THE NEW PUBLIC LIBRARY.

Globe, Volume VII, Issue 786, 28 December 1876, Page 3

THE NEW PUBLIC LIBRARY.

The arrangements for opening to thejpublic the new building recently erected for the reference and circulating departments of the Public Library having been completed, it will be available on and after to-day. It would have been so sooner had it not been that the return by the subscribers of the books has been of such an intermittent character as to seriously impede the works of classification and cataloguing. The entrance to the library is by a recessed doorway with swing doors facing on Cambridge terrace. Passing through these wo come to a passage leading to the left to the reading room, which is cut off from the passage by handsome halfglass swing doors, and to the right to the circulating and reference departments. The whole of the new wing is devoted to these two departments. We first enter the circulating library, which is a lofty well proportioned room, lighted by two large windows and having a very cheerful appearance. The floor is covered with lineolum, which prevents any noise from footsteps, and the shelves and bookcases ranged round the room are very handsome pieces of furniture. In this room, which is divided from the reference library by a partition haying glass swing doors in the centre, is divided into twenty-six bays, containing the various divisions of literature neatly labelled, so that the visitor can see at a glance what he requires. The librarian’s desk is placed on the eastern side of the room facing the bookcases, and it is intended, we believe, shortly to provide a counter for folding papers, delivering books, &c. Passing through the swing doors, we enter the reference library, which is also a very handsome and well lighted apartment, the shelves and bookcases being divided in the same way as the circulating library. Now that the late Provincial Council Library has been added to the reference one already possessed by the Public Library, there is a very extensive show of books. It is intended to place a number of small tables in this room, for the convenience of those requiring to consult the various works of reference. The ventilation is very complete, as in addition to the usual ground ventilation the cornices of the apartments are pierced with ornamental stars, which act as ventilators, communicating with the shafts, which lead to the outside of the building. At night the rooms are lit by two very handsome gas sunlights, and the temperature is regulated by hot water pipes beneath the floor. Half way along the passage previously referred to is a compact little lavatory, with two basins and the water laid on from an artesian well outside, which will prove a great boon to the frequenters of the Library. The usual out offices are also provided, and in the yard is an hydraulic ram, which supplies the water for the heating apparatus. Entrance to the reading room is gained by swing glass doors passing into the old passage for the present. It is intended, however, to carry out further alterations shortly, by winch the old circulating and referenoe libraries will bo thrown into the reading room, except a small office. A door near the position of the old one will lead to this office and also to the upper rooms, which are now used for the College classes, Altogether the new building is a credit to the city, and without making any great pretensions to ornamentation, is yet substantially and usefully furnished.