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MECHANICS' .INSTITUTE !a
Annual Meeting.
A YEAR OF PROGRESS.
The annual meeting of the Mechanics'
Institute and Public Library was held
last night. The president (Mr. F. R.
Unsworth) occupied the chair, and thero I
was a fairly large attendance.
THE S2ND REPORT. a
The BSnd annual report stated:-
"The board records with deep regret
the loss the Institute has sustained
through the death of Mr. C. St. John
David, who had been a valued member(
of the board for many y)ears. Mr. C. T.
Wilkinson was appointed to fill the vac
ancy thus caused. The hen. trees reer
(Mr. A. J.oscelyne) was granted extended
leave during als absence from the state.
Mr. F. W. Webber was appointed acting
treasurer.
"The Library.---There was a slight de
cline in membership during the year.
and a reduction in the number of boqks
Issued to borrowers. The number of
books issued was 70,697. Of these 5305
were works on general subjects, and
65,392 fiction. Large accessions of now
books were made to the library, thu
Itotal being S31 volumes. There were
135 volumes withdrawn from stock as
being no longer fit for circulation. Ow
ing to the poor quality of the publisher,'
bindings it was decided to inceease the
supply of books direct from England
specially bound to withstand library
wear and tear. This decision was not
arrived at until the system had been
thoroughly tested; the fesult has proved
in every way satisfactory. The library
contains 32,231 books.
"Catalogue.--The board was reluctant..
ly compelled, for reasons of cost, to
abandon all hope of printing the com
plete catalogue which had been prepar
ed at considerable cost and labour. To
meet the demand for catalogues of re
cent additions to the library, two lists
were Issued during the year.
"Reading Rooms.-No record Is kept
of the number of readers making use of
the reading rooms. The public room is
frequently taxed beyond the seating
capacity.
"IMagazine Supply.--Requests, Ijave
been received from members to increase
the supply of magazines. Your board
has had the matter under consideration,
and fresh tenders for supplies are re
turnable in 1925. It should be under
stood, hlowever, that with one or two
exceptions, the published prices of
magazines have not been reduced. The
subscription to the majority is double
that of a few -?.-o - .
'Membership.-The total membet?hlii
was 908 at the close of the' year, being
a decrease of 1.7.
"Finance--The accompanying state
ment of the finances show a credit hal
anice of £140 10s 3d on the year's work.
The total revenue received was £1S91
14s 9d. Inclu(dl in this amount was the
subsidy from mie Government up to June,
1925. The expenditure was £1700 4s 6d.
The year closed with a credit balance
of £417 15s lid in the bank, against
which there was a liability of £111 15S
4d for accounts due, and not paid. There
was a decrease of £35 from subscrip
tions as compared with the previous -
year.
"General.-With the object of making
the hall more suitable for socials and
dances the work of providing a kitchen
with the necessary crockery and uten
sils was caried out. Results havew
proved that the carrying out of this
work was fully justified. The amount
received from lettings exceeded last
gear's takingt by £139. This. enabled
your board to pay the whole cost of
I lterati,.s out of revenue, and to plan
the long delayed renovations to the
large hallt and class room. The defec
tivo st:/. of the flat roof over the lib-l
rary and caretaker's quarters has again
been a heavy charge enl the Institute's
funds. To finally cope with the matter
it was found necessary to re-roof this
portion of the building with. iron. The
lighting of the hail has been much im-
proved by the installat!on of moremod
ern fittings. The free use of rooms
has been granted to the Chess Club, the
Royal Society, and W.E.A.".
- Donations of newspapers, periodicals,
and official publications from proprie
tors in all states and overseas were
acknowledged. .
$