H. —32

1930. NEW ZEALAND.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY LIBRARY. REPORT OF THE CHIEF LIBRARIAN FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st MARCH, 1930.

Laid on the Table of the House of Representatives by Leave.

To the Chairman of the Joint Library Committee. Sir, — I have the honour to report on the operations of the General Assembly Library for the year 1929-30. During the year 2,906 volumes were added to the collection from all sources, as compared with 2,153 in the previous year, 2,270 in the year 1927-28, 2,162 in 1926-27, and 1,501 in 1925-26. The number of volumes accessioned to the end of the financial year was 120,202. Several large orders which have come to hand since the end of the financial year have practically absorbed the balance in the bank. Every opportunity has been taken this year in making purchases to fill gaps and replace missing books in important sets and old series. Stocktaking. Stock was taken during the recess of the books in the 300 class, a very large and important section of the Library, including as it does sociology, economics, and a good deal of the official publications. Owing to lack of shelving some thousands of the books in this section have had to be removed from the shelves as they became obsolete and stored in the attic. As many of them are not now easily accessible, it was considered that taking stock was scarcely justified, and for that reason we did not proceed as usual to write off after ascertaining what books were missing. lam looking forward to the establishment of the proposed official stack-room on the top floor to have a complete stocktaking in this section. Meanwhile, the work done this recess enables us to say definitely that certain books are in the Library should they be required. Binding. The binding vote of £400 on the main estimates was satisfactorily expended. A further vote of £200 was provided on the supplementary estimates, and work was done to almost that amount. Good progress has been made in rebinding volumes of valuable old newspapers which were badly out of repair ; and with the new style of binding adopted for this purpose it is hoped that they will stand the wear better in future. Reference Section. The reference work done by the Library staff has increased appreciably during the year. Almost every day one or more questions involving research has to be dealt with, and the staff has shown itself quite equal to this new development. Donations. During the year gifts were made to the Library by Colonel Leonard Darwin, the " Japan Advertiser," the Government of South Africa, Lieut.-Colonel Rupert Stewart, the West Australian Government, the Empire Parliamentary Association, and Columbia University. Recess Privileges. The recess privilege was again made good use of. The total number of persons who actually took books out was 856, as compared with 946 in the previous recess, and 822 in the recess before that. This year's figure, however, does not include persons who merely used the Library for reading purposes without taking out books.