CARNEGIE INSTITUTE.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 June 1920, Page 6

CARNEGIE INSTITUTE.

HEAVY COST OF MAINTAINING. Th? general manager reported to last night's meeting of the New Plymouth Borough Council as follows: Following up the report which I recently submitted showing the heavy increase in the cost of maintaining the public library, reading room, and museum, the Council appointed a sub-committee to confer w>*'> the Institute Committee with a view to seeing whether the annual expenditure could not be materially reduced. A conference was held, and the master exhaustively dealt with, the sub-committee reporting that it appeared impossible at present to make any material re-, duction. Under instructions, I obtained figures showing the net %ost to the Borough Council in some of the otliev centres. The figures to hand at present are set out below, these figures, however, do not include the maintenance of a museum, in some cases there being no museum, and in other cases the museum being controlled by trustees apart from the Council: Timaru £896, Napier £90.1,$ Wanganui, £497, PalmSrston North £l9B, Nelson £l9O. The estimated net cost to the New' Plymouth Borough Council of the Public Library, reading room, and museum this year is £B6O. Timaru and Napier therefore are the two towns in which the net cost approximates that at New Plymouth, but, as pointed out, the New Plymouth figures included the maintenance of a museum, whilst the others are for the maintenance of the publitf'library and reading room alone. Notwithstanding this, I feel that £8(>0 per annum the high side for an institution the size of the New Plymouth one. There is, however, a very live committee in chargfc of the institution, and I feel siine that knowing the position every effort will be made both to increase the revenue and to decrease the expenditure, a$ far as it is possible to do so.