†Circulation of Categories of books 1903 1911-12 1929 1933 1943 `1953 1959 1960-61 English fiction 30 209 30 208 84 735 76 331 - - - - Travels 700 503 568 968 - - - - Biography 728 687 1 310 2 327 - - - - History 1 159 757 927 1 158 - - - - Poetry & drama 695 318 543 560 - - - -
Sociology 1 053 884 - - - -
Politics, economics, philosophy&
jurisprudence 259 352 - - - - - - Science & natural
history 710 402 543 370 - - - - Theology 87 92 120 200 - - - - Ancient classics 54 17 83 60 - - - - Fine arts 304 42 93 109 - - - - Afrikaans 473 399 -- - - - Foreign languages 782 181 - - - - South Africa 1 181 545 874 738 - - - - Sports/miscellaneous 422 264 750 546 - - - - *Reference 367 181 496 411 - - - - Juvenile - 1 242 5 706 3 327 - - - - Circulation 43 821 37356 98 273 88 388 103 232 88 035 86 054 ‡238 702 Total no of volumes in Library 28 462 36 104 54 161 58 996 69 672 76 103 78 309 #- Notes on Table 2
† Statistics which reflect the classification of volumes issued are only included in the Annual Reports up to 1933 hence the blank spaces left in the table.
‡ The substantial increase in the circulation figure for 1960 reflects the change in the Kimberley Public Library’s status from a Subscription Library to a Free Library.
# No figures are recorded in the Annual Report for 1960/61 in respect of the number of volumes in the library. However, attention is drawn to the fact that in preparation for the change over to a free library, the bookstock had been re-organised and many worn and dilapidated volumes withdrawn.
4.7. Finance
The Kimberley Public Library suffered a devastating blow, both to its finances and to the confidence of the Library Committee and the Subscribers in respect of their judgment of character when the Librarian who, during his years in office (1901 – 1908), had inspired so much trust and confidence had been found to have misappropriated funds to the extent of approximatley £2500 over a period of approximately seven years (See Appendix, Dyer: 293). This unfortunate occurrence, however, did effect greater financial vigilance on the part of the Committee and several committee members, notable amongst whom was Captain JD Tyson who with the co-operation of Dyer’s successor, John Ross kept a tight rein on the Library’s financial affairs and set the pattern for the competent financial management of the Library in future years.
The Kimberley Public Library was dependent for its revenue from five main sources, namely
• Subscriptions • grants-in-aid from
i. De Beers Consolidated Mines, Ltd,
ii. the Cape Colonial Government until 1910 and thereafter from the Cape Provincial Administration, iii. the Kimberley Borough Council and after 1912, the
Kimberley City Council iv. the Divisional Council • Interest on investments • Various donations.
Economic and political factors over which the Library Committee had no control lay at the root of the Library’s fluctuating fortunes. The local economy, based as it was on the diamond mining industry, greatly affected the financial situation of the Library and its ability to deliver a service to its Subscribers and to some extent, to the general public as the Kimberley Public Library in fact ‘practiced a combination of a Free Library on one side and a Subscription Library on the other’ (KPL Minutes, 30.11.1894).
The diamond mines were the pivot around which Kimberley revolved. When the demand for diamonds was high, Kimberley flourished. However, when the mines suffered the consequences of adverse economic conditions, the level of unemployment in Kimberley increased commensurately, commercial activity slowed down and the Library’s income from subscriptions tended to drop either because Subscribers who were unable to afford the subscription resigned, or because they would ‘demote’ themselves to a lower and cheaper category of membership. The Annual Report of 1908, similar in content to those of several years in the annals of the institution as a Subscription Library, reported that the depression and retrenchment prevailing on the Diamond Fields were reflected in the affairs of the Library and that the number of Subscribers had fallen from 530 to 414 (KPL Annual Report, 1908). These unfavorable conditions persisted during the following year which, it was reported, also limited the Library’s expenditure on books (KPL Annual Report, 1909).
At such times, the situation was exacerbated by the inability of the Library’s three main sources of grants-in-aid to provide the financial assistance upon which the Library Committee depended, although it was on rare occasions only that De Beers suspended its annual grant to the Kimberley Public Library. In any event, the government grant of £300 to the Kimberley Library was infinitely less than that allocated to Cape Town (£1050), Pretoria (£1300), Johannesburg (£1300) and even Port Elizabeth received a larger grant of £400 (KPL Annual Report, 1913). However by 1919, both the Provincial and Municipal grants were increased but were to be subject to regular fluctuations in later years.
Almost from its inception, the Kimberley Public Library functioned on the proverbial shoestring. During its history as a Subscription Library, the institution was hard pressed to keep its head above water financially and it is unlikely that it would have acquired its elevated status had it not been for its chief benefactor, De Beers Consolidated Mines Limited. Each year, the Library’s Annual Reports pay tribute to De Beers and its liberal financial support of the Library as well as to the fact that ‘when the Government failed them, De Beers remained staunch to them’ (KPL Annual Report, 1909). Not only was the Library able to rely on an annual grant from this mining company, but they could, with a reasonable degree of confidence appeal to individual directors of the company for financial assistance on such occasions for
instance when the Library needed to pay off an overdraft or when the institution’s funds precluded the purchase of rare and valuable books considered vital for the enhancement of the Africana Collection. Throughout the history of the Library, De Beers has lent liberal support to this institution in cash and in kind.
The Annual Report of 1921 refers to the ‘prolonged set-back to the diamond mining industry’ and the effect this had had on the membership returns of the Kimberley Library. Because of these difficult circumstances, it was pointed out that it was impossible to have expected the usual Christmas cash donation from the Directors of the De Beers Company. These factors had combined to negatively effect the Library not least in regard to the purchase of books for certain sections of the Library and had resulted in the institution closing the financial year with a debit balance of £362. But more alarming still was the fact that the Committee had been obliged to take the Library’s investment at the Standard Bank into revenue to meet the extra cost of running the institution (KPL Annual Report, 1921). Having to reconcile the Library’s budget from year to year indeed required every fragment of the Committee’s collective financial expertise as the grants from the Provincial Administration and the Municipality particularly tended to fluctuate from year to year.
The donations received from time to time were welcome windfalls, but none of them qualified as an endowment. On more than one occasion, members of the public and the committee mentioned the fact that Kimberley had provided many individuals with great wealth and that it was regrettable that not even a fraction of this money had been invested in the city. At the Annual General Meeting of the Library held on 20 February 1925, the Acting Chairman, OJS Satchel
greatly deplored the small financial endowment of the Library and said that bearing in mind the vast wealth drawn from Kimberley in the last 50 years, its was anomalous that the institutions of the town were not among the wealthiest in the world (KPL AGM Chairman’s address, 20.02.1925).
One of the most generous cash donations was an amount of £500 received from the Library’s former chairman Sir Perceval Laurence (Mr Justice Laurence) who in 1925
donated this sum for the purchase of books of reference and good editions of standard books. 904 books were purchased with this donation (KPL Annual Report, 1925).
Another windfall of a different nature similar to that which had taken place some years previously occurred in 1928 when the second cottage in Woodley Street was demolished and once again the debris washed for diamonds. This exercise yielded 731 carats and the Library’s share of the proceeds from the sale of these diamonds amounted to £232.10s 0d which, with the sum of £50 received for the cottage materials was credited to the Building Account (KPL Annual Report 1928) (See 4.2).
The world-wide economic depression of the early 1930’s was keenly felt by the Library. -
In common with most public institutions throughout the country, the Kimberley Library has been driven somewhat out of its normal course by the prevailing economic head winds and progress retarded in consequence … In spite of the paucity of funds at our command, the general efficiency of the establishment has been well maintained (KPL Annual Report, 1931).
The financial crisis continued into the following year. Although 1932 was the Library’s Jubilee year, no funds were available to celebrate the establishment’s 50th anniversary. In fact the year had been
fraught with difficulties and problems of more than ordinary magnitude and not a few of these still remain to be overcome. In the framing of our estimates in the early part of 1932, every conceivable reduction was allowed for on both sides of the account and the most unpleasant duty of all was the limitation that had to be set on the purchase of new books … Thanks to a special donation of £100 made by the directors of De Beers Company in December, the institution succeeded in emerging rather creditably at the close of the financial year (KPL Annual Report, 1932).
Although the war years from 1939 to 1945 brought their frustrations and shortages and caused some degree of inconvenience particularly in regard to the delivery of books, the Library’s finances were not unduly affected. Grants were paid and because of the presence in Kimberley of military and air force personnel, greater use was made of the Library, which meant more revenue from subscriptions (KPL Annual Report, 1944). However, the Library’s finances were by no means healthy so that by the time the Cape Provincial Administration passed its Cape Library Ordinance in 1955 expectations were high that the Kimberley Public Library would benefit from its provisions. This Ordinance provided for a free library service to all parts of the Cape Province, but the implementation of this legislation was dependent upon the co- operation and financial assistance of the larger municipalities. In the case of the Kimberley Public Library, a decision on the part of the Kimberley Municipality to finance the Library was crucial for the institution to benefit from the provincial legislation.
This decision was finally taken in 1959 when the Kimberley City Council agreed to finance a free library for the City. The Annual Report of that year states that
It had long been realised that unless substantial additional revenue could be obtained, the Library would have to curtail its services to the subscribers and to the public (KPL Annual Report, 1959).
Although the free library system only became effective from the beginning of 1961, the Kimberley City Council assumed financial responsibility for the continued running of the Library with effect from 1 January 1959 (KPL Annual Report 1959).
4.8. Conclusion
The introduction of the free library system in Kimberley heralded the beginning of an entirely new chapter in the annals of the Kimberley Public Library. No longer would the institution and its management be subject to the wishes of the Subscribers but it would henceforth be administered in terms of the Cape Provincial Library Ordinance No 4 of 1955. After a period of almost eighty years, the Library Committee which had performed such sterling work was dissolved and replaced by a Library Advisory
Committee. One of the Library Committee’s distinguishing features was the resourcefulness demonstrated by successive committees and particularly the great foresight these men and women displayed in bringing together the Library’s enviable collection of rare books and Africana. These collections were to be the foundation for the future Kimberley Africana Library.
Although the Kimberley Public Library was in a more favourable position financially and commensurately better able to provide a public service, there is no doubt that the Library’s period as a Subscription Library was indeed its ‘golden age’.
CHAPTER 5
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE KIMBERLEY PUBLIC LIBRARY AS A