Report of the National Library Service for the Year Ended 31 March 1958 | Page 7

5, October 1956; List 6, June 1957; List 7,

November 1957.
Books for young people, 1957.
Interim list of subject headings for New Zealand school libraries, o.p.
Junior fiction.
Supplements: April 1956 to September 1956; October 1956 to March
1957; April 1957 to September 1957.
Non-fiction for primary schools. (Supplements have title, Junior
Non-fiction.)
Supplements: April 1956 to September 1956; October 1956 to March
1957; April 1957 to September 1957.
Quick-reference books for high-school libraries, 1956.
Sets of books for French classes, August 1956.
In addition to this published material, buying and reading lists are
constantly being prepared to meet the special needs of individual
schools, public libraries, and groups concerned with the reading of
children and adolescents.
Assistance is given to schools planning new libraries or reorganising
existing libraries. The visiting of schools to give help where needed and
to discuss the use of books is still limited by staff shortages.
Except for small parcels which are sent by post, books are distributed
in hampers or cartons by rail or road transport from 15 centres--North
Island: Whangarei and Hastings public libraries; offices of the Country
Library Service in Hamilton and Palmerston North and of the School
Library Service in Auckland, Napier, New Plymouth, Wanganui, and
Wellington. South Island: Greymouth, Timaru, Dunedin, and
Invercargill public libraries; the office of the Country Library Service
in Christchurch and of the School Library Service in Nelson. Schools
are usually served by the nearest School Library Service office.

The headquarters office at Wellington is responsible for the
coordination of the service, for the selection, ordering, classifying, and
cataloguing of new books and their dispatch to district offices, the
maintenance of a comprehensive collection of children's and young
people's books used to meet requests which cannot be supplied from
local offices, and the distribution of books to schools and public
libraries in or near Wellington city and the Hutt Valley. To enable
children at smaller country schools to see and to choose for themselves
from a wide range of books, the possibilities of service by book van are
being considered.
Since its establishment schools joining the service have paid a
subscription at the rate of 1s. per pupil (Standard 1 and upwards) for
each of the first two years. Ministerial authority was given during the
year to discontinue this levy.
Schools borrowing books are asked to accept responsibility for (a)
safe-keeping of books while on loan to the school, including books
issued to members of staff for school use; (b) return of books when due;
(c) payment for books lost or damaged beyond fair wear and tear; (d)
payment of freight and postal charges from school to School Library
Service office.
Books are made available to special institutions controlled by the
Education Department. Primary pupils of the Correspondence School
are provided with individual postal service from district offices. Child
welfare institutions, training centres, health camps, and other special
groups are given service according to their needs. Teachers' training
colleges, young people's groups, kindergartens, and nursery play centre
supervisors are also helped. Visits to School Library Service offices by
teachers in training are arranged wherever possible.
Assistance to several Pacific Island schools has been continued from
the Auckland office by means of extended loans. Under this system the
schools receive an original bulk loan which they check annually,
reporting losses and returning damaged and worn books for
replacement, wherever possible, by new titles, so that loans will not
degenerate into collections of old books. The schools concerned were

listed in last year's annual report. The desirability of extension of this
service is constantly in review.
During the year members of the staff acted as librarians at the usual
teachers' refresher courses. Appropriate collections of books always
create considerable interest. Discussions at these courses have been
helpful in the selection of books and have brought about an increased
awareness of the uses of books in a wide range of schools.
Below are tables showing details of the School Library Service as at 31
March 1958. The figures for the number of "schools" and "pupils"
include those for primary schools and post-primary departments of
district high schools but do not include those for other post-primary
schools as these do not receive general exchanges of books. (Figures in
parentheses are for the previous year.)
Schools Pupils Receiving (Standard 1 Exchanges and upwards)
Education Board schools 2,004 (1,973) 252,469 (241,148)
Departmental schools and institutions 211 (216) 13,996 (14,270)
Private schools 275 (260) 31,852 (28,175)
Totals 2,490 (2,449) 298,317 (283,593)
Year Ended 31 March Books Supplied 1958 1957 In exchanges to-- All
schools, Standard 1 to Form II 676,637 648,816 District high schools,
Form III to Form VI 34,452 32,439 Public libraries, children's
departments 34,639 30,926 Public libraries, young people's sections
22,724 22,307
Total for exchanges 768,452 734,488
On request and in loan collections,