DUNEDIN ATHENÆUM

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18158, 1 February 1921, Page 6

DUNEDIN ATHENÆUM

ANNUAL MEETING,

The annual meeting of the subscribers to the Dunedin Athenaeum was held last evening in the reading room. Mr W, Alexander (vice-president) occupied the chair.

In moving the adoption bf the annual report and balance sheet the Chairman said it was his pleasing duty to congratulate the members on the continued prosperity of the institute. In 1919 the receipts from all sources exceeded those of the previous year by over £306. That constituted a record increase in the history of the institute. Last year there had been again a very remarkable increase in the receipts, which amounted to over £273 more ,than those of 1919. It would, therefore, be seen that in two years the income had increased by about £SBO. He was sure they would all agree with him that that was a cause for much congratulation, as it very clearly indicated that the institute was growing in popularity, despite the strong opposition of a free public library in the city. The average membership for the year just closed numbered 134 more than that of the' previous year, and the improved financial position of the institute, it might be noted, was very largely, although not mainly, due to the increase in the membership. The two principal sources of income were subscriptions and rents, the latter being responsible for the largest increase in the income. The details of the increases were as follows: —Subscriptions £l2O 8s 6d, rents £lsl Is Bd, sales of old books and magazines £2 Os 2d. It would, therefore, he seen that there had been an increase from nearly every source of revenue, the only exception being in the rent derived from the museum endowment, which remained at the fixed amount of £B7 16s per annum. The expenditure for the year amounted to £lßl4 10s 3d. which was £353 16s Id less than the amount expended in 1919, when somewhat extensive alterations involving an outlay of over £SOO were made to the premises occupied by the tenants of the institute. During the past year the sum of £304 14s lid had been expended in the purchase of 902 volumes of books, as against £223 10s 10d expended in the purchase of 827 volumes in the previous year. It would prove of interest to note that while the total _ expenditure for the year hod been considerably less than that of 1919, the expenditure in respect of several items had been marked by an increase. The detailed increases were as follows: —New Zealand newspapers £9 19s Id, salaries £64 12s Bd, interest on mortgage and overdraft £l6 19s 3d. rates £8 10s Id, gas. and electricity £2 10s 7d. Without going further into detail with_ regard to the finances, it might be sufficient to say that the institute was never in such a flourishing financial position- as it was at present. It would be observed from the report that the issues of books from the library during last year were 58,819. A comparison ot the figures for the last five years seemed to indicate that, while there had been a greater number ot readers now than formerly, the amount of reading done by members had been considerably less. The following were the figures ;—1916: Average membership, 1669; book issue, 62,608. 1917: Membership, 1706; issue, 74,481. 1918: Membership, 1739; issue, 60,962. 1919: Membership, 1841; issue, 62,173. 1920: Membership, 1945; issue, 68,819. These figures showed that the average number of books read by each member m the years mentioned was as follows:-1916, 37; 1917, 44; 1918, 35; 1919, 54; 1920, 30. It would be seen that, with the exception of the year 1917 (when there had been an increase), every year showed a decrease in the number of books read per member. It was difficult to account lor the figures; but the decrease in the amount of reading might possibly be attributable to the fact, that a majority of readers now spent more time at picture shows than they ’formerly did. In reference to the recommendation in the report dealing with the reservation of books, the committee, after very fuhy considering the matter, had come to the conclusion that it was inadvisable to continue reserving works of fiction. It , appeared that not more than 300 out of a membership of nearly 2000 availed themselves of the privilege of reserving bopks, and there had been frequent complaints by those who objected to reservation that the operation ot the rule restricted the circulation of new books to a few subscribers. ’There could be no doubt that that contention was quite correct. Moreover, it might be pointed out that one effect of reserving books was that those , which were reserved did not circulate so quickly as they would otherwise do. Every reserved book, it must be remembered was withdrawn from circulation for at least 24 hours, and in the case of books which were reserved often great delay was occasioned by the reservation. It was, therefore, obvious that new books would serve a larger number of readers in a shorter time if they were not reserved, and the chance of getting new books would be open to all subscribers. As regards the reservation of books other than fiction, the committee was of opinion that there was justification for the adoption of the rule proposed in the report. For instance, a member might wish to consult some work urgently for a special purpose and m such a case it seemed reasonable that he should be allowed the privilege of reserving a book. In conclusion, the speaker said .nat he would like to express the thanks of the committee to thei staff for the manner m wh'ch they had carried out their duties. & W. Scoular seconded the motion, which was carried. The election of office-bearers resulted as follows: —Vice-president, Dr J. Dickie; hon secretary, Mr P. Goyen (re-elected); hoii treasurer, Mr R. Vanes (re elected) ; committee —Messrs T. W. Whitson, J. W. Blaok, W. H. Duke, J. L. Salmond W. Alexander, F. W Clayton, Dr R. D. Milligan; Professor G. E. Thompson; auditors, Messrs James Jeffery and Wallis C. Walker (re-elected). , ~ Professor Thompson moved, on behalt of the committee—“ That, on payment of 3d a member may have reserved for 24 hours any book that is not a work of fiction. Mr Salmond seconded the motion, which was carried. , . Mr W. Scoular moved a hearty vote of thanks to the retiring committee for its services during the past 12 months. Mr Jeffery seconded the motion, which was carried bv acclamation. On the motion of Mr A. E. Harraway, it was decided that it be a recommendation to the incoming committee to consider the advisability of opening the Athenaeum at, say, 9 o’clock, and closing it for the evening interval at 6.30 instead of 6 o’clock, as at present. . Mr Harraway also moved that it be a recommendation to the- committee to consider the question of closing the Athenaeum on Saturday afternoons and evenings.—The motion was lost.