be 
: 
4 
, 
; 
GENERAL REPORT. 
—————— 
For sixteen years it has been my privilege to write the introduction 
to the Annual Report of the interesting group of institutions under 
our care. It has been very gratifying to record year after year 
their growing popularity, and the useful part'played by them in the 
education of the people of Liverpool. On no previous occasion have 
I found any difficulty in describing our progress, but we have now 
arrived at a point when figures alone fail to convey any adequate 
idea of the public appreciation and enjoyment of our work. The 
books issued from our Libraries now exceed four times the 
population of the City, and if placed end to end would form a 
chain reaching from London to Edinburgh, while magazines and 
periodicals are in number double the population, and it is 
encouraging to be able to add that the proportion of books of 
educational value gradually increases. The issue of books of a 
wholly technical character exceeds a quarter of a million, a proof 
that many of our working people are seeking the means of improving 
themselves and enhancing the value of their labour. Music again 
figures largely in our issues, and our books on Art, Architecture 
and Design, in which our Library is very rich, have been in constant 
demand for reference. 
Probably the most gratifying feature in our Library work has 
been the large use made by boys and girls of the Reading Rooms 
placed at their disposal. Our Chief Librarian justly says that “in 
number, in matter, illustrations and ‘get up’ it is essentially a 
golden age of books for our young people.” This is just as it 
should be, and bodes well for the future. The habit of reading, to 
be of real use to the reader, must be acquired when young, 
and should be pursued with a definite purpose. Our Sub-Librarians 
have special instructions to assist our young readers in their choice 
of books, and as far as possible to check any tendency to desultory 
reading. We appeal to the Masters of our Elementary Schools to 
a ’ 
