LIBRARIES. 



LIBRARY DEPARTMENT. 



Chief Librarian's Report. 



Statistical tables as a rule are not attractive reading, and no 

 exception is claimed for those herewith presented which shew in 

 detail the work of the City Free Libraries during the past year. To 

 educationists and to the thoughtful in general the reading of a 

 great community should prove both interesting and instructive. It 

 will be seen from Table I that no less than 1,485,524 volumes have 

 been more or less read in the public Reading Rooms or taken away 

 for home reading. In addition to this 728,128 magazines, reviews, 

 and periodicals of all kinds have been issued. The various news- 

 papers provided have been read and consulted by 612, 386' persons, 

 and the free lectures attended by 58,929. These figures compared 

 with those of last year show a total decrease under the foregoing 

 headings of 81,628. The volumes issued for home reading are less 

 by 31,408, but as the Central Lending Library was closed for three 

 weeks for structural alterations a material portion of this decrease 

 is due to that cause. The balance of some 50,000 is in the reduced 

 number of magazine and newspaper readers. A falling off in the 

 number of working men attending the various Reading Rooms has 

 been observable during the whole of the year, due no doubt to the 

 excellent state of trade. Our Reading Rooms form a reliable 

 indicator of the condition of trade in the City, particularly at the 

 docks. 



An examination of Table II exhibits the steadily growing demand 

 for books of a technical character, for books of travel, and for books 

 lor the study of modern languages. Taking the Reference Library 

 ;is the principal exponent of what the people read, and comparing 

 the book issues in 1900 with those in 1890, we have of technical 

 books 41,863 against 28,450, of works of travel 20.691 against 

 9,822, and of books for the study of modern languages 20,653 against 

 6,540. It may here be noted as showing perhaps a sign of the 

 limes that the issue of Latin and (rreek classics last year was only 

 2,730 volumes, compared with 3,079 in 1889. 



