(3) A case study of the international links of one of its founder members

ht. Libr. Rev. (1969) 1, 7748

INTAMEL (INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF METROPOLITAN 6ITY LIBRARIES)

(3) A Case Study of the International Links of One of its Founder Members

GEORGE CHANDLER

The directors of the metropolitan city libraries who approved the Statute of INTAMEL in Liverpool on the 25 March 1968 were united in recognizing the need for an international organization to foster the exchange of books, staff and information between city libraries throughout the world, in order to help meet the increasing international demands of their readers in connection with their cultural, educational, research and industrial pursuits. Nevertheless, there are strong differences between city libraries in the scope and depth of their need for closer international co-operation which only detailed case studies of the international work of individual libraries can make clear.

As a combination of circumstances led to my taking some part in the foundation of INTAMEL and to my election as its first President, it is my pleasant duty to write the first case history of a member of INTAMEL and to outline how the international work of Liverpool City Libraries resulted in their becoming one of the founder members of INTAMEL. It is hoped that my contribution will be followed by others from Canada, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Sweden, the U.S.A. and other countries whose metropolitan city libraries have developed international links which contributed to the foundation of INTAMEL.

As a world port with close commercial links with many countries in the world, Liverpool clearly needs also to establish close cultural links. Moreover, the population of Liverpool is particularly cosmopolitan, with its amalgam of Welsh, Irish, Scats, English and peoples from all parts of the world. These international links have helped Liverpool to develop an International Library, a Commonwealth Library, and an American Library devoted to the history, topography, literature and

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languages of all countries in the world, an Arts and Recreations Library, and a Music Library with important foreign collections, the Hornby Library and print collection with a permanent exhibition illustrating the art of the book, manuscript and print in all countries throughout the ages, a Commercial Library, and Technical and Patents Libraries with extensive deposits of foreign technical literature, a Record Office and Local History Department with collections illustrating Liverpool’s his- torical trade and cultural links with overseas countries.

The need for Liverpool City Libraries to co-operate with other libraries led successively to the foundation of LADSIRLAC (Liverpool and District Scientific, Industrial and Research Library Advisory Council) now with over 280 contributing members; and COCRIL (the Council of City Research and Information Libraries of the United Kingdom, i.e. city libraries serving a population in excess of 400,000). The main function of COCRIL has been to co-operate on common problems at officer level.

The growth of the demand since World War II for industrial, research, educational and cultural literature made it inevitable that in addition to regional organizations like LADSIRLAC and national groups like COCRIL, an international organization would be founded to meet the needs of metropolitan city libraries. Important steps towards this were the Prague Symposium of Metropolitan City Libraries of 1966 and the informal or formal organizations of large city libraries in the United States of America, West Germany and other countries, which provided a firm basis for extended international co-operation. All these and other organizations took some part in the movement which led to the foundation of INTAMEL, which will, I hope, be recorded in future case histories of the international work of individual libraries. For my part, I can only give an inadequate personal record of the international library activities of the city of Liverpool and how these led to my becoming associated with the foundation of INTAMEL.

During World War II, the central libraries in Liverpool were bombed and 200,000 volumes were lost, including all the foreign language collections. In order to replace these in the post-war years, when book supplies were difficult, I visited many European cities during my holi- days and made a number of important purchases in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. I also visited many libraries in these countries and gained much information of use in the rebuilding of Liverpool’s collections.

These foreign acquisitions formed part of the library exhibitions which have become a feature in Liverpool. These are opened by eminent men like the ambassadors of France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.S.A.

INTAMEL : A CASE STUDY 79

and the U.S.S.R.; high commissioners of Australia, Canada, Ceylon, India and Pakistan. These exhibitions are usually opened in the presence of the Lord Mayor, and the leaders of the main political parties in the city council. Research on the collections of Liverpool City Libraries in connection with the exhibitions often revealed many unknown collections of international significance and to the establishment of closer international links.

As a direct and unexpected consequence of the library exhibition in Liverpool on the United States, I was invited in 1955 to tour the U.S.A. as a guest of the American government. I visited libraries and cultural institutions in New York, Washington, Cleveland, Chicago, Virginia and San Francisco-my first large-scale opportunity of studying international comparative librarianship. I brought back with me many ideas which helped in the solution of library problems in Liverpool, particularly in connection with the development of Liverpool’s library services to industry, its international services, and its service to city councillors and corporation staff.

