Clause 4(J) of the royal charter states that one of  Association's objects is:

"to establish and maintain a library or libraries for use of members and others"

Yet for years the question has been whether the ACCA management has violated this object.  It has failed to provide a library for use by members and others. At the 2000 AGM, members specifically drew attention to this failure. Rather than remedying the failure, the ACCA management ensured that the members' concerns were not minuted. The published minutes of the 2000 AGM are misleading. So the members raised the matter again at the 2001 AGM.

Other accountancy bodies have libraries. The ICAEW has one of the best accountancy libraries. In contrast ACCA, which claims to be a major accountancy body with members in more than 100 countries, has consistently failed to provide any library facilities for its members.

The ACCA's expansionary policies have also created a problem. Unlike the ICAEW and other UK accountancy bodies, ACCA membership is spread around the world (Click for more). Around 50% of the membership is outside the UK and this proportion will increase as fewer members are joining from the UK (Click here for more). Management will have to decide where the library should be located. If they do create a library in the UK and ignore the non-UK members they will only succeed in confirming that the non-UK members are second class.

Either way they cannot avoid the pledges contained in the royal charter. The major question is why facilities for members do not figure prominently on the leadership's agenda.

Recent history shows that ACCA management only does things when pushed from the outside. So we would urge concerned members to write to Her Majesty the Queen through the Privy Council Office and express their concerns.

Mr. Alex Galloway
Privy Council Office
2 Carlton Gardens
London SW1Y 5AA