The Expansion and Organizational Change Plan of Tokyo Municipal Libraries before and after the Great Kanto Earthquake

Purpose: In 1923, the Great Kanto Earthquake destroyed 12 libraries and half of the collections of Tokyo Municipal Libraries, which then became a better organization through the reconstruction after the earthquake. This research investigated the systems and ideas for improvement made by Tokyo Municipal Libraries before the earthquake, and the policy of administration and public finance of Tokyo city after the earthquake. Methods: Magazines, newspapers, government documents, and library bulletins from that period were examined. Results: The following four findings were obtained: (1) Tokyo Municipal Libraries changed its policy in concert with the change from fiscal austerity to fiscal expansion of Tokyo city before and after 1921. (2) The expansion of scale of Tokyo Municipal Libraries was based on the plan to expand the scale of the organization, as evidenced by an official document titled "A draft of the organization scale expansion plan and a source of revenue of Tokyo Municipal Libraries" found in Fukagawa Library. (3) The scale of the expansion plan was not changed after the earthquake; the earthquake disaster reconstruction was implemented in line with the draft. (4) The population migrated from the center to the suburbs especially after the earthquake. This led Tokyo Municipal Office to shift its focus to the administrative base in the suburbs. However, Tokyo Municipal Libraries did not respond to the changes in the city's policy.