The Community Library in Scottish History

Historically Scotland has supported all the major forms of library activity, both for the general public and for privileged user groups. However the form of library activity which has proved to be most important in an international comparative context are the libraries of local communities, the origins of which date back to the late 17th century and whose inspiration and rationale are deeply embedded in Scottish cultural and intellectual values. The administrative model of the community library took a variety of forms but the predominant one was the subscription library. These were run like clubs or societies and members paid an entry fee to join and an annual subscription which was used to buy books and pay administrative costs. The library society (as they were often called) was governed by an annual general meeting at which a committee was elected which ran the library on a day to day basis. The model was therefore essentially democratic. This was the predominant model in the 18th century. In the 19th century new administrative models appeared influenced by secular utilitarianism and religious evangelicalism. They were less directly democratic in character but retained the model of management by committees which were usually composed of leading figures in the local community.