There the matter rested until the session of 1891 when it was raised in a question addressed to a Minister. As a result the Committee brought down a report saying that they had agreed to a scheme for circulating up to six books at a time to members in the recess. Certain reference and valuable books, newspapers, and periodicals were excluded, but most other works could be borrowed. The Library would provide boxes or baskets for the transmission of the books, and six dozen were obtained for the following recess. During it 34 members borrowed 438 volumes, not one being lost, though two were damaged.
Both House and Council agreed to the scheme, though certain members were violently opposed to it. Since then it has provided members with reading material during many recesses. Certainly, some books have been lost, but probably there would be an even greater chance of losses if the practice of recess borrowing had not been regularised. In any case, books often disappear from the shelves in libraries with the best oversight and supervision and are never seen again.
Fiction
The provision of fiction in the Library has been criticised, but novels have been purchased since the early seventies. The numbers purchased have always been small, and have given well earned relaxation and pleasure to legislators as well as building up what is the only collection of the minor nineteenth century classics that exists in the Dominion. These books are frequently in demand by students of nineteenth century English literature.
Inter-library Loan
In keeping with the policy of allowing the widest possible use of the Library, while at the same time retaining all books necessary for Parliament, the Committee in 1909 drew up rules which would have permitted university libraries to borrow. Little use, however, seems to have been made of the privilege.
In 1936 the Committee gave approval for the participation of the Library in the New Zealand Library Association scheme. Libraries outside have not been slow to take advantage, and while considerable restrictions exist on the books that can be lent, only one book is borrowed by the General Assembly Library for every 20 or so lent.
Recess Privileges
Though the Library is primarily the Library of Parliament, it has always been generous in allowing the use of its resources to students and others. As early as 1875, while books could only be taken out by members of Parliament, heads of Departments, and Judges, the Recess Committee had discretion to allow the use of the Library for reference and study.
The minutes and correspondence show that the demands were many and that permission was frequently given. There was no general rule about admission, and as a result individual application was necessary. Mr Collier did his best to liberalise the privilege, but at the same time he wanted the use limited to genuine students rather than to those who wanted it for prestige and as a means of obtaining light reading.