SCHOOL LIBRARIES.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 18722, 19 June 1926, Page 6

SCHOOL LIBRARIES.

" BUFFALO " SYSTEM

SUGGESTED.

EDUCATIONISTS CONSIDER.

The suggestion that the "Buffalo" system of exchange libraries should be instituted in the schools of Christchurch City and suburbs was brought before the Canterbury Education Board yesterday by a deputation from the Canterbury School Committees' Association.

The "Buffalo" system is handled from a headquarters and batches of selected books are sent periodically to the various schools.

Mr C. P. Purnell, president of the Association, said that the school library question was managed by the city council in Wellington, and a similar method was employed in Auckland. The matter of school libraries was a very important one, as they were anxious to lead their children into right channels of reading. Mr U. Odell, secretary to the As soeiation, said that the system they advocated was the system as employed in Auckland and Wellington. It was difficult to see how it could be managed in Christchurch, because of the diversity of control. The Public Library was controlled by Canterbury College, the suburban libararies by the City Council, and the school libraries by the Education Board. They suggested that the control of the system should be in the hands of the Board. It might be stated that the formation of libraries in all these schools would handicap the Public Library, but the speaker held that they would greatly accelerate the demand on the Public Library. Mr M. McLeod, senior inspector of schools, said that he had espeiience of the "Buffalo" system as controlled by 1 the City Council library authorities, and said that it had worked very well. The Chief Librarian sent oat batches of books to all City and suburban schools periodically, and these books were selected by the expert in children's books He considered that the system would be better controlled by the City Council or the Canterbury College library authorities than by the Education Board/ For the Board to control a system such as this, they would have to have the services of a trained expert Mr Purnell suggested that a conference of representatives from the Board of Education, the Canterbury College Board of Governors, the School Committees' Association, and the City Council should be held. This suggestion was agreed upon, the Board to call the conference.