The school library

An original fiction passage set in the nineteenth century.

The school’s lending library occupied a narrow room behind the classroom. Its shelves held books donated by families, and the headmaster kept a list of each borrower. When the school committee proposed closing the room, Mr Pritchard said the books were rarely returned in good condition. He placed a volume on the table; its cover had split at the spine.

Miss Bell, who taught the older pupils, asked to see the borrowing list. Three children had taken books home that month, she said, and all had brought them back. Mr Pritchard replied that a short list did not prove the room was useful. He had spent the previous evening repairing the damaged volume and did not wish to repeat the work every week.

Miss Bell proposed lending books only to pupils who could bring them back on Fridays. The committee agreed to try this arrangement for a month, though Mr Pritchard kept the key. At the first Friday meeting, four pupils waited outside the room with their books under their arms. One had covered a torn corner with brown paper. Mr Pritchard examined it before opening the door.

At the end of the month, the committee left the library open. Mr Pritchard still checked every book as it came back. When Miss Bell asked whether the key might be kept in the classroom, he said he would consider it after another month. She looked at the newly mended spine on his table and thanked him for not closing the room.

“By the end of the passage, the library has been saved, but Mr Pritchard has not been won over.”

Evaluate how successfully the writer presents this idea. Support your judgement with detailed references to the passage.