Division was also actively engaged in planning for the establishment of a Hong Kong Youth Council.
LIBRARY SERVICES
36. The Department has provided mobile library services since 1950 and, with the inception of community and social centres in the 1960s, libraries serving a considerable readership in the urban areas. In September 1968 two additional libraries were acquired as a result of a generous donation of two vehicles from UNICEF; the existing fleet of three libraries caters exclusively to the population of the New Territories, and during the year had a readership of over 13,000 reg- istered members. The three mobile libraries can reach at least half of the 625 villages and 380 schools in the New Territories and each of them travels between 40 and 50 miles a day. In addition to the mobile service each of the six community and social centres is equipped with a library; during the year they had a total registered membership of 52,000 persons of all ages.
37. The aim of this service is to provide a useful recreational outlet particularly for young people. Unlike public libraries managed by the Urban Council, which provide a comprehensive range of literature, the Department's library service tries to meet popular demands for light but instructive reading material for the average resident. On this basis, serious academic and research literature is avoided in preference to literature of current interest, novels, pictorials, popular journals, books for children, periodicals and newspapers, which form the bulk of reading material in all nine libraries.
38. The Boys' and Girls' Clubs Association provide a similar kind of service through a network of 26 libraries which in October 1968 had a total registered membership of over 18,000 persons. The Association's libraries cater, however, to the needs of people aged between 8 and 18.
CHAPTER III
PROBATION AND JUVENILE CORRECTION
39. A probation order imposed by the courts places an offender, either juvenile or adult, male or female, under the supervision of a Probation Officer for a period usually of 2 years or more. Such an
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