Liverpool was at the time actively engaged in extending its library services to industry. Liverpool did not establish its first public technical library until 1952, because it had been primarily a port and a commercial city. Industrial developments were, however, rapidly taking place in Liverpool and new demands were being made on the public library services for technical library, documentation and information services. Hence, I was particularly interested in the John Crerar Public Library in Chicago, which had separate floors devoted to different aspects of technology and gave open access to very large book stocks. I was also interested in the charges which the John Crerar Public Library made to firms and other corporate bodies for services in depth. I had been thinking on these lines and the Chicago experience encouraged me to provide maximum open access in the new technical and patents libraries in Liverpool, and to receive contributions in cash or in kind for member- ship of LADSIRLAC. The financial contributions were used towards the provision of special staff to provide industry with services in depth over and above those normally available through the staff of public technical libraries.

On my first visit to the Library of Congress, I was particularly impressed by the research reports prepared for congressmen. Although this service operated on a scale which it would be inappropriate for a city library to emulate, my conviction was reinforced that the councillors and staff of local authorities required services in depth from public libraries. As a result a municipal research service was eventually established by Liverpool City Libraries.

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I was also impressed by the extent of foreign language collections, in American public libraries, which included extensive oriental collections in Cleveland, New York and other public libraries, as well as extensive collections in European languages organized into separate divisions with specialized linguistic staff. My American experience was an influential factor in the founding in Liverpool of three large open access libraries devoted to overseas countries (including books in English)-the International Library, the Commonwealth Library and the American Library.

Whereas the rebuilding of Liverpool’s West European collections owed something to my holiday visits to Western Europe, the development of the East European collections was largely due to the development of exchange relations with Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Rumania and the U.S.S.R. These were started as a result of an inter-Parliamentary visit of one of Liverpool’s M.P.s to Eastern Europe.

Except in the case of rare books which cannot be obtained in any other way, exchange is not the most satisfactory way of acquiring literature. Nevertheless, it is valuable when currency restrictions prevent the free import of literature, or when duplicates of value to overseas countries are available, or when assistance is required in the selection of foreign books. The efficiency of exchanges can often be greatly improved by personal visits, as my experience has demonstrated.

The invitation of the Rumanian Government to tour libraries in 1967 in Rumania, under the Anglo-Rumanian Exchange Agreement, on the recommendation of the British Council, resulted not only in an important exchange of modern books, but also in the exchange of the rare Bucharest Gospels of 1681 with Liverpool’s duplicate copy of the Fourth Folio Shakespeare (1685). The Bucharest Gospels are a fine example of Rumanian printing with woodcuts and were published at a time when Rumania was trying to preserve her cultural tradition under Turkish sovereignty. They fill a gap in Liverpool’s permanent exhibition of the art of the book, manuscript and print.

Another step forward in the evolution of the international work of Liverpool City Libraries was accidental. H. C. Campbell, Chief Librarian, Toronto Public Libraries, attended the annual conference of the Library Association in Eastbourne in 1965, at which I delivered a paper on an analysis of the users of Liverpool City Libraries. He promptly asked me to contribute a study of these for the special issue of Library Trends which was to be devoted to the problems of metropolitan city libraries throughout the world. In return, he agreed to contribute a volume on the same theme for the International Series of Monographs in Library and Information Science which I was editing. Campbell’s

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volume was a pioneer study and it impressed me by the similarity of problems in many metropolitan city libraries. Campbell also contributed an excellent How to Find Out about Cunadu for the section of the How to Find Out Series, which I am also editing, and which are aimed at a broad international readership.

All this international work precluded me from taking an active part in conferences and meetings organized by national and international library associations. I did not, therefore, give the long service to the Library Association, which is usually the prelude to election to national office. But the introduction of postal ballot for the election of chairman of the Executive Committee found me undeservedly being elected to that office and, as such, a national delegate to the Council of the Inter- national Federation of Library Associations in the Hague in 1966, the first IFLA conference that I attended. This drew me even further into international work. Here at last was a conference which was of immediate and direct functional value to me as a city librarian of a large city. I was glad that I was the first city librarian to attend it not only as a national delegate but also as a city delegate under the amend- ment to the Statute of IFLA which permitted individual libraries to become associate members and to send a delegate. I found the IFLA Council stimulating, because the sessions devoted to national, university, special libraries and rare books discussed problems of direct relevance to the work of large city libraries.

