud i e s 'o f s chool l i brary deve l opment in different count r i es woul d

show c ommon i n f l uences and parallel de ve l opments as well as di f f erent

r e spons e s t o part i c ul ar prob l ems from count r y to count ry . Comparative

studi e s o f differe nt types o f school libra rie s - s econda r y s chool ,

.e l eme nt a r y school , schoo l/communi t y , Sunda y schoo l , a nd o thers - woul d

a lso b e va l uab le in illustr a t ing wha t i s common t o a l l librarie s in

s chools , while showing diff e r ences whi ch r e sult from the s pecial

r equi r ements of a particular c l i e nte l e . What is needed, above a l l ,

however, a re scholarly, comprehensive h i s t ories of indivi dual school

1 . I b i d ., p.l?

xxvi

libr aries,! whi ch p lace ' t hose l ibraries in the context of deve~opments

in educational i dea s and teaching methods, changes i n t he theory and

prac t ice of librar i anship, the history of r eading ma t e r i als for

chi ldren , and t he growt h and development of the particular schoo l o~

which t he library is a part.

1 . The English l i b r a r y historian , Thoma s Kel ly , aut hor of theHi s t or y o f Public Li br a r i e s : i n 'Grea t Britain 1845-1965 , has a l s ohighligh t ed t his need : " .•. library history mus t be fi rml y bas edo n the history of indi vidual librarie s • . . We . •. need fa r morei ndividual studie s than we have . " In "Thouqh t.s o n the Writingof Library Hi s t or y", Li b r a r y Hi story, 3 (1975) , p.167.