Boarding Schools: Library Facilities
Figure 1.--Boarding schools in Britain significany improved the facilities and amenities for boarders during the 1970s and 80s. One area which was not significantly improved was the libraries. Here we noted many prep schools with rather limited libraries. In many cases there was not really a substantial facility at all, but a small collection in a room, often a multi-purpose room. This actually was a sitiation we observed in both boarding and day schools. Of course a limited library was a particular defecit in a boarding school.
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Boarding schools in Britain significantly improved the facilities and amenities for boarders during the 1970s and 80s. One area which was not significantly improved at many schools was the libraries. Here we noted many prep schools with rather limited libraries. Libraries by the 1980s were becoming mult-media rooms with not only substantial reference and read collections, but other media as well. We did not see this happening at most of the prep schools we visited. In many cases there was not really a substantial facility at all, but a small collection in a room, often a multi-purpose room. This actually was a sitiation we observed in both boarding and day schools. Of course a limited library was a particular defecit in a boarding school as the children did not have easy access to the local public library or books in their home. This situation included well-run schools with impresive facilities in other areas, especially sports. It also contrasted with state schools which commonly had well-stocked libraries. The schools did attempt to deal with the situation in a variety of ways, but with children at school as boarders, the lack of access to a well-stocked library seemed an especially serious weakness at a boarding school..
