United Kingdom legislation
Public Libraries Act 1855[ 1] Long title An Act for further promoting the Establishment of Free Public Libraries in Municipal Towns, and for extending it to Towns governed under Local Improvement Acts, and to Parishes. Citation 18 & 19 Vict. c. 70Territorial extent England and Wales Royal assent 30 July 1855
The Public Libraries Act 1855 (18 & 19 Vict. c. 70) amended the Public Libraries Act 1850 .
The provisions were:[ 2]
to extend the right to adopt public library legislation beyond municipal boroughs to parish vestries
to reduce the population requirement from 10,000 to 5,000
to allow parishes to group together to meet the population requirement
to explicitly include the Metropolis
to allow adoption if a two thirds majority were in favour at a public meeting
References
^ This short title was conferred on this act by section 2 of this act.
^ Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science: Volume 33 - The Wellesley College Library to Zoological Literature: A Review