Rooms and Buildings 15:
The School Library

THE SCHOOL LIBRARY 📖

School Magazine Articles

Summer 1956

THANKS to a generous grant from Middlesex County Council and some hard work by "teams" of School librarians, the library began to function properly towards the end of the Christmas Term.

At the time of going to press we have 1,498 volumes on the shelves. 187 of them gifts by donors, whom we take this opportunity of thanking. It is perhaps unnecessary to add that gifts of books are always welcome, particularly of the type known as " light fiction."

Those readers who are interested in figures may care to know that during the period 21st December 18th May, a total of 1,894 volumes were borrowed from the library. During a week taken at random (the week beginning 18th May), 140 books were taken out.

It is hoped that within a relatively short time, the Library will be entirely administered by those boys who have shown an interest in it and are being trained for the task.

Summer 1957

DURING the year we have increased the number of books on the shelves by approximately 1000 volumes. Many of these have been very expensive and essential Sixth Form books which are beginning to give the library a more scholarly appearance. Our thanks are again due to those boys and parents who have donated books. Here we refer to gifts outside the Friends of the Library Scheme, an account of which is given by the Chairman of the Parents' Association. It is unfortunately not possible to name all the donors of the past year but we should like to mention the Cambridge History of English Literature (amongst other books) given by Miss D. Lucas, and Grove's Dictionary of Music presented by Councillor T. G. Cross. The profits made from the sale of workshop aprons were given to the library by Mrs. E. Tyler who was responsible for the scheme. Reference books have been bought with the money. The school is also indebted to Mr. Cutler for his gift of a periodical rack in memory of his wife, Mrs. V. S. Cutler, who was our first school Secretary.

Finally, the Librarian wishes to express his appreciation of the efforts of the team of boys, ably led by Gubbay, who have done so much to make the Library run smoothly.

1957-58

By Mr P. Clarke

We now have almost 3.500 books on the shelves; of these a large number are relatively expensive works intended for use by the sixth form. The School is indebted to all those parents who have subscribed to the Friends of the Library Scheme and whose help has provided for the 1958 sixth forms some facilities which would have been denied them had the official grant not been supplemented. We are particularly grateful to the sub-committee of parents who have so successfully organised the scheme, one of whom, Mr. Weston, raised an additional sum of money, for the purchase of books, at the St. Nicholas Fair. At the school the administration of the scheme has been in the hands of Mr. Ridge whose efforts have been of great assistance to the Librarian.

Parents and boys have continued to donate books to the library, these gifts being additional to the subscriptions already mentioned.

In this report there must be some reference to the important work undertaken by the School Librarians under the direction of the Library Prefect, D. Clive. It is they who perform routine duties in the library and, in doing so, give up their free time.

Finally, the School itself is to be congratulated on the extent to which the library is used and on the respect with which books are customarily treated.

P.L.P.C.

1958-59

By Mr P. Clarke

This has been an encouraging year for the library. Our first sixth forms have made good use of it and apparently have been adequately served by library facilities without monopolising them. The coming school year provides, of course, an even more severe test, for a much larger lower sixth form will find their seniors preparing for the Advanced Level examination. However, thanks to the work of the parents our grant from the county has been generously supplemented by the profit from the Fair. The money has been made available to us at exactly the right time, and we shall be greatly dependent on it during the next few months.

Four years ago we decided that 6,000 volumes was the minimum requirement for a grammar School library serving a school of 650 pupils. We now have almost our complement of boys, and we are within sight of our target-there were approximately 4.500 books on the shelves last July. Obviously, the resources of a library are to be judged by quality of books rather than by quantity, but as our library does not have the usual legacy of out-of-date volumes handed down from one year to another, the total number of books is a more accurate yardstick than it would seem to be.

In building this stock we have necessarily been as far-sighted as possible in our provision for the needs of senior boys, and it has been suggested that to give priority to sixth-form readers must mean sacrificing the interests of junior boys. In fact our aim has always been to construct a balanced library and to maintain that balance. It is true that the greater part of the money raised by voluntary effort has been used for senior-school books, but then some of our income from official sources must be spent on books for juniors and for "recreational reading". All our funds therefore, are carefully allocated with the needs of every pupil very much in mind.

Finally we should like to thank those leavers who donated books to the library. This thoughtful gesture is greatly appreciated by the school.

P.L.P.C.

1959-60

By Mr A. Appleby

SEPTEMBER 1959 saw a vast increase in the size of the Sixth Form, and this meant a severe testing of the Library's resources.

The supply of books proved less than adequate in spite of both Dr. Clarke's foresight in building up a stock of more advanced books while the school was still young, and the money raised by the Parents' Association. By the end of the year we had some 7,000 volumes on the shelves: none of them, moreover, a dusty out-of-date ornament.

Whenever difficulty arose over Sixth Form books, the blame seemed to rest on some few boys whose failures to record their borrowings resulted in certain books going out of circulation for a period. Partly to overcome this antisocial tendency and partly as a natural development in the growth of the library, a ticket system of issuing - similar to that used in most public libraries was introduced for all forms in the school.

Despite the demands of the Sixth Form, every attempt was made to increase the stocks of junior books and to encourage the lower and middle forms to acquire the "library habit". It is to be hoped that the newest first-year boy will always feel that the Library is as much for him as for the academic giants of the Sixth.

Finally, may I thank all those boys whose help in the Library made possible its proper functioning, particularly Clive and C. Wakeling, whose constant vigilance corrected many of my own errors before they proved disastrous !

A.A.