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Denmark’s public libraries
Denmark's Public Libraries
By TH. DØSSING, Director of the State Inspectorate of Libraries
As in most countries on the continent of Europe, there are two groups within the
library service of Denmark: the scientific libraries and the public libraries,
each with its own objects. The task of the scientific libraries is to serve
research founded on the study of sources. The task of the public libraries is to
serve common enlightenment among all classes of the population, and their
principal material therefore consists of popular scientific literature
presenting the results of research work in general terms.
Almost all the scientific libraries are owned by the State, whereas the public
libraries are run by Municipal authorities with State aid, a position that
corresponds to the educational system, in which the higher grades and university
training are under the State, and primary education in the elementary schools is
a municipal task carried on with State support.
In addition to this division between the scientific libraries and the public
libraries, there is now a specialisation, for the endeavour is to give each
scientific library its own special subject. Of the libraries in Copenhagen, for
instance, the Royal Library is a special library for the humanities, and the
University Library a special institution for natural science and medicine.
All libraries, including the scientific libraries, associated with educational
establishments, are public and open free of charge to all, and it is therefore
only natural that in their practical activities, even if their administrative
system differs, they all form one unit, one great system, a system in which all
the books of all libraries are available to every citizen through his local
library, no matter where he may live. This unity, this collective library
system, is however, something new, and has grown up with and to some extent as a
result of the rapid expansion of public libraries in the present century. The
public library system is an old one in Denmark. It is a child of the 18th
century craving for education, a contemporary of the general elementary school
which was introduced in Denmark in the year 1814. The child grew very slowly,
however, and only reached maturity through a sudden florescence in the 20th
century.
Throughout the whole of the 19th century the public libraries were small and
played only an insignificant role in the general work of popular enlightenment.
The reasons were many. First, but by no means most important, was the fact that
so to say all popular enlightenment proceeded under the influence of 'the cleric
and poet Grundtvig, who held that the lecture, speech, "the living word" ?? was
the chief organ, and not reading, the book, - "the dead letter". Here it should
be remembered that with its relatively dense population, and with short
distances from place to place, Denmark offers unusually favourable conditions
for the holding of lectures and for assembling the people together.
Secondly, there was this serious defect in the popular enlightenment of the 19th
century, that by "the people" one meant the lower class alone and considered it
right and sufficient to give them something else and less than the interests
which absorbed the upper strata of society. And this proceeded just at the time
when the lower classes in town and country, the workers and the peasants, fought
their fight for political, social and economic freedom and for equality with the
middle and upper classes.
Finally, it must not be forgotten that a comprehensive and effective work of
popular education presupposes a certain general social standard, and especially
such conditions of labour that the masses have at their disposal the leisure and
ample time, to widen their interests. This means that modern technics, which
have made short working hours possible, have also created the possibility of
general enlightenment comprising the entire nation.
As has been said, the public libraries of the 19th century were small and little
used, and the middle and upper classes had their own social-club libraries or
subscription libraries. The modern public library movement came to Denmark with
the new century, under the direct influence of Great Britain and America. Now
the ground was fully prepared. The general elementary school had been in
existence for about a hundred years. Political freedom was celebrating its
fiftieth anniversary. The peasants and their political parties had waged war
victoriously against the former rulers of society, and the labour party saw
victory ahead for its ideas. A new popular-scientific literature had seen the
light, suitable for forming the foundation of the new libraries.
The present-day public libraries are not institutions for casual reading in an
idle hour. They have a clearly defined object, a consequence of the political
and social freedom which, with the general elementary school as basis, has
created in all strata of society an unprecedented craving for enlightenment and
the ability to acquire it from books. Thus the number of those requiring books
has multiplied many times over, and there has arisen an entirely new circle of
readers who seek general educational works and the sort of literature that
provides answers to the many different questions that arise in the richly
variegated communities of today.
The public libraries serve general popular education at every stage. They
support and supplement the work done at school ? the council school proper and
other schools for elementary instruction, folk high schools, agricultural
schools, technical schools, commercial schools, etc. And in particular they are
a help to the individual who wishes to continue his education on his own account
or to widen his general interests.
Now what do the libraries purchase in order to meet these requirements? What can
one find in a public library? First and foremost a collection of the best
literature for children and the young. Good fiction of all kinds, chosen,
entirely without prejudice, with a view to every stage of development, and, in
conjunction therewith, instructive geographical and historical books, as well as
a varied selection of books on cultural and social conditions, with principal
weight laid upon Denmark's own history and culture. Finally, a selection of the
latest and best books dealing with natural science and giving guidance in
practical life ? farming, trade, handicraft and industry.
In the reading rooms of the large libraries the public has access not only to
such reference works as encyclopaedias, dictionaries, the statutes, etc., but
also the large collections of hand-books on the various trades and professions.
