THE GLOBE. MONDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1880. THE PUBLIC LIBRARY.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 2117, 6 December 1880, Page 2

THE GLOBE. MONDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1880. THE PUBLIC LIBRARY.

It is, we think, greatly to bo regretted that the Board of Governors should have so hastily adopted the recommendation o£ the Library Committee, with reference to the increase in the subscription to the circulating portion of the Public Library. One or two members, it is true, did raise their voices against it, but in the end gave way. As it is probable another meeting will be held before the proposed alteration takes effect, wo trust that the Board will see their way to a reconsideration of the inattor. The chairman stated, as a reason for the increase, that the revenue from subscribers did not cover the cost, but he failed to distinguish between the cost of the reference library—a costly portion of the institution—and that of the circulating part. The main portion of the subscribers to the latter are young people, just, it may be, commencing to earn money, who have a taste for literature, which perhaps saves them from spending their time less profitably. To these the increase, small though it may appear, really means a great deal, and the result may very possibly be that a number will withdraw mi find other

methods of passing their evenings. It must he remembered that this is, to a certain extent, a public institution, not a society dependent for existence on the amount of suhscriptions received, and when the Library was made free by the Government, the possibility of the circulating department not paying its way must have been very evident. And, however much we should like to see the benefits of the institution made available to the public without being a burden on the funds of the Governors, we certainly consider they have began at the wrong end. The figures brought forward by the chairman show indeed that the circulating library works at a considerable annual loss; but that is not the question so much as whether the benefits it confers on the people at large are commensurate with the expenditure. The reading-room and the reference-room are manifestly worked at a heavy pecuniary loss, but the good they are supposed to be doing is held to balance the account. It is not very obvious why the circulating library should be looked at from a totally different standpoint. There is no other circulating library worth mentioning to take its place, and the people of Christchurch and neighbourhood have certainly been educated into the belief that the Board of Governors have undertaken the supervision of the reading of the public, and of the rising generation in particular. The good the circulating library may be supposed to be doing is apparently as great as that effected by the other departments of the institution, and if fun&s are absolutely necessary, it would appear just as logical to raise money by charging a small entrance fee to the reference library, as by raising the subscription of the circulating library. And while we are on this subject there is another point to which it would be well to refer. The use to which the public reading room is hut too frequently put is not satisfactory. It has not been built with the purpose of furnishing certain individuals with a comfortable place where they can woo the sweet embraces of Morpheus. There are occasions on which if a casual visitor were to enter the room he would find it looking more or less like a battle field the day after the battle. Prostrate forms are seen in various stages of slumber, which perhaps rouse themselves occasionally to take one glance at a magazine and then sink again into oblivion. These gentlemen help considerably to crowd the room, and the ventilation being at no time very perfect, the atmosphere late in the evening is not pleasant for the reader who really is in search of the current news—not to mention the fact that these recumbent gentlemen frequently use as a pillow some of the most interesting matter. It is, indeed, difficult to see what is the real remedy for this state of affairs. An extreme measure would be to have nothing but upright desks, such as are to he found in the first room. People would then read what they wished and leave the place. Unless our sleepy friends could repose in an upright position—which, we fancy, is beyond even them—they would then be completely non-pluoed, Anybow the matter should be taken in hand by the authorities, for the reading-room is evidently very often used in what we may call an illegal manner. We are sorry that the Board of Governors did not in any way turn their attention to the possibility to keeping the reference-room open as long as the read-ing-room, namely, until 10 p.m. "We have on a previous occasion adverted to the desirability of such an arrangement, seeing that the bulk of the persons who would use this department can only do so in the evening, and that they cannot by any possibility get there till somewhat late. The usefulness of this section, would, it may fairly be said, be nearly doubled, if such an arrangement were made, and we trust the Board of Governors will on a future occasion take the matter into consideration.