PUBLIC LIBRARIES

Southland Times, Issue 18756, 17 December 1919, Page 5

PUBLIC LIBRARIES

THE GOVERNMENT SUBSIDY. The sum of £3OOO has been voted by Parliament for distribution to public libraries in country districts. The distribution- will take place 'about March 1, 1920, and no claim will be entitled to consideration that shall not have been sent in in due form and received by the Secretary, Education Department, Wellington, on or before January 28, 1920. A library to be entitled to a subsidy must be public in the sense of belonging to the public, and of not being under the' control of an association, society, or club whose membership is composed of a section of the community only; and if it is within a borough a read-ing-room where the books may be read, and containing newspapers and periodic ala, must be provided for the public free of charge; in addition, it must not be situated in a borough, town, or town district the population of which exceeds fifteen hundred. The receipts for the year from subscriptions, donations, and voluntary contributions must not have been less than £2, exclusive of moneys received from endowments, or from Government, or from Borough or County Councils, or for special building purposes, or as rent, hire, or consideration for the use of any room, or building, or land belonging to the institution, in respect of none of which will subsidy be allowed. The net proceeds of concerts, lectures, or other entertainments on behalf of the current expenses of the library will be regarded as voluntary contributions. A subsidy will not be given to more than one library in the same town. In the distribution of the vote a nominal addition of £25 will be made to the amount of the income of each library derived from subscriptions, donations, and rates, and the vote will be divided according to the amounts thus augmented; but no library will receive credit for a larger income than £2s—that is, in no case will the augmented amount on which distribution is based exceed £SO. The whole of the subsidy must be expended without delay in the purchase of books for the library. It is particularly enjoined upon the authorities in charge of the public libraries concerned that a due proportion of the books purchased shall be books having a permanent value —that is, on books of more than merely passing interest. Application to share in the distribution must be by means of a statutory declaration by the chairman, or secretary, or treasurer of the institution on behalf of which it is made, and must be accompanied by a statement of the receipts and payments of the institution for the year ending on December 31, 1919.