HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
desirable if the need were proved. I am pleased to be able to tell you that the Committee has now decided to extend the opening hours of the reference library by one hour on each weekday evening, until 9 p.m. This will be for a trial period from 1st September.
Members are of course aware that any considerable extension of the Library's opening hours would involve substantial costs in additional staff, air-conditioning, lighting, and so on. The reference library has been selected for this experiment because it can be kept open for one additional hour with little additional expense.
Several surveys have been made of the use of the Library during the evenings. These have not produced conclusive evidence of any real demand for an extension of the Library's evening hours; but it may be argued that they have also failed to produce evidence of the lack of such a demand. The result of extending the reference library hours will therefore be watched carefully.
MR. CHEUNG:-Mr. Chairman, may I ask Dr. LEE, through you, whether he is aware that before the War there was a library run by the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce and that it was at all times fully packed? It is my opinion that if a general library is open at night, it will also be packed because of the lack of reading amenities in Hong Kong.
DR. LEE:-Mr. Chairman, I would be very glad to ask the Librarian to circulate, for Mr. CHEUNG Wing-in's information, the data that he has obtained in respect to the various surveys that have been carried out and also the number of people who are present at those hours under consideration.
MR. CHEUNG:-I also wish to draw Dr. LEE's attention to the fact that there are many office workers who would like to have reading rooms to go to after dinner, as there is a lack of such facilities.
DR. LEE:-Mr. Chairman, as I have said in my reply, the Library Select Committee has decided to open the reference library up to 9 p.m. to see how well that is attended. If the attendance proves that the need is great, then of course, we will extend the hours.
MR. SALES:-Mr. Chairman, following on the supplementary asked by my colleague, Mr. CHEUNG, is it not the intention of the Library Select Committee to open reading rooms in other districts as well?
DR. LEE:-Mr. Chairman, we have plans for branch libraries. I do not know whether Mr. SALES is referring to those branch libraries or to other reading rooms run by the Social Welfare Department.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
MR. SALES:-Mr. Chairman, in addition to branch libraries, I think the point made by Mr. CHEUNG was for more reading rooms, a point which I support and I would like to refer it to the Select Committee for consideration.
DR. LEE:-Mr. Chairman, I think the most important thing is that we must have these rooms under the jurisdiction of the Library. At the present moment, I do not know where such rooms are. As a matter of fact, we are going to expand, but we have not put up to Government the question of provision and accommodation for these branch libraries.
MR. SALES:-Mr. Chairman, is Government not aware that with transport difficulties as they exist in Hong Kong, it is not likely that those workers mentioned by Mr. CHEUNG will travel many miles to attend the City Hall Library or even centrally-located branch libraries in Kowloon and elsewhere? It would seem to me the logical thing would be to have a good number of well-equipped reading rooms variously located throughout the Colony.
DR. LEE:-The idea to bring the libraries to the people is well known to the Select Committee and plans are in process of being implemented. We hope shortly to be able to produce a paper for the Committee to endorse and to be sent to Government for approval.
(15) MR. CHEUNG WING-IN asked the following question:
and
(16)
It is over a year since the completion of the Tang Lung Chau Market. May the Council be informed whether this composite market has proved a success? If not, what improvement has the Markets Select Committee considered making for the next market to be built?
After the completion of the Tang Lung Chau Market the programme for the building of composite markets has virtually stopped. May the Council be informed of the reasons for the holding up of this important programme, what new or modified schemes (if any) have been worked out, and if not, the reasons for not getting on with the building of composite or conventional markets until a new and improved scheme has been so worked out?
THE CHAIRMAN replied as follows:
The Tang Lung Chau Market was constructed with a view to accommodating therein hawkers as well as market stalls, the hawkers to be on both the ground and first floors. This was not a success at the time, not so much I think because of anything necessarily wrong in the conception
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desirable if the need were proved. I am pleased to be able to tell you that the Committee has now decided to extend the opening hours of the reference library by one hour on each weekday evening, until 9 p.m. This will be for a trial period from 1st September.
Members are of course aware that any considerable extension of the Library's opening hours would involve substantial costs in additional staff, air-conditioning, lighting, and so on. The reference library has been selected for this experiment because it can be kept open for one additional hour with little additional expense.
Several surveys have been made of the use of the Library during the evenings. These have not produced conclusive evidence of any real demand for an extension of the Library's evening hours; but it may be argued that they have also failed to produce evidence of the lack of such a demand. The result of extending the reference library hours will therefore be watched carefully.
MR. CHEUNG:-Mr. Chairman, may I ask Dr. LEE, through you, whether he is aware that before the War there was a library run by the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce and that it was at all times
fully packed? It is my opinion that if a general library is open at night, it will also be packed because of the lack of reading amenities in Hong Kong.
DR. LEE:-Mr. Chairman, I would be very glad to ask the Librarian to circulate, for Mr. CHEUNG Wing-in's information, the data that he has obtained in respect to the various surveys that have been carried out and also the number of people who are present at those hours under consideration.
MR. CHEUNG:-I also wish to draw Dr. LEE's attention to the fact that there are many office workers who would like to have reading rooms to go to after dinner, as there is a lack of such facilities.
DR. LEE:-Mr. Chairman, as I have said in my reply, the Library Select Committee has decided to open the reference library up to 9 p.m. to see how well that is attended. If the attendance proves that the need is great, then of course, we will extend the hours.
MR. SALES: -Mr. Chairman, following on the supplementary asked by my colleague, Mr. CHEUNG, is it not the intention of the Library Select Committee to open reading rooms in other districts as well?
DR. LEE:—Mr. Chairman, we have plans for branch libraries. I do not know whether Mr. SALES is referring to those branch libraries or to other reading rooms run by the Social Welfare Department.
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207
MR. SALES: -Mr. Chairman, in addition to branch libraries, I think the point made by Mr. CHEUNG was for more reading rooms, a point which I support and I would like to refer it to the Select Committee for consideration.
DR. LEE:-Mr. Chairman, I think the most important thing is that we must have these rooms under the jurisdiction of the Library. At the present moment, I do not know where such rooms are. As a matter of fact, we are going to expand, but we have not put up to Government the question of provision and accommodation for these branch libraries.
MR. SALES: -Mr. Chairman, is Government not aware that with transport difficulties as they exist in Hong Kong, it is not likely that those workers mentioned by Mr. CHEUNG will travel many miles to attend the City Hall Library or even centrally-located branch libraries in Kowloon and elsewhere? It would seem to me the logical thing would be to have a good number of well-equipped reading rooms variously located throughout the Colony.
DR. LEE: The idea to bring the libraries to the people is well known to the Select Committee and plans are in process of being im- plemented. We hope shortly to be able to produce a paper for the Committee to endorse and to be sent to Government for approval.
(15) MR. CHEUNG WING-IN asked the following question:
and
(16)
It is over a year since the completion of the Tang Lung Chau Market. May the Council be informed whether this com- posite market has proved a success? If not, what im- provement has the Markets Select Committee considered making for the next market to be built?
After the completion of the Tang Lung Chau Market the programme for the building of composite markets has vir- tually stopped. May the Council be informed of the reasons for the holding up of this important programme, what new or modified schemes (if any) have been worked out, and if not, the reasons for not getting on with the building of composite or conventional markets until a new and improved scheme has been so worked out?
THE CHAIRMAN replied as follows: ---
The Tang Lung Chau Market was constructed with a view to accommodating therein hawkers as well as market stalls, the hawkers to be on both the ground and first floors. This was not a success at the time, not so much I think because of anything necessarily wrong in the conception
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