COUNTY BOROUGH OF DERBY. 



ITwent^^eiobtb Hnnual IReport 



OF THE 



Free Library and Museum Committee 



For the Year ended September :iOth, 1S99. 



HE Free Library and Museum Committee have pleasure in 

 laying before the Town Council their Twenty-eighth 

 Annual Report. 



The Library and Museum are in a prosperous condition. The 

 number of books in the Library now amounts to 32,193, an increase 

 of nearly a thousand volumes during the past year. Full details of 

 these and of the general work of the Library will be found in the 

 Librarian's Eeport w-hich accompanies this. The question of space in 

 the present building will soon l^ecome an urgent one, and the new 

 book-case containing about three thousand volumes, which has been 

 erected during the year, is the last step that can be taken under present 

 circumstances. 



The Arboretum Branch Reading Room continues to prosper, and the 

 number of visitors is constantly on the increase. The special exit into 

 Rose Hill Street is much used during the last hour of the evening, and 

 has proved to be an admirable arrangement, although its use has led to 

 a small increase in the gas bill. All the other expenses of 

 maintenance have been kept well within the Committee's estimate. 

 The Committee are sorry to report the death of Mrs. McCarthy, who 

 has had charge of the Room from its opening. She always discharged 

 her duty with zeal and discretion, and the Committee have lost a 

 faithful and valuable servant. Her daughter (Mrs. Macnamara), who 

 has been temporarily in charge, and thoroughly understands the work, 

 has to-day been appointed to the vacant post. 



