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201
REPORT OF THE WANDSWORTH LIBRARIES
SUB-COMMITTEE,
For the Year ended 31st March, 1910.
The Libraries Sub-Committee for the Parish of Wandsworth beg
to report on the work of the Wandsworth Public Libraries for the
25th year of their existence.
The members of the Council which form the Sub-Committee are:
Councillor Couzens (Chairman), The Mayor, Alderman Lidiard,
Councillors Everett, B.A., Evershed, Junr., Harrison, J. A. Robinson,
and Shillington.
Last year's issue was 153,095, and the present year's (1909-10)
was 162,300, an increase of over 6 per cent. It may be noted, too,
that the issues show a striking increase of 88 per cent. since the
Council took over the libraries in 1901-2, whilst the population of the
Parish of Wandsworth has only increased 61 per cent., thus indicating
that the reading public has grown much larger.
Having regard to the limited amount of money available for
additions to the Wandsworth Libraries, it gives the Sub-Committee
much satisfaction to find that the inhabitants of Wandsworth have so
appreciated the care and attention paid to the selection of books that
the issues have continued to increase.
In accordance with an order of the Libraries Committee, the
details of the statistics have been re-arranged.
During the year two catalogues have been printed of the books in
the lending department at the West Hill Library, in accordance with
the rules passed by the Council on 25th March, 1908; 190 copies of
the general and 415 copies of the fiction catalogues have been sold.
Advantage was taken of the re-printing of the catalogue to
discard the obsolete books and to add others of more modern date in
their places.
The advertisement boards have attracted great numbers of those
interested in the requirements of the labour market, and during the
year the Proprietors of the Daily Mail have presented two copies of