USE OF THE LIBRARY
Twenty-eight thousand two hundred and nine books were borrowed from the Library in the year under review, compared with 27,462 in the previous year. Of these 494 were sent to libraries other than those of Government Departments through the New Zealand Library Association interloan scheme. The Library in its turn borrowed 23 books from other libraries under the same scheme.
In addition to members of Parliament, some thousand people have access to the Library and enjoy borrowing privileges of one kind or another.
REFERENCE INQUIRIES
Once again there has been an increase in the reference questions to which the Library staff has had to attend. One thousand seven hundred and seventy-seven inquiries were made, an increase of 322 over the previous year. Of these, 563 were answered in less than five minutes, 569 took between five and 15 minutes, and the remainder, 645, took over 15 minutes to answer. This statement of times does not record the fact that many of the inquiries took much longer than 15 minutes. Indeed some had several days spent on them by one or more members of the reference staff. Such questions are not answered by merely marking a passage in a book or two; they require the material to be abstracted and rewritten ready for use by the member making the inquiry. This service is becoming increasingly popular with members who cannot themselves afford the time needed to do all the research involved.
Seventy-eight new research students registered for the first time during the year, the largest number yet to have done so in any one year. Some are university students working on theses; others are engaged on research for publication. The use of the Library in this way shows how valuable its resources are for many students.
INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE
Twenty-four cases were received by the Library for its own use during the year, while 5,823 packets were received from abroad, 3,685 being posted, the remainder being forwarded by Internal Affairs messenger.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I should once again like to thank the Library Committee for its great help and interest, and in particular to thank the former Speaker and Chairman of the Committee, who has recently retired, for his invaluable assistance in Library matters. We are also indebted to the overseas agents of the New Zealand Government in many countries for their aid in obtaining books. They have helped considerably in adding many valuable books to the Library.