[Book Stock]—During the year, 19,283 fiction and 35,573 non-fiction were added to stock, a total of 54,856. Of these, 10,442 separate titles of non-fiction and 205 fiction titles were added to the headquarters collection, which now contains approximately 135,000 titles together with 11,000 volumes of periodicals; 15,305 volumes were withdrawn—12,134 fiction and 3,171 non-fiction—making the net additions 39,551. The total of headquarters and Country Library Service stock now amounts to 652,308, comprising 176,600 fiction and 475,708 non-fiction. As at 31 March 1958 the stock of the School Library Service was 1,091,189 the grand total of stock in the Service as a whole being 1,743,497.
[Request Service]—All libraries and groups receiving library service from the Country Library Service and all Government Departments may ask for special short-term loans of books of an informational type from the headquarters stock of this Service and, in addition, the headquarters stock is used extensively to satisfy inter-library loan requests. (See also the report of the Librarian, National Library Centre.)
Books Requested and Supplied
| Year Ended 31 March | Increase Per Cent | ||
| 1957 | 1958 | ||
| To Country Library Service libraries | 55,782 | 61,870 | 10.9 |
| To Government Department libraries | 6,423 | 6,998 | 8.9 |
| To interloan libraries | 8,051 | 8,801 | 9.3 |
| Total issues | 70,256 | 77,669 | 10.6 |
During the year, 26,047 requests (an increase of 9.2 per cent) were referred to Wellington. Of the total issues, 4,975 were books belonging to other libraries throughout New Zealand, whose willing cooperation is gratefully acknowledged.
[Expenditure]—Expenditure under Subdivision XII, vote "Education", for the year was £264,956. This figure includes £94,544 for the purchase of books, of which £45,357 was for books and periodicals on behalf of Government Departments. The expenditure on behalf of Departments represents 12,146 books and standing orders for approximately 11,000 serial publications.
Expenditure under Subdivision III for the purchase of books by the School Library Service was £50,580.
G. T. Alley, Director.