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The district high school fees in South Canterbury amounted to £55 12s. 6d., and the Waimate High School Board, having no school of its own, contributed £56 ss. to the Waimate District High School. The special classes in that school and at Temuka numbered—Latin, 7 pupils ; Euclid, 8 ; algebra, 9 ; French, 3. The Otago District has five schools of this order, at Lawrence, Oamarn, Palmerston, Port Chalmers, and Tokomairiro. The fees reported in the Board's return of income amounted to £99 13s. 6d., and the contributions of School Commissioners to .£444 ss. Id. The studies of the special classes were as follows: English, 55 pupils; Latin, 76 ; French, 52; Euclid, 53 ; algebra, 71; trigonometry, 8 ; agriculture, 9. The only other school of this class is at Kiverton. There are 12 pupils, oi whom 10 learn Latin, 4 French, and 9 algebra. There is no statement of the amount of the fees paid. Early in March of the present year a circular letter was sent to the headteachers of more than a thousand public schools, impressing upon them the importance of having a library for every school, and inviting them to state what had been done, or was likely to be done, in this direction in their own schools. To this letter 137 replies have been received, the numbers from the several districts being as follows : Auckland, 40; New Plymouth, 4; Wanganui, 10; Wellington, 12; Hawke's Bay, 5; Marlborough 3; Nelson, 12; North Canterbury, 20; South Canterbury, 2; Westland, 2; Otago, 15; Southland, 11. Twenty-four of these replies make report of school libraries in operation, which serve for thirty-three schools. One hundred and thirteen replies are to the effect that school libraries are not yet established; in twenty-one cases, however, efforts are now being made, and in twenty-one others the writers promise to use their best efforts to secure the end desired. In two or three cases these efforts will be directed to the formation of public libraries, and the partial adaptation of them to the wants of children. One teacher reports that a school entertainment has furnished the nucleus of a fund, and that application is to be made to the Auckland Board for a subsidy. The report of that Board intimates that its practice is to grant a subsidy of one pound for every pound locally contributed to a school library, a practice allowed by " The Education Act, 1877," section 43 (6). Thirtyfour teachers report either that neighbouring public libraries and Sunday-school libraries supply sufficient facilities for reading, or that it is difficult to raise money for school libraries in addition to the others. Several teachers regret the apparent impossibility of obtaining school libraries, and make reference to other means employed by them to create a taste for reading, such as lending their own and their children's books, and using the Illustrated London Neivs and the Graphic as aids to their teaching, and encouraging the children to become familiar with these publications; or they state that in many homes accumulated prizes and presents form small private libraries, from which exchanges in the way of loan are often made. In a few cases the report is that the teacher has tried and failed, but it is sometimes added that he will try again, and that he hopes the influence of the circular will strengthen his own, and lead to success. Some teachers say that the absence of the habit of reading is due to want of inclination and of time, rather than to want of books. In thirteen letters the scarcity of money is assigned as the cause of inaction, and in several of these appeal is made to the Government for help. The variety of methods detailed in the succeeding paragraphs may, perhaps, suggest means to those who plead the poverty of their districts. The following is an abstract of the information contained in twenty-three letters relating to libraries in existence :— Auckland —Ponsonby : 215 books, bought out of surplus of an old building fund belonging to the school. Whangarei: 117 books. Mount Hobson, Girls': 500 books. Subscriptions, concerts, £7 from Auckland Education Board. Kaukapakapa : Pupils of a night school paid into a penny savings bank, and devoted the savings to a library. Voluntary contributions, lectures, school flower-shows, Board's subsidy. 3—E. 1.

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