GROWING DEMAND FOR BOOKS.

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20905, 12 July 1933, Page 10

GROWING DEMAND FOR BOOKS.

CITY'S LIBRARY SYSTEM. MAYOR FORECASTS NECESSITY FOR REORGANISATION. Remarking that much of the administrative work connected with suburban libraries was done by volunteers who gave up their time freely in the effort to supply the public with books, the Mayor (Mr D. G. Sullivan, M.P.) suggested at the reopening of the Spreydon Library last evening, that a reorganisation of the suburban library system might be made necessary within a few years by the increasing population and the correspondingly increased demand for reading matter. He said that in most centres the libraries were maintained by tne civic authority and financed from special or general rates. Mr Sullivan said that he had always taken an intense interest in libraries, because all his life his principal recreation had been reading. "I cannot remember an occasion when I went to bed without first having half an hour or an hours reading," said the Mayor. 'There was a time when I could give a great deal more time to my recreation than ; I can now, but public men have so many claims on their time that it is usually midnight before they get to bed. Although I am a keen and sincere advocate of various kinds of sport, for reasons that are well known, I consider that the greatest recreation for the leisure hour is reading. Local System Successful. "Those who interest themselves in the libraries of the city and suburbs and endeavour to provide facilities for reading by the people are ! rendering a great service to the community," said the Mayor. He remarked that the library system prevailing in other cities was rather different from that of Christchurch. In some of the other main centres of New Zealand a rate was levied over the general community, and accordingly more could be spent on library accommodation and books. "Here a much greater amount of the work in the conduct of the libraries is voluntary, and possibly local enthusiasm is much keener for that reason. On the whole the system has been a success, but in my opinion, th; time is coming when, with a return to more prosperous conditions, a new system may have to be introduced. With an increasing population and a greater demand for reading by the public I doubt very much whether the old system will serve its purpose satisfactorily for many more years. Nevertheless those responsible for our libraries are heartily to be commended for the time and energy they put into the effort to provide books for the public. ■ "Council Doing its Best." "I know that many of the libraries are dissatisfied with the council for not providing more library accommodation," continued the Mayor. "You are all ratepayers, however, and you can understand that it is impossible for the council to meet all the de-: mands made upon it without a correspondingly heavy demand on your pockets for the payment of rates. On the one hand, we have a constant demand for facilities of one kind and another; on the other we have constant objections to the burden of rates. 1 ' The Mayor said that in his first year as chairman of the finance committee of the Christchurch City Council the demands made would have involved the council in the expenditure of half a million pounds, and to meet this the rates would have had to be doubled. The council had to do the best it could to meet the requests of the various sections of the community, but it had also the responsibility of making the burden of rates as light as possible.

The Mayor concluded by remarking that the reduced income of the community had made it impossible to indulge in sport and entertainment to the extent that used to be possible. This, he considered, had resulted in the public falling back upon reading to fill in their leisure hours, and in some respects this might be regarded as a very good thing.