HOLIDAY READING INCREASES

Timaru Herald, Volume CLV, Issue 22785, 8 January 1944, Page 4

HOLIDAY READING INCREASES

War Books Less

Popular

New Record. Established at Timaru Library

Although the weather has been fine, and there were many out-of-doors attractions organised in Timaru in the holiday period, the volume of books issued at the Timaru Public Library during December almost equalled that of August, the peak of the reading year.

A total of 24,547 books, comprising 13,261 fiction and 7149 non-fiction, were issued, compared with 23,637 in December, 1942, which was considered an outstanding record. During the 194344 holiday period the lending library was closed an extra day at both Christmas and New Year.

Christmas Eve was the busiest day before the holidays, when 1445 books

were exchanged but on re-opening on Wednesday even this figure was eclipsed, and 1500 books were issued.

In the Juvenile department, too, there was an unusually busy period as the summer holidays are considered a slack time of the year. In December 4137 books were Issued and an outstanding feature is that of this number 1225 were class books and only 2912 fiction.

Lighter Reading Preferred For their holiday reading subscribers for the most part turned away from war books and the more serious literature, and lighter biography and travel stories were more popular, said the Librarian (Miss A. K. Elliot) yesterday. “Kiwi Saga,” the New Zealand book of this war, and Douglas Reed’s latest publication, “Lest We Regret” were in heavy demand, while “Journey For Margaret,” a story of Britain under fire by W. L. White, retained its popularity. From the fiction shelves “And Now To-Morrow,” a recent novel by Rachel Fields, and “The Day Must Dawn” by Agnes Turnbull were frequently requested and also domestic biographies such as “Big Family” and “Ego Five.” Books about the country enjoy a perennial popularity, but stories of personal experiences of farming and gardening like “Glory Hill Farm” and “Spring Onions” gained phenomenally in general favour during the holiday period. To assist subscribers in then- selection of reading matter special displays of recent additions, books of the year, etc. were arranged in the library and the more popular classic of holiday books set out attractively on tables and trollies, were made easily accessible.

During December there were many visiting readers who were unanimous in their tributes to the attractive layout of the library and to the facilities in the reading room. Visitors from larger centres were pleased to be able to borrow many books that were unprocurable in their home libraries, and hey commended the excellent selection available in Timaru. Considerable interest was shown in the juvenile department, Timaru being considered the leader in children’s library development in the Dominion.