DUNEDIN PUBLIC LIBRARY

Evening Star, Issue 21717, 11 May 1934, Page 8

DUNEDIN PUBLIC LIBRARY

INTERESTING GRAPHICAL DATA *, I LOCAL TASTES IK LITERATURE i The eulogistic commentary'on Dunedin’s Public Library by Mr R. Muuu, director of the Carnegie Library, Chicago, who is preparing a report on the New' Zealand library system for the Carnegie Corporation in New York, is partly based on valuable data collected by the library staff. 1 Mr MumTs remarks iu respect of the interest taken by Dunedin citizens in this institution. w ; ore made as the result of figures and graphs submitted for his perusal. The lending section of the library—• always a reliable source from which to gather statistical information—is patronised mostly by people living in the central or town area, according to a> chart which gives the positions as follow:—Central, 1,771; Dunedin North, 1,284; Roslyn, 1,196; Mornington, 953; North-cast Valley, 933; Caversham, 887; Dunedin South, 706; Anderson’s Bay, 672; Maori Hill, 387; St. Clair, 245. Total number of borrowers, 9,034. The central area supplies 19 per cent, of the total and Dunedin North and Roslyn 14 and 13 per cent, respectively. A graph illustrating the different sections from which books were circulated in the years 1912-13, 1932-33, and 1933-34 gives a highly, interesting insight into tastes for literature. The thirst for knowledge throughout the years has resulted in a greater use being made of books dealing with natural science, philosophy and religion, sociology, the literature section, biography, and the fine and useful arts. The most noticeable increase, however, is in the history and. travel section, which, excepting fiction, easily overshadows the others in popularity. Data gathered from 1912, the year of the library’s formation, up to 1934 furnish valuable information in another graph, which shows the library’s stock and increase of borrowers throughout the years. During the Exhibition ’a very pronounced fall in the number of books issued is a striking illustration of the manner in which Dunedin’s citizens spent their leisure hours. A graph dealing with the distribution of non* fiction volumes in the adult library completes a searching survey of an institu. tion' in which every citizen should be interested.