HEW PLYMOUTH PUBLIC LIBRARY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 6, 1 February 1909, Page 4

HEW PLYMOUTH PUBLIC LIBRARY.

Ihe animal meeting of tlie subscribers. t» till' N.nv l'lyinouth l'ublic Library Way night. The Mayor (-"• (■• liseh) presided over a fair attendance.

AS.\r.\L STATEMENT. Hie animal rq,urt was reail as follow*: " Tin- mailer most allectiie' the welfare? of the library during the year! was the umiplutiun of i.he new library i building. 1 In* old rooms ia the Town Hall used i:; r so in., ny yrars tor the housing of tlie jur.lie library, anil which ha\e proved so m,. !c.|iute to meet the demands of the p..i,.ic, have at last i thanks to the generosity of .Mr. Andrew Carnegie, given way to a most up-to-date building in brick. Mr. Carnegie having undertaken to make a grant" if I .£2500 for the erection of the building, the Council were not long in getiin" to work, the matter being placed hands of a building committee, consisting of Councillor Bellringer telum 1 -' man), Browne, and Collis. Competitive designs for the building were invited and that of .Mr. Frank Messenger accepted. After calling for tenders, a contract was let to Messrs. Boon 8r05..: and the present fine building is tile ivsiilL of their labor. The building was. ofiicially opened by his Worship the! Mayor Oil Wednesday, .luly 1 last, a large gathering of tlie public being present. 'the total cost, including fixtures. I ainuunted to tlie interior , vt think, has bwn well adapted to meet the requirements of the public for many' years to come. . The numbet ol subscribers at Ist January, 1!J(IS, were: Yearly, 127; half-yearly, 7;j ; (|uarierly. 3!)— a total of 2H!I. On the Ist -January. the numbers were: Vearlv, 10!); half-yearly, !I3; quarterly, H—a total' of 250. In the hope of increasing tlie number of subscribers and popularising the library, the committee have considerably reduced the subscription. The j reduction took place oil the Ist January. JIKISt, but so far has not been followed by any great increase a subscribers. The number of new members to date lias been 20, as against the 2(i of last year's subscribers who have discontinued'their' subscription, having in many cases left the district. 'J he result oecn disappointing to the committee, and unless a strong effort is made to get a larger number of new members the reduction may prove embarrassing to the finances. The subscriptions are now as follow: Yearly, 7s lid; half-yearly, 4»; ijunrterly, 2s lid; magazines, 3s Od. The committee began the year with a credit balance of iilo 10s 2d, against which there were outstanding liabilities of about the same amount. The end of tlie year shows a debit balance of ,C4:i .js Id. This somewhat large deficit is explained by the fact that, since the opening of the new library the Council ha» aecidea to charge for the lighting and heating of the building, tlie payment for the period ended 31«t December, 1908, amounting to £23 las. Prior to this, when the old rooms were ofcupied, the lighting was supplied free. The committee, however, have reason to believe that if the mattr is plaeed before the Council an increase in the subsidy payable to tlx library will be made equal to the charge for heat and lighting tor the year. Another contributing cause to the deficit waa the expense incidental to removing into a large building and the necessity of more up-to-date methods oi dealing with the issue and return of books to subscribers, the institution of the card system costing some £ls 9s. In addition to this there was a -non-recurring item of £l2 8s for the purchase of a set of the "Historians' History of the World." With the 'exception of £.12 Ss for this history, the expenditure on new books, periodicals, etc., was within a few pounds of that of the previous year, the figures being: for year ended December, 1907, £129; for year ended December, 1908, £145, including the £2l 8s for the History. There are now in the library a total of 0828 volumes, of which 333 were added during the year. The work of selecting the books to be, ordered during the year has fallen upon Messrs P. "White, G. W. Browne, and D. and they have carried out their duties in an able manner. Tlie thanks of the subscribers arc due to them for the trouble they have taken. It is with feelings of profound regret that we have to record tire death of one of bur committeemen, the late Mr. Ivelsey. Mr. Kelsev had been a member of the committee for a great pumber of years, and for a long time had charge of the selection of the books for the library, and in maiiy other ways he laboured for the good of the institution. The librarian (Miss Kree) and assistant (Miss .Sole) and, the custodian (Mi 1 . Dr'ewett) have given every satisfaction in the discharge of their duties. In conclusion the committee desire on behalf of the public and the subscribers to place on record its thanks to those who have durfhg the year .made donations of Iraoks to the reference library, and to tile proprietors of the various newspapers who have supplied papers free to the reading-room." The balance-sheet showed that the year was commenced with a credit balance of £.15 10s 2d. Members' subscriptions brought in £l4B 4s 3d (including arrears), Government subsidv

£l7 5s (kl, borough subsidy £B7 10s. sale of old books, etc, £0 14s 9d. Expenditure: Librarian, £O3 10s; assistant librarian, £2l Is lOd; custodian (proportion of salary), £39; card system, £ls 9s; printing and advertising. £4 5s Od insurance, £4 12s sd; accident insurance, 10s Od; new books, periodicals, etc., £145 2s sd; labour, £1 3s Id; lighting, £ls: beating, £8 15. Total receipts, £275 4s 8d; total expenditure. £3lB 9s 9d. Outstanding accounts stood at £9 2s fid.

The chairman, in moving the adoption of the report and balance-sheet, regretted the paucity of the attendance of tinpublic, and that the had responded so poorly to the efforts of the committee to popularise the institution. A

lioys' bay,' where the subscription was very, very low, had attracted onlv one member.

Mr. K ('. Bellringer, in seconding, said that for 7s 0d a year the public had the full range of the 0000 books. He thought the older pupils of the schools might be induced to partake of the benefits to be gained '.>y becoming members of an institution so liberally provided, and so comfortably furnished ELECTION OK COMMITTEE.

The following gentlemen were elected as four subscribers' representatives on the committee: Messrs. 13. lliueD'en, R. (I. Whctter, P. White, and \V. 11 skinner. The Borough Council's representatives are the Mayor, and' Councillors Browne, Bellringer anil C'attley. VpOTi the motion of Messrs' Skinneand Swing, the secretary was asked to convey to Mrs. Kelscy the subscribers' appreciation of the labors of the late Mr. Kelsey 011 the committee. GENERAL. Mr. Ewing moved, on behalf of the subscribers, that the secretary place on record their appreciation of the courtesy received from Miss Free and other members of the stall'. Mr. White said the? library was verv unfortunate in that so very' few people donated books to the local institution. In the annual report of the Leys Institute he had seea that over 4000 books had been donated in the year, lie was sure that if the public-spirited ladies and gentlemen of the town knew that the committee was ready and anxious to receive donations of the kind the gilts would lie l'rei|uent. A complaint was made that the daily papers were too frequently cleared from tile desks in the reading-room. A resolution was passed that at least a week's ihi pers must be kept 011 the desks. |