The battle of the books: An examination of Charles Goss

This article seeks to delve more closely into the debate that took place in the late nineteenth century and the early twentieth century surrounding the introduction of open access shelving in London’s public libraries. Described by The Sun as ‘the battle of the books’, Charles Goss, librarian of the Bishopsgate Institute in east London, took a clear stance against open access in favour of the Cotgreave Indicator (closed access). Scholars have focused on James Duff Brown, the pioneer of open access in the United Kingdom, but it is the focus of this article to explore the thoughts and findings of Charles Goss and his opposition to a system that was eventually welcomed by every public library up and down the country, something that has direct relevance to our library circuit as it exists today.