H.—32a

Other Ways in which Service has been given. Hamper, or " C " Service.—ln places where no library exists and where it is not possible for one to be formed, the service to properly established groups by means of travelling hampers has been continued. During the year 54 groups received this service, compared with 47 for the previous year. Many of the unit collections which were formed during the first year of the service were recalled during the year and fresh collections substituted. Postal, or " D " Service.—During the year 168 persons used this facility, compared with 116 in 1940-41. In exceptional circumstances two books were allowed to a borrower, to offset inevitable delays where mail-transit times are lengthy. Lists of material available in certain subjects have been issued from time to time for the convenience of borrowers, but as yet no attempt has been made to produce printed lists of books. This very necessary step will be taken as soon as circumstances allow it. Request Service. —Each of the 400-odd libraries participating in the Service display Country Library Service posters inviting their borrowers to request books of non-fiction, even although such books are not in the stock of the library concerned or are not at the time on loan from the Service. During the year 1,598 requests were received at Wellington for such books, the range of subjects covered being extremely wide. Eighty-five, or approximately 5 per cent., of these requests were not filled, either because the required book was unobtainable or because it was judged to be not within the scope of the service—i.e., it was fiction or ephemeral non-fiction. Borrowings from other libraries throughout New Zealand under the interloan service of the New Zealand Library Association were of great assistance ; 522 volumes were borrowed, compared with 301 for the previous year, the bulk of these books, 423, being lent by the General Assembly Library. Loans from the Country Library Service to large libraries under the interloan scheme were 33, compared with 12 in 1940-41. Periodical Service. —To enable users of free borough libraries to have access to a considerably wider range of periodicals than such libraries can afford to buy regularly, some 120 periodicals have been sent to 27 free public libraries participating in the Service. Each library received up to 30 periodicals chosen from the list, in lots of some six to eight, sending its initial lot to another library by post after one month and receiving another in the same way. The effect of this service is that many country people now have access to a range of periodical literature hitherto available only in city libraries. Book Stock. In spite of the war, and thanks to the efforts of the Navy and merchant service and to the work of those responsible for the despatch of publications from Great Britain, no serious shortage of books has been felt. It is inevitable that some losses should have occurred, but these have been slight. During the year the Service received and added to stock 18,093 volumes. The total stock now stands at 63,155 volumes, of which 35,312 are non-fiction and 27,843 fiction. The percentages of various types of books in stock at 31st March are as follows : General works, 0-84 ; philosophy and psychology, 1-79 ; religion, 1-34 ; social sciences, 7-86 ; philology and language, 0-33 ; natural and pure sciences, 2-73 ; applied science and useful arts, 5-26 ; fine arts and recreations, 5-40 ; literature, excluding fiction, 4-38 ; history, travel, and biography, 23-52 ; fiction, 46-55. During the year binding of the books requiring treatment in the South Island was arranged for at Christchurch with a commercial firm, the North Island binding being done at Wellington. War Library Service. The increased scale of mobilization in New Zealand has brought difficult problems in the supply of books and the organization of library service in camps. Up to December, 1941, the main lines of organization of the library service to the armed forces had been fairly satisfactorily laid down and the service was working smoothly. Each large camp had been provided with a first-class library building— during 1941 the Burnham Military Camp library was built and put in commission, while Trentham's library was remodelled to give it space more in proportion with the work being done. During the year ended 31st March, 1942, 48,687 books and 57,332 periodicals were distributed to military camps, Air Force stations, vessels of the merchant service, troopships, mine-sweepers, New Zealand No. 1 hospital ship, military hospitals, guards of vital points, and other points. The total distribution since September, 1939, from all libraries acting with this Service as distributing agents had reached .146,090 books and 157,002 periodicals by 31st March, 1942. The Service has also continued to act as a means of co-ordinating the efforts of all libraries in New Zealand in the work of collection of material from the public, and of acting generally for the National Patriotic Fund Board in library matters. The greater needs brought into existence by the increased number of camps will make necessary a revised system of operation, if these needs are to be met. Central Bureau for Library Book Imports. From Ist April, 1941, to 31st March, 1942, 273 recommendations for special license to the value of £11,164 6s. (New Zealand currency) were made for 28 libraries. A small proportion of this amount represents orders for which fourth-period licenses had been recommended, but the books had not been received until the fifth licensing period, when new licenses had to be issued. The recommendations have covered non-fiction books and periodicals and junior fiction of recognized quality. Union Catalogue. —The Union Catalogue which started in 1941 with a copy of the Country Library Service Author Catalogue as a basis has been receiving notification of accessions from all the University and major public libraries since Ist January, 1912. Since the last annual report 12,000 new entries have been filed into the catalogue, making an approximate total of 30,000 entries. In addition to checking, copying, and filing entries received from other libraries, the Union Catalogue staff has also checked lists circulated by the Book Resources Committee. The function of a Union Catalogue as a clearing-house for inter-library loans is one which is hampered by lack of records of holdings of libraries, other than Country Library Service, prior to 1941 ; in spite of this, however, some service has been able to be given when the requests have been for material published since 1938. / New Zealand Library Association. The following account of the work done by the Book Resources Committee of the New Zealand Library Association has been supplied by Miss E. J. Carnell, Liaison Officer between the Service and the Association.

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