DUST JACKETS OFF!

Cue (NZERS), Issue 14, 31 December 1944, Page 12

DUST JACKETS OFF!

BEFORE you read a book, do you want to be sure that nobody else’s fingers have turned the pages, nobody else’s eyes scanned the print? That is ■the Frenchman's attitude, which explains why French books are put on the market with the pages uncut, and often a cellophane cover or a gummed paper ribbon as seal. It explains, too, why they are so roughly produced and so cheap. . If you were to adopt the Frenchmen’s attitude and, if you read as much as most New Zealanders, you would "'either indulge your taste and go hungry, or deprive yourself of most of your reading because you c'-.uld not afford it. For every person, there are some books that he likes ’to ownmaybe a

dictionary, the Bible, a guide to the turf or a gardening manual, depending on his tastes. But it does not -disgust New Zealanders to use books on a communal basis, as they, use roads, schools and films. If a book is reasonably clean, they are - not worried by the knowledge that others have read it before them and most people taxe good care of it because they know that it is going to be passed on to somebody else. . ■ n . The books that are used communally are not always the property 0 ' 6 community. Many of them, especially the lighter books that all like to rea for relaxation, are owned by P. n ' individuals' who rent them to the pu - through a ’"'Book Club . T e Club performs • a service for

.'people are willing to pay, and it is run for profit. For that reason will be found there only the books with a speedy. turnover, giving a quick return on capital. Not only must they be in demand (and this is important) but they must be the sort designed for quick reading. All very well; but in a community there are a vast number of interests—- ' constructive, cultural, call them what you will—the satisfaction of which can be regarded as socially useful. Their frustration means less knowledge, less prosperity, less voluntary mental exercise for many people. At some stage in, their development most of their in—whether they be in radio, history J or gardening —are likely to be nourished by a book; possibly by a book that can be bought from the big city bookseller. But books are expensive, and no wonder, when one considers the arm of people that help to make and distribute them. Sometimes even the writer’ gets paid a pound z or two. And — the library. . . r . Libraries* were x important places in the ancient world, because books were hand-writ-ten and were scarce. There was no spate of printed matter to treat with familiar contempt. -Nor were there the literate millions of to-day. No books so people did not learn to read. The invention of printing was of / incalculable significance; but it can be said that the reign of the printed word did not begin until the age of inven-: { tions and industrial expansion produced so much more food for the printing press. The number of things known multiplied many times; the need .to record things multiplied too, because the brain of man underwent no like expansion. More men were learning to read and write; they were learning enough to want to learn more and more—more than their next-door neighbour could tell them. Books eould help them. The story of how the consumer end of the book business organised itself to buy and distribute the books it

needed, but ' which the individual could not afford to buy, is the story of the development of the Public Library. One of the early forms was the library of the Mechanics’ Institute, and in many places this experiment in the communal use of books was a great success. An important stage in the slow growth of this idea was the transfer of control to the people’s representatives, usually the Borough Council. But there was one more z river z to cross, and at pi esent New Zealand is in midstream/ First, it became clear that an efficient library service could not be run only on subscriptions, which had to be low enough to suit the general purse. Grants were made from public money. Later it became the practice to strike a ” library rate ” on the value of property,' as was done for other services - drainage, hospitals and so on. Then people started to realise this: If a ’ store of books, suitably mobilised by a trained staff, is regarded as an asset to a community, and if the term ” library service ” is accepted in all its implications, books of information and general community usefulness will be free to all the people, not only for reference in the library but for borrowing to take home and study. ■. / This is the general practice in England and the United States, - and it is gradually spreading in New Zealand. What do you think about it? Is there free library service in your home town?

Sometimes a distinction is drawn between books that are ” free ” and books that have to be paid for. If people want to read for amusement the policy is to let them pay; if the community is likely to get some return from the use of a book, people should be allowed to borrow it without charge. Palmerston "North has gone in for this efficiently. The Public Library runs a profit-making Book Club, and part of the profits go to swell the city library rate for the free library. This can be much more than a book-reading service; it can be and is a source of energy for all sorts of useful activities.

Recently, interest in libraries has filtered up from local bodies to the central government. At first, grants were made to libraries in small settlements in country areas which were struggling to do the impossible with their meagre subscription money. But cash grants were wasteful when the books bought would be read by one or two and then collect dust. The establishment in 1938 of. the Country Library Service replaced the grant s vstem.

The Service’s book vans, one in each Island, made three circuits of the country each year. Small libraries were immediately given access to the resources of an organised library service. It means much to country people that their village librarian can make his or her choice from 1200 books every four months. Fifty books (i.e. 150 a year) cost L 4, 100 books LB, and so on. With their L 4 they might have bought 10 new books in a bookshop. It is easy. to see which is the better bargain.

The Country Library Service issues to i, small borough libraries, too. At first the limit wjis 2,500 population, now it is 10,000. The scheme, for boroughs is cleverly organised, with the emphasis on helping people to help themselves. The Borough is told: You may have books, and you may have them for nothing (on a population basis, e.g. 15 books to every 100 persons') but you must make your library a free library to all ratepayers and you must strike a library rate which will yield enough money to give a satisfactory service (say 2/- per head of population)." This fair proposition has been put to most boroughs in New Zealand, and up to March 31, 1943, (latest figures available) it had been accepted by 44. - " • •

, And the scheme works, as a typical set'of figures from the report shows. Rotorua (population 6351) Public Library. Number of borrowers before change to CLS Free System, 358; Number of borrowers as at March 31, 1943 (Local Area), 2891. Thus are

provided more books, and good books for more people. A few shillings from every ratepayer pays for them. The Service has been extended to schools. One cannot explain what this means to a person who has not seen a good assortment of modern children’s books, stimulating, carefully-graded full of colour and fun. Even the hardest-boiled ; adult is surprised when he sees the selection. It is good for children.

There is growing naturally out of the success of the Country Library Service and its leadership in library matters a healthy reaction against centralised control of libraries. Schemes for regional development are now being aired. The idea is that from a city library should be organised service to the district of which it is the centre, maybe on the Country Library Service pattern, but not necessarily Govern-ment-controlled.

Those who have worked in libraries know the fascination of seeing books organised for service. Books, efficiently mobilised, can be very useful in helping New Zealand to keep up in the race. With the latest information at our finger-tips, we may be able to avoid some of the mistakes the rest of the world has made when we plan our own development.