tors, readers and users of the Municipal public library for the past year reached the 75,005 mark against 62890 of the previous year, while the number of subscribers nas increased by 494 readers. the annual report of the Municipal Librarian showed yesterday.
Of the subscribers at the end of 1940 7 were foreigners, 283 Chinese: 278 Chinese students and 68 foreign students. In the circulation department, the number of books issued for home use was 178.288 volumes compared with 91216 issued in 1939.
The appropriation for new books for the year was $20,000 of which twenty per cent, was allocated in ihe budget for the purchase of Chinese and English books of reference suitable for students. Purchases of books totalled 6,293 volumes for 1940, Among the out-nding additions to the library were up"to-date books on technology, science and arts for which a demand is steadily increasing, Several valuable sels of Chimese classics have been added to the collection, It was stated that the Council had gratefully accepted the generous offer of Mr. Eric G. Clarke to leave with the library his music colle tion, consisting of catalogued el veloped of part songs, vocal scor of oratorios, operas, musical comedies and a quantity of songs, piano works, violin and instrumental works and about, twenty years issues of the "Musical Times." With these as a nucleus a music section is being astab'ithed for the benefit of the public.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.