in turn Advisory Directors to the Turnbull Library until the post was abolished in 1930.

The Library as a Museum

The Library has during its century collected many curios which should really have been given to a museum. The Library Committee has had to decide frequently whether historical relics could be displayed. In 1886, after the Taiaha of Wahanui presented to James Bryce had been refused, the Committee laid down that nothing but books, manuscripts, maps, etc., should be deposited without special permission.

However the Library possesses today many such relics. There are the caskets containing the Freedoms of certain cities presented to Mr Fraser, a similar collection of Mr Seddon's and of Sir Joseph Ward's, the pen used by Mr Massey to sign the Treaty of Versailles, a kava bowl, mats, etc., from Samoa, and many other items. The Library also had for a time the Bishop Monrad etchings and the Chevalier pictures, but these were handed over to the Turnbull Library and Academy of Fine Arts respectively.

The display of such objects tends to attract to the Library visitors not interested in the books, but whose conversation distracts more serious readers.

Purchase of Books

Though today books are purchased in many countries most of the books have always been obtained in England. The first books were bought from Smith and Elder in London, but this was not continued. Instead, an arrangement was entered into with a Mr Maberly of Auckland, partner in a London firm of booksellers, to obtain and bind books uniformly.

In the following years the Library had several London agents, none of whom were entirely satisfactory, while some were quite the reverse. What the Library Committee wanted was a reliable buyer who could provide books cheaply and in addition supply the more important books as they were published without duplicating them in later orders. Including the time taken for reviews to reach New Zealand, for them to be read, the books to be ordered and dispatched to New Zealand, it would be not far short of a year before a book published in England reached the shelves of the Library.

After several changes of agent in quick time the Committee in 1883 asked the authority of Cabinet to use the Agent-General in London to purchase books. This was given and book purchase was put on a happier basis. This was particularly so in the first years when Sir Francis Bell was Agent-General. Though the books were supplied by a bookseller in Edinburgh, Sir Francis, as a former member of the Library Committee, took a personal interest in the orders and anticipated the purchase of many popular books.

The High Commissioner in London, successor to the Agent-General, has continued to oversee the purchase of books for the Library either from booksellers or from the publishers. He has been of invaluable assistance to the Library in this task; and the assistance given in this field is only paralleled by that of the other overseas agencies of New Zealand, particularly those in the United States, Canada, and Australia.

A large and increasing number of books has also been purchased from booksellers in New Zealand. Particularly in the case of novels, it is of advantage to inspect the book before buying a copy.

For many years books purchased in England were rebound uniformly in morocco. In 1886, in an attempt to reduce costs, the Committee decided that works costing less than 10s. were to be sent out in the ordinary cloth binding. The more expensive and important works still continued to be rebound in leather, but as time went on this too was discontinued and all books were dispatched in the publisher's binding.

THE AIMS OF THE LIBRARY

What does the General Assembly Library exist for and what does it set out to do? Its primary function is to assist members to obtain information needed for the performance of their parliamentary duties and also to make available to them books, periodicals, etc., which may better equip them as men of affairs.

From the first the Library set out to obtain books on matters and topics likely to be the subject of legislation and on matters likely to be of interest to members. As funds became available and the Library grew it was also possible to purchase books for recreational reading, but this has always been a lesser aim.

The necessity for obtaining books on matters likely to be subject to legislation has directly led to the acquisition of books relating to New Zealand. The principal subject of legislation before the New Zealand Parliament is New Zealand, and in order to give the information required it is essential to have as complete a collection as possible on New Zealand.

The advent of the Liberal Government in 1891, and later of the Labour Government, led to wide extension of the field of legislation and consequently of the stock of the Library. Today the Library is strong in official publications, in economics, politics, administration, law, and statistics; there are good collections in history, biography, and travel, and also an excellent reference collection.

The staff have always given members of Parliament every possible service, but the scope has tended to grow. Last century members tended to do more of their own research, and relied on the staff to locate books rather than individual items of information. The desire for this last service grew and attempts were made to provide it.

To do so, however, required considerable advances in staff and technique. It involved the indexing of periodicals, often attempted by the staff which was rarely in a position to do it well and to continue it. Today much of this work is done either commercially or cooperatively and, although the results are not available quickly, the staff is freed for other work.

Today the Library is working towards the time when it can give a reference and research service similar to that of the House of Commons Library, or to imitate in a smaller way that of the Library of Congress in Washington. Such a service requires intelligent, well trained staff who are capable of locating and organising information into a form where it can be readily understood and used.