13 



SOCIAL STANDING OF BORROWEES. 



The f oUowing is tlie classified occupations of tlie Borrowers :— 

 Merchants' and Shopkeepers' Apprentices, Office Lads and School boys 2,182 



Mechanics, Labourers, Warehousemen, and PoUce Officers A^i^ 



Clerks, Shopmen, and others employed in Shops ^ 



Teachers, Pupil Assistants, and Scriptm-e Readers . 



'ccciait 219 



52 



1 939 

 Unemployed Females ' 



Total 8,638 



Shopkeepers and others engaged in business on their own a 

 Professional Men and Students 



The Blind Borrowers continue to avail themselves of the books specia ly 

 provided for their use in embossed type. And it is gratifying to find similar 

 Listitutions following the example of these Libraries in this particular 



Numerous examples might readily be adduced, showmg the comfort and 

 pleasure which many sick persons derive from these Libraries. Two cases 



may be cited. , , 



An old sailor, who served under Nelson, was, as long as health per- 

 mitted, a regular frequenter of the South Library. For two years he has been 

 unable to leave his bed, and consequently is now obliged to send a messenger 

 for books, which are his only companions during the sleepless hours of night. 



A clerk, who has lost the use of his limbs, and is incapacitated from follow- 

 ing his employment, finds his only solace in the books lent him fi:om the North 

 Branch. To numbers of unemployed labourers, mechanics, and others, they 

 are of unspeakable advantage, as they enable them to spend many a tedious 

 hour in a pleasant and profitable manner. 



For books of an educational character there is a steady demand, and m 

 order to foster as much as possible this desire for self-improvement, it is pro- 

 posed to considerably augment the works in this class. ^ _ 



This is the only Free Lending Library in the kingdom that issues Music, 

 and the quantity lent, and the care that is taken of it, prove how much it is 

 prized. Works of this description cannot fail to refine and elevate those who 



use them. ,. , , ^v i + f 



A complete Catalogue of the South Library was pubhshed on the 1st ot 

 January, and up to the present time 1,159 copies have been sold at one shilling 

 each. A new Catalogue embracing all the books in stock up to the close of 

 the Library year is now in preparation for the North Branch. 



The accompanying Tabular Betums wiU show the working of the Libraries 

 in detail. 



