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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1982
+AN ATTEMPT WAS MADE TO HELP THE HANDICAPPED GAIN CONFIDENCE IN THEMSELVES THROUGH ACTIVE SOCIAL PARTICIPATION AND SERVING OTHERS. LAST SUMMER. 14 STUDENTS FROM THE CANOSSIAN SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF TOOK PART IN THE COUNCIL'S VOLUNTARY LIBRARY SERVICE SCHEME. TOGETHER WITH STUDENTS FROM THE SACRED HEART CANOSSIAN COLLEGE AND HONG KONG WAH YAN COLLEGE, THEY WORKED IN FOUR LIBRARIES AND FOUND THE EXPERIENCE BOTH PROFITABLE AND ENJOYABLE. CERTIFICATES OF VOLUNTARY SERVICE WERE AWARDED TO THEM FOR THE IR SATISFACTORY SERVICE IN THE LIBRARIES, MR NG SAID.
THE TOTAL LIBRARY COLLECTION OF THE URBAN COUNCIL PUBLIC LIBRARIES NOW INCLUDES 1 070 000 VOLUMES OF BOOKS. 2 300 NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS, 3 700 REELS OF MICROFILMS, 680 VIDEO-CASSETTES, 1 500 SETS OF SLIDES AND 11 400 GRAMOPHONE RECORDS AND CASSETTES. THE LIBRARY COLLECTION IS EXPANDING.
REFERENCE MATERIALS ON HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES ARE STOCKED AT THE CITY HALL REFERENCE LIBRARY TO FACILITATE THE PROFESSIONAL AND COMMERCIAL COMMUNITY WHILE WORKS ON SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY AND INDUSTRIAL SUBJECTS ARE KEPT AT THE YAU MA TEI REFERENCE LIBRARY.
THE CITY HALL LIBRARY, THE FIRST OF THE URBAN COUNCIL PUBLIC LIBRARIES, WAS FIRST OPENED IN MARCH 1962. LIBRARY USAGE HAS SINCE INCREASED FROM 150 000 BOOKS BORROWED FOR HOME-READING IN 1962 TO 4 300 000 LAST YEAR, AND THE NUMBER OF REGISTERED BORROWERS FROM 30 000 TO 920 000 IN THE SAME PERIOD.
MORE THAN SIX MILLION BOOKS WERE ALSO READ WITHIN THE LIBRARY PREMISES LAST YEAR.
MR NG SAID THE USAGE OF THE URBAN COUNCIL'S PUBLIC LIBRARY SYSTEM IS HEAVY AND COMPARES VERY FAVOURABLY WITH OTHER MAJOR METROPOLITAN LIBRARIES,
MONTHLY SURVEY OF EMPLOYMENT. PAYROLL AND ORDERS-ON-HAND
FOR DECEMBER 1981 ****
THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT TODAY RELEASED STATISTICS FROM THE MONTHLY SURVEY FOR DECEMBER 1981, WHICH WAS CONDUCTED ON AN UPDATED AND ENLARGED PANEL OF THE 20Ó LARGEST MANUFACTURING COMPANIES CHOSEN BY REFERENCE TO THEIR EMPLOYMENT SIZE IN SEPTEMBER 1979, AS WELL AS A PANEL OF THE 43 LARGEST COMPANIES IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND SELECTED SERVICES SECTORS.
AS THE SAMPLE WAS NOT DRAWN ON A RANDOM BASIS, THE RESULTS ON MAGNITUDE OF CHANGE MIGHT NOT REFLECT THE EXPERIENCE OF THE ECONOMY AS A WHOLE, BUT SHOULD GIVE USEFUL INDICATIONS OF THE DIRECTION OF CHANGE FOR A QUICK ASSESSMENT OF DEVELOPMENTS IN THE ECONOMY IN THE SHORT RUN.
/ACCORDING TO