REPORT SIR OF THE COUNCIL OF TRUSTEES NATIONAL LIBRARY OF IRELAND 1921-22 TO THE SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND As Chairman of the Council of Trustees, I submit the Report for the year ending March 31, 1922. The Library was open to the public on 274 days-for five hours on Saturdays, for eight hours on other week-days. The attendances of readers numbered 90,034. The daily average was 347. The volumes catalogued and made accessible to readers numbered 6,382. Of these 732 were folio, 381 quarto, and 5,269 octavo and smaller sizes. A table classifying them is given in Appendix I. with other statistics. Since the Council first met, in 1878, to March 31, 1922, the volumes thus added to the Library number about 150,700, making the approximate total of books available to readers 252,900. The number of books to be bound annually for the Library remains at 2,400; the pre-war allowance was 4,500. The present amount is insufficient; arrears are accumulating, and an increase in the binding allowed is becoming urgently necessary. On April 22, 1921, the Trustees appointed Mr. Gerard Murphy, B.A., to the post of Fourth Librarian, to fill the vacancy caused by the promotion of Dr. Best. Mr. Murphy took up duty, in a temporary capacity, on January 3, 1922, but his Civil Service certificate has not been issued yet. From June 13, 1921, until January 3, 1922, Miss Norah Flynn, B.A., was employed temporarily to fill the vacancy before-mentioned; she has continued her work since that time as an unpaid cataloguer, to the great advantage of the Library. Two of the Library staff, Mr. P. T. Doyle and Mr. P. O'Byrne, with the permission of the Trustees, attended the Summer School of Library Service at Aberystwyth in 1921, being aided as to their expenses from the Travelling Grant. The Trustees have to report a continuance of the overcrowding of the collections, and the understaffing of the institution to which they have drawn attention annually for many years. An annexe to the north end of the west book-store, for which drawings were prepared, was not sanctioned by the Treasury; certain minor alterations in the existing book-stores have given very inadequate relief. The increased staff for which the Trustees have been asking for some years past, was not granted either in whole or part; with the result that many thousands of important books still remain unavailable to readers, owing to the impossibility of performing the necessary preliminary work. In the absence of proper accommodation, the Newspaper and Patents sections of the Library continue to be housed in the general book-store, causing inconvenience to readers and difficulties of administration to the staff. During the year the decision of H.M. Treasury, as to the regrading of the staff, has been received. The Trustees regret to repeat that their urgent representations regarding an increase of the personnel have met with no response. The salaries of the existing staff have been improved, but the increases allowed are less than those put forward as equitable by the Trustees over three years ago, before the recent general rise in prices and salaries had taken place. The staff has gained, however, by the decision that the posts held by the Lady Cataloguers and all the Library Assistants should be permanent and pensionable. The grant for book purchase, despite the protests of the Trustees, has not yet been augmented to meet the increased price of all printed matter; the grant still remains at its pre-war figure, namely, £1,300. This sum suffices for the purchase of only about one-half of the amount of books for which it formerly paid, and as a result several hundreds of important periodicals and publications of learned societies have had to be discontinued, and the acquisition of new books The printing of entries for works catalogued during the year has gone on In Appendix I. is a list of donors. The Trustees draw special attention to (1) the rich collection, upwards of 2,000 volumes, of works mainly on the Romance languages and literature, bequeathed by the late William Edward Purser, author of Palmerin of England. By this generous bequest the Spanish and Portuguese sections of the Library have benefited very largely. (2) A set (17 vols.) of the anastatic reproductions of O'Donovan and O'Curry's transcripts of Brehon Law Tracts, prepared for the use of the Commissioners for publishing the Ancient Laws and Institutes of Ireland, presented by the Royal Irish Academy, and (3) a MS. copy of The Koran, presented by Miss Gainsford. The volumes added to the Library and made accessible to readers during the Bibliography, Cyclopaedic works, Newspapers, General Periodicals Sociology, Political Science and Economy, Law, Education, Parlia- Religion, Theology, Ecclesiastical History mentary Papers, Commerce, etc. 443 86 336 917 Subjoined is the account of books borrowed during twelve months ending March 31st, 1922, by members of the Royal Dublin Society, and by certain officers A list is subjoined of persons from whom gifts have been received between April 1st, 1921, and March 31st, 1922:— J. Arrowsmith, Ltd.; Madame Aurel; C. J. Bateman; Bemrose Publicity Co.; R. I. Best; M. J. Blake; Alfred Blanche; Ernest Boyd; T. B. Browne, Ltd.; Credito Italiano, Milan; Cunard S.S. Co. Ltd.; Daimler Co., Ltd.; E. W. Digby; E. R. McC. Dix; Rev. J. A. Duke; Mrs. M. W. Wolfe Dumont; Miss M. M. Dunn; the late Miss Pauline Elsner; Mario Esposito; Miss Fairbrother; Edward C. Farnsworth; Mrs. Fitzgerald, Foxrock; Henri Gaidoz ; Miss Gainsford; Ganesh & Co., Madras; Capt. Michael Gilvary; Sir Israel Gollancz; Dr. Joel Green; Miss H. Guinness; Rev. G. F. Hamilton; H. Harden, LL.B.; Mrs. Augustine Henry; Maurice C. Hime, LL.D.; D. L. Kelleher; R. J. Kelly, K.C.; J. W. Kernohan; Geoffrey Keynes, M.D.; J. W. Kirwan; Alexander Lamb; Mrs. S. A. F. Lonergan; Rev. M. H. MacInerny; S. A. S. le Prince de Monaco ; George Moore; Dermod O'Brien, P.R.H.A.; P. J. O'Brien; T. P. O'Donoghue ; J. J. O'Farrell, M.D.; R. Phelps; J. L. Pigott; R. Ll. Praeger, D.Sc.; Executors of the late William E. Purser ; Ibrahim Rashad; A. B. Svenska Teknologföreningens Förlag, Stockholm; Miss Maud Townshend; Paget Toynbee, Litt.D.; Mrs. Wallace, Dalkey; Sir Charles Wakefield, Bart.; Miss Josephine Webb. Gifts have been received from many Public Departments, Public Bodies, Public Institutions, and