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HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT

Committee, which at present consists of three non-official members, may normally suggest new purchases up to a total value of $10,000 each year, and in special cases of exceptional interest further funds may be made available with the approval of the Finance Com- mittee of the Legislative Council. So far no cases of this latter kind have occurred.

Another aspect of the Government Collections which came to the fore during 1958 was the purchase of a number of rare books and periodicals for the City Hall Library. These included an original edition of the Chinese Repository, a periodical in twenty volumes published in Canton, Macau and Hong Kong between 1832 and 1851, and a set of the pre-war Hong Kong Naturalist. The Government photograph collection was re-catalogued, and the Colonial Secretariat Library was extensively reorganized. This Library, apart from acting as a departmental reference library, contains an extensive collection of official and unofficial publica- tions about Hong Kong which are available for consultation in the Library by members of the public.

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