In 1768, 5 out of the original 105 members of the Library were women.
1886
The national conversation about female library staff was kicked into a fervor by the Manchester Public Free Libraries system advertising for a for “a respectable, intelligent young woman” to work “as assistant” in 1871. [Baker, T., ‘The Employment of Young Women as Assistants in Public Free Libraries’, in Tedder, H.R., and Thomas, E.C., (eds) Transactions and Proceedings of the Second Annual Meeting of the Library Association of the United Kingdom, London: Library Association (1880), p79].
Census records reflect an increase in women with occupations listed as ‘Librarian’ or ‘Assistant Librarian’ during the period, from 113 in 1841 to 222 by 1881. Despite this, the Library hadn’t hired a single female staff member since Mary Robinson II retired over 60 years earlier.
The Library has two documents from 1886 that serve as a microcosm for the wider national conversation.
The first letter is a motion to be read at the 1886 Annual General Meeting (in which Library members met to discuss Library business with the Committee). One side of the paper contains the motion:
“That the Committee be recommended to take into consideration the desirability of […] one or more lady assistants”.
The other side carries a formal letter submitting the motion to the General Meeting. Over both sides, it is signed by four female members and one male – Ellen Besquith, Lydia Walley, Jane Buckton, William Lupton, and Ellen Heaton.
All were upper to middle-class, white, and employed at least one servant within their households.
-The motion is marked as ‘carried unanimously’, with the modification that the lady assistants cannot replace any of the ‘boys now engaged’ as was originally suggested.
The second letter is addressed to the librarian, Mr. J. MacAlister, from Committee member Eustace Couder. Dated to 4th February 1886. He couldn’t attend the Annual General Meeting but voices his support for the lady assistants motion:
“as so many of our subscribers are ladies [hiring a woman] would seem suitable” – “provid[ing]” the “young lady” is “quick & intelligent” and “pleasant & lady-like in her manner” – not like the “curt & supercilious” ladies working in the post offices.
Despite this, there is no mention in the records of the minutes or notes or the motion even being passed directly following the meeting on the 8th February 1886.
The Committee hired multiple male assistants throughout the next years, but no female ones until the December of 1899.
The Library hired the first female library assistant in December, 1899.
She was to “have charge” of the ground floor counter, accepting returns of books and issuing them to those who didn’t have time to go into the Library proper.
The archive has two letters from November 29th and 30th 1899 from men acting as references for two other women who applied for the job unsuccessfully. One vouches for Emma Fletchell’s quick work, neatness, knowledge of accounts, and pleasing demeanor. The other praises a Miss Nellie Briggs’s quietness and intelligence, remarking that “she is a good sample of the self-respecting girls that are growing up: I have always remarked upon the gentler manners in her that I wish to see more widely displayed amongst girls”.
The Library eventually hired a Miss Duckett for the role.
Miss Duckett was succeeded by three other women over the next 50 years in the role of Library Assistant. However, the library didn't hire another female librarian until 1969, nearly 20 years later.
Now, the Library has eight women on staff including our fifth female librarian, fearless leader Jane Riley.
With Thanks To:
Digital: Emily Carroll
Bibliography:
Exhibition Text: Niimi Day Gough and Emily Carroll
Information: Baker, T., ‘The Employment of Young Women as Assistants in Public Free Libraries’, in Tedder, H.R., and Thomas, E.C., (eds) Transactions and Proceedings of the Second Annual Meeting of the Library Association of the United Kingdom, London: Library Association (1880).
Images: All courtesy of The Leeds Library.