THE PUBLIC LIBRARY

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25227, 4 July 1947, Page 5

THE PUBLIC LIBRARY

Sir, —A subscriber of the Public Library for 15 years. I have returned after an absence of 25 years and rejoined. I am exceedingly disappointed, as. instead of conditions improving, they have deteriorated to a marked degree. The downstairs —as full of books; now there are very few, and old. The reading room is combined This used to be upstairs, but a notice, “For staff only.” appears on the stairs. Previously there was a staff of abou( three including the present librarian They carried out their duties splendidly., Now there is a large staff, with an elaborate system. I wonder if the income goes to pay these salaries and there is little left for books? Why not put on the shelves the 39 fiction books mentioned in the January journal. and let everyone get a chance to read them, instead of charging 3d extra a copy on a waiting list? The library fails to supply what the citizens require—plenty of modern books: hence the success of the many book clubs.—Yours, etc., MODERN BOOKS. June 24, 1947. [Commenting on this letter, Mr E. J. Bell, librarian at the Canterbury Public Library, said: “Your correspondent is rather astray in his facts. At the present time we have on the shelves downstairs some 24.000 volumes and there are about 7000 stored upstairs. these being the older books, whereas 25 years ago we possessed 22.000 altogether. In that year. 1922. we purchased 2025 books at a cost of £465. Last year we added 1925 at a cost of £lOOO. Owing to theft and mutilation, we found it necessary to transfer the magazines to the downstairs section, so that the staff had better supervision. At no time has there been a staff of three, because when I took over in 1913 the staff consisted of seven persons, but the work has increased so that to-day 12 are required. The present system was introduced 34 years ago. and there has been no change since. The fiction added each month is placed on the shelves and is not reserved for a period of at least three months, so that everyone has a chance. There were 39 titles in the January “Journal.” but many of these were duplicated, so that, about 100 volumes were available. There is no such thing as a waiting list for extra books and every subscriber is free to take as many as he or she likes at a cost of 3d each. Last, year we added 4342 volumes to all divisions of the librarv. which now has a stock of nearly 70.000 books.”]