GENERAL ASSEMBLY LIBRARY REPORT OF THE CHIEF LIBRARIAN FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st MARCH, 1948

Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1948 Session I, H-32

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1948 NE W ZEALAND

GENERAL ASSEMBLY LIBRARY REPORT OF THE CHIEF LIBRARIAN FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st MARCH, 1948

Laid on the Table of the House of Representatives by Leave

To the Chairman, Joint Library Committee. Sir, — I have the honour to report on the operations of the General Assembly Library for the year 1947-48. Staff During the year Dr. G. H. Scholefield, C.M.G., 0.8. E., retired from the position of Chief Librarian after twenty-one years' service, and I was appointed as from Ist November, 1947, in his place. Mr. J. 0. Wilson, D.S.C., 8.C0m., A.L.A., was promoted to be Assistant Chief Librarian, and Mr. I. K. MacGregor, 8.C0m., 8.5., to be Chief of Reference Section. Mr. MacGregor rejoined the staff in August after five years' service with the Fleet Air Arm, followed by a course in library science at Columbia University, New York, where he graduated with honours. Vacancies on the staff due to resignations were filled by Mr. R. R. Scott, 8.A., who commenced duty in August, and Miss E. M. Scholefield and Mr. D. M. Wylie, 8.A., who joined in January. We now have our pre-war complement. Miss Marion Hogg is absent in Great Britain on a year's leave to enable her to further her library studies. Misses Hogg and Scholefield have recently passed the final examination for the General Certificate of the New Zealand Library Association. The Year's Work In addition to the usual routine work of the Library, several special tasks have been undertaken during the recess. The newspaper collection in the basement has been overcrowded for some years. We have recently acquired another basement adjoining it, and an opening has been made giving access to it. Our thanks are due to Mr. H. Vass, who, from the old timber at his disposal, has erected some excellent shelving which occupies about two-thirds of the space available. Part of this is already filled with new accessions of bound newspapers, and it is hoped to complete the shelving to allow us to reorganize this department and house it more advantageously. This will be facilitated by the enlarging of the hole in the wall connecting the new basement with the library

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The liistory and travel sections of the New Zealand collection are being reclassified and recatalogued in accordance with a recent extension of the New Zealand class in the Dewey Decimal Classification, which has been adopted by most of the libraries in this country. This valuable section of the Library is very overcrowded in its present quarters, as it has doubled in numbers in the last ten years and grows apace yearly. A larger room to house it is badly needed. A start has been made on the proper classification and arrangement of our map collection, numbering some thousands. Additional shelving has enabled further work to be done in rearranging the United States official documents, which are constantly being added to and form a useful part of our reference collections. Several shifts of stock have been made, notably the moving of duplicates, which were badly housed in Room 26. These are now in Room 15 in the basement of the main building, where they are properly shelved. In doing this work and in cleaning the book stock the Library has had useful assistance from the messenger staff of the Legislative Department. The duplicates of New Zealand official documents which are saved from destruction by the Library from time to time are proving useful in supplying overseas libraries, which are making ever-increasing demands for our publications. Volumes have been supplied to the Royal Empire Society to replace war losses and to the University of California. The reference section continues to serve not only Members of Parliament, but also Government Departments and the general public. Considerable work was done by the staff for Royal Commissions and Committees. Two select lists were produced for the use of Members —on population and on the Bretton Woods Agreement. Thirty-five students have been using the Library for research purposes during the current year, compared with 25 in the previous year. We badly need a special room for their use as, under present conditions, we find it hard to accommodate them all during the session. Book Stock The number of books accessioned during the financial year was 5,741, compared with 4,694 in the previous year and an average of 3,259 up to 1946. The total of volumes now accessioned is 185,150. This is not the number of volumes in the Library, as over the years there have been numerous books withdrawn or lost which are not accounted for here. The new accessions were classified as follows (the figures for the previous year being shown in parentheses): bibliography, 316 (167); newspapers, 173 (148); philosophy, 61 (69); religion, 135 (165) ; sociology, 1,403 (1,023) ; parliamentary, 418 (229) ; philology, 48 (61) ; natural science, 194 (141) ; useful arts, 600 (462) ; fine arts, 377 (312); literature, 447 (509) ; travel and history, 673 (649); biography, 353 (249); fiction, 406 (347); New Zealand, 137 (64). Despite the increased annual grant, with the present high costs we are still unable to obtain all the material which should be found on the shelves of a Library such as this. Subscriptions to periodicals have increased in most cases by 50 per cent, during the last twelve months, and we are finding it desirable to widen this field, as periodical literature is one of the best means of keeping abreast of current developments. Manuscripts Our manuscript collection has been enriched by two presentations of importance. Mr. J. E. F. Yogel has given the family papers of his grandfather, Sir Julius Vogel, and his father, Harry B. Yogel, the novelist; and a quantity of the papers of the Right Hon. J. G. Coates has come to us through the kind offices of Mrs. J. N. Massey.

