ABSTRACT
The history of the public library in Britain per se can be divided into five periods. These include The 'Civic' Public Library: 1850–1883, The 'Endowed' Public Library: 1883–1919, The 'National Network' Public Library: 1919–1939, The 'Welfare State' Public Library: 1939–1979, The 'Post-Modern' Public Library: after 1979. The origins and development of the public library parallels that of the growth of nineteenth-century liberal ideology and reform. The interest that late-twentieth-century historians showed in theories of social control certainly lent itself readily to interpretations of early public library history. The large-scale programme of public library construction that marked the first century of its existence, which reached a peak in the immediate pre-First World War decades, should be acknowledged as a successful exercise in social engineering. The public library was the natural home of the working-class autodidact; it was also attractive to users from the 'middling' and professional ranks of society seeking to strengthen a new class identity.
