ASSOCIATED BOOKSELLERS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3958, 21 January 1930, Page 19

ASSOCIATED BOOKSELLERS.

INCREASE IN MEMBERSHIP. WELLINGTON, January 15. Some 50 delegates, including several women, are attending the annual conference of Associated Booksellers of New Zealand. The report mentioned that, as the result of a gratuitous tour by Messrs G. IL Bennett and 11. 11. Drivel 100 members had been added to the roll. A good response had been made to the appeal for assistance towards re-establishing the Seddonvillc Library destroyed by flood as a result of the earthquake. The reading per head of the population was greater iu New Zealand than in any other country in the world. There were more booksellers per head than anywhers else, and the number of good books absorbed by the reading public each year was also greater, declared Air H. C. South, past president, at the conference to-day. The past year, he stated, had been notable for the large number of historical and biographical works used, and the association was very proud of the fact, because it was to a large extent the association’s work. While the association made no attempt to force books upon the reading public, it could guide people to a certain extent in their choice of books, and its aim was to guide them In the right direction. — (Applause.) The association had also worked to cheapen the cost of books to the public, with the result that most books coull now be purchased in New Zealand at their published price at Homa. — (Applause.)