H—32

1949 NEW ZEALAND

GENERAL ASSEMBLY LIBRARY REPORT OF THE CHIEF LIBRARIAN FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st MARCH, 1949

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 1948-49.

Staff At the end of January Miss Q. B. Cowles, after twenty-three years of faithful service, relinquished her duties as Chief Cataloguer. She was succeeded by Miss Marion Hogg, MA., who has recently returned from a trip to Great Britain, where she visited some of the more outstanding libraries. In October Miss Judith Kent, 8.A., was added to the staff following a recommendation of the Joint Library Committee that an additional assistant be appointed to enable the work of indexing early Wellington newspapers to be carried out. Mis ; Elizabeth Hogg and Mr. S. Donkin have been appointed to fill two vacancies which occurred on the staff. Book Stock The total number of accessions at 31st March was 190,061. The number of books accessioned this year shows a decrease to 4,911, as compared with 5,741 in the previous year. The bank balance at the end of the year has been reduced, to a few pounds, despite curtailment in buying. The following are recent; balances, in round figures: 1944, £1,071; 1945, £1,112; 1946, £982; 1947, £BO ;; 1945, £127; 1949, £6B. This steady decrease is due largely to the increased cost, of books and subscriptions to magazines. It has been necessary to curtail' purchases in a way which is not in the best interests of the Library. I feel that a larger annual grant is necessary if the Library is to be maintained at its. present standard. The law section, for example, needs to have a considerable! sum spent on it if it is to be kept up to date. New editions of many of the standard works are being published and must be bought for a Library such as this where it is of paramount importance to have the latest information available.