BOOKS FOR TROOPS

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 142, 13 December 1939, Page 13

BOOKS FOR TROOPS

APPEAL TO PUBLIC

HOUSE-TO-HOUSE COLLECTION

Intended for use primarily on the troopships that may leave New Zealand in the future, books and magazines to form the nucleus of a War Library Service are to be collected by Boy Scouts in a house-to-house canvass in the four main centres on Saturday, and the public are asked to make their contribution towards the success of the effort by sorting out as many readable books and magazines as they can and leaving them on their front doorsteps on Saturday morning for the Scouts to

pick up

The building" up of a library for thousands of troops would be no easy matter but for the co-operation of the public and the Boy Scouts, with whose assistance it is expected to gather in a huge collection of volumes next Saturday. In Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin, cars and lorries will cruise slowly along each residential street while teams of Scouts will gather the packages, which should be lying in wait for them on each front doorstep. The packages for collection should be labelled "Scouts" and if the donors want their gifts acknowledged their names and addresses should also be on the label.

One thing the organisers of the effort want to impress upon the public: this should not be regarded as an opportunity of getting rid of a lot of ancient printed matter that should have been consigned to the dustbin years ago. Novels and periodicals that would not be welcomed by the donors themselves are only a nuisance and a waste of time. Modern and interesting works in good condition are wanted for the' soldiers, and most households should be able to make up a parcel, for Saturday.

The Automobile Association (Wellington) is appealing to its members for cars to be used in the drive.