I reported to COCRIL on the possibilities of functional co-operation through IFLA. As a result, the other members of COCRIL decided to recommend that their libraries become associate members of IFLA. At the same COCRIL meeting W. A. Taylor, City Libra- rian of Birmingham, spoke about the work of Dr R. Malek of Prague and of the Prague Conference of Metropolitan City Libraries which he had attended in 1966. One of the recommendations of this Conference was that some form of world association of large city libraries was desirable. Hence, some support from Europe was assured for the foundation of a world association of metropolitan city libraries, COCRIL approved my suggestion that I should explore the possibilities of founding such an organization at the 1967 IFLA Council in Toronto, which I was to attend as city and national delegate. It was felt that such an organization would be of considerable value, at least to British metropolitan city libraries, in helping them to meet the increasing cultural, educational, research and industrial demands of their users. It was, therefore, anti- cipated that the association would not organize conferences but would concentrate on functional exchanges of books, staff and information and on working parties.

82 G. CHANDLER

Arrangements were made to allocate part of one of the sessions at the Toronto IFLA Council for the discussion of the problems of metropolitan city libraries. Having received this permission, I approached H. C. Campbell, Chief Librarian, Toronto Public Libraries, inquiring whether he would act as co-convener of the meeting. Campbell expressed his support for the idea of some form of world association of metropolitan city libraries, but deferred agreeing to act as convener until he was sure of some support from the informal American association of large city libraries, of whose existence I was unaware. Campbell obtained this support and four American city librarians took an active part in the formation of INTAMEL, Emerson Greenaway (Phila- delphia), who, as a member of the Public Libraries Board of IFLA, played a key role in clearing away misunderstandings, Edwin Castagna (Baltimore) who became a vice-president of INTAMEL, Philip McNiff (Boston) and Harold Tucker (New York: Queens Borough).

With the assurance of European and some Canadian and American support, I then sent a circular to metropolitan city libraries throughout the world, asking whether they supported the idea of some sort of international association of metropolitan city libraries with the objects of encouraging international co-operation, particularly in the exchange of books, staff and information, and of encouraging participation in IFLA and its Public Libraries Section. The response was enthusiastic, for obvious reasons. Many countries have only one or two metropolitan city libraries which tend, as a result, to feel isolated. As a result of these replies there was no doubt that a world association of metropolitan city libraries was needed. Only the question of what kind was to be settled. As there was some desire for an independent international organization affiliated to IFLA, rather than for a sub-section of IFLA, it seemed desirable for metropolitan city librarians to have an opportunity of dis- cussing this at a private meeting, prior to the public meeting which was to form part of one of IFLA’s sessions, I was personally convinced, however, that the closest possible links were desirable with IFLA and its Public Libraries Section. COCRIL authorized me to convene this private meeting and IFLA kindly agreed to place the accommodation at our disposal. The private meeting was summoned for Thursday 17 August 1967.

Although many city librarians had agreed in advance to support INTAMEL, I was aware that attendance at the private meeting would be mainly confined to IFLA delegates representing library associations or government-nominated library councils who would have no mandate to speak on behalf of a particular type of library. However, a number of the delegates who attended the meeting came from large


cities. There were representatives from Japan, Canada, the United States, France, Germany and the United Kingdom; in all, 17 countries had welcomed the idea of an international association of metropolitan city libraries.

