CARNEGIE INSTITUTE.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LX, Issue 143770, 19 April 1912, Page 4

CARNEGIE INSTITUTE.

ANNUAL REPORT. Tho following report of -the Carnegie Institution will be presented by the i chairman (Mr. E. E. Wilson) at the annual meeting, to be belch in the Council Chamber this evening:--The number of members;on the books on January 1, 1912, was IJII yearly, 48 halt-yearly, and 4b quarterly, a total of 2io. The previous year the number was yearly 109, haii-yeaply 93, and quarterly 5-1, a total of 2of\. The committee began the year with a credit balance of £l2O 15s lid, bub included in this amount a large number ol prepaid subscrip (lons, due to the fact that the library ye,at* had been altered so as to end on Inarch 31 instead of December 31 in crich year. It also included the sum of J;23 Government subsidy, which had bqen set aside for tho purpose of replacing and completing sets of works b\* standard authors. For tho reason jnycn above the total amount of subscriptions received during the year h«U been less than for many years past. | The following are the amounts reccirvccl for the past.ten years:—Year enclhtg March 31, 1903, £176 Is 9d; 1904, d'lsß Is 6d; 1905, £1.25 17s 9d ; 1906, 4-141 6s 2d; 1907, £133 5s 6d ; 1908, £133 3s 3d: 1909, £196 16s 6d ; 1910, ±sl2l 10s 9d ; 1911. £l5O 5s -id ; 1912, £9s':2* 2d. The expenditure for the year sligfvtly exceeded the usual rates of-expenditure, but the falling-olf in the amount received for subscriptions, for the reason already explained, was mainly responsible for tho reduction of the credit balance from £l2O at the beginning of ti.io year to £79 18s 4d at the end of the!year. The credit balance is further Deduced by accounts outstanding at .March 31 amounting to £66 4s 2d.

On January 1 last there were 7589 volumes iu the library, of which 324 were added during the year. ■ The number of books taken nut from jfanuary 1, 1911, to December 31, 1911, compared with the prev'ous years was as follows: History ami biography, 1009,1202; 1910, 185; 1911, 179; geography and travel, 226, 204, 201; science, 37, 2?, 19; fiction, 16,332, 16,143, 1.3,621 ; miscellaneous, 135, 135, 131. The percentages which each class bears to the total number taken out last year i compared with the year 1904 is as Icllqws;—History and biography, 1904, 1.412; 1911, 1.01 S; geography and travel, J..53S and 1.1; science, .262 and .113; fiction, 95,788 and 96.54 G; miscellaneous, 1 and .913. During the year a milch larger number of books were added to the reference library than in any previous year, the whole of the Government subsidy being sot aside and used 1 for this purpose. The committee also ondcav T cured, as far as possible, to icomplete sets of itorks by standard authors, and in this respect the library has been much improved. ; In September of last year, on the recommendation of the Library Committee, the following i (solutions? were passed by the Borough Council;.—l. That the council set apart £IOO annually, which with any Government subsidy shall bo devoted to the purchase of books and magazines for the 'library, and that the Library Committee have no further financial responsibility, the council meeting all other liabilities and taking all revenue. This arrangement to commence on April 1, 19X2, the expenditure on books and magazines for the current year not to excoed the above rate. 2. That the Library' Committee have control of the Carnegie Library Building. 3. That the committee be known as “The Carnegie Institute Committee.” The committee consider ibis arrangement a more workable arrangement than that obtaining in the past, and one which will 'enable the committee to place a larger number of new books on the shelves each year. In this way it is hoped that the gradual falling-off "in the number of subscribers which has taken place lately will be checked and new subscribers induced to join. During the past month Mr. White, having paid a visit to the juvenile section of the Wellington Library, submitted an interesting report jo tire committee. who arc now considering the advisability of installing a similar section in the library. Owing to the fact that the museum is in the Town Hall and the custodian’s office is in the Carnegie Building, and the consequent impossibility of exercising proper supervision, the committee removed some of the more valuable exhibits into the library and closed the museum in the Town Hall. It can now onlv bo viewed on application to the custodian. It is a matter for regret that the Borough Council have not provided proper accommodation for the museum. It is known that valuable records and mementoes of the past history of the town and province are in the hands of private collectors, who would be perfectly willing to hand them over to the town provided they were satisfied that the exhibits would he housed in a fire-proof building and under the supervision of a custodian constantly on the premises when the museum is open to the public. Mr. M . H. Skinner, who possesses one of the finest and most valuable collections in the Dominion, on leaving New Plymouth intimated his willingness to donate Ids collection to the town, provided he was satisfied it would lie securely housed ; and there arc many others who would do the same with their collections. It is to be hoped the Borough Council will seriously consider the question at the earliest* possible opportunity, as 'every year some of these priceless relies of the past now held by private persons in New Plymouth pass into the hands of others who have no direct connection or interest in the town, and in some cases pass out of the Dominion altogether. The librarian (Miss Free) and the custodian (Mr. Ford) have given every satisfaction. Owin'* to pressure of his other duties, the hon? secretary, Mr. F. T. Bellringer, has resigned his position, and it will be necessary to make an appointment to fill the vacancy. . In conclusion the committee desire, on behalf of 'the public and subscribers, to olace on record its thanks to the following gentlemen for the valuable gifts made'bv them to the reference library or museum:—Mr. W. H. Skinner, gift of books of correspondence relating to New Zealand and reports of New Zealand Company, also loan of original sketch of Marsland Hill and two stone Maori gods.; Minister for Internal Affairs files of Taranaki Herald and Daily News, 1859-1860; Messrs. Woon and Newall, proclamations issued during the war; Messrs. Honeyfield and Sampson, whaling tripots. The committee also express their thanks to all those who

have made gifts of any kind to tho library and to the proprietors of the various newspapers who supplied papers free to the reading-room.