42 C O N T E X T 1 2 2 : N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 1 Book reviews Places to be Books, Buildings and Social Engineering: early public libraries in Britain from past to present Alistair Black, Simon Pepper and Kaye Bagshaw, Ashgate Publishing, 2009, 465pp b&w, 175 x 250mm, ISBN 978 0 7546 7207 4, £65, hardback Renewing our Libraries: case studies in re-planning and refurbishment Edited by Michael Dewe, Ashgate Publishing, 2009, 284pp, 160 x 240mm, ISBN 978 0 7546 7339 2, £60, hardback The funding for our public libraries is currently under threat and their future role uncertain in a time of digital revolution. It is therefore prescient to take stock and consider the significance and development of libraries, their social function and their architecture, to help determine their future role. Two recent publications, approaching the topic from different standpoints, seek to give context and direction, while approaching the subject in quite different ways. Books, Buildings and Social Engineering is an analysis of the development of the public library in Britain. It is remarkable that this is the first comprehensive book to consider the architectural history of Britain’s public libraries. As such, it is long overdue. The earliest public libraries were established following the Public Libraries Act 1850, which allowed (rather than compelled) local authorities to establish libraries from local taxation. Development was slow, however, with only a quarter of the population living in an area which had adopted the legislation by 1887. Queen Victoria’s golden jubilee celebrations of 1887 encouraged many local authorities to adopt the legislation in her honour. But the real driver behind the late 19th and early 20th century expansion of public libraries was philanthropy, with benefactors including Sir John Brunner, Henry Tate and Andrew Carnegie. The subsequent Public Libraries Act 1919 empowered councils to become library authorities, abolished the penny rate (which limited spending on public libraries) and promoted their expansion. The book, in four parts, uses a ‘periodisation’ to establish a framework to discuss the development of library design, its social context and influences. This framework creates a sensible structure, and is reasoned and logical in conception. There is a sense that this in-depth socio-historical analysis is slightly diluted by the inclusion of diversions to libraries in the United States. These are interesting, but seem relevant only in the cases (such as Manchester Library) where the design was specifically guided by American library design. Similarly, the analysis of recent projects in part four is brief, and might have been better served in a separate volume. The book concludes with a useful gazetteer of early public library buildings, with references for further reading. Apart from the slightly unfortunate school-textbook appearance of the cover, the book is well produced, and there are many interesting early drawings and photographs, supplemented by specially produced plans. It is a comprehensive, thoughtful and well researched study, and is thoroughly recommended, admirably filling the gap in the typographical study of architectural history. Renewing our Libraries comprises a series of case studies analysing library refurbishment, extension and reconfiguration projects across the UK, Ireland and Malmö, Sweden. The case studies are prefaced with a brief history and overview provided by Michael Dewe, lecturer in the Department of Information Studies at the University of Aberystwyth. The contributors to the book are all library professionals, as opposed to architects or historians, which provides a useful counterpoint to the architectural and historical analysis found in Books, Buildings and Social Engineering. As a consequence, however, descriptions of the planning process and the legislation for the protection of historic buildings are not entirely accurate. The case studies are split into five categories, summarised and analysed in the final chapter. The case studies are let down by poor-quality illustrations, all of them rather small, black and white, and not generally enlightening. Some of the case studies are an account of the general headaches faced on any building project, particularly those within the public sector, and many of the issues discussed are not those specific to libraries. The general perception of historic library buildings seems to be irritation with a lack of flexibility, rather than embracing the quality of the spaces and taking inspiration from the vision of their creators. Others, in particular the two Irish case-studies, are very interesting, and bring useful professional context to the wider debate that surrounds the future of the public library. Most of the case studies are written by those involved in the projects in question, and as a consequence do not form a critique of the design or the brief. If they are
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjgyMjA=