ABSTRACT
On 1 May 1894 Clerkenwell Library, under the care of its librarian James Duff Brown (JDB), became the first public library in the United Kingdom to allow its readers free access to the book shelves of its lending library. JDB christened his new system 'safeguarded open access', which, to begin with, was viewed with suspicion and hostility by his fellow librarians and seen by many in the profession as a radical departure. In the 1890s, in the majority of public libraries, readers had to choose the book they required by first consulting a printed catalogue and then the library indicator. The influence of MacAlister, Greenwood and a growing familiarity with the development of open access in the United States probably contributed to the anonymous paper JDB wrote for The Library in 1892, '"A plea for liberty" to readers to help themselves'.
