8 
borrowers have had to be reminded that their books were overdue; but 
the offences cannot have been of such long standing, as the amount 
which had to be levied for fines is considerably less. No fewer than 
3,736 volumes had to pass through the binder’s hands for greater or less 
reason, 519 of which had to be re-bound. All the small repairs, all the 
numbering, labelling, and lettering (except where books were re-bound) 
were done by our own man on the premises. The Table giving the 
occupations of the last thousand borrowers is always an interesting one, 
showing that all classes and occupations are represented. This year’s 
shows no new features, and the same thousand borrowers are distributed 
among the Wards as shown in the Table below, on which there is no new 
remark to make. 
Per THOUSAND. 
WARD. Number 
Nate of to be papccet 
z 3 according to 
Borrowers. Po pulation. 
Arboretum ... oon ne 143 168 
Babington ... 366 wa 132 122 
Becket a Fos 5: 261 198 
Castle ee as ua 56 115 
Derwent sy hs a. 76 64 
Friar Gate ... See a 130 113 
King’s Mead... an mae 113 145 
Litchurch .., oe + 89 75 
Our new Fiction Catalogue was issued after the Annual Stock- 
taking, and sells well. A new edition of the Children’s Catalogue is 
ready for the printer, and the next section of the General Catalogue— 
that embracing History, Biography, and Travel—is in a forward con- 
dition. We hope soon to have the Card Catalogue system in operation 
for showing recent additions, and for the Reference Library as a whole: 
The News-rooms are quite as fully used as ever, and I should say 
that the number using the rooms is larger now than it was before the 
branch at the Arboretum was opened, while the attendance at the latter 
increases month by month. The Book Committee weut thoroughly 
into the list of newspapers and magazines at the beginning of the year, 
and considerably revised and improved it at an additional expenditure 
of about £14 annually. New lists have been posted in each room, of 
the magazines to be found there, while a general list in the front corridor 
shows the names of all that are taken. I have no complaint to make 
of the conduct of those who use the rooms, 
