POSTAL LIBRARY SERVICE

Press, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 26856, 8 October 1952, Page 12

POSTAL LIBRARY SERVICE

ATTITUDE OF CITY COUNCIL ASSOCIATION’S COMMENT The Canterbury Public Library is still not prepared to provide postal lending facilities because of the ramifications of the proposal. Answering a statement of the City Council’s view on this matter, the New Zealand Library Association has made the following comments: — “The National Library Service is continuing its postal service to isolated borrowers where local authorities cannot be expected to provide for them, for example, lighthouse-keepers and fbrest rangers. The director of the National Library Service stated that the Minister of Education does not favour duplication of library service and that the postal service has been discontinued in areas where local authorities can be expected to provide library service to all residents. “The council of the association received this statement and decided to urge local authorities to accept responsibility for library provision to all their residents and to plan improvements in existing services as a means towards this end. Counties may use their funds to support libraries both within and outside the county boundaries.

“If therefore a postal service to the whole of Canterbury is started by your library, counties should be expected to provide a large part of the cost of such service. Although this association regards regional library development as one of its main objects, the council, in discussing postal lending facilities, felt that the first objective should be for each city, borough, and county to accept responsibility for the provision of library service to all their residents, with counties which provide no library service contributing to the service provided by an adjacent borough or city which was prepared to extend its service to that county. Co-operation between contiguous local authorities for the provision of library service is encouraged by this association.” “Not the Correct Time” The City Librarian (Mr R. N. C’Reilly) comments: “The association is correct in stressing that the first matter is for each local authority, and not merely the cities and larger boroughs, to accept responsibility for service to all their residents. The authorities bordering on Christchurch at present make no provision for library service, and a proper scheme for metropolitan Christcnurch (or North and Mid-Canterbury) would include either or both—direct service by the local authority to its own residents, ' and contribution to the local authorities nearest to them which do provide service. Only within such a framework could the Canterbury Pubdic Library undertake postal lending facilities. It is felt, however, that this is not the correct time for an -approach to be made to other local authorities around this city. To begin with, service is not sufficiently consolidated within the city area, and second, there would have to be a great deal of preparatory work before such an approach could be expected to be successful. It is hard to see when such work could be attempted.” “While the council is in agrement fyith the Library Association’s views, it cannot offer to do anything in the meantime in approaching other Canterbury local bodies,” said the library committee’s recommendation, which was adopted.