There are also provided the current year's issues of periodicals and newspapers.
In Danish libraries most importance is attached to making the collections as
varied as possible. Only by that means can they be libraries for the whole
population, and solely in that way can they be neutral, for variety alone can
ensure that consideration is given to all religious, social and political
leanings. There is one restriction, however. It is in the nature of things that
literature for a work of popular enlightenment must be mainly in the native
tongue, indeed in Denmark, where most of the towns are small, it would be
financially impossible for the majority of the libraries to procure the
necessary foreign literature. Exceptions are the municipal libraries of
Copenhagen, and, in smaller degree, those of the other large towns also, but on
the whole it would be good economy to centralise the purchase of foreign
literature. This in fact is the case in Aarhus, where in 1902 the State placed
that task on the newly opened State Library, a task which it still performs now
that it has become also the library of the new University in Aarhus. In
addition, the public libraries have themselves started a co?operative, joint
collection of the foreign fiction most in demand and the work in connection
therewith is in the hands of one of the larger public libraries.
The purpose of public libraries cannot be fulfilled by the establishment of a
number of independently working institutions. Only the large boroughs can be
self?sufficient to any extent; in all smaller boroughs and in all rural parishes
the problem would only be partly solved, and the supply of books in the rural
districts of Denmark, as in those of all countries, is the most important
problem in the work of the public libraries. In Denmark the endeavour has been
made to cope with it by erecting "central libraries" - large borough libraries
which, in addition to serving their own town, cover a rural population of from
50,000 to 100,000 and supplement the work of the small local libraries.
As a general rule, lending to juveniles proceeds through the public libraries,
but in many cases also from special children's libraries connected with the
municipal schools. These school libraries, however, are always in co?operation
with the public libraries proper.
The first twenty years of the present century was a period of library agitation.
In 1912 the Copenhagen municipal libraries were reorganised and in 1914, the
first central libraries were started. It was to these latter that the first two
specially trained, whole?time librarians in the provinces were appointed.
The working systems adopted in the public libraries, including the enormous
card?catalogues and lending cards, has been developed on the British and
American model, and the Danish public is now so familiar with it that service is
quick and practically simple. The first library buildings were erected out in
the provinces. The first steps towards a library school were taken in 1918.
The State, which in 1910 only granted about 10,000 Kroner towards the public
library system, began to increase its support rapidly, the amount in 1919 being
about 100,000 Kroner. In 1909 the State opened an office in Copenhagen to
support the new endeavour. The State grant was made in proportion to the local
grant, and in the years 1910?1919 these grew so much that in 1920 it was found
necessary to place the entire work under a more permanent form by means of a
Libraries Act.
The Libraries Act, which has since been renewed and amended several times (most
recently in 1936), does not order the opening of libraries. The local
authorities themselves decide whether or not they will have a library. Nor does
the State place any conditions on libraries which do not petition for State
support. Thus the Act is permissive, not comiulsory, and offers State support on
certain conditions.
Libraries requesting State support must have general enlightenment as their
object, and therefore the collection of books must ie as indicated above.
Lending nust be free of charge or the fee low - not exceeding 2 Kroner per annum
? and practically all libraries are free. The local grants must be sufficient to
guarantee running costs. As a minimum the Act specifies 100 Kroner per annum,
but this is a survival of ancient times when the libraries had only casual
spare?time reading as their object, and such a sum is obviously quite inadequate
even in the tiniest parish library.
The libraries must also provide books for children and juveniles, but, as
already stated, the local authorities can open special school libraries. This
provision, however, is little used; in general all library work in a commune is
centralised in one library, from which the children themselves can borrow or the
schools can borrow collections for lending out to the classes.
The State grant is given in proportion to the local grant. Originally the State
contributed an amount equal to the local grant, but in recent years it has been
reduced. Now the State grants 80 per cent. of the first 15,000 Kroner, 40 per
cent. of the next 10,000 Kroner, and 20 per cent. of, the remainder. This
descending scale, however, means but little in most cases, as the majority of
Danish towns are very small, only 13 having over 20,000 inhabitants. In addition
to the ordinary grant the State makes a special grant of 6400 Kr. annually to
the central libraries. Finally, the Act contains provisions as to State
supervision of the libraries. An office, the State Inspectorate of Libraries,
under the leadership of a Director of Libraries, carries out this supervision
and distributes the State grant. The office issues certin technical and
bibliographical aids to the libraries, including printed catalogue cards, and as
a separate departient there is an Information Bureau, chose activities will be
described later.
The State Inspectorate of Libraries [so directs the training of librarians,
artly through the medium of short nurses, partly at the School for Lirarians,
where a one?year course is held subsequent to three years practical training at
some large library, that is to say four years in all.
