FINES PRODUCE NEEDED RESULT AT PUBLIC LIBRARY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17879, 22 June 1926, Page 1

FINES PRODUCE NEEDED RESULT AT PUBLIC LIBRARY.

“ I aim quite satisfied that, by enforcing the regulation which gives us power to 'inflict fines upon those who take books from the library and keep them for long overdue periods, we are •getting the result we desire,” said Mr E. J. Bell. librarian at the Public Library, this morning. “ The books are being returned expeditiously, and the woPk is becoming a great deal lighter for everyone here. “ Of course,” he went on, “ we have had one or two instances where people complained abput the fines, but when the position was explained to them they saw our point of view and said no more about it. “ Before we discovered that the laxity on our part in enforcing the regulation was the cause of the trouble, there _ were , about 500 or 61)0 books missing from the library. This number has now been reduced to under 300. Some of the books were held overdue by subscribers for four and five months. .This greatly impaired the work of the library, and was a source of complaint. I personally went to a subscriber’s bouse and collected six books which had been taken out four months previous to my visit. “ Thangs are a great deal brighter now. however,” concluded Mr Bell, “ and it is pleasing to see such a decided improvement.” CHILDREN’S STORY HOUR The children’s story hour held every Saturday morning is becoming more and more popular. Last Saturday there vvas a good attendance of boys and girls. There is. a prospect of an even bigger attendance on the coming Saturday.