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There were 1,324 inquiries entailing research on the part of the staff', of which 398 required less than five minutes' work, 501 took five to fifteen minutes, and 425 took over fifteen minutes. Among the 52 students using the Library for research purposes were five Fulbright scholars. Indexing of Newspapers As the Wellington newspaper, the Dominion, has found it impossible to continue compiling its index, a copy of which has been supplied generously to the General Assembly Library in the past, it has been necessary to extend our existing index of the Evening Post in order to cover New Zealand news as fully as possible. This is a large task and takes most of the time of one of the senior assistants of the reference department; but it is essential to the accurate and speedy answering of questions. It will also be of great value to students in the future, and will link up with the index of the earlier Wellington newspapers. The preparation of the latter has suffered recently owing to the resignation of the indexer, but already the issues to June, 1844, have been covered. Binding The bindery has again given excellent service despite the fact that a senior bookbinder was absent on sick leave for seven months. The volume of work done was reduced in consequence, but the output included 1,776 volumes bound and 328 rebound or repaired. The figures last year were 2,268 and 624 respectively. In addition the 4,837 new accessions were stamped with the Library crest and classification numbers and pockets put in the backs, and several special binding jobs were done for the Legislative Department. International Exchange Again our work as agents of the International Exchange has grown considerably, 5,400 packages having been received and despatched to other addresses in New Zealand compared with 3,684 last year. The Library received in addition 16 cases of material for its own use compared with 14 cases for 1948-49. There is an increasing demand for exchange agreements from other countries so that this is a department where the work is expanding all the time. Negotiations are under way for an exchange of official publications with India. During the year an exchange of material was effected with the University of California. We were able to supply sets of the Appendices to the Journals and the New Zealand Debates. In exchange we are receiving the Library of Congress Author Catalogue (300 volumes) published by Edwards Brothers, Ann Arbor, Michigan. We also completed similar sets for the library of the Cambridge University and shall receive books from the Cambridge University Press in exchange. Most of the volumes sent abroad in this way were from stocks which the Library has salvaged from various sources and held for such purposes. Thus, not only does the General Assembly Library benefit, but better resources are provided abroad for students doing research in New Zealand subjects. Acknowledgments 1 should like to express my appreciation of the work of the staff generally during the year. They have applied themselves to additional tasks with zeal and have given loyal service. I feel I should mention especially Messrs. J. O. Wilson, D. Dighton, and 8. Donkin for the special job they did in connection with the moving of the cataloguing department, for without their willing help the change could not have been made.

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