MUSEUM VISITORS SET RECORD

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30447, 22 May 1964, Page 1

MUSEUM VISITORS SET RECORD

These school holidays had been one of the busiest in the ■museum’s history, said the director of the museum (Dr. R. S. Duff) at a meeting of the museum trust board yesterday. In the. first 11 days, 13,058 children and adults visited the museum. One day there were more than 2000 visitors, and on several days more than 1000.

“The senior custodian (Mr P. C. Graham) reports that attendances were the highest in his 40 years on the staff,” Dr. Duff said. Contributing factors were the popularity of the new hall of biology, the coffee bar in the garden court, and the recent series of museum television programmes. Dr. Duff said he was • constantly stopped by youngsters who wanted him to know they had

enjoyed the television talks. “Put Dr. Duff in a glass case labelled ‘director’,” called out a member.

Alluding to “The Press” report yesterday about children running wild in the museum. Dr. Duff said this was unfortunately factual. It was true that children had been racing about and had bad to be warned.

“But 1 am bound to say the children receive a barrage of intellectual and emotional stimuli in the museum, and this may be a result,” Dr. Duff said.

Even parents became wearied by the children’s effervescence and many had said a coffee break in the garden court was a boon. “However, I and the board are right behind the custodians in insisting on order in the museum,” Dr. Duff said.