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be expended in the purchase of books. It is further enjoined upon the authorities in charge of the libraries that a due proportion of the books purchased shall be books having a permanent value. The present high prices and comparative scarcity of books will, no doubt, make the Government assistance doubly welcome on this occasion, and it is felt that anything done in the way of making good literature more accessible to country residents especially is a well-directed effort.

IT. EXTRACT FROM NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. Subsidies to Public Libraries in Country Districts. Education Department, Wellington, 11th December, 1918. Notice is hereby given that the sum of £3,000 has been voted by Parliament for distribution to public libraries in country districts. The distribution will take place about the Ist March, 1919, and no claim will be entitled to consideration that shall not have been sent in in due form, and received by the Secretary, Education Department, Wellington, on or before the 25th January, 1919. 1. A library to be entitled to a subsidy must be public in the sense of belonging to the public, and of not being under the control of an association, society, or club whose membership is composed of a section of the community only ; and if it is within a borough a reading-room where the books may be read, and containing newspapers and jieriodicals, must be provided for the public free of charge ; in addition, it must not be situated in a borough, town, or town district the population of which exceeds fifteen hundred. The receipts for the year from subscriptions, donations, and voluntary contributions must not have been less than £2, exclusive of moneys received from endowments, or from Government, or from Borough or County Councils, or for special building purposes, or as rent, hire, or consideration for the use of any room, or building, or land belonging to the institution, in respect of none of which will subsidy be allowed. The net proceeds of concerts, lectures, or other entertainments on behalf of the current expenses of the library will be regarded as voluntary contributions. A subsidy will not be given to more than one library in the same town. 2. In the distribution of the vote a nominal addition of £25 will be made to the amount of the income of each library derived from subscriptions, donations, and rates, and the vote will be divided according to the amounts thus augmented ; but no library will receive credit for a larger income than £25 —that is, in no case will the augmented amount on which distribution is based exceed £50. 3. The whole of the subsidy must be expended without delay in the purchase of books for the library. 4. It is particularly enjoined upon the authorities in charge of the public libraries concerned that a due proportion of the books purchased shall be books having a permanent value — that is, on books of more than merely passing interest. 5. Application to share in the distribution must be by means of a statutory declaration by the Chairman, or Secretary, or Treasurer of the institution on behalf of which it is made, and must be accompanied by a statement of the receipts and expenditure of the institution for the year ending on the 31st day of December, 1918, and such declaration must be on the form provided for the purpose, which form shall be as follows :— declaration. I, [Name], of [Place of abode], [Occupation], do solemnly and sincerely declare that I am Chairman [or Secretary, or Treasurer] of the [Name of institution] ; that during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 1918, the receipts of the aforesaid institution for the maintenance of the library only were as follows : From rates levied by a local governing body under Part I of the Libraries and Mechanics' Institutes Act, 1908, or the Municipal Corporations Act, 1908, pounds shillings and pence ; from the subscriptions of members, pounds shillings and pence ; from voluntary contributions other than members' subscriptions and net proceeds of entertainments, pounds shillings and pence ; that' the library is public in the sense of belonging to the public, and is not under the control of an association, society, or club whose membership is composed of a section of the community only ; that the information hereinafter furnished by me in the appendix hereto is correct in every particular ; that the abstracts of accounts is a true statement of the receipts and expenditure of the institution for the year herein specified ; that the whole of the subsidy received in the year 1917 was expended in the purchase of books for the library ; [and that by the rules of the library the reading-room is open to the public free of charge]. And I make this solemn declaration conscientiously believing the same to be true, and by virtue of the Justices of the Peace Act, 1908. [Signature.] Declared at , this day of , 191 , before me — , Justice of the Peace [or Solicitor, or Notary Public]. [Here affix and cancel a stamp at 3s.] [Note. —The words relating to the 1917 subsidy and to free admission may be struck out if they are not applicable. The words in brackets are not part of the. form, but indicate matter to be inserted or substituted.] 6. Copies of the form of application may be obtained from the Secretary, Education Department, Wellington, and from the Secretary of any Education Board. J. Hanan, Minister of Education.