The provision of books in British schools are not new at all. Even in the eighth century books were placed in schools closely linked with religious foundation. After the first Public Libraries Act of 1850 and the first Education Act of 1870 were put in force, some of the school libraries began to borrow books from local public libraries.
In 1945, the Ministry of Education's Building Regulations required a library room to be provided in every secondary school. Then, all kinds of school started to provide books in a school and this was indeed the beginning of British school libraries. But, the speed of their growth was relatively slow. In 1960s, when comprehensive schools had become rather common, school libraries also had got their place in education and begun to be recognized as an indispensable function in instructional process. And at the same time school libraries have started to be developed into a resource centre.
In the development of British school libraries, support and assistance from the Ministry of Education and public libraries should not be disregarded. In the first national school library standard which was published by the Library Association in 1970, the cooperation between school librabies and public libraries is considered to be essential. This cooperation, however, is not everywhere appreciated and will probably become an aspect to be discussed in future.
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