The Kilkenny Library Indicator

The City or Carnegie Library as it is known locally opened in 1910. The service acquired a Cotgreave Library Indicator that has survived to the present day. The indicator follows the conventional design, measures 180 cm X 120 cm. It contains a 100 slots vertically and 50 across. It thus can account for 5,000 book issues. The indicator seems to have being used from the opening of the library in 1910 up to the early 1940’s.
By the late 1930’s, Kilkenny County Library maintained over 103 centres around the County. These were deposits of books manned by volunteers. Issues for these are recorded but not for the City Library which would suggest that the indicator was still in use then. This was another disadvantage of the indicator system that usage figures were not readily available.

Thus Kilkenny differed from the trend in the United Kingdom in that the indicator remained in use for a long period. This was probably due to a variety of factors. The collection in the library was comparatively small; the library service had few resources so the Indicator probably represented a considerable investment and it also implied very limited access to the books by the public that was seen as desirable at the time

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