London Library 13 July 2010

We had a free morning today. Many of us chose to run errands, exercise, visit new/old favs or just sleep in. Although I don't guess that we have been running as hard as upon first arriving, we still seem to be tiring. Either we are all too old, or the pace seems normal now. I took this mornings opportunity to catch up on blogs and to tidy my own little domain.

The afternoon found us wending our way through Mayfair to St. James Square and the London Library. With over one million items, and adding about 8,000 each year, London Library's claim to be the world's largest independent lending library appears indisputable. The focus of the collections is mainly arts and humanities, though other miscellaneous items have made the cut. The collection's focus has been guided by the past presidents of the library including Tennyson, Kipling, T.S. Eliot and Rebecca West.

This private subscription library was founded in 1841 by Thomas Carlyle. The 7,500 member library has occupied its current home since 1846. Complete reconstruction was done between 1896 and 1898 making this one of London's first steel-framed structures. The library has expanded several times between the reconstruction including a massive project recently completed to add additional storage space. While the shelving original to the building has managed to stand the test of time, the shelving for the newer construction had to undergo many rigors and great alterations before being pronounced strong and durable enough for the enduring tomes.

The London Library requires a great deal of room owing in part to their "no weeding" policy. Only those volumes for which an exact duplicate is located are ever taken out of the collection. Several volumes or editions of a singular work are available. This no weeding policy has allowed the collection a rare depth to the information offered showing ideas and attitudes past and preset along with the gradual progression of ideas. Many patrons feel that this depth of reference is one of the more important aspects of the collection. 95% of the collection is available on site on the 15+ miles of shelves. 95% of the collection (including rare volumes) is available for loan locally or by post.

The cataloging system is unique to the London Library. Set out by Charles Hagberg Wright (librarian 1893-1940) the system arranges the collection by subject and then alphabetically by author or title. Because of this arrangement, books have classmark and shelf information instead of a Dewey or LOC number. There are no spine labels. Although this may seem to create a difficulty for the patron to find exactly the item desired, it creates an atmosphere for browsing, allows more serendipitous discovery. This coupled with the "no weed" policy provides and depth and breadth to each subject that members have found pleasing. Additionally, items are no separated by language; therefore, while browsing the section on cookery, a patron could find not only any manner of cuisine, but cookbooks from around the world. One of our tour guides provided us with the story of an African scholar who traveled to the London Library as it was the only collection to retain copies of items in an obscure African language.

One of the downsides to Wright's classification system seems to be the language which was and still is rather Victorian. One example is that the first and second World Wars are not so labeled, but are referred to as European War I and European War II. The catalog is mostly available as an OPAC; however, for some of the oldest volumes, about 42%, the old Guard books must be consulted. We were informed that new members are inducted into the library and given a thorough training session on the collection and its arrangement. None of the patrons has disparaged the system to the point where a changeover was contemplated.

The collection is developed by both new purchases, donations by patrons, publishers and authors and purchases or donation from other libraries. The collection is maintained primarily by the binding and preservation department on site, though some items are sent out for more serious repair. We were treated to the sight of many marvelous volumes on our visit to the binding and preservation department's lab. The collection includes items dating to the 16th century constituting a rare books collection of about 30,000 volumes. The general consensus was that this was our favorite site visit to date. A special thanks to the staff of the London Library for hosting a group as large as ours so graciously.