Page:The library a magazine of bibliography and library literature, Volume 6.djvu/182

 i jo The Library. unoccupied space which now exists between the end of the primary instruction and the commencement of industrial life." In short, it is desirable that a public library should provide a course of instruction which will cover the period of life which lies between the elementary school and the university, or the com- mercial life. I do not intend these remarks to apply to London ; there seem to me to be ample facilities afforded for study in this great metropolis without burdening public libraries with the necessarily extra expense and work which science and technical classes involve ; but I think that in the suburbs some provision might be made for the combined working of the two branches of our educational system. The idea of including technical schools as part of the work of a public library is by no means new ; several libraries in the country have worked the two successfully for many years ; and it is gratifying to observe the tendency to make the connection more general. With your permission I desire to record a little of the interest- ing history of an institution which has successfully carried on the work of a library and the teaching of science for over twenty years ; from this it will appear that the theorem proposed at the commencement of my paper is based on actual facts. This institution, situated at Wolverhampton the metropolis of the Black Country, was established first as a public library in the year 1869; and for several years its work was limited to the issue of books, and the providing of periodical literature. In the year 1873, Mr. Elliot who has been chief librarian and secretary of the classes from the commencement, and with whom I was privileged to work for thirteen years saw the necessity for providing instruction which would be of service: (i) to those whose elementary education terminated at an early age and whose subsequent career rendered it almost impossible for self-improvement ; and (2) to those who were desirous of pre- paring for a more ambitious position in the educational or com- mercial world. To the Committee's credit, Mr. Elliot's proposals were adopted; and in September, 1873, classes for instruction in twenty-one subjects were extensively advertised. These sub- jects included arithmetic, book-keeping, chemistry, languages, physiology, &c. During the first session 200 students, mainly consisting of persons engaged in the trades of the district, pre- sented themselves for instruction. At first, three rooms, not used