Libraries face rising prices

Press, 24 June 1978, Page 22

Libraries face rising prices

I Many of Christchurch’s' I ichools and public libraries i .re having to drop their I rders for books because I tey are unable to keep pace J th the rising prices of' ' ooks and periodicals. County public libraries, in >articular, seem to be feeli ng the. pinch. Annual grants' o the libraries from their espective councils are ini dequate to cope with the' ■ ncreasing cost of books as | veil as staff salaries and the I :ost of library equipment. “The cost of library books i 'as gone up about 50 or 60i -er cent during the last two) ' r three years. Although the! ouncil grant goes upi ccordingly, this is absorbed 1 .1 staff salaries and library' mipment. so there has been I marked decline in the numj ar of books we can buy for ;e amount of money we! et,” said the Waimairi! ounty librarian (Mrs D. Srow-n). “The mam problem the , 'anarua county libraries I ace is that now we can.

i only afford one copy of a particular book, whereas in the past we may have bought two. This results in a I longer waiting list for the book,” said the county libjrarian (Mr K. F. Ocock). “The number of books we stock has dropped considerably during the last few years. Children’s books, in particular, are the hardest; hit because they take a lot lof wear but we are unable Ito replace them frequently,” said Mr Ocock. However, one library that j is finding it is able to keep i pace with rising costs is the ! Christchurch Public Library, i “The City Council makes 'its annual'grant after we have assessed how much money will be needed each year to cover the increased cost of books,” said the city librarian (Mr J. E. D. ! Stringleman). “The council recognises the formidable increase in book prices and increases its grant accordingly." he said, i The head librarian of the

i 1 Christchurch Technical ln-i ilstitute (Mrs M. Anderson)' i' believes the institute is one i of the worst affected be- : cause the nature of the • books it buys have increased in price so greatly. : “The annua) grant we receive through the Department of Education has not been able to keep pace with : inflation,” she said. “A lot of material we res ceive is out-dated very ' quickly and has to be replaced so this creates another problem.” i A similar situation has arisen at the University of Canterbury library, particu- ; larly in the periodical sec- : tion. Periodicals have risen in price about 20 per cent; during the last three years. ‘‘The price of books and periodicals has risen so fast that our section of the Department of Education grant' is unable to keep up with' them. Consequently we are buying fewer books and subscribing to fewer periodicals : each year,” said the L’niver-

Isity librarian (Mr R. Hla|vac). The situation is the same at many primary and secondary schools. Annual grants I are absorbed into ground and caretaking costs and class materials before they are transferred into books for the libraries.