(Danish information handbooks).
[Translated by Harriet Oppenhejm. Adapted by Carl Thomsen]
A historical survey
The modern Danish library system includes research technical, and public
libraries. The two first groups cater to scientific research and training. The
last group distributes instructive and educational literature of all categories
besides giving the People access to a store of books which will satisfy the
needs of readers on all cultural levels.
The history of the research libraries of this country began with the foundation,
in the fifteenth century, of the present University Library. Prior to that time
churches and monasteries possessed libraries which may be traced far back into
the Middle Ages. The public libraries, on the other hand, with the special task
ascribed to them, are a 20th century innovation.
The underlying idea of the Public Library system was first formulated by one
man, Professor Andr. Schack Steenberg. Studies in political economy had led him
to take a profound interest in social problems. In 1885, while holding a
mastership in the State Grammar School at Horsens, he became head of a workers'
evening institute and so was plunged headlong into the problems with which the
lower classes were struggling. At the same time he was the librarian of the
Grammar School, and came to think that the desire for education which he found
among the workers could best be met by means of books and libraries. So he
opened the Grammar School library to the general public. His example was
followed by others. But such isolated efforts did not satisfy Mr. Steenberg, and
the reorganization of the library service throughout the country became his goal.
In the nineties he established contacts abroad, especially with the British and
Americans, collecting information about their public libraries. These studies
gave him an impression of the importance attached, especially in AngloSaxon
countries, to the general education available through free public libraries. On
trips to England, and later to America, he got first?hand impressions of the
enormous extent and fine quality of the work done.
In this country he started an intense and tireless propaganda to raise library
work to a level far above mere entertainment and to make it a first?class
educational factor.
Since 1882, the State had given annual grants amounting to kr. 6000 to the
popular libraries. In 1897-98 the grant was increased to kr. 14.000, and the
"State Committee for the Support of Popular Libraries" was formed for the
administration of this grant. Naturally, Mr. Steenberg became a member of the
said Committee, which distributed the funds provided by the State Grant
proportionally to the budgets of the various public libraries. Further, he
established travelling libraries of about fifty volumes to be lent through the
parish libraries. By this time the library movement had got into stride
throughout the country. Everywhere new libraries were established and those
already in existence were improved. The larger libraries were by this time also
beginning to assist the parish libraries and to provide for the needs of the
population of their districts.
1902 marked a milestone in Danish library work, as the Aarhus State Library was
founded in that year. It was not to function as an ordinary public library.
Fiction, for instance, was not lent. On the other hand it was to serve as a kind
of Central Library for provincial libraries which might there borrow non?fiction
which they did not themselves possess. Further, travelling libraries similar to
those of the Library Committee, were set up. And last but not least, the new
State Library was to cater to individual borrowers in the provinces, who might
send in direct orders for non?fiction. The State Library started with a stock of
about 150.000 volumes, largely duplicate copies originating from The Copenhagen
Royal Library, or other special collections. This stock was to be increased
partly through compulsory contributions from all printers who were under legal
obligation to supply one copy of all their printed matter, and partly by
purchases of foreign literature for which the Library received a very modest
grant.
Gradually the circle of the library?minded had become very wide, representing
all classes and strata of the population. But elementary school teachers were
the driving force in this work. In the course of time a certain amount of
co?operation became desirable, and in 1905 the "Association of Popular Libraries
in Denmark" was established. This was to be a combination of libraries for such
purposes as holding propaganda meetings, publishing the "Bogsamlingsbladet" (i.
e. The Popular Library journal), advising librarians on the manifold problems
which might arise, and to be of service to library work generally. In 1909 the
first joint meeting of librarians was held at Aarhus. This meeting became
another milestone of the movement, for here, Mr. H.O. Lange, Chief Librarian of
The Copenhagen Royal Library, read a paper on "The Library Movement outside
Copenhagen" - a paper marked by realism and wideness of outlook. In it he laid
down the aims and procedure to be realized in later library development. H.O.
Lange made proposals for an entirely new system of County Libraries. There was
to be a large County Library in the chief town of each county. Together they
were to function as connecting links between the small?town and parish libraries,
and also between the local libraries and the great research and technical
libraries. Their lending stock was to be very large for Dcnmark - up to 50.000
volumes ? a choice collection of Danish and foreign literature. It was to be
made possible for the man in the street to borrow such books and also the
elementary literature, which was to be sent in suitable consignments to the
parish libraries to provide a wider choice of reading matter. From the County
Libraries, whose heads were to be trained librarians, was to come the initiative
for the solution of the library problems of the whole district. H.O. Lange
pointed to American libraries which were to serve as models and showed two lines
of advance: organization and legislation. Just as education begins with
elementary schools and goes on through secondary schools and universities, so
libraries were to be organized as an organic whole consisting of parish
libraries and county libraries, with the research libraries on top. In his
opinion, county libraries ought not to become state institutions; they should
remain the property of, local organizations, and - in contradiction, for
instance, to the English County Libraries ? they were to serve as public
libraries not only for the home town but also for the surrounding rural district.
The necessary funds were to be provided through Government grants.
For the first time a complete scheme for the Public Library System was
formulated, providing a valuable basis for further discussion and planning of
future work. H.O. Lange's ideas met with great sympathy; but there was also some
resistance, especially from some of the representatives of the parish libraries.
In 1909, Steenberg gave up his mastership at the Horsens State Grammar School to
take over the newly established office of Government Adviser on Public Library
Questions. From now on he would be able to concentrate all his energies on the
cause. After a few years it became necessary to give Steenberg an efficient,
qualified assistant in his ever?increasing work. The choice fell upon Th.
Døssing of the Aarhus State Library, whose work had put him into touch with the
Public Libraries. Thus he had become interested in the whole System, for which,
later on, he came to mean so much. His work gave immediate results: in 1913 he
introduced a slightly modified form of Dewey's American system of decimal
classification and cataloguing as well as the Cuttermarks. It was of importance
that, at this early stage, library work was standardized throughout the country
at a time when numerous new libraries were springing up in both rural and urban
communities.
The thorough and important reorganization which took place at the time also
proved advantageous to the library system of Copenhagen. This great development
was superintended by Mr. J. Aarsbo, the City Librarian, the first librarian in
this country to create a modern public library copied on AngloAmerican lines. In
1913, he combined the already existing City District Libraries in one
organization, formed round a newly erected Central Library, containing a large
collection of the more advanced literature which might be borrowed on request
through the branch libraries. The "open shelves" ? principle was introduced as
well as the systematic and dictionary card catalogues. The use of the library
was made free of charge; to a large extent libraries were kept open all day;
trained librarians were employed, etc. This re?organization, carried through
with great technical skill and eminent understanding of popular educational and
cultural work, provided the rest of the country - regardless of local conditions
- with the very best model. No doubt the high standard characteristic of the
work of J. Aarsbo and his assistants was of great importance for other urban
libraries which were soon to face similar problems.