OFFICIAL YEAR BOOK

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 219, 10 June 1921, Page 5

OFFICIAL YEAR BOOK

REDUCED DISTRIBUTION.

Readers of the New Zealand Official Year Book are not very, numerous, but eomo of them have been complaining this year that they have been unable to secure a copy, of the new annual volume. The Government Satistician, in reply to one complaint, states that of the 6000 copies usually printed 1000 go to the High Commissioner, approximately 8200 are distributed amongst newspapers, libraries, [members of Parliament, Consuls, Government Departments, etc., ’while 1400 or 1500 are sold io the public either direct or through booksellers This year the printing order was cut down from 6000 to 3500 copies. Tho High Commissioner’s allowance was reduced to 500, and over 100 temporary deletions were made from the distribution list. This left only 1000 copies, some hundreds of which were retained in the Statistician’s office to meet not only tho usual demand for sales, but also requests from those temporarily removed from the distribution lists. As a precautionary measure, it waa decided that until the reduced distribution listwas coveredthero would be no sales to booksellers, but any person desiring a copy of the Year Book could bave purchased one from the Statistician’s office. About the middle of Afay it was decided to supply booksellers’ requirements up to a limit of 500, since increased to 600. Orders received up to May 26, the Statistician says, were filled on that date, and others subsequently ns they came to hand. Tho Year Books became available only in small lota of 200 or 300 a week from the Government Printing Office, and even had the full order been printed, booksellers’ supplies could not have been expected within three weeks of the dispatch to newspapers, which are among the first to receive copies.