THE GOVERNMENT LIBRARIES

Dominion, Volume 18, Issue 194, 12 May 1924, Page 9

THE GOVERNMENT LIBRARIES

WORTHY OF BETTER PATRONAGE FACILITIES FOR STUDENTS It has been suggested by correspondents that greater use might be made of the General Assembly Library m the Parliamentary recess and that students and others interested in the valuable books of reference in the library ho given better opportunities of access to them. At present a member of the Legislature has power to nominate to the Library Committee (which meets periodically) a person for recess privileges, and if the person nominated is approved bv the committee the full extent of the’ privileges of the library is available to his use. Very many people have availed themselves of the opportunity of becoming recess members of the General Assembly Library, and the staff has extended to them the couitesies of full membership so far as the rules allowed. There is no doubt that some of the books in the General Assembly Library aro especially valuable to students, and the worth of the books and the privileges granted to see them are very much appreciated. The Alexander Turnbull Library in Bowen Street is a splendid adjunct to the General Assembly Library, and it is conducted apart from the Parliamentary institution. In the Turnbull Library there are very many notable collections of works which deal interestingly with the early periods of New Zealand. The library contains copies of the original editions prepared in the old English style of the printers’ art of famous poets and prose writers worth several hundreds of pounds. . , , “The wonder is,” said the Minister of Internal Affairs (the Hon. R. E. Bollard), in referring to the Government Libraries on Saturday, “that such valuable institutions are not more used by the students. Tn the Turnbull Library—that munificent bequest to the State —there is something to interest everybody. Any person legitimately interested in the collections is welcomed, and mv advice is to all lovers of art and literature to pay the institution a visit. I must say that as the Ministerial head of the library my inspection of it last week was more interesting than I expected it would be. The library is kept in beautiful order, and very careful attention is paid by the staff to visitors. It is possible for anybody to handle and peruse, under cosy conditions, the most rare book in the library. There are several volumes on the shelves of the Turnbull library whose price in the Old Country to-day runs into tour figures.’’ The visitors’ book of the Turnbull Library shows that when the Japanese warships were in Wellington large numbers of the crew of the ships visited the library and evinced the greatest interest in the collections. “At a recent gathering of the Harbour Board held at Lyttelton, Mr. W. Lili talked about us in a discourfteous manner,” said Dr. Thacker at the meeting of the Lyttelton Harbour Board. He is a hayseed, and he has no right to do so at a banquet held on our tug,” continued the speaker. Several members of the board who were country representatives were noticed chafing to reply but better counsels prevailed (states the Christchurch “Press”), and the incident closed undeveloped. The reason why opals are so often lost from their settings is that they expand with heat more than other precious stones, and, cofseucntly, force ope tho gold which holds them in place.