"TOTALLY UNSUITED"

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 111, 12 May 1934, Page 15

"TOTALLY UNSUITED"

CENTRAL LIBRARY BUILDING

BUT GOOD WORK DONE

"Never was tho need for greater library accommodation >in Wellington more apparent. For years the central library building has been'out of date and totally unsuitcd for library requirements, '' wrote the Mayor (Mr» T. C. A. Hislop) in a foreword to the first issue of tho ".Readers' Boview," which is to bo issued by the Libraries Department each month. "The growth of tho library work, and the growing demand of citizens for books, makes every day tho inadequacy of our central library accommodation more glaring. It is no credit to our city or to us as citizens. It is my earnest hope that the time will not be far distant when this reproach will be removed, and we will have a. central library building worthy of the Capital City and of the cause of literature.

"It is generally thought that to mankind is coining the gift of a greater leisure. Modern economic thought and mechanical development would seem to support this view. People, thereforo, must prepare themselves for the proper uso of this gift. In reading lies one of. tho most fruitful uses of leisure. The development of our municipal libraries shows the work of preparation, is going forward. '' IDEA WELL CONCEIVED. Mr. Hislop added that he considered the idea of the "Koviow" was well conceived, and that its production should prove most helpful and informative to that ever-increasing army of readers whose great difficulty lies in selection. "The enormous output of books today, combined with the demand which the stress of modern life makes upon the time of each of us, renders the choice of a book no easy matter, 3' he wrote. ' 'Despite the many reviews andcriticisms available to aid us in the task of selection, I still often have a feeling of bewilderment when I enter the library to select a book. lam sure lam not alone in this. Thanks to the librarian the task is made easier and now this little monthly publication comes into being to render further aid."

The manner in which tho remarkable increase in the demand for books had been met, Mr. Hislop concluded, reflected the highest praiso on the City Librarian and his staff..