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to place the order. I hope the Chairman of the Select Committee could provide me with an answer.
Mr. Kam Nai-wai (in Cantonese):——I would answer the second question first. With regard to the proportion of expenditure on English books and Chinese books, the information I have on hand is that the total expenditure for purchasing library materials in 1995/96 is $3.93 million, in which $1.62 million is for English books, $9.4 million for Chinese books and $13.7 million for audio visual materials, informational materials, newspapers and periodicals. For 1996/97, the budget for purchasing library materials is $41.3 million, in which $16.8 million is English books, $9.7 million is for Chinese books and $14.8 million is for audio-visual materials, newspapers and periodicals, etc. According to the information, the quantity of English books purchased is smaller than that of Chinese books, but since the prices of English books are more expensive, the expenditure is therefore higher.
As to whether the procedures for purchasing Chinese books could be shortened, and how long would the procedures take, according to the past experience of the Department, the supplier would send a book to the Book Processing Unit of the USD for perusal 2 to 3 weeks after publication. The Book Processing Unit would then consider whether or not to buy it within a short period of time (about 1 month). Since the Unit holds meeting every month to discuss what books to buy, it would take about 1 month's time for the order to be placed. This is the reply to the first question raised by Mr. Wu.
As to whether the purchasing procedures for Chinese books could be shortened, I am sure that the Libraries Select Committee will work closely with the Department with a view to accelerate the process. Besides, the Five Year Plan of the Libraries Select Committee will also review the whole purchasing process. Members' suggestions are welcome.
MR. WU CHI-WAI (in Cantonese);—After hearing the reply given by Mr. KAM just now, I have a further question. At present, the whole process of book purchasing takes half year, this is in fact a rather long time. It is mentioned in the reply that the most effective way of book purchasing is blanket order for books of a certain subject. I remember it was mentioned in a meeting of the Libraries Select Committee that the Department would basically purchase all Chinese books available in Hong Kong. I would like to ask, if we handle all the books available in the Hong Kong market by means of blanket order, would it help to shorten our purchasing procedures?
MR. KAM NAI-WAI (in Cantonese):--By blanket order which is mentioned just now, it means that the suppliers would based on our specified requirements, provide us with the books, for example we would make bulk purchase for those books with the best sale in Hong Kong and there is a specified scope for the suppliers to provide us with this type of books. However, one thing I would like to mention here is that, at present, there is no advance information on the
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