H.—32.

Publications by local Centennial Committees include (Melville Harcourt) The Day before Yesterday ; (J. G. Wilson) History of Hawkes Bay ; (H. E. R. L. Wily) South Auckland ; (W. E. M. Jacobson) Akaroa and Banks Peninsula, 1840-1940 ; (John Brown) Centennial History of Ashburton ; (Gifford and Williams) A Centennial History of Tauranga ; (J. Garcia) History of Whangamomona County ; (C. W. Vennell) Such things were ; (C. J. Roberts) Centennial History of Hawera and Waimate Plains ; (Rutherford and Skinner) The New Plymouth Settlement, 1841-1843 ; Felton Mathew papers, Founding of New Zealand ; (Mrs. E. Tapsell) Historic Maketu ; (Chappie and Veitch) Wanganui; (Alan Mulgan) City of the Strait; (Auckland University College) 1840 and After ; (A. D. Mcintosh) Marlborough : a Provincial History ; (E. J. Lord) Old Westland ; (K. C. McDonald) History of North Otago ; (Basil Howard) Rakiura ; Petone's First Hundred Years; Raglan Old Settlers Souvenir Booklet; (Earle Vaile) Pioneering the Pumice ; Yesterday and To-day in Otago. Other Centennial publications : (James Cowan) Sir Donald Mac Lean ; (F. Waite) Port Molyneux ; (F. W. Williams) Through Ninety Years, 1826-1916 ; Tales of Pioneer Women ; (H. C. Fancourt) The Advance of the Missionaries ; (H. Beattie) The First White Boy Born in Otago ; (Edmund Smith) Early Adventure in Otago ; (H. Beattie) Tikao Talks ; (E. M. Smith) A History of New Zealand Fiction ; (S. C. and L. J. Matthews) Matthews of Kaitaia ; Lower Hutt Past and Present: Jubilee ; (E. C. Studholme) Te Waimate ; (M. C. Thomas) Yeomen of the South ; (D. W. Malloch) Early Waikouaiti; Two Maoriland Adventurers : Marsden and Selwyn ; (Beryl McCarthy) Castles in the Soil; (Auckland Lyceum Club) Silhouettes of the Past; (T. A. Pybus) It happened in Otakou ; (J. R. Elder) The History of the Presbyterian Church in New Zealand ; (J. Comrie) The Presbytery of Auckland ; (Sydney Waters) Clipper Ship to Motor Liner ; The Story of the New Zealand Shipping Company, 1873-1939 ; (Frank C. Bowen) The Flag of the Southern Cross : the History of Shaw, Savill, and Albion Co., Ltd., 1858-1939; History of Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand, Limited, 1875-1940. Staff Work. The amount of historical research done in the Library since the termination of the Centennial celebrations has been noticeably less. On the other hand, research in the economic and sociological sections remains fairly heavy. During the past year the Library has been able to provide facilities for a number of members of the Public Service specially chosen for post-graduate courses. The Assistant Librarian, Mr. W. S. Wauchop, who had been seconded for duty as pageant master for the Centennial celebrations, returned to the Library early in 1941. The staff has, on the other hand, suffered further reduction by officers going on war service. In addition to Messrs. B. D. Zohrab, C. H. Constable and R. McEwan, who joined up last year, Mr. J. 0. Wilson and Mr. I. K. MacGregor have now left on active service with the Royal Navy and Fleet Air Arm respectively. The vacancies thus occasioned are being filled temporarily. Mr. Wilson has completed his degree of B.Com. During the year the five hundredth anniversary of the invention of printing was celebrated. A special exhibition showing the history of New Zealand official printed papers, early New Zealand books, and examples of fine printing was arranged in the Library, and was visited by parties of school-children as well as by the general public. In addition, the General Assembly Library contributed a display of early Wellington newspapers to the bigger exhibition which was arranged at the Wellington Public Library. Inter-Library Lending. This branch, which is in effect an activity of the National Library, again shows considerable expansion. During the year we lent 302 volumes to thirteen other libraries and the Country Library Service, as compared with 155 last year and 85 in the preceding year. Again about two-thirds of the loans were made through the Country Library Service to meet the requirements of small libraries all over the country. The balance were to the larger public and special libraries. We received forty-five requests for books which we could not supply. The type of book requested from us is shown by the following analysis : History and biography, 134 ; sociology, 56 ; literature, 44 ; useful arts, 24. The General Assembly Library borrowed 10 books, as compared with 19 last year and 6 in the preceding year. International Exchange. As agent in New Zealand for the International Exchange Service, the General Assembly Library last year received from abroad 3,214 packages and 14 cases of official and scientific publications, as compared with 3,046 packages and 10 cases in the preceding year. Most of this material was for the General Assembly Library itself as the National Library of New Zealand, the balance being redistributed to Departments, libraries, and private addresses. During the last few years the Library has come into possession of a considerable body of duplicate publications of the League of Nations. As this material is of great interest to students of history and economics, it was thought desirable to distribute it so as to make it available throughout the Dominion. Duplicates have therefore been offered to some of the principal libraries which are interested and which already have a certain amount of the League publications. Map Collection. A good deal of attention has been given this year to the arrangement and cataloguing of the map collection. This includes a great number of (a) early maps of considerable historical value ; (b) maps published by the Lands and Survey Department since its inauguration ; (c) Admiralty charts and ordnance maps from Great Britain, the United States, Canada, and Australia.

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