As convener of the meeting I invited nominations for chairman of the meeting, and H. C. Campbell was appointed. He then asked me to read out the letters of support and after some discussions it was resolved by Emerson Greenaway (Philadelphia) and seconded by G. Baudin(Paris) that INTAMEL be established. I was nominated as President of the Provisional Committee. H. C. Campbell nominated G. Baudin (Paris) as secretary-treasurer but he was not able to accept. Campbell was then appointed to the Office. I was authorized to nominate more people to the Provisional Committee, which then consisted of the following: H. C. Campbell (Toronto), G. Baudin (Paris), A. G. T. Ofori (Accra), M. M. Pate1 (Ahmedabad), E. Bottasso (Turin), N. Hasegawa (Tokyo) M. Watanabe (Nagoya), S. Mohlenbrock (Gothenburg), W. A. Taylor (Birmingham), E. Greenaway (Philadelphia), E. Castagna (Baltimore), H. W. Tucker (New York: Queens Borough), P. NcNiff (Boston), F. Andrae (Hamburg), R. Mtiller (Vienna), R. Malek (Prague), G. Chandler (Liverpool), I. Corea (Colombo) and V. Vukovic (Zagreb). The Toronto Organization Meeting also agreed that discussions should take place with IFLA on the question of annual subscriptions. At the IFLA Session on the following day, I reported on the foundation of INTAMEL and expressed the hope that INTAMEL would strengthen both IFLA and its Public Libraries Section. I stated that INTAMEL’s object was to supplement their work by functional co-operation in the exchange of books, staff and information and that my discussions with individual members of the Provisional Committee indicated that they shared my opinion that INTAMEL should act as a sub-section of IFLA and its Public Libaries Section, but retain freedom to raise and hold funds for activities which IFLA and the Public Libraries Section could not finance.

During the IFLA Council and the study tour which followed it, I had an opportunity of visiting six North American cities (Toronto, North York, Montreal, Boston, Queens Borough (New York) and New York) and of assessing the possibilities of co-operation in INTAMEL. I had visited New York Public Library a few years earlier, together with Chicago, Cleveland and San Francisco Public Libraries. My visits to these cities, and to other cities, have confirmed my belief that INTAMEL has an important part to play.

My visit to Toronto Public Libraries revealed the similarity between the problems in Toronto and those in Liverpool. The information which

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I obtained in Toronto was of considerable value in connection with similar problems in Liverpool.

We shared the problem of financing large public libraries which are maintained by the city but serve the whole of the conurbation of which the city is the centre. Toronto’s solution was to create a Metropolitan Library Board which would grant aid or take over the Central Library services-a solution which I shall certainly cite in connection with the claim of the metropolitan city libraries in the United Kingdom to receive financial support for the regional and, in some cases, national or international services which they discharge. In the United Kingdom, I think that the financial assistance should come direct from the central government, as in the U.S.A. and France.

I was interested to see that Toronto, like Liverpool, had recently com- pleted the reorganization of its Central Libraries into open access com- bined reference and lending subject departments and for the same reasons: the need to give a greater service in depth in order to meet the increasing cultural, educational, research and industrial library demands of city populations. I was particularly impressed by the commercial library and other library facilities in Toronto City Hall.

I was most encouraged by the Toronto Children’s Library which, on inspection, fully justified its international reputation. Liverpool, like Toronto, has a separate building for its Central Junior Library but this is not, as is the case at Toronto, an annexe of the central libraries. How- ever, Liverpool’s Central Junior Library is to be demolished because of a new motorway, and is to be moved to the Central Libraries site. Hence I was interested to study the lay-out and services in Toronto.

Another illustration of the value of personal contact between city libraries arose whilst I was in the Toronto Children’s Library. One of the staff is preparing a special edition of the children’s poems of William Roscoe of Liverpool. I was asked whether I knew of the English study of Roscoe of which a copy could not be traced or purchased. I replied that as I was the author of this study, I would forward a copy with pleasure !

The plans which had been approved to build a new Toronto Univer- sity Library of enormous size, interested me. Plans were also being drawn up for a new metropolitan city library, also of great size.

I was particularly anxious to observe on the spot the problems of division of labour in Canada, where the librarians are almost univer- sally graduates and where the proportion of librarians to total staff is usually much higher than in the United Kingdom. Staff costs in rela- tion to public use are also higher. Two at least of Toronto’s librarians remarked in their printed reports how busy and crowded British libra-


ries were, and this confirmed similar reports from American librarians. My visit confirmed the conclusions of previous discussions in Liverpool with members of the staff of Toronto Public Libraries, and with members of my own staff on return from internships in Toronto, that division of labour ensures that professional staff are more continuously engaged on professional duties but often makes necessary either the appointment of additional staff or the reduction in the hours of opening. My visit to Toronto helped me, therefore, to reach a compromise solution in Liver- pool, where the large number of service points and long hours of opening made the introduction of further division of labour impossible without considerable staff increases. One compromise, which was adopted by the city council, was to close six of the smaller units and to increase the services at the larger units. The result has so far been a total increase in the use of the libraries and some improvement in the division of labour.

