HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Library and the Aberdeen - Pok Fu Lam Branch Library in Wah Fu Estate on the island, and the Waterloo Road Branch Library in Cambridge Court in Kowloon. In addition one new library, to be known as the Yau Ma Tei Branch Library, is scheduled to open in November this year.
The City Hall Library acts as the central library and administrative and book-processing centre for the library service as a whole, serving primarily the Central, Western, Mid-Levels, the Peak, Wan Chai and Tai Hang areas on the island. The Aberdeen - Pok Fu Lam Branch Library serves the population of Wah Fu Estate, Aberdeen and the South side of Hong Kong island. The Waterloo Road Branch Library in Cambridge Court in Kowloon is at present the main library for Kowloon, serving primarily the areas of Yau Ma Tei, Mong Kok and Hung Hom. However, with the opening of the Yau Ma Tei Branch Library in November this year, the Waterloo Road Branch Library will cease to act as the main library for Kowloon and will serve primarily the population of the Ho Man Tin and Kowloon Tong areas. The Yau Ma Tei Branch Library, when it is opened, will be the main library for Kowloon, serving primarily the areas of Yau Ma Tei, Mong Kok and Hung Hom but centrally placed from the point of view of public transport and accessibility from most other parts of Kowloon.
All the public libraries provide basically the same services and facilities and each has adult and junior lending libraries, a newspapers/periodicals section and a reading room (i.e., a room in which any member of the public, adult or student, may read for pleasure or study.) The only material differences between the libraries are ones of size and book resources which have been determined and related to such factors as population, literacy, and the functions envisaged for the library. Thus a main library by virtue of its functions as a co-ordinating and book resource centre is obviously larger than a branch library, whilst a branch library like that of Waterloo Road serving a large student population in the area must obviously have larger resources than the Aberdeen - Pok Fu Lam Branch Library.
For reference library facilities the policy is to provide comprehensive resources at the two main libraries and only quick reference tools such as dictionaries, encyclopaedias etc. at the branch libraries, supported by a "referral" service
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
whereby branch library staff can tap the main library's resources by telephone links for enquiries which cannot be met or satisfied from the books available at the branch. At 31st August, 1971 the City Hall Library had a bookstock of 225,706 volumes, 65.4% of which are in Chinese, 33.6% in English and 1% in other languages mainly French, Spanish and German. The branch library at Waterloo Road has 94,869 volumes, 57.6% are in Chinese and the bulk of the remainder in English. Less than 1% of the stock is in other languages. The Aberdeen - Pok Fu Lam Branch Library has 26,394 volumes, 67.8% in Chinese and 32.2% in English.
Part (b) of the question deals with the ratio of technical books to books of general interest and the book acquisition policy.
Statistics of the proportion of technical to non-technical books are not kept as it is difficult to categorize books under such headings. Instead, in common with public libraries all over the world, the books are divided into fiction and non-fiction. Of the 346,969 volumes in the stocks of the libraries, 288,624 volumes (83.18%) are non-fiction books, providing factual information on a wide variety of subjects.
Books for the libraries are acquired in accordance with the policy prescribed by the Library Select Committee of this Council which lays down, and here I quote:
"Books should be provided mainly in Chinese and English, other languages should be provided when needs arise and funds allow. A collection of the standard works of literature, science, arts and reference should form the basis of the libraries' collections; but the collections should not be confined to works which are uncontroversial. Selection should be on the basis of sound library and artistic merits or importance in current affairs or the history of ideas, or informational value including works of an experimental nature, or works that deal with matter upon which no consensus of opinion exists. Provision of books should be maintained at as high a standard as possible according to the level of literacy of the locality of a library. The demand of all classes of readers should be taken into consideration and every effort made to anticipate future requirements, thus allowing the public libraries to play an active part in community life."
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