Catalogue description National Libraries Committee (Dainton Committee): Minutes, Papers and Report

TheNational Libraries Committee was set up in December 1967 by the Secretary of State for Education and Science, and chaired by Dr F S Dainton.

The committee's terms of reference was "to examine the functions and organisation of the British Museum Library, the National Central Library, the National Lending Library for Science and Technology and the Science Museum Library in providing national library facilities; to consider whether in the interests of efficiency and economy such facilities should be brought into a unified framework; and to make recommendations".

The committee, which consisted of the chairperson and five members representing the universities and other interested parties, held its first meeting on 5th January 1968 and its last early in 1969.

Its report, presented to the secretary of state in March 1969, was published in June 1969 together with two volumes of major evidence submitted by institutions, organisations, universities and individuals as Cmnd 4028 .

The main recommendation of the report was that a new statutory and independent public body, to be known as the National Libraries Authority and appointed by the secretary of state, should be established to coordinate and develop the operations of the four principal national library institutions. This recommendation was accepted by the secretary of state in 1970.