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ll.—Extract from the Thirty-first Annual Report of the Minister op Education. By a vote of last session a sum of £3,000 was again granted for subsidies to public libraries. Notice thereof was inserted in the Gazette of the 7th November, 1907, and forms of application were sent to all libraries known to the Department. The method of distribution of the vote was the same as that adopted in previous years —viz., a nominal addition of £25 was made to the amount of the income of each library derived from subscriptions, donations, and rates, provided that the receipts for the year were not less than £2, and the vote was divided according to the amount thus augmented; but no library received credit for a larger income than £75 —that is, in no case did the augmented amount on which distribution was based exceed £100. In accordance with the Gazette notice, the day appointed for the distribution of the subsidy was the 4th February, 1908, and the amount of the vote was divided among the 417 libraries from which applications, each accompanied by a statutory declaration on the proper form, had been received at that date. The vote, as thus dealt with, afforded a subsidy of 3s. 5 - 49 d. in the pound of the nominal income, and the subsidies ranged from £4 13s. 4d. to £17 ss. 6d. The number of libraries participating in the vote shows a decrease of five as compared with the number aided in the previous year. In order that the purpose intended to be served by the vote may be attained, it is made a condition for participation that the whole of the subsidy granted to each library in the previous year shall have been expended in the purchase of books. The following table shows the distribution according to education districts : —

Summary of Distribution of public Libraries Subsidy.

Education Districts. Number of Libraries. Income. Income upon which Subsidy is based. Subsidy. Auckland Taranaki Wanganui Wellington Hawke's Bay .. Marlborough .. Nelson 104 15 33 21 27 5 26 4 5 65 23 53 36 £ s. d. 2,840 11 10 371 17 6 1,489 13 9 4,360 10 4 1,095 16 7 158 13 5 800 12 4 348 1 6 81 8 3 1,773 5 8 515 9 8 787 17 0 346 15 0 £ s. d. 4,072 19 5 691 9 11 1,494 3 11 1,088 7 11 1,304 13 0 262 15 5 1,169 17 4 297 10 6 206 8 3 2,516 2 3 1,014 1 9 2,003 7 0 1,246 15 0 £ s. d. 703 15 9 119 8 9 258 1 3 187 19 10 225 6 3 45 7 7 202 1 0 51 7 9 35 12 9 434 10 9 175 3 1 345 19 2 215 6 1 Grey .. Westland North Canterbury South Canterbury Otago.. Southland Totals 14,970 12 0 417 17,368 11 8 3,000 0 0