The library system recognised by the Act is based on the central libraries as he
main link in the entire chain. In 1924 there were two central libraries and now
the number has grown to 30, covering the whole country. As Stated, no commune is
obliged to start a library, and there are still many parishes without one. The
inhabitants of these parishes are not overlooked, however, as every citizen can
borrow from the central libraries free of charge and post?paid. Lending in the
rural areas proceeds in various ways, either direct or through a parish library
to individual borrowers, or in the form of temporary additions to the
collections of the parish libraries, or books may be sent to small circles which
have joined together for the collective study of specific subjects. A large part
of the school?library work in the rural areas is also concentrated in the
central libraries, and in recent years a separate department of the central
libraries has administrated the entire juvenile and school?library work within
the area. From this department children's books are sent out for lending by the
schools, which can obtain instructive literature in many copies for use in their
daily work, and finally, the central library places small collections of
hand?books in all the schools.
The central libraries also act as local advisers to the smaller libraries; they
advise as to' purchases, arrange the cataloguing, hold courses for
the librarians of the parish libraries, and so on.
Almost all the central libraries have book?cars which call at regular intervals
at all smaller libraries in the area. The cars carry books that have been
ordered, distribute books to school libraries, fetch and carry book collections
to be revised and renewed at the central library, and carry good collections
from which the parish libraries can make selections to supplement their own
books.
Through the parish library or by direct application every citizen can borrow not
merely the books of the central library but those of all public libraries. If
the book wanted is not in the central library, the requisition is passed on, for
instance to the State library at Aarhus, if the application is from within the
particular sphere of that institution, or to the aforesaid Information Bureau at
the State Inspectorate of Libraries. Apart from the State library at Aarhus, all
scientific libraries in Denmark are located in Copenhagen. The, Information
Bureau finds out from which library the book can be obtained, and it goes direct
from there to the requisitioning library. Orders from foreign libraries also
pass through the Information Bureau.
By its provision of a State grant and by its special support of the central
libraries the Libraries Act has brought about a complete reorganisation, one
might say a new organisation, of the entire system of public libraries in
Denmark. New libraries have been started and the old ones have been reorganised
with the help of the central libraries. During the past twenty years about 300
librarians have passed out of the School for Librarians. A large number of
library buildings have been erected in the boroughs and in the rural areas. But
the most important thing is that the books have been increased both
quantitatively and qualitatively, and that the people make use of the new
libraries to an extent that justifies the growing grants as well as makes them
necessary. Even in the serious years of the depression through which the Danish
community has passed it has been very easy to maintain the grants to the
libraries.
The growth of library work since the enactment of the Libraries Act is easily
visualised by means of a numerical comparison between the budget years of
1918-19, when the Bill was under debate, and 1936-37:
[Figur 1]
It may be added that for the present year, 1937-38, the State grant is about Kr.
1,297,000, and for the coming year, 1939-40, the estimate is about Kr.
1,450,000.
The development of the Danish library system during the last generation has
proceeded in a spirit of collaboration. The endeavour has been to concentrate
forces, and it is quite in harmony with that principle that the school and
juvenile library work is regarded as an organic link in the activities of the
public libraries. The aim has been to create libraries for the whole nation, and
special problems for special groups of the population are always tackled by the
public libraries.
One example of these special problems is library work at the hospitals. This
work, which is new to Denmark, is always done by the public libraries, this
being so much the more natural as practically all hospitals in Denmark are
public institutions and run by the same authorities as those which grant the
library funds, viz. the county and municipal councils. By increasing their
library grants, which means the automatic increase of the State grants, the
public libraries are enabled to provide for hospital borrowings. Small
collections of the books most in demand are placed at the various hospitals.
At certain hours the librarian in charge of this special work calls at the
hospital in the book-car. Just as in the ordinary work of the central libraries,
she distributes the books that have been ordered and carries a freely chosen
collection which may be expected to interest patients. The supply is
supplemented from the regular collections at the hospitals, and the librarian
then passes round from ward to ward with a book-waggon of special design, lends
out books, talks with the borrowers and takes orders.
Infectious diseases departments are not visited, of course. A still unfulfilled
wish, is the establishment of one or more large libraries for tuberculosis
patients, both those in hospital and those discharged but not yet free of
infection. For such patients naturally there can be no question of having
libraries common to the whole population.
The same is the case with seamen, not because seamen are otherwise than ordinary
people, or because they could not read the same books, but simply because the
crew of a ship on a long voyage has to keep the books for such a protracted
period that ordinary libraries would not suffice. This is another unsolved
problem, but a good deal of attention is being devoted to finding out how these
two gaps in the library system of Denmark can he filled in a fully satisfactory
manner.
The aim must always be to provide for all Danish citizens access to good and
well-supplied libraries, regardless of age, social position, profession or place
of residence.