PROPOSED LIBRARY.

Matamata Record, Volume XVI, Issue 1445, 27 July 1933, Page 4

PROPOSED LIBRARY.

THE proposal to establish a public library in Matamata, which was discussed at a recent meeting of the Chamber of Commerce, is one which was bound to crop up sooner or later. Few progressive towns of the size of Matamata lack an institution of this sort, while many much smaller communities have run public libraries successfully over a long

period of time. The proposal should not in any way affect any established library in the district, as these institutions either serve some particular section of the community or are not strong enough to meet the needs of the community as a whole, in any case due consideration would be given to their existence, if any concrete proposal were adopted to establish a larger library to meet the needs of the community as a whole. ' In the matter of public libraries, New Zealand lags behind countries like America and Great Britain, largely, of course, because it is a younger country. Yet despite this fact statistics go to show that where facilities for reading are provided in the Dominion, the use made of these facilities compares favourably with similar-sized communities in older countries. This being so, there is every reason for believing that Matamata would hold its own in this respect, as it does in most other public institutions, and that a library would fill a decided want. Whether the time is propitious for proceeding with such a proposal is a moot question, and much could be advanced on both sides. Whether the time be judged as being opportune or not, the proposal is one worth discussing, and the information on the subject which will have been gathered by the Chamber of Commerce will not be wasted, as it can be filed and used at a later date when conditions may be such as to render the work of establishing a library more easy than it may be at the moment.