H. —32.

1939. NEW ZEALAND.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY LIBRARY. REPORT OF THE CHIEF LIBRARIAN FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st MARCH, 1939.

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 1938-39. Accessions. During the financial year 1938-39 we added to our stock 5,236 volumes, as compared with 4,994 in the previous year, 4,240 in the year before, and an average of 2,516 for the preceding eleven years. The number of books accessioned constitutes a record, but is unlikely to be maintained during the next year or two. At the end of May the number of books accessioned was 152,750. In pursuance of our policy of making up leeway in the acquisition of reference books, standard texts, &c., and at the same time acquiring all that is called for in the field of sociology, history, and official papers, we have fully expended our fund instead of carrying over a considerable balance to the current year. Owing to the operation of the exchange we have found it advantageous to make more of our purchases within New Zealand. Donations. We have, as usual, received a good number of donations during the year from various sources. Amongst these are the following : Aeradio Committee (Wellington), American Association for Adult Education (New York), H. A. Armstrong (Melbourne), Australian Trade Commissioner (Wellington), K. Binns (Canberra), C. M. Bothamley (Wellington), E. J. Burrows (Cheltenham), Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (Washington), China Information Committee (Hankow), Consul-General for Czechoslovakia (Sydney), Consul-General of Japan (Wellington), Consul-General for Sweden (Sydney), Dotation Carnegie pour la Paix Internationale, Educational Policies Commission (Washington), Empire Parliamentary Association (London), R. F. Kies (South Australia), Hon. H. G. R. Mason (Wellington), Minister of Customs (Wellington), National Library (Wales), New York State Library (New York), J. J. Paton (London), T. M. Plimmer (Khandallah), Prime Minister's Department (Wellington), Proportional Representation Society (London), Public Archives of Canada, RegistrarGeneral (Belfast), South African Public Library (Capetown), Miss M. M. Stafford (London), J. T. Stuart (Wellington), T. R. Toovey (Sydney), and E. Westner (Germany). Staff Work. Early this year the Assistant Librarian, Mr. W. S. Wauchop, having accepted the appointment of Pageant Master for the Centennial, was seconded from the Library for this duty. He will probably not rejoin the staff until after the end of the present financial year. In April, Miss Q. B. Cowles left for the United Kingdom on six months' leave of absence. Temporary arrangements have been made to fill these positions. Mr. C. Johnson, the binder, who has been on the staff for more than twenty years, retired in April. His place has been filled by the appointment of Mr. R. McEwan. I regret to say that Mr. T. J. Lewis, the stack superintendent, died in April. He had rendered very efficient service over a period of about twelve years. The Library and archives have been very largely used during the year for purposes of research, particularly in connection with the approaching Centennial celebrations. Students from all over New Zealand have made use of our resources, and their w'ants have been met very satisfactorily by the staff. The secretariat of the National Historical Committee has now vacated the rooms previously occupied on the top floor, thereby making further space available for the storage of archive material. The Health Department has also completely evacuated the rooms it has occupied for many years in the Library wing. The additional accommodation thus made available will enable us, when, shelving is provided, to complete the official stack on the top floor and to house in better order a large quantity of archive material and duplicate book stock.