Learned or Literary Societies, whose titles have been recorded in preceding years; and also Annual Reports, etc., from the principal Dublin Hospitals and Charitable and Religious Institutions, and many other Institutions throughout the country. A large number of Irish Newspapers, recorded in preceding years, have been presented during the year 1921, and, as before, filed for reference. The Royal Dublin Society has continued its generous gift of Newspapers, etc. In addition, the Society has presented sets of scientific and technical periodicals previous to the year 1878, to the number of about 2,250 volumes. When the Society's Library was taken over by the Government in the year 1877 to form the nucleus of a National Library, the Society retained its sets of scientific periodicals under the terms of agreement; but in most cases it did not continue them, the subscription being taken over by the National Library. The transfer of these volumes now makes the National Library sets complete, and greatly enhances their value. The following Societies present publications annually: : The Royal Society: Transactions and Proceedings; The Royal Society of Edinburgh Transactions and Proceedings; The Royal Dublin Society: Proceedings and Scientific Proceedings; The Royal Irish Academy: Proceedings; Royal Society of Antiquaries, Ireland: Journal; The County Kildare Archaeological Society: Journal; Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society: Proceedings; Belfast Naturalists' Field Club: Report and Proceedings; Royal Institute of British Architects: Journal and Calendar; Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland: Transactions; Royal Society of Medicine, England: Proceedings; Institute of Bankers in Ireland: Journal; Royal Astronomical Society : Monthly Notices; Liverpool Botanical Society: Proceedings. A number of periodical publications, already recorded in previous reports, have been presented in the year 1921, either by the publishers, or by private donors, or by Public Bodies. APPENDIX II. TWENTY-FIRST REPORT OF THE LIBRARIAN, NEW SERIES The chief problem of the year 1921-22 has been the alleviation of the very serious congestion of the collections of books which, for a long time, has been increasingly hampering the efficiency of the Library. Efforts to obtain extension of the book-stores have been unsuccessful up to the present, and the building as projected thirty-five years ago still remains unfinished. During the present year, as mentioned in the report of the Trustees, some minor internal alterations were made, which resulted in an increase in the capacity of the main book-store of about five per cent. This gain was augmented to about twenty per cent. by a series of re-adjustments, of which the following were the chief : (1) The Joly collection of some 23,000 volumes was compressed into half the space it formerly occupied, by compact re-arrangement and the elimination of duplicates; (2) the Dix collection of some 5,000 volumes, and the collections of music, were stored in portion of the space thus saved; (3) the weekly periodicals were concentrated in the East Attic; (4) scientific periodicals were transferred in large numbers into the Reading Room Gallery and passage leading thereto, the older Patent Specifications thus displaced being accommodated in the basement space formerly occupied by the Dix collection; (5) the collections of Parliamentary Papers were stored on extra shelving recently added to the top floor; (6) many newspapers were removed to the basement. As a result, the whole of the main collection of books has been loosened out to the extent of about 20 per cent., the work being not yet quite finished. Altogether about 200,000 volumes were moved during the present year; thousands of books which were of necessity out of place have been restored to their proper shelves; and it is once again possible to send all new arrivals to their allotted places in the main classified collection. But the relief thus obtained is only temporary, and unless the additional accommodation urged by the Trustees for many years past is provided without delay, congestion will soon be as bad as ever, and without any further possible palliatives. The New General Catalogue of the Library, which was commenced at the beginning of 1921, is progressing steadily. Over 30 volumes of it are now in use in the General Reading-room, representing the letter A and the greater part of B. This gives a much fuller and more accurate account of the resources of the Library than the pre-existing catalogue, as it includes, in addition to revised entries for all the older books, the entries for the Joly collection and a large section of the collection of Pamphlets. A new and revised general Subject Index is progressing, which during the year has also reached the letter B; this advances simultaneously with the printing of the Subject Index for 1904-15. Considerable work has been done in the arrangement of pamphlets; all the pamphlets in the Library up to 1922 are now either bound in volumes or ready to be bound (though thousands still remain to be catalogued). A new system has been devised for current pamphlets, by which they will be catalogued and made available for readers immediately on their receipt, instead of being laid aside for many years. The stamping of the Joly collection has been completed, so that with the growth of the new Author Catalogue, this most valuable library will become fully accessible to scholars. An arrangement has been made by which each section of the collections is in the definite charge of one assistant, who is responsible, under the Librarian, for the good order of the books contained in it. Excellent results have already followed this change. Hitherto it has not been possible to take stock of the Library, owing to the absence of shelf-lists. During five weeks, in July and August last, while the building remained closed by order of the Trustees, the staff was occupied in preparing these necessary lists. Cards were written for about 100,000 volumes, and it is hoped to complete the work during the coming year. It will be then possible for the first time to take stock of any portion of the collections, and to detect with ease and certainty volumes missing and volumes misplaced. June, 1922 Signed Wt. 1303. D. 126-300. 8/22. B. & N., Ltd.-Group 4. R. LLOYD PRAEGER, Librarian |