Report from the Select Committee on Public Libraries, Together with the Proceedings of the Committee, Minutes of Evidence, and Appendix (London: House of Commons, 1849), pp. vii—ix, 77—83, 124—5

Abstract In 1849 a parliamentary select committee examined the state of library provision. The committee was headed by William Ewart (1798—1869), the reforming Liberal MP for Dumfries, and included Joseph Brotherton (1783—1857), the first MP for Salford, Manchester, and Disraeli (1804—81), then head of the ‘Young England’ group of Tories. The committee’s unflattering findings led to the passing of a bill in 1850 that allowed town councils to levy taxes for the creation of public libraries. The evidence given to the inquiry exposed the lack of accessible reading spaces for working-class readers and the failure of existing initiatives like mechanics’ institutes.