GENERAL ASSEMBLY LIBRARY. (REPORT OF THE ASSISTANT-LIBRARIAN FOR THE YEAR 1899-1900.)

Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1900 Session I, H-32

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1900. NEW ZEALAND.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY LIBRARY. (REPORT OF THE ASSISTANT-LIBRARIAN FOR THE YEAR 1899-1900.)

Laid on the table by Mr. Guinness, by leave, 20th September, 1900.

Sib,— I have the honour to submit to you the following report regarding the Library for the year 1899-1900 :— During the year ending the 31st May, 1900, the Library acquired by purchase 695 volumes, of which 149, costing £80 19s. 3d., were ordered on behalf of the Library by the Agent-General. The usual exchanges from Great Britain, the United States, and the British Colonies were also received, as well as the donations listed in Appendix No. 2. An accession-list for the past year has been printed and circulated amongst members, and the card catalogue will give any further information that may be sought, and will answer any question as to what books on any particular subject have been added to the Library. A complete modern apparatus for a full card catalogue has been imported and will, in the new building, take the place of the present less perfect substitute. Appendix No. Ito this report contains a cash balance-sheet for the past financial year. From this it will appear that the expenditure was greater by £111 2s. lid. than that of the preceding year, which itself was £49 11s. 4d. in excess of the previous year's expenditure ; and also that without the private bills, fees, and the balance from the previous year, there would have been a deficit of £245 18s. 6d. About one-third of the annual appropriation is still absorbed in the purchase of periodicals, and yet complaints as to the absence of particular periodicals from the Library are numerous. All which tends to show that, as has been previously pointed out, "to meet adequately the requirements of the Library a larger annual appropriation than that at present allotted is necessary." And the fact of £76 ss. 3d. having been expended on extra assistance, apart from that specially provided for, is due to the growing needs of the Library in the matter of its staff. During the recess—November, 1898, to May, 1899—thirty-six members not resident in "Wellington received between them seventy-eight boxes of books, containing 448 volumes and twentyseven parts of periodicals. In addition to those enumerated in the sessional list, and the heads of departments, forty-eight persons were admitted to the Library during the recess for the purpose of consulting books of reference. On the 7th August last year the Joint Library Committee passed a resolution as to steps to be taken for the recovery of specified books which had then been out for an inordinate time. The majority of these books have been returned or paid for. As regards the general treatment of the books, it is of great importance that persons handling books belonging to the Library should cultivate a greater reverence for literature, and realise that carelessness, apparently trivial, is often fatal to the value of books difficult to replace. The recess has been entirely occupied in the laborious task of preparing the books for removal into the new building, and this task is accomplished, except as regards newspapers, which, owing to lack of room, could not be dealt with; but owing to the non -arrival of the necessary shelving and fittings specified by the Joint Library Committee on the 25th July and 9th October, 1899, the removal has been postponed, and I have had to make an effort to arrange the Library as nearly as possible on the new lines in the old quarters. The law-books put away by order of the Joint Library Committee, 16th September, 1896, are still in packing-cases. In the general preparation 40,482 volumes were handled, each of which had to be dusted inside and outside, classified, entered in the accession-book, supplied with a book-plate duly filled in with the necessary figures, and stamped with its class-number by the binder; and, finally, the whole had to be sorted and arranged on the shelves. Besides the usual staff, eighteen persons, including four binders, were employed on this work. The whole was necessarily carried out under my personal supervision ; and it is with pleasure that I testify to the steady industry of all concerned, including the members of the ordinary staff. During the progress of this work, in order to facilitate the intention formulated by the Joint Library Committee, I sorted out 757 works which it appears to me the Library can well spare. These are enumerated in a " Proposed Withdrawal-book," which I have placed at the disposal of the Chairman of the Joint Library Committee. I would again recommend " that accommodation should be reserved in the new Library for a permanent binder, capable of doing efficiently the lettering, finishing, mending, and small repairs required daily by the Library, and that the Government should be asked to provide accordingly." Pull reasons for this appear in my report of last year, and they are more cogent now. Since the beginning of the present year we have had to send 2,767 volumes to the Government Bindery for various work, the bulk of which could have been done on the premises had there been a binder at