My visit to the libraries of North York was valuable. I was interested to see that in North York as in Liverpool the increasing demands of the community were making larger branch libraries necessary, and that, as a result, larger populations were served, even though this required the public to travel further. The principles for regional and district branches in North York were very similar to those towards which we were working in the United Kingdom. The regional branches which I visited in North York are models of their kind, and admirable centres of cultural activities.

As a lover of French language and literature, I was delighted to find that the Montreal Public Library was thoroughly canadienne in its con- ception and its reception of us. I was privileged to attend the annual meeting of the Canadian Association of French Speaking Librarians, while the dinner that I enjoyed at the Hotel de France in Montreal might have been ordered at one of the many hotels of that name in France.

On my visit to Boston, I expected that some of the problems there would be similar to those in Liverpool. The Boston Public Library was the first American Public Library, and was founded in 1852. Liverpool also opened its first public library in 1852. Liverpool appointed the first English special public libraries committee in 1850, and William Ewart, promoter of the first British Public Libraries Act (1852), was a native and M.P. for Liverpool.

Boston, like Liverpool, suffers from shortage of accommodation but its huge new extension (480,000 square feet) will remedy the situation there. I was interested in the possible field for co-operation, and was glad to see that Boston has a number of collections with material relating to the history of Liverpool, of which Liverpool would require details. I

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noted also the fine art library and print collection, similar to Liverpool’s art library and print collection and thought that there was surely some possibility of co-operation here. It was interesting to hear that Federal money was being made available for regional services offered by Boston Public Library. It would be helpful to undertake some research to find out how Federal assistance compared with the British central government’s general rate support grant, which meets over half of the total expenditure of some British cities but is not specifically earmarked for particular services.

New York Public Library is in a class by itself and ranks surely as a national library, although it is supported by private funds and New York City. I was intrigued to note that many of the current private contributions came from bodies which might be expected to make functional use of the libraries, like the members of LADSIRLAC. There was, however, a growing gap between the total income and expenses-a further illustration of the particular difficulties of public libraries in large cities to obtain adequate financial support. In addition to the main research library, I was interested to see that the New York Public Library has also built branch libraries offering extensive reference and special library facilities comparable with those in the central libraries of some British cities. The most exciting development in the services of the New York Public Library since I last visited it, was the provision in the Lincoln Center, which contrasts so greatly with the limited services possible in the old building. The Lincoln Center Libraries are on three floors. Floor 1 contains a music and performing arts reading and listen- ing area, a general reading area and exhibition galleries. Floor 2 contains a children’s music and performing arts library and exhibition galleries. Floor 3 contains the research library, comprising the theatre collection, the archives of recorded sound, the dance collection and the music division. Within the music division are reading and research areas.

The new Queens Borough Library was also of great interest to me as it followed, but for different reasons, similar principles to those adopted in Liverpool, because of local circumstances, but which would not neces- sarily have been adopted had I been planning a new library. The Queens Borough Library is divided into reference and lending divisions based on the Dewey Decimal Classification-social sciences (Dewey 000, 100, 200, 300)) science and technology (Dewey 500, 600), art and music (Dewey 700), language and literature (Dewey 800), history, travel and biography (Dewey 900) and popular library. In addition, there is the local history division, and the young adults division, the children’s division and the student room.

As in Liverpool, the subject divisions in Queens Borough are grouped


together in an order more suitable to the building and readers. For in- stance, social sciences, language and literature and history, travel and biography are grouped together; while art and music are near the popular library.

