H—32

1948 NE W ZEALAND

GENERAL ASSEMBLY LIBRARY REPORT OF THE CHIEF LIBRARIAN FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st MARCH, 1948

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 1947-48. Staff During the year Dr. G. H. Scholefield, C.M.G., 0.8. E., retired from the position of Chief Librarian after twenty-one years' service, and I was appointed as from Ist November, 1947, in his place. Mr. J. 0. Wilson, D.S.C., 8.C0m., A.L.A., was promoted to be Assistant Chief Librarian, and Mr. I. K. MacGregor, 8.C0m., 8.5., to be Chief of Reference Section. Mr. MacGregor rejoined the staff in August after five years' service with the Fleet Air Arm, followed by a course in library science at Columbia University, New York, where he graduated with honours. Vacancies on the staff due to resignations were filled by Mr. R. R. Scott, 8.A., who commenced duty in August, and Miss E. M. Scholefield and Mr. D. M. Wylie, 8.A., who joined in January. We now have our pre-war complement. Miss Marion Hogg is absent in Great Britain on a year's leave to enable her to further her library studies. Misses Hogg and Scholefield have recently passed the final examination for the General Certificate of the New Zealand Library Association. The Year's Work In addition to the usual routine work of the Library, several special tasks have been undertaken during the recess. The newspaper collection in the basement has been overcrowded for some years. We have recently acquired another basement adjoining it, and an opening has been made giving access to it. Our thanks are due to Mr. H. Vass, who, from the old timber at his disposal, has erected some excellent shelving which occupies about two-thirds of the space available. Part of this is already filled with new accessions of bound newspapers, and it is hoped to complete the shelving to allow us to reorganize this department and house it more advantageously. This will be facilitated by the enlarging of the hole in the wall connecting the new basement with the library