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hand; and there are still at least as many more volumes requiring treatment, the Government Printer not having been able, up to the present, to undertake the work. Also, all new books will henceforth require to be stamped with their class-numbers. A bindery on the premises is a feature of most of the important libraries throughout the world. Consideration of this question of binding was postponed by the Joint Library Committee on the 18th July last. The rooms of the new Library building are now being used for various extraneous purposes, and I would again strongly urge that such use should in every case be temporary only. I would also repeat "that it is most important that the resolution of the Joint Library Committee of the 11th July, 1898, instructing the architect to place the post-office outside the library, should be carried out." This resolution the Joint Library Committee strongly reiterated on the 31st August, 1899. I would suggest that there is no reason why the post-office should not continue to remain in its present position after the removal of the books to their new quarters. The basement of the new building, designed for the accommodation of bound newspapers and of matter awaiting binding, will, in my opinion, require much attention before it is fit for use. It is still very damp ; it is without fireplaces or radiators for heating and drying purposes, and the method of lighting it seems to need alteration. The present prism area-lights are continually breaking, and through the resulting holes rain-water and various rubbish find a free entrance. I recommend the removal of these lights and the substitution of excavated areas and barred windows. Apparently, at least a year will be required in which to dry this basement, and even more time for drying the strong-rooms for documents, as these rooms were locked up while still wet, and have been kept locked up for many months. As pointed out last year, the administration of the Library in the new building will be found to require the addition of two more permanent officers to the staff, of whom one at least should be competent in every particular, familiar with books and with methods of literary work, accurate, and methodical, and prepared to devote himself to the best interests of the Library, and to take a pride and pleasure therein. In this connection I quote Mr. Collier, sometime Librarian, who, in his report on the applications for the second assistantship in 1889, said, ' The parliamentary Library is on its way to become a colonial —it would be premature to say a national — library, and the Assistant appointed should have the education, the acquirements, and the habits of mind befitting an officer of such an institution." And the Joint Library Committee recognised this urgent need when, on the 26th August last, they recommended that in addition to a Librarian and First Assistant there should be appointed " a competent person of literary attainments "as Second Assistant. Reference to a table prepared last year to the order of the Joint Library Committee will show that, when compared, with the staffs of similar institutions elsewhere, the present Library staff is much underpaid. I have, &c, H. L. James, Assistant Librarian. The Hon. the Chairman, Joint Library Committee.

APPENDIX No. 1. Cash Balance-sheet foe the Yeah ending the 31st March, 1900. Receipts. Expenditube. £. s. d. £. s. d. To Balance .. .. .. ■ .. 282 1 6 By Books by purchase .. .. .. 411 4 7 Fees for private bills .. .. .. 75 0 0 Binding and stamping by Home agents .. 79 5 8 Annual appropriation .. .. .. 600 0 0 Periodicals and annuals .. .. 203 17 8 Postage .. .. .. .. 0 18 5 Freight .. .. .. 21 12 7 Marine insurance .. .. .. 2 5 1 Small stores .. .. .. .. 699 Insurance .. .. .. 40 0 0 Cleaning and wages .. .. .. 54 8 3 Extra clerical assistance .. .. 22 5 0 Packing .. .. .. .. 214 0 Advertising .. .. .. .. 0 17 6 Balance .. .. .. .. 11l 3 0 £957 1 6 £957 1 6

APPENDIX No. 2. Donations.

Approximate Cost of Paper. —Preparation, not given; printing (1,875 copies), £1 6s. 6d.

By Authority: John Mackay, Government Printer, Wellington.—l9oo. Price 3d.}

Donor. Title of Work. Wellington District Law Society George Hogben (Author) James Stuckey (Secretary) Charles Beldam (acting for the Authoress) S. Peroy Smith (Author) .. ! Catalogue of the Supreme Court Library. .. ! Methode nacurelle pour apprendre le franeais. .. J New Zealand Hereford Cattle Breeders' Association herd-book. .. I " The Hermit Princes." • ■ " Lost in the Wilds of Canada." .. i " Hawaiki: the home of the Maori."