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Of course, as stated already, the removal of so many volumes into these rooms rendered many changes necessary in the redistribution of the books throughout the whole of the other rooms. I had no wish to make any unnecessary alterations, as well to save labour as to consult the convenience of honorable members who have been using the library for years, and who will naturally look for their favourite authors on the shelves they were wont to occupy. I have had a simple plan prepared which shows the distribution of the books at a glance, both on the ground-floor and in the gallery. The whole is divided into sections, indicated by capital letters, while the several cases in each section are marked by small letters. These marks will be inserted in the next General Catalogue, so that members may be able to tell at once where they can lay their hands on any volume they may wish to consult. I need only mention here one or two of the salient features in the changes that have been made. The Diai'ies and Letters have been incorporated with Biography, and so also have the Speeches of eminent men, of which, I may say in passing, our collection is rather scanty. Philosophy also h;>.s been removed from among the Arts and Sciences and constituted into an independent section. The Foreign Classics, which were scattered all over the library, I have collected and placed together alongside of the zincient Classics, and these two, along with their English versions, form a compact section. After having succeeded in arranging the books, according to my mind, as far as the nature of the accommodation at my disposal would admit, the next thing that demanded my care was the numberinoof the books. For some unaccountable reason or other this has hitherto been overlooked, although there is scarcely anything more important in connection with a large library such as ours, or more essential for its proper management, than that every book in it should bear its own number and shelfmark. Accordingly I had tickets prepared, and have succeeded in labelling over 10,000 volumes. Much greater progress would have been made with this portion of my work, but I was interrupted in the very heat of it by the repairs, Ac, which had to be effected in the library, as in all the rest of the building, preparatory to the assembling of Parliament. For over a month the gasfitters and painters were more or less intermittently in the library, so that my work had to be prosecuted in the midst of the greatest difficulty and discomfort. Next recess, however, will I hope see this important task completed. With the view of possessing, as every public library should possess, a permanent catalogue of the library—a historical register of all the books added to it from time to time —every book has been taken down as soon as marked, and the full particulars in regard to each will be carefully entered in volumes I have had prepared for the purpose, and will be preserved for reference in all future time. Such a catalogue is invaluable in connection with every large library, forming, as it were, a compact history of the growth of the institution from year to year. I have just been able to make a fair start with the work, but it is one of such magnitude, owing to its having been neglected so long, that it will require many months of uninterrupted labour to overtake arrears and get abreast of our present accessions. Simultaneously with this work, there was another that imperatively called for immediate attention. There were huge piles of American publications, the accumulations of many years, all entered in the catalogue, but lying loosely about in such a way that it was almost impossible to lay hands on any of them that might be wanted. Many of these, like our own Imperial parliamentary papers, are extremely valuable, being full of the latest and most authentic information on a great variotv of subjects that demand from time to time the consideration of the American Legislature, and therefore I thought it very desirable —indeed, absolutely necessary' —to have them assorted, as far as might be, according to their subjects, with the view of having them bound and placed on our shelves so as to be available in case any one might wish to consult them. This, too, has now in a large measure been accomplished. I shall deal in the same way with a large collection of pamphlets belonging to the library, which I have not yet had the time to carefully examine. In consequence of the negligent manner in which our orders were attended to during the whole of the year 1881, the Committee, at its meeting on the 13th July last, resolved to make fresh arrangements, to commence from the Ist January, 1882, for getting our supplies of books, magazines, &c, from England. The agency was offered to W. G. Parsons, Esq., a barrister in London, who has for many years acted as selector of books for the Dunedin Athenasum. On the 3rd October a calogram was received from that gentleman, intimating his willingness to act in the same capacity for us. Accordingly full instructions were sent Home to him as to the nature of the duties he would be expected to discharge, and it is hoped that our requirements will be better attended to and the interests of the library promoted by this new arrangement. It is only fair to Mr. Stock, our late agent, to state that ho has, in various letters received during the recess, fully explained the cause of the irregularities complained of last session. He feels very sore on the loss of the agency, and hopes the Committee may reconsider their decision. The correspondence will be laid before the new Joint Committee, and it will rest with it to say what action, if any, it may take in the matter. Meantime our new n<?ent has entered on his duties, and I am every day expecting from him a large consignment of some of the latest and most interesting works published since last session. In accordance with the resolution passed at the last meeting of the Joint Library Committee, I have prepared a list of books every month, which on receiving your approval has been duly transmitted to London by successive mails, so that, besides the large order sent Home by the Committee last September, and which is already to a large extent executed, there are six orders of the value of £25 each in the hands of our new agent and in course of execution. Besides the change in the agency, it may not be out of place to mention another change intimately connected with it that it was deemed advisable to make during the recess, and that is as to the manner of paying our Home agent. The method hitherto in force has been that on presenting his invoice and bill of lading at the Agent-General's office he received a cheque for the full amount of his invoice without further inquiry. This appeared somewhat unbusinesslike, and left the Committee very much at the agent's mercy. Mistakes, of course, will occur, and as a matter of fact we found out several errors in some recent invoices. But the Agent-General knew nothing of these, and so the money was paid. I have accordingly made out a contra account against Mr. Stock, and forwarded it

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