THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES Monday, July 8, 1946. THE HOCKEN LIBRARY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26198, 8 July 1946, Page 4

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES Monday, July 8, 1946. THE HOCKEN LIBRARY

In our columns to-day is printed a statement by the Chancellor of the University of Otago (the Very Rev. D. C. Heri’on), who replies to what he describes as the many exaggerated or loose statements which have been made in the press regarding the Hocken Library. It w'll be recalled that the lack of facilities offered for research at the library was the subject of considerable comment in our cox'respondence columns l-ecently, the opinion generally expressed being that public access to the librax-y was not as easy or convenient as the late donor would have desired.

Replying to the suggestions that the Hocken Library should be divorced from Univei'sity conti'ol Mr Hei'ron points out that the x'ecords held in the library consist largely of the raw materials of New Zealand history, manusci'ipts, official papers, newspaper files and so on, and that the University possesses a staff well qualified to undertake the task of copying, indexing and generally preparing these papers before they can be made widely accessible to the community as a whole. This is undoubtedly true. The publication of the early missionary journals by Dr Elder was a valuable illustration of the manner in which the trained historian could present these records to the public in their most attractive form. Mr Herron admits that the present provision made for the conduct of the library is inadequate, but adds the assurance that priority is being given by the University to the better accommodation of its libl'aries, and the Hocken hafe a front place in these plans. The ultimate object is to have the library housed as a separate unit, in the same building as the University libi'ary, a plan which would confer on research workers the benefits of having on hand the material of both collections and the expert advice of both staffs. The pi'oposals outlined by Mr Herron have much to commend them, and provide evidence that plans for the) moi'e efficient conduct of the library have received earnest consideration. Whether they will meet with the appi'oval of the public—or that section of it which, through letters in our columns, is evincing a lively interest in the future of the library—is another matter. There is among a large number of people in Dunedin to-day the growing conviction that the interests of the province would be best served by the uniting, under one roof, of the three existing collections of historical material, the Hocken Library, the McNab collection and the Early Settlers’ collection. Some such amalgamation, provided with an adequate and trained staff, would be a boon to all who wished to consult the early records of the province and the Dominion, and, as far as the Hocken Library was concerned, the scheme would fulfil the donor’s wish that it “should be well cared for and available to all under proper conditions.” \