Borough of Derby. 
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT 
OF THE 
Hree Hibrarp and Museum Committee, 
for the Year ended Sept. 30th, 1891. 
HE Free Library and Museum Committee present their Twentieth 
Annual Report to the Town Council with very great pleasure, and 
are glad to be able to speak of the prosperity of the Institution under their 
charge as continuous and progressive. 
The year just closed has not seen the inauguration of anything new 
in connection with the work of the Library and Museum, but the Com- 
mittee have had steadily in view the important part the Institution plays 
in the intellectual life of the town, and have endeavoured to make its 
attractiveness and usefulness keep pace with the ever-growing requirements 
of the time. No fewer than 1,512 new books have been added to the 
Library, of which 1,136 are quite new, and 376 are replacements. Of the 
new books, 254 have been placed in the Reference department, many 
of them Scientific works of great value, and the addition of works bearing 
on Technical Education has not been lost sight of, and will be carefully 
looked after as time progresses. 
The Committee are glad to report the Building to be in a good state of 
repair. No painting and cleaning have been necessary during the past year, 
except to the houses of the Librarian and Porter, but there have been 
_ several important items of expenditure. The remodelling of the Heating 
_ Apparatus at a cost of £90, remedied a very unsatisfactory state of things, 
_ and the building is now comfortably warmed throughout. The re-lighting 
of the Reading Room is responsible for a cost of £61, but the excellent 
- result justifies the expense, and probably nothing better can be obtained 
