MUNICIPAL LIBRARY.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 168, 15 June 1940, Page 6

MUNICIPAL LIBRARY.

LIAISON OFFICER’S VISIT. VALUE OF FREE SYSTEM. Praise for the Palmerston North Public Library was expressed to-day by Miss E. J. Carnell, liaison officer of the New Zealand Libraries’ Association and the Country Library Service. Miss Carnell, who arrived in Palmerston North yesterday, is now nearly at the end of a tour which has included most, of the libraries in both islands.

A really excellent collection of reference books was being built up at Palmerston North, said Miss Came ll , and when plans for housing this collection in another room were carried out the reference department would become an especially important side of this library's work. The plans to which she referred involve housing tlie reference department in the space occupied by the former children’s department, and will shortly be brought forward.

Miss Carnell said that she had heard a great deal about the Palmerston North library, but this was the first time she had had the pleasure of seeing it. As Palmerston North’s was the first large library ,to abandon the subscription system, its progress was being watched with interest by all librarians. The only other two libraries which were free were those at Dunedin and Timaru, which had been free since their inception. The great success of the Palmerston North library since its reorganisation had been most encouraging, and there was no doubt that this would influence library history throughout the Dominion. In discussions with library committees and councils elsewhere she ha-d found that they had been profoundly impressed witli some of the statistics of the Palmerston North library, which she had been able to quote to them. The example of Palmerston North would do more to advance the cause of free libraries in this country than all the many speeches which had been made on this topic. The two aspects of the library’s work which had impressed her most were the junior library and the reference denartraent. added Miss Carnell. The children’s library was the most, attractively decorated in New Zealand. “All visiting librarians will go green with envv when they see it.” she said. Both the exterior and the interior of the Palmerston North institution exemplified a style which was altogether different from the rather eloomy and institutional type of building which, unfortunately, the public had learned to associa+° with public libraries, said Miss Carnell.