Mutilation Of Books Is Librarians' Biggest Nightmare

Chronicle (Levin), 29 July 1949, Page 4

Mutilation Of Books Is Librarians' Biggest Nightmare

What better stand could there be for that hot cup of tea than the good old library book? What better plajthing for junior, particularly if he is armed^wfth a hifca'bi^ indelible pencil? According to harassed librarians ' throufhout New Zealand, subscribers consider there is nothing better, for not a ^day passes but books are returned to the shelves bearing only too clearly the evidence of such treatment. But that is not all; Besides suffering every outrage known to the library world, books keep coming back with a few additional embelljshments, which set even the most hardened librarians back on their heels. / 1

Remarks neither witty nor in good taste are common, and many are the books which are returned with pages deliberately torn or cut out. Then there are the books which are stolen but, as one Auckland librarian recently commented, to steal a book is clean compared with mutilating it. These are just a few of 'the troubles which beset librarians, and Levin, too, has experienced them all. But let us examine the more pleasing side of this pieture. Growth Of Levin Library. Dropping in on the local library one. day last week, your.newsman found the librarian, Mrs. M. Whitaker, busy unpacking and sorting a consignment of new books. It was learned that the- annual new additions actually bought by the -council have averaged 800 during the past few years. Seventeen and a half years ago, when Mrs. Whitaker first started, the number of books issued in a week totalled 700; the weekly average is now 1800, a large percentage of those being issued on a Friday. Light fiction seems to be by far the most popular. This is indicated by some figures taken at random from one of this year's monthly library reports. They are: — Levin stock — Fiction, 6674; nonfiction, 408. War memoirs and post-war publicaticms -^ith an international background still find a fair following. There has been quite a rush on Kravchenko's "I Chose Freedom," probably owing to the notorious libel action which followed its appearance. Major Roy Farran, of Middie East fame, has had such an

I adventurous background that it was little won'der that his book, "Winged Dagger," was rushed. The popular light fiction authors, however, are finding their way into the homes of most of the local library's members. Besides issuing books, the local librarians have quite a time answering questions on all types of subjects and securing information on many countries, people and historical events. If a book 'is not obtainable in the local library, arrangements can be made for it to be made available on a loan system from other libraries. The National Library Service is another avenue for securing books on a wide number of subjects. It was instituted in 1938 and Levin became eligible for membership in 1940. Membership is based on population. At first it was limited to towns of less than 2500, but this was increased to towns of less than 10,000. These limits, it is understood, have been enlarged. The National Library Service van calls once every four months and Levin's quota is 475 books, mostly non-fiction. National Service. The Levin library carries about 8000- books on its shelves, this number remaining fairly static as books are being discarded and replaced all the time. The books for which a charge of 3d -and 6d is leVied are also put in the free section as soon as they have paid for themselves. Besides Mrs. Whitaker, there are two others permanently on the ibrary staff, Mrs. M. Merritt, who has 11 years' service, and Miss D. Crisp. Another assistant is employed during busy periods.