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7
It is proposed to place on the open shelves a large
selection of about 1,000 standard reference books on every
branch of knowledge, to which students and general readers
shall have free access without the formality of writing out
application forms or making special enquiries. The books
will be classified and clearly labelled on the shelves to enable
readers to find what they require without assistance, and
thus it is hoped to make many valuable works of
history, biography, science and art easily accessible. Books
relating to the industries of Clerkenwell, Encyclopaedias,
Dictionaries, Atlases, Year-books, etc., will be stored
upon the open shelves, and this special enclosure will also
contain the reading table for the use of Ladies, and the
writing table at present in the general reading room. The
entrances and exits to and from the room will be controlled
by means of a wicket, and the Assistant will have
full oversight of the readers. These open-shelf reference
libraries are provided in a large number of libraries, like the
British Museum, etc., and generally throughout the United
States. Our Librarian suggested the establishment of an
open reference library at Clerkenwell as the result of his visit
to the United States in 1893, but it was resolved to proceed
first with the Open Access Lending Department which has
been successfully working for six years, and which the Committee
are glad to report has been adopted as a system
in many other libraries.
Pentonville Branch Library.—In compliance with the
instructions of the Vestry, the Library Committee reported
favourably upon the establishment of an experimental
Branch Library and Reading Room for the Pentonville
District, and proceeded to make the necessary arrangements
when their suggestions were adopted. Suitable rooms were
procured in the Penton Estate Offices, at the corner of
Penton and Risinghill Streets, which Captain Penton leased
on favourable terms, and these have been fitted up as an
Evening Reading Room and Lending Library. A good selection
of magazines and periodicals has been provided, and
borrowers will have the choice of about 1,000 volumes, with
theadditional privilege of selecting books from the Central