One Hundred and Fifty Years of the 'Bibliotheek Sociëteit de Witte': The History of the Library of a Gentlemen's Club

Abstract

Abstract On 1 November 2005 the library of 'Nieuwe of Littéraire Sociëteit De Witte' commemorated its one-hundred-and-fiftieth birthday with a symposium about local private libraries. In contrast to the club as a whole, the specific history of its book collection has never been researched. The club archive, now kept at the Municipal Archives in The Hague, is an important source for researching and disclosing the past of what still is one of the city's most impressive libraries. Before the First World War, the books, periodicals and newspapers of the library played a very important role not only in club life, but also in supplying knowledge to those engaged in civic and commercial life at a fairly high level: the members, often involved in government, politics, industry or commerce, came to the library and reading room for the latest news in their field of interest, and this was reflected in the library's acquisitions policy. In the 1930s the growing speed at which new publications appeared, the development of the Municipal and Royal Library and the establishment of specialized collections within ministries and enterprises changed the role of the 'Witte Bibliotheek'. It developed into an institution for leisure, still buying publications in the original fields of interest but in a more haphazard fashion, and from that time onwards focusing more on Dutch and foreign literature. The collection today, comprising some 27,000 books, is being reorganized, the Art Deco interiors are being restored, and for the first time computer facilities for members will be introduced in the reading room. But the old card catalogue system will also be continued, as the De Witte Library wants to protect its most important feature: the atmosphere of a pre-war Gentlemen's Library.