CROMWELL PUBLIC LIBRARY.

Cromwell Argus, Volume 1, Issue 52, 9 November 1870, Page 5

CROMWELL PUBLIC LIBRARY.

The animal meeting of subscribers to this institution was lull in the Towii'hall on Friday evening—Mr W. H. WhcLter, President, in the chair. The Chairman stated that the objects of the j meeting were —first, to receive the report of the retiring office-bearers ; and, secondly, to elect a ' new" coal nitto in their stead. He therefore I called upon the honorary secretary to read the | report. Mr Mackellar, after sonic preliminary remarks, read the following : Annual Report of the Cromwell Public Library Committed to the Subscribers. Gentlemen, —Your Committee, in resigning the trust imposed upon them by you twelve in mths ago, have to congratulate you upon the satisfactory balance-sheet which they are able to lay before you. They may be allowed to explain also that it is even more satisfactory than it appears on the first glance ; for although the total amount in the Bank to their credit is only £ls 10s 9d, thoy may claim, and deserve credit for, the value of the ensiling twelve months' supply of magazines, papers, &c, &c, for which the cash has been remitted to Britain. The stock-in-hand of books, library furniture, &c, (Oc., which your Committee will be enabled to hand over to their successors, may fairly be reckoned, even after the wear and tear of two years, at the value of £IOO. A further supply of books, to the amount of £(57, is now in course of landing at Port Chalmers, and may be expected to arrive in Cromwell in the course of this present month It forms a portion of the order sent to Britain under the auspices of the Education Board. When it is mentioned that after the arrival of the expected supply, the Library will contain complete editions of the works of such authors as Dickens, Thackeray, Scott, Disraeli, Marryatt, Lever, and Lytton among novelists ; the dramatic and poetical works of Shokspearc, Milton, Burns, Goldsmith, Campbell, Moore, Smith, Tennyson, and Longfallow ; the historical works of Maeaulay, Alison, Kinglake, Robertson, and Gibbon ; and the philosophical essays of Carlyle, Foster, De Qnincey, and Professor Wilson ; besides innumerable selections from the standard English authors, ancient and modern ; we trust it will be seen that, if we cannot excel in quantity, wc have been aiming at raising the standard of excellence in the selection of books for the Cromwell Public Library to a position second to none in Otawo. Your Committee (as was the case i\sth their predecessors) can speak gratefully of J le countenance shewn them by the Town Counallowing the use of the Town Hall for of a Library and Reading Room. It be denied, however, that the frequent visits of the subscribers and of your Committee does often interfere with the conduct of public business, or, at least, that such is a prevailing opinion. Of one thing, at any rate, there can be no doubt ; and that is, that the various meetings and important business transactions of the Council often interfere, and that to a serious extent, with; the privileges which a subscriber to a Public Library and Reading Room might reasonably (fxpeet. On these grounds, your Com* mittee would most earnestly urge upon their successors the importance, and indeed absolute ndSftlijuL uf securing a separate and independent I .I'd,', "nil for "fjlbnry purposes. We feel almost vr--Wi'-'iA ia saying that the Town Council

would deal favourably with a proposal to purchase the present Town Hall for such purposes. Your now-retiring Committee had the matter of procuring a Library Hall several times unnef discussion during their official life ; but a favorable opportunity of bringing such a scheme before the public never occurred, and it was therefore temporarily, and in their opinion wisely, abandoned. They, however, recommend it to the earnest and early attention of their successors.

Your Committee must here acknowledge that the interests of the Library languished somewhat during the long and severe illness of their Librarian ; but they must ask you to confess that they, individually, used their best efforts to carry on the affairs of the institution at such times as their private business and occupations would allow.

To show that your Committee (with one or two notable exceptions) at least endeavoured to do the duty entrusted to their care, the attendance may be summed up in the following manner :—Mr Whetter was summoned to attend 10 meetings, and attended 7. "Mr Preshaw was summoned to 10, and attended 9. Mr Marsh was summoned to 10, and attended 7. Mr Fraer was summoned to 6, which he attended, and then resigned. Mr Badger (forfeited office) was summoned to 10, and attended 4. Mr Carrick (forfeited office) was summoned to 8, and attended 4. Mr Taylor (elected nice I?raer) was summoned to 3, and attended 3. Mr Pierce (elected nice Carrick) was summoned to 2, and attended 2. Mr Mackellarwas summoned to 10, and attended 10. In conclusion, gentlemen, we trust to see our successors enter into their office with, a roll of 100 members ; and to see them enjoying even greater success during their continuance there than we have during the past. Cromwell, November 1, 1670. The report wss received, ahd unanimeusly adopted. A vote of thanks was passed to the retiring committee for their services during the past year. The meeting then proceeded to the election of a new committee, which resulted as follows : President, Mr J. A. Pre'ihaw ; vice-President, Mr Duncan Mackellar; Secretary and Treasurer, Mr J. G. Ballard.