have come from other cities for information and guidance in estab- 

 lishing similar services. A gratifying report of the results of such 

 consultations back in 1946 came in October when Ram S. Singh, 

 Chief Taxidermist for the British Guiana Museum in Georgetown, 

 British Guiana, revisited our department and told us of progress 

 in his country toward duplicating for rural schools the service estab- 

 lished for Chicago by our Museum. Mr. Singh's account of the 

 British Guiana program and its significant contribution to science 

 education in his country makes this department proud that as pio- 

 neer and leader in its field it can offer some help and encouragement 

 to other museums that undertake similar responsibilities in their own 

 communities and districts. 



As always, birdskins in plastic tubes were the popular studykit 

 material borrowed by teachers and study groups. This year 336 

 birdskins were checked out from the storage files for varying periods 

 of time. Other such materials loaned during the year to teachers 

 were insect-cases and rock and shell collections. 



CAFETERIA AND LUNCHROOM 



An increase of more than 4,000 persons making use of the Museum's 

 restaurant facilities brought the total for the year to 241,586. A 

 large increase was recorded in the lunchroom, which specializes in 

 rapid service of standard food-items. Sales by vending machines, 

 which make soft drinks available at hours when our other restaurant 

 facilities are closed, almost tripled the sales of soft drinks and con- 

 tributed to the considerable increase in gross receipts. 



THE BOOK SHOP 



Book Shop sales during 1957 were $141,109.36, a record for annual 

 sales. This figure is indicative of the increasing service performed 

 by the Museum in supplying interested persons with information in 

 the fields of study encompassed by the Museum. For many years 

 The Book Shop has distributed the popular four-page Museum 

 Stories written for children by staff members of Raymond Founda- 

 tion. During 1957 two series of stories were reprinted in small-book 

 form (see page 94). It is anticipated that this Museum Storybook 

 series will ultimately provide a body of reading material for children 

 of elementary-school age similar to that offered to older readers by 

 the Popular Series of the Museum. 



28 



