THE FREE LIBRARY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 8306, 12 July 1890, Page 3

THE FREE LIBRARY.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir,—The City Council have once more wrestled with the perennial Library question, and with what a result.! A lot of time was spent in discussing the unnecessary question, whether the income from Costley's bequest should be devoted to the general uurposes of maintenance, or to books only, notwithstanding the fact (as pointed out by Councillor Lennox) that there is a motion by Mr. Upton himself upon the minutes of the Council for 1884, covering this very ground, and authorising the Council to apply the income to the purchase of books and the general purposes of maintenance. Costley's will, moreover, says nothinir whatever about books, but leaves the application of the income to the discretion of the Council. It is really too late in the day to toll us what Mr. Costley intended ; we must take the will as it is. Wills should not be over ridden in this fashion, or a dangerous precedent will be established. There are several points in connection with the last discussion of this precious question which deserve close .attention The Mayor, Councillors Atkin and Wright said u good deal about the "principle" of not using the income from the bequest for any other purpose than that of purchasing books. At the same time the Mayor proposed that £.)() should lie taken from the income, to allow the Library to remain open from nine to ten. And those who had grandiloquently maintained the "principle" of not. using the income for general purposes or administration immediately after vote for drawing upon the income by passing the resolution ! Is this consistent? If it i« such a wrong or unwise thing to draw upon tho income to the extent of £100 (which would suffice to keep opon the extra three hours), is it nob equally wrong, both in "principle" and practice, to take £.30 from it ? i fail to see the difference. The plain fact of the matter is, that the Mayor and councillors whe sided with him will not acknowledge their own incompetency in this matter by going back to reasonable hours, unless they are forced to do so. . Mr. Upton himself has shown that even if the wish of the petitioners had boon acceded to, there would still have remained £'270 a-year, exclusive of the fees from the lending brunch (in all over £300), besides soma .t>;00 in hand. Thus £100 could have easily been spent each year for eight years to come, to say nothing of private gifts, and people would not have been turned out by the score at) live o'clock, as is now the case. Councillor Atkin referred to some of the 1100 petitioners as not being ratepayers. Quite true: but, i< this a question of a ratepayers' library, or of a free public library? The library rate, it should be remembered, helps to support the line Corporation rooms and ollices, the Art Gallery, and accommodation for the El.un School of Art,

Councillor Atkin also spoke contempts ously of the collection of books, and of the " empty shelves." This is pure exagpera* (.ion, besides reflecting upon the Council itself ; for a large proportion—several thousands of pounds' worth—of the books were purchased under the Council's order. The same belittling spirit was shown on several previous occasions when " official" record? were kept of the numbers in attendance between five and seven, nine and ten. Then it came oub that the persons in the newspaper room were nob counted, and that in the upper room only those actually sitting down were reckoned. As a pretty frequent visitor between five and seven under the eld arrangement, I alfirm most positively that the lowest "number in attendance in tho whole building at any one moment) would bo nob less than .'3O; while it. was of. course much greater, even double, up till half-past five, and again after six. Now, what is the u«e of belittling the library in this puerile fashion '! Tho Duneclin City Council, by the way, have decided to establish a Free Public Library, and it will be interesting to watch how they manage. I venture to predict that they will give better opportunities of getting at their literary collection than those which obtain here. Instead of talking about rivalling Sydney, and Melbourne wo need to take care that)' wo are not soon outpaced by other provinces in our own colony—at any rate, in the matter of hours. There is one other point which needs remark. It concerns the character of those who were in the habit of attending the, Library between 5 and 7 under the old ar-\ rangement. Mr. Wright assorted that the-' persons who wished to attend during those hours were people who would otherwise attend the publiehoiise. Now this is an unwarranted slur. Possibly there would, bo several of the class mentioned; bufr even so, is it not better that they should go to the Library than to the publichouse J so long as they conduct themselves arighb.' However, I affirm that the bulk of those who wero in the habit of attending between. 5 and 7 wore of tho thoroughly respectable class, many of them Indies. Mr. Wright's; statement must have been made withoub thought; he certainly cannot have often,., if ever, been in the Library duriug the; bourn mentioned. —I am, etc., Orvis. N.B.—lt is something to have the hour, from 9to 10; but the Library will nob give thorough satisfaction unless the public ge& admission between 5 and 7 also.