Obituary MR E. J. BELL

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32566, 27 March 1971, Page 20

Obituary MR E. J. BELL

Mr Ernest John Bell, who was librarian at. the Canterbury Public Library for 38 years, died in Christchurch yesterday, at the age of 85. When he retired on August 1, 1951, he was senior chief librarian in New Zealand. After serving on the execu- ' tive and being secretary of the New Zealand Library Association, he was elected president of the association in 1937. He was also a Fellow of the Library Asso- • ciation in London. Before World War 11, Mr Bell’s service in the library was recognised by a Carnegie grant, which enabled him to travel in the United States and Canada. Mr Bell’s library service began in 1899, when he was a junior assistant at the Richmond Public Library, Surrey. Two years later he went to the Hammersmith Public Library, London, and after j another two years he transferred to the Fulham Libraries, London. He resigned in 1911 to come to New Zealand. Arriving in Auckland, he obtained a position with a bookselling firm, while working in the evenings in the library of the Auckland University College. In 1913 he was appointed chief librarian at the Canterbury Public Library. During his service, Mr Bel! witnessed many changes in the library, notably the addition of the children’s library and the reference library on the river frontage, and the transfer of the control of the library from the Canterbury University College to the Christchurch City Council in 1948. Mr Bell had little time for outside interests, but he was a keen bowler. He is survived by one daughter and two sons.