HOCKEN LIBRARY

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

HOCKEN LIBRARY

REPLY TO CRITICISM STATEMENT FROM CHANCELLOR The chancellor of the University of Otago (the Very Rev. D. C. Herron) has authorised publication in the Daily Times of the following statement, which relates to recent correspondence in our columns:— There have been so many exaggerated or loose statements about the Hocken Library in the correspondence columns of the press that it is necessary to point out certain facts that the writers seem to be ignorant of. In the first place it should be pointed out that the library is to-day more readily available to readers and researchers than ever it was in the past. It is open regularly every afternoon from Tuesday to Friday and on Saturday mornings. It has also been the practice for some years to open it for longer periods to persons unable to complete their investigations within the official hours and not a few readers have availed themselves of this, mainly visiting historians who have made a special trip to Dunedin for the purpose. During the war years it was necessary, as was the case with such other libraries, to remove much of the more valuable material to safe storage, and this, combined with the shortage of staff, naturally hindered normal service. But even then the library was continually used, and there is no known case of anyone being unable to consult works there. In fact, even when the staffing problem at the University Library was at its most acute, there were several occasions when the Hocken Library was kept open all day for weeks at a time in order to assist individuals wanting to make extensive use of its manuscripts and other unique records. To that extent no apology is owed to anyone. The people of New Zealand have had, and will always be given, every consideration when they wish to make use of Dr Hocken’s bequest. The latter, when he handed his collection over to the University, stated that he relied on the people of Dunedin to provide money for staffing it. Unfortunately his wish remained largely unfulfilled, although grateful acknowledgment must be made of help for some years from the Dunedin City Corporation and of the assistance rendered by a committee known as the Hocken Memorial Committee, which in the year 1914 raised a sum of £I4OO, the income of' which is annually paid to the University for the support of the Hocken Library. From this amount, £55 has been annually allocated for the purchase of books and manuscripts. Financial Position

For some years after 1912 the financial position of the library was difficult. At this period the services of one-librarian were shared equally between the University Library and the Hocken Library. The position has now improved considerably, largely owing to the receipt in 1933 of a legacy of approximately £10,500 from Dr Hocken. This legacy was left to the councH without conditions, but a substantial portion of the income was from the first allocated to the Hocken Library and since 1944 the total income has been shared between the Hocken Library and the Horken Lectureship in Anthropology. Thus for the year 1945, £259 8s 6d was allocated to the former and £IBO to the latter. This bare financial statement, however, does not fully cover the facts since the countil charges to the Hocken Library only £ 100 per annum for the services to that library rendered by members of the University Library staff, although these services are worth much more than that figure. Provision Not Adequate

it is not maintained that the present provision is by any means adequate. It allows a minimum of daily service to local readers. It allows the answering of inquiries from other parts of New Zealand aind overseas. It even allows for a little-attention each year to such necessary work as the copying of i manuscripts. It does not allow for what is the most basic work of all in such a collection, full cataloguing and detailed indexing, without which much of the contents remains inaccessible, and even unknown.

The Hocken Library Committee representing the University Council is luily aware of this inadequacy. It is not, however, a problem that can be c-oived either easily or immediately. The solution is partly a matter of buildings, but more particularly a question of staff. In both cases plans for the future of the Hocken Collection are part of the University’s own longterm development plans, and are interrelated with the national- scheme for training librarians. The latter is now well established, and to the extent that v/e are able to secure the services of the Library School graduates, we shall be able to give increased attention to the work waiting to be done in the Hocken Library. It must be realised though, that every library in New Zealand is clamouring for trained staff, and many are worse off than we are. It will be several years before the supply begins to satisfy the demand. As regards buildings, there are difficulties obvious enough to everyone in this age, but it can be stated that first priority is being given by the University to the better accommodation of its libraries, and the Hocken has a front place in these plans. University’s Claims

In view of some of the suggestions made in your columns it is perhaps necessary to add that there are cogent reasons why such a collection as the Hocken is best administered by a body like the University. The Hocken is far from being, like the Alexander Turnbull library for instance, a rare book collection. It is more a repository of the raw materials of early New Zealand history, of manuscripts, official papers, newspaper files, serial publications, etc. In their original form these are useful rather to the historian than to the general public. They need indexing, copying, annotating, and dating before they can be made widely and easily accessible to the community as a whole. And for such work the University has well qualified men in its various departments. For instance, iri this case much work has been done by Dr Elder, until recently professor of history and a member of the Hocken library Committee, in dating the journals of the early New Zealand missionaries which are perhaps the most important single group of manuscript records in the Hocken. These were published by the University and so made available in book form. Similarly, Dr Skinner, chairman of the Hocken Books Committee, and University lecturer in anthropology, has published in monographs and in the pages of journals, many ethnological works from Hocken materials. And in the fields of history, economics, and ethnology, a whole series of theses has been prepared from Hocken records under University supervision, and in most cases copies are now available in the Public Library. The ultimate plan of having the Hocken Library housed, as a separate unit, in the same building as the University library (a plan which, but for the war, would already have materialised) has a special value to research workers. They will have to hand the material of both libraries and the expert advice of the staffs of both.

Finally, when considering the question of ownership and control of the Hocken Library the following points should be kept in mind:— • 1. The original Hocken collection has been more than doubled by the addition of material collected since Hocken’s death through the exertions of the present administering body. 2. Any plan for’improving the present facilities which involves separation from the University must envisage a very large capital expenditure to cover accommodation, upkeep, and staffing. 3. The Hocken Library, though supported largely from the University’s own income, compares more than favourably in its record of research and the advancement of historical knowledge with’ other such libraries in New Zealand. Only the Turnbull Library, with its large income from public sources, has done anything comparable.