LIBRARIES. 7 



defended the town when, it was besieged by Prince Rupert in 1(>44, 

 and he was one of the signatories to the death warrant of King 

 Charles I. The office of Mayor of Liverpool was filled by members 

 of this family forty times between the reign of Edward III. and the 

 middle of the 17th Century, Colonel More, the regicide and uncom- 

 promising Cronnvellian, being the last Mayor of the family. Their 

 estates in and about Liverpool were extensive, and would now have 

 been of immense value. Moor Street and Moorfields perpetuate the 

 family name ; and Bank Hall and Oldhall Street their residences. 

 These documents number 1,194 items, and are a valuable contribu- 

 tion to local history. 



The books issued from the Lending Libraries during the past year 

 amount to 1,060,472 volumes, being an increase of 90,852 over the 

 previous year. Of this number 889,511 were borrowed for home 

 leading, and the balance were read in the reading rooms attached to 

 the several branches. Beyond a decrease of some GOO volumes in 

 Theology and Religion, and very small decreases under the heads 

 of Latin and Greek Classics, and Education and Languages, the other 

 classes show marked increases. Prose Fiction aggregates to itself a 

 little more than half of the total amount, and books for the young, 

 which are largely story books, 20,000 volumes. The other principal 

 increases are Technical books L3,000 volumes, History and Biography 

 4,000, Natural History 2,000, Commerce and Political Economy 

 2,000, and Travels 1,200. The issue of music numbers 21,059 

 volumes, shewing an increase of upwards of 2,000. As it is 

 reasonable to assume that the books borrowed for perusal at home 

 are in many cases more or less read by other members of the family 

 than the immediate borrower, the figures indicating the issue of 

 these books may fairly be considerably multiplied when compared 

 with the figures indicating those read in the public reading rooms. 



The new Toxteth Branch Library approaches completion, and the 

 long promised library, with its commodious reading rooms for men, 

 women, and boys, will soon be an accomplished fact. Architecturally 

 the building is already a decided ornament to the locality; and its 

 usefulness goes without saying. It is hoped that by the 1st of 

 August the Library will be opened to the public, and its benefits 

 made apparent. 



