Parochial Libraries Act 1708
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The Parochial Libraries Act 1708 ( 7 Ann. c. 14) is an act of the
Parliament of Great Britain The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in May 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. The Acts ratified the treaty of Union which created a new unified Kingdo ...
. It governed
parochial Parochial is an adjective which may refer to: * Parishes, in religion ** Parish churches, also called parochial churches * Parochial schools, primary or secondary schools affiliated to a religious organisation * Parochialism Parochialism is the ...
libraries established for ministers of the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
. This act was partly in force in Great Britain at the end of 2010. The act is one of the oldest pieces of legislation concerning libraries in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
. The preamble to the act noted that throughout the country, many parish clergy were provided with stipends so small that they were not able to purchase books for their studies, and as a result many small charitable libraries for this purpose had been recently established. In order to better protect these libraries from misuse or disposal, the act stipulated that such establishments were to be maintained for the purpose for which they had been provided, and that the incumbent of the parish was to provide security, if so requested, "by bond or otherwise", to ensure this. The appropriate
ordinary Ordinary or The Ordinary often refer to: Music * ''Ordinary'' (EP) (2015), by South Korean group Beast * ''Ordinary'' (Every Little Thing album) (2011) * "Ordinary" (Two Door Cinema Club song) (2016) * "Ordinary" (Wayne Brady song) (2008) * ...
of the church, or the supervising
archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that o ...
, was given authority to enquire into the condition of parochial libraries and appoint visitors to examine them, to ensure that they were maintained in a good condition. On the death of an incumbent, or his removal, the library was to be locked and secured until they were replaced, to prevent the loss of the books, excepting any routine use made of the room it was stored in. Within six months of taking up the incumbency of a parish with a parochial library, or of the establishment of a new library, the incumbent was to produce a catalogue of all the books then in the library and deposit it with the bishopric; likewise, all parochial libraries in existence as of the time of the Act were to have such a catalogue produced and deposited by 29 September 1709. As a counterpart to these periodic records, a current register of any donated books or other donations was to be kept, recording the name of the benefactor and the details of the gift. It was also provided that the ordinary (and, if still living, the original benefactor) were able to make regulations for the use and upkeep of the library, providing that they did not conflict with the original terms of the donation. No book was permitted to be sold or otherwise disposed of without the consent of the ordinary, and then only in cases where it was a duplicate of an existing work. If any book was taken from the library, the incumbent was permitted to bring a lawsuit for damages in the name of the ordinary, any such damages (rated at three times the cost of the book plus legal fees) being used for the maintenance of the library, or to apply to a
justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...
for a warrant to find the book and immediately return it to the library. The act was repealed and replaced (except as to Wales) by the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction and Care of Churches Measure 2018,https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/jt201719/jtselect/jtecc/94/94.pdf a Measure of the General Synod of the Church of England.


References


The Parochial Libraries Act 1708
as amended, from
Legislation.gov.uk legislation.gov.uk, formerly known as the UK Statute Law Database, is the official web-accessible database of the statute law of the United Kingdom, hosted by The National Archives. It contains all primary legislation in force since 1267 and a ...
. {{Authority control Libraries in England Library law Great Britain Acts of Parliament 1708 History of the Church of England