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Donations Among the donations this year was a set of the Canadian Geographical Journal, presented by the Canadian High Commissioner on behalf of the Canadian Geographical Society. These have been bound and are now available for reference purposes. To the British Council, who presented several works, and the Right Hon. W. J. Jordan, who sent us items of interest at regular intervals, our thanks are also due, and to the following who made gifts to the Library: the Canadian Trade Commissioner in New Zealand (Wellington), H. Colonna (Wellington), the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (Sydney), A. Courtenay (Oxford), I. S. Dalgairns (Ruatoria), H. L. Dolamore (Mosgiel), Funch, Edye, and Co., Inc. (New York), the High Commissioner for Australia (Wellington), the High Commissioner for the United Kingdom (Wellington), W. H. Honey (Wellington), A. H. Hutchinson (Napier), the Mayor and the Aldermen of the City of Greater Newcastle (Newcastle, New South Wales), the Metropolitan-Vickers Electrical Co., Ltd. (Wellington), L. Moore (Wellington), J. Muldoon (Wellington), the Polish Encyclopaedic Editorial Board (Fribourg, Switzerland), A. Robertson (Hornchurch, Essex), the Royal Swedish Consulate (Wellington), the Soviet News (London), and the Theosophical Society (Auckland). Circulation Despite the short recess, the number of privilege holders increased from 350 to 484 during the current year, and, as usual, comprises a cross-section of the Wellington public. Books posted to Members and to other libraries amounted to 66 baskets and 334 parcels, the figures last year being 73 baskets and 327 parcels. Interloan Under interloan we lent 1,107 books to 30 libraries, as compared with 983 books to 37 libraries in the previous year. The following are the figures for the principal libraries; National Library Service, 528 ; Library School, 228 ; Wellington Public Library, 56 ; Auckland Public Library, 40 ; Palmerston North Public Library, 31 ; Turnbull Library, 28 ; Hastings Public Library, 28. Three other libraries received over 20, 8 over 10, 2 over 5, and 10 less than 5. Our borrowings from 2 libraries were 25. Binding This department continues to give excellent service to the Library and now handles most of our binding, with the exception of newspapers. During the year, 2,250 volumes have been bound, and, in addition, all accessions have been stamped with the Library crest and the classification numbers. The advantage of having reference- material always on hand while awaiting binding is inestimable and the work can be done more quickly once it is put,in hand. Copyright The publication of books in New Zealand continues to grow steadily, 416 receipts for books received being sent out this year, compared with 348 last year. We still have difficulty in getting all the books due to us under the Copyright Act, 1913, as many private publishers are not aware of their obligations. Printers, as a rule, are of great assistance to us in this matter, and our thanks are due to those who send publications promptly and save us unnecessary correspondence. A great deal of time is spent in collecting both the books and the particulars necessary for cataloguing purposes. Last year we issued a mimeographed quarterly list of publications received under the Copyright Act which proved such a great success that we decided on a monthly issue. This enables those interested in New Zealand publications to obtain early information and appears to be appreciated by libraries, publishers, and booksellers here and abroad. There is a growing demand, too, for the annual Copyright list.

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International Exchange The work, as agent of the International Exchange, has grown considerably this year, 3, 098 packages having been received and despatched to other institutions and addresses in New Zealand, compared with 1,956 for the previous year. In addition, the Library received for its own use 15 cases of material, numbering some thousands of documents. Newspaper Collection As mentioned above, it is hoped to reorganize the newspaper collection and to place on the shelves in the newly acquired basement the volumes at present stacked on the floor. During the year the Library has received sets of the following newspapers for safe custody : The Examiner, (Woodville), The Patea Mail, and The Feilding Star. Acknowledgments I should like to thank the overseas agents of the New Zealand Government for their efficient services on our behalf. The Joint Library Committee has taken its usual sympathetic interest in the work of the Library and the staff has given faithful and efficient service. Attached is the statement of receipts and expenditure for the year, with the Auditor-General's certificate. I am, &c., W. S. Wauchop, Chief Librarian.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY LIBRARY ACCOUNT Statement for the Year ended 31st March, 194 Receipts Payments £ s. d. Purchase of books and periodicals Balance .. .. .. 80 5 6 in— £ s. d. Annual grant .. .. .. 2,000 0 0 United Kingdom .. .. 1,144 1 11 Refunds, lost books, resale of U.S.A. and Canada .. .. 522 13 6 books, &c. .. .. .. 13 15 0 Australia .. .. .. 56 6 0 Private Bill fee .. .. 25 0 0 New Zealand ~ .. 262 16 7 Bank charge .. .. .. 0 10 0 Cheque-book .. .. .. 0 10 0 Petty expenses .. .. - 4 6 1 Petty cash in hand .. .. 0 13 11 Balance, Bank of New Zealand: £127 12s. Bd. less unpresented cheque, 10s, 2d. .. .. 127 2 6 £2,119 0 6 £2,119 0 6 I =- W. S Wauchop, Chief Librarian, Examined and found correct. —J. P. Rutherford, Controller and AuditorGeneral.

Approximate Cost of Paper.—Preparation, not given ; printing (543 copies), £7 10s.

By Authority: E. V. Paul, Government Printer, Wellington.—l94B.

Price 3d.]

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