by the fact that 1,004 books were so bespoken. Our Library stock 
now shows a percentage of 27.05 to the population, a proportion which 
compares very favourably with other towns, and the annual turnover 
of each volume is about the same as last year. I hope on some future 
occasion to lay before you the number of books in actual use, as there 
is no doubt that many books are so much dead weight on the shelves, 
and might fairly, having served their turn and got out of date, give 
way for others. 
I follow the precedent of the last two years and show here in a 
table the districts from which the last thousand borrowers come :— 
Actual Number 
WARD. Number of according to 
Borrowers. Population. 
Arboretum... ee Sai 117 iG 
Babington ... eae 38 145 126 
Becket." 4. ese 42: 233 183 
Castle shi Ste wis 65 120 
Derwent ... eee ies 61 64 
Friar Gate ... aon wus 152 rites 
King’s Mead ss wick 112 150 
Litchurch ... Ne ag 115 89 
The second column shows the number that might reasonably be expected 
per thousand according to proportion of householders. From this it 
will be seen that Babington, Becket, Friar Gate and Litchurch Wards 
again furnish considerably more than their share of readers, Derwent 
Ward is about normal, and the remaining Wards furnish less than their 
fair proportion, Castle Ward being remarkably low. 
The News Rooms are more largely used than ever, and I have not 
had a single cause of complaint as to the behaviour of those who frequent 
them. Indeed, in every part of the Institution, the public show ready 
compliance with the rules, and I do not know of a single unpleasant 
circumstance arising from their enforcement. The average daily number 
of visitors to the building is not less than 1,500, and on Mondays, Fridays, 
and Saturdays, it is far more. The visitors for the year just closed fall 
little short of half a million. 
The Museum is, I am sorry to say, still in an unfinished state. The 
Conchological collection has been arranged and labelled, and the 