Liverpool’s central libraries operate in the six-storey Brown Library (1860), the two-storey Picton Library (1879) (with five galleries) and the Hornby Library (1906) (with one gallery), while the stack rooms are situated in a number of separated buildings. I envied the administrative economy of the arrangements at Queens Borough Library which has the great advantage that all its public divisions are on one floor (nearly 70,000 square feet) with stacks immediately below and offices above, an arrangement which ought to lead to maximum economy of administra- tion and speed of service. There are separate entrances for the audi- torium and for children. One public catalogue in the centre of the library can easily serve all public divisions.

On my return to Liverpool the new links with other large city libraries in INTAMEL began to bear fruit. The first act of co-operation between two INTAMEL members took place a few weeks after the Toronto Organization Meeting, and illustrates the value of INTAMEL in linking and making more effective two events which had been separately conceived-the British Week in Toronto and the Library Exhibition in Liverpool to mark the centenary of the Canadian Con- federation. The Prime Minister of Canada had agreed to open British Week in Toronto and was visiting Toronto City Hall, where Toronto’s Commercial Library is situated, to take lunch prior to the opening ceremony. H. C. Campbell had the excellent idea of inviting him en route to open a Telex link between Toronto and Liverpool City Libraries, while I suggested that the Prime Minister might also open the Liverpool exhibition on Canada by Telex. This was done. The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom sent a Telex message from Liverpool by return, and messages were also exchanged between the Lord Mayors of Toronto and Liverpool and other civic leaders.

Meanwhile my city had agreed to offer facilities for the first annual assembly of INTAM EL to be held in Liverpool to approve the constitution and to appoint the executive committee and officers 1968-1971.

Campbell obtained authority from a majority of the Provisional Committee for the meeting in Liverpool, suggesting that voting should, if necessary, be limited to metropolitan city libraries in associate mem- bership of IFLA in order to ensure that maximum co-operation was achieved with IFLA and to prepare the way to INTAMEL to become a sub-section of IFLA if the latter were ever able to accept financial responsibility for its activities.

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Potential members of INTAMEL were invited not only to send a representative to the first general assembly, but also to approve its statute in advance and to forward written nominations for its officers and committee.

The first general assembly was attended by representatives from eight countries-Bulgaria, Canada, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Ghana, United Kingdom and the U.S.A., while representatives from the following 10 countries approved the constitution in writing or nominated officers-Austria, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, South Africa, United Kingdom, the United States of America and Yugoslavia. In addition the Liverpool meeting was attended by Sir Frank Francis, President of IFLA, E. Allerslev Jensen, President of its Public Libraries Committee and, Anthony Thompson, secretary of IFLA. The following were appointed to serve as officers for 1968-1971: President: G. Chandler (Liverpool) ; Vice-Presidents : F. Andrae (Hamburg), E. Castagna (Baltimore), R. Malek (Prague) ; Hon. Secretary: G. Thomp- son (City of London) ; Hon. Treasurer: L. Tynell (Stockholm).

An Executive Committee was appointed with representatives from 20 countries. The annual subscription was fixed at 50 Swiss francs.

The first general assembly of INTAMEL also resolved that COCRIL should be recognized as a sub-section of INTAMEL, and that INTAMEL should also act as a sub-section of the Public Libraries Section of IFLA. This was subsequently approved by IFLA. E. Allerlev Jensen was most helpful in this connection.

As a result of the first general assembly of INTAMEL in Liverpool, book exchanges took place between Prague and Liverpool, on the initiative of Dr R. Malek of Prague. He sent a fine collection of modern books on Czechoslovakia to Liverpool, which in return sent a collection of English novels. An exchange of exhibitions is also to be arranged between Prague and Liverpool and will contain visual material from the libraries of both cities. An exchange of rare books has taken place between Hanover and Liverpool, on the initiative of Dr J. Eyssen, city librarian of Hanover, who wished to acquire Liverpool’s duplicate copy of Gould’s Birds of Great Britain which was on display during the Liver- pool meeting as an example of the rare books available for exchange on a pro rata basis. In return Liverpool received two very rare incunables from Niiremburg and Ltibeck which replaced two lost by fire.

These practical results arising from the foundation of INTAMEL are examples of important developments in international library co-operation which have been facilitated by the foundation of INTAMEL. Future issues of the International Library Review will record further developments.

(3) A case study of the international links of one of its founder members

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