11. —32

1943 NEW ZEALAND

GENERAL ASSEMBLY LIBRARY (REPORT OF THE CHIEF LIBRARIAN FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st MARCH, 1943)

Laid on the Table of the House of Representatives by Leave

To the Chairman, Joint Library Committee. Sir, — I have the honour to report on the operations of the General Assembly Library for the year 1942-43. J ' Accessions.—During the year 2,800 volumes were added to the Library stock, as compared with an average of 3,400 for the past twelve years. At 31st May, 1943, the number of books accessioned was 165,891. The accessions for the year were classified as follows : Bibliography, 128 ; newspapers, 132 ; philosophy, 9 ; religion, 63 ; sociology, 653 ; parliamentary, 181 ; philology, 20 ; natural science', 106 • useful arts, 352 ; fine arts, 108 ; literature, 190 ; travel and biography, 648 ; New Zealand literature' 62 ; fiction, 156. There were again some losses of books in transit to New Zealand owing to enemy action, and through out there has been a considerable lag in the arrival of books, especially from Great Britain. These causes together account for the apparently considerable credit balance in the account. While the accessions are 20 per cent, down as compared with a long range of previous years, there are books on order which will absorb a considerable portion of the balance. Donations.—Gifts were received from the Adelaide City Council (South Australia), the Department of Agriculture (Wellington), E. Bull (Wellington), Rev.'R. L. Challis (Rarotonga), Hobart Public Library (Tasmania), Mrs. B. G. Mitford (Wellington), Consul-General of Belgium, Press Company (Christchurch), M. Redman (Wellington), Roman Catholic Mission (Rarotonga), Mrs. T. Young (Wellington), and Leo Dwan (Kerikeri). The Year's Work.—The only staff change during the year was the resignation of Mrs. Hamilton on the occasion of her marriage. The staff is now much reduced, but the admirable spirit shown by all its members has enabled us to carry on with efficiency little impaired as regards service to Parliament and to the public. The trends of work commented on last year continue in the same direction. Historical research pure and simple has given way to investigations closely connected with the war and with public administration. The reference index has claimed much attention. The staff has played its part, also, in various co-operative Library activities and in the compilation of the usual lists. For reasons of economy, the lists published by this Library are smaller than usual. Archives.-—This work has been in abeyance since the removal of the contents of the Archives to a place of safety. Inter-library lending— The number of books lent by the General Assembly Library in response to requests from other libraries was 499, which is practically the same as in the preceding year (491), In the five years this useful system has been operating we have made loans as follows : 85, 155, 302, 491, 499. The principal borrowing library again was the Country Library Service, which took 408 a slightly lower proportion of the whole than last year. Altogether twenty-two libraries borrowed from us. The principal classes of books asked for were : History and biography, 187 ; literature, 88 ; sociology, 74 , useful arts, 45 ! fine arts, 31 ; religion, 27. There were only fourteen requests with which we were unable to comply. During the year the General Assembly Library borrowed eight books from other institutions.