SYDNEY'S LIBRARIES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 138, 13 June 1934, Page 6

SYDNEY'S LIBRARIES.

EXTENSION OF "THE MITCHELL." (From Our Own Correspondent.) SYDNEY, May 28.' The Minister of Education has asked leave of Parliament to bring down a bill "providing for the completion of the National Library in accordance with amended plans." This project marks the culminating point of a long series of attempts to secure for Sydney a. public library worthy of the dignity and wealth of this great city and the educational and cultural claims of its people. Money was first voted for this purpose in 18C2, and in 1883 a site at the top of King Street adequate for all purposes was definitely reserved for the National Library. By 1008 the Mitchell Library, marking the first stage of the project, was completed in Macquarie Street —though it must be remembered that the establishment of this, splendid library was made possible chiefly by the-civic spirit and, the generosity of a private citizen. But the Mitchell is devoted largely to "Australiana" and books and documents dealing with the early history of the Pacific islands and'communities. On the other side of Macquarie Street, at the corner of Bent Street, stands what is usually known as the Public Library; and it is the overcrowded condition of this building and its hopeless inadequacy for the work which it is supposed to do that have stimulated a prolonged public agitation for its- extension on the lines that the Government now seems likely to adopt. A Bureau of Information. It must be understood that, quite apart from this Public Library, Sydney has a municipal library with a circulating department and a reading room housed in the Queen Victoria Building in.the heart of the city. The Public Library in Macquarie Street is a reference library only; and on the bibliographical side is a very creditable institution. It contains over 250,000 books; and though these arc not "taken out" in the city, about IS,OOO volumes are sent yearly into the country, packed in some 4000 boxes, for the use of local libraries and other public institutions. Moreover, special applications under certain conditions will secxire for individuals the personal use of books —nearly 50,000 being sent to readers last year outside the metropolitan area. Mr. Ifould, the city librarian, recently broadcast a description of the methods by which such assistance can be obtained. If a poultry farmer wante information about any branch of his business, he can obtain free a sectional list of books and pamphlets; and he can borrow three books at a time, keeping them for ci month, and merely paying freight or postage both ways. Apart from this circulation, boxes of children's books are sent out to country schools, to the amount of about 5000 a year. So that our National Library discharges very important public functions with a great measure of success. But the agitation that has so long revolved round this institution is due to the lack of room and suitable accommodation and to the really shocking conditions that have to be faced by all who visit this building for reading or study. The attendance at the Public Library is large—over 250,000 a year —representing an average of well over 800 a day (including Sundays and holidays). But there is provision for seating only 120 readers at a time. (I may mention that in Melbourne Library there is seating room for over 000 at once.) The results, especially for those who visit the library for the purpose of serious study, are almost indescribable. Someone wrote, last year to the "Sydney Morning Herald'' to protest that students are compelled to work there "under conditions unique in Australia, and, one hopes, in the world." Ventilation is extremely poor; the atmosphere in muggy weather is almost stupefying; the lighting is bad; and cleanliness, whether in respect of books or fittings, is practically impossible. Most people will agree with this complainant that "it is the height of absurdity for readers to be compelled to stand from throe to four hours while they try to read through the books they require, at the same time actually endeavouring to make notes from them." Discreditable to Sydney. A report issued three years ago shows that as many as 100 people are standing at times in the reading room and galleries wailing for seats. The fact that the books are stacked in three separate storeys, the upper cases being accessible by means of steep and narrow staircases, naturally tends to augment the congestion; and I can from my own personal experience confirm the accuracy of this complaint. The natural consequence is that ]>cople who take a serious interest in such matters here arc simply ashamed to ask anyone who has ever seen the Melbourne Library, for example, to visit our own; 'and a visitor from the University of West Australia two years ago informed us through the medium of the "Sydney Morning Herald" that "the disabilities from which this library suffers stamp Sydney as a city barbarian in outlook, materialistic in habit, and incapable of giving its students decent facilities for investigation and research."

Strong as this criticism sound?,, it is thoroughly well deserved'. Of course, students who have access to tlio Fisher Library at the University, or to the Mitchell Library,"have no rational cause of complaint. But the facts about the Public Reference Library are so well known here and so generally admitted that a chorus of approval has greeted the announcement of the Minister in charge that now, at long last, something effective is to be done. It is now proposed to spend about £120.000 in extending the Mitchell Library building so as to accommodate, the books and stalT of the Reference Library. The present Public Library building is said to be worth £100,000; and it will be a valuable asset which may be utilised as a technological.and historical museum, or taken over for departmental purposes. When completed, the new building (including the existing Mitchell Library) will house over 450,000 books—to say nothing of pamphlets and MSS.—worth at least £500,000; and it is to be hoped that the whole structure will architecturally be worthy of its purpose. Unfortunately, no one can pretend that the Mitchell Library is an impressive building. The side windows, which ought to have the effect of breaking up and relieving the dead wall, are linked together by absurd curved mouldings; the pillars of the portico are broken by square blocks sandwiched in between their segments; the arches are broken, and the impression of strength and stability that they are supposed to convey is entirely destroyed by a series of overlapping brackets—in fact the Mitchell Library as it now stands is architecturally one of the eyesores of Sydney. One can only hope that some of its more glaring defects can be remedied.