LIBRARY SYSTEM.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 44, 21 February 1940, Page 9

LIBRARY SYSTEM.

DOMINION METHODS. i QUALITY OF LITERATURE. WELLINGTON CONFERENCE. 4 (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) WELLINGTON', this day. The disadvantages under which public libraries in the Dominion are compelled to labour were commented on by Mr. John Barr, of Auckland, in his presidential address to the Xew Zealand Library Association, which opened here to-day. 'It is now generally accepted that the purpose of a public library is to provide for the informational and recreational requirements of the community, with the emphasis on the former," said Mr. Barr. "In Xew Zealand, on the informational side, we fall short of the standards set up by British and American libraries. In our case the emphasis has been placed on .the recrational at the expense of the informational. As one who believes that the informational side of our work is vastly more important than the recreational, 1 deplore having to make such an admission. The reason for Xew Zealand public libraries standing on the .wrong foot is due to the subscription system which is still the rule rather than the exception. Unless they become free libraries they will continue to work under severe disadvantages."* A Puzzling Attitude. Mr. Barr added that it had always puzzled him why local authorities hesitated to make the change, as, from the economical angle, the free system had everything in its favour. It meant that the money invested in free libraries would return big dividends in a more intelligent community. The only sound argument he had heard advanced for the continuation of the subscription system was that it was perfectly reasonable to levy a charge for supplying light, ephemeral reading, which was so often the major portion of Xew Zealand public libraries. If that was the only service that public libraries could perform, he would agree. He contended, however, that public libraries should not be supplying such literature, but should provide an all-round service of books designed to meet the cultural, vocational and recreational needs of the people, particularly from the angle of continuing education after the normal school and college periods had passed. If the light type of reading was wanted. charge for it by all means, said Mr. Barr. but do not make a charge on learning. That should be provided free, as other educational facilities were freely pr*>. ided. Better still, allow the book shop libraries to supply the service of light reading material, and give the public libraries the opportunity of providing good informative reading, which was their proper function.

In England and other parts of the United Kingdom the libraries had always been free in all departments, while in Xew Zealand it was only the reference and reading room facilities which had been made free. In trying to discover the reasons for this divergent policy. Mr. Barr said he had come to the conclusion that when the idea of lending out books was first considered in Xew Zealand the people who were interested thought only in terms of reading as entertainment, and the authorities decided that entertainment should be paid for, as all other kinds of entertainment were paid for. Unfortunate Decision. It was an unfortunate decision, which posterity paid for dearly, for. with the increase in the importance of public lending libraries all over the world, the Dominion had lagged further and further behind. If the subscription system were abolished, results comparable with those obtained in other countries could be achieved. The association had endorsed the free library principle for over 14 years, but more emphasis must be placed on it. It was to be hoped the committee set up at the last conference to prepare a case for free libraries would fulfil its mission of education. Despite the disadvantages affecting Xc\y Zealand public libraries through the prevailing subscription system, so much progress had been made, said Mr. Barr, that he refused to be anything but optimistic for the future.