THE PUBLIC LIBRARY LENDING BRANCH.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXV, Issue 250, 19 October 1904, Page 10

THE PUBLIC LIBRARY LENDING BRANCH.

(To the Editor.) Sir.—ln common, I venture to iaeiicve, with all lovers of good literature, 1 was delighted n + a small committee being set up to purge the lending library ot its trashy and noxious fiction. Is it in accordance with tbe spirit of the Cost.ley bequest that all and ..undry subscribers should be served with the latest Nat Gould or realistic sex story | by the paid staff of tho. public library?! Can this -stale of things tend to elevate the young i"en and women who form the largest part fif the clients of the lending library? Most interesting and brightly written works of exp'oration, travel, and blograpny arc constantly appearing, and if a good selection were purchased from time to time (and allowed to lie on the reference library centre tables for a short time), tbe reading p-rblic would be benefited and a grave scandal on the adminLstruijou of public trust moneys endeL Tbc three gentlemen appointed as a eoniinittee can be safely trusted no doubt to take a broad but at the same time earnest view cf the City Council's responsibilities in this important matter. —1 am, etc., BOOKWORM.