Mr. Harper remained the Librarian until his death at the end of 1876.
During his tenure of office very little progress in the development of
the Library was made, chiefly because the greater part of the library
rate was absorbed in extinguishing the building loan, and no annual
reports were issued. In a schedule in Edward Edwards' "Free Town
Libraries," 1869, it is stated that the aggregate number of volumes in
the Library in 1868 was 3,642, that the aggregate annual issues were
13,480, and that the annual expenditure on the Library was 600 pounds.
As a matter of fact, the expenditure for the year ending 1st September,
1868, was 634 pounds : 7 : 3, of which 492 pounds : 9 : 11 was for the
interest on, and repayment of, the loan. The product of the penny rate
was 740 pounds, and an additional 119 pounds : 6 : 5 was received as fees
for the hire of the upper rooms and the cellars of the Library. In the
early days of the Library these rooms were hired for many purposes,
including Sunday services, temperance meetings, Cambridge University
local examinations, lectures, dinners, entertainments, etc., the cellars
were used for the storage of wines and spirits, and the Norwich
Meteorological Society had an anemometer fixed on top of the building.
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