BOOKS FOR ALL. AT PARLIAMENT LIBRARY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXI, Issue 19, 24 January 1911, Page 7

BOOKS FOR ALL. AT PARLIAMENT LIBRARY.

Possibly Wellington people are not yet fully aware of the extension of privileges at the Parliamentary Library^ Since Ist January the building has been open daily to the public from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., except on Saturdays, when the closing hour is 1 p.m., Sundays and public holidays. So far ther& has been no great Tush to the comfortable rooms, well stocked with literature, but January is a holiday month. University students have their vacation, and other folk are not usually inclined to stay indoors reading on a warn summer's day. It is expected that the attendance of readers during the day wtfl greatly improve in a mouth or two. Visitors, if they desire to use the library for reference purposes for a brief period, are not obliged to get a permit, but those who wish to make a longer stay and attend frequently at the read-ing-rooms, are required to make an application in the manner prescribed for /ecess privileges in the past. The applicant fills in a form for a member of Parliament to sign, and the right of entry is easily assured if the applicant is approved. There is no wilderness 1 of red tape to struggle through. The chairman of the Professorial Board at Victoria College, and the heads of Government departments are also authorised to sign the forms. The Parliamentary Library Committee has decided on the experiment in the hope that it will be appreciated by the reading public. Unless the people use the building on a scale to warrant the trouble taken to maintain the new system, the scheme is likely to lapse "for want of a quorum." There would be no risk of such a failure if all the city's lovers of books realised the resources of Ihe library, which -is the best in NeSv Zealand. It is well ventilated, well fuinished with all things (except tobacco and liquor), dear to those who like to be comfortable when reading.