LIBRARY CHANGE-OVER

Evening Post, Volume CXXIX, Issue 34, 9 February 1940, Page 9

LIBRARY CHANGE-OVER

QUICK SHIFTING

THE BOYS JUMP TO IT

The Rongotai College boys who volunteered for the job of shifting 60.0C0 books from the old Central Library to the new library took on more than they had anticipated, even though there were 514 of them, but if the pace slowed a trifl as the round trips: counted up past the dozen and on to ; twenty and thirty they still worked j with enthusiasm. In four hours of ; steady carrying they got through i task ' which would have been a really seri- i ous and complicated job had any other method been tried, and when it was over they had the satisfaction of feeling that thsy had made quite a contribution to the library. ! The library staff turned to before breakfast and made a start shifting' newspapers and certain of the files; and records by 7 o'clock, so that when ] the college boys arrived by special j trams at 9 o'clock the news-room and j the offices were nearly cleared and they ; had a straight run at the .books. The young fry worked downstairs, in jthe lending department, and the higher j forms in the three rooms upstairs, re- i ference, magazine, and commercial. It j worked so easily that it looked simple, but there was a complete plan behind j it, so that the boys—themselves ticketed serially—were loaded with half a dozen books in catalogue sequence and handed them in to staff members iin sequence at the other end. The two chains kept moving without a break, except for the half-way spell. The juniors finished up with an ice cream about 11 a.m. and the seniors had completed their bigger share by 1.20 p.m. The Chief Librarian; Mr. J. Nome, was delighted with the morning. "This machine works," he said. The staff and the boys had been splendid right through, and the public, too, had as- ( sisted by their reasonable attitude during the past few days. Yesterday the issues from the lending department were probably a record through so many subscribers taking out extra books, and Tuesday night, after the new library opened for public use at 7 o'clock, would probably be extremely heavy for the staff. However, he looked forward to the full co-operation of subscribers until the new library had settled down. .

"The morning, which could have been most difficult and anything but pleasant, has, thanks to the boys and th_ college staff and the fine way in which the library staff has worked, been a realy pleasant and most effective one," said Mr. Norrie. "There is still a lot to be done, but the library will be ready for the opening on Tuesday. The public of Wellington will, I think, be well pleased with their new library building."