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4.

HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

What sort of library extension activities does the Council at present provide? What DR. DENNY M. H. HUANG asked the following question (in Cantonese):~~ is the purpose of these activities?

MRS. E. ELLIOTT, CHAIRMAN OF THE LIBRARIES SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in English): This question concerns library extension activities present provided by the Council and the purpose of these activities.

at

The library extension activities organized by the Council serve three main purposes. Firstly, they relate the facilities, services and resources of the Council's libraries to the wide variety of interests in the community. Secondly. they encourage a constructive and profitable use of leisure time; and thirdly. they promote greater use of the library service.

Each month an average of some 350 activities are organized by the Council's libraries and in 1981-82 some 1.1 million people participated in them. They have succeeded in bringing to the attention of the community the various facilities that the libraries have to offer, resulting in increasing usage of the libraries. On average, book issues are increasing by 12% each year, whilst books read in libraries and reference enquiries increased by 94% and 40% respectively

last year.

During the current financial year 1982–83, the Council has provided a sum of $800,000 for these activities, and it is expected that some 1.3 million people of different age groups and walks of life will attend and benefit from these activities.

The following extension activities are at present provided:

(a) Educational

Educational activities take the form of basic talks-cum-demonstrations on a variety of subjects such as Chinese and Western music, drama, speech, dance, painting, Chinese calligraphy and languages. Popular lectures/talks organized by the libraries as a joint function with local associations and societies have been very successful. Examples are lectures on Chinese classics with the assistance of the Hok Hoi Associa- tion, general medical knowledge with the assistance of the Hong Kong Medical Association and career talks with the assistance of the Rotary Clubs of Hong Kong. Apart from regular 'New Books of the Week' in every library, major subject book exhibitions are held to coincide with important events and local activities such as the Festival of Asian Arts, the International Film Festival and the Kwun Tong Arts Festival. With the assistance of the Museum of Art and Museum of History, travelling mini museum exhibitions are organized on a regular basis.

(b) Informational

These activities include film shows, slide shows, video screenings and conducted group tours of the libraries. Arrangements are also made to give talks to organized groups outside the libraries.

HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

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(c) Recreational

Recreational activities in the form of interest clubs on various subjects, such as paper cutting, ribbon-flower making, arts and crafts, story hours for children, folk dance, puppet shows and intellectual games are a regular feature in all the libraries.

(d) Creative

To stimulate public interest and appreciation of Chinese literature, a 'Chinese Literary Week' has been organized since 1979 and this has been very well received. Awards for creative writing in Chinese were presented in 1979 and 1981 and the winning entries were published. To encourage creative writing in Chinese for children, and enable parents and children to acquire healthy reading material in Chinese at competitive prices, the Council recently published the six winning entries of the 1981 'Creative Writing Competition of Children's Books in Chinese'. Response has been most encouraging and over 140 000 copies of these books have been sold. Accordingly, the Council has agreed to repeat this activity this year.

(e) Special Services

Special services and activities such as Chinese music appreciation and subject talks are organized for the elderly. A 'Voluntary Library Service Scheme for the Handicapped' has also been implemented. This aims at helping handicapped young people to participate in and integrate into community life and establish confidence in themselves by serving others through practical service in the public libraries. Under this scheme, 26 students from the Canossa School for the Deaf, accompanied by 27 normal students from local secondary schools have worked in the Council's libraries over the past two years. The libraries also participate in the 'Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme' and the achievement schemes organized by the Scouts Association of Hong Kong and the Girl Guides Association of Hong Kong.

The extension activities are regularly reviewed by the Libraries Select Committee to ensure that they meet the needs of the various districts, and it is planned to expand the range and frequency of these activities gradually, in pace with the development and expansion of the Council's library service.

I should like to add that none of these extension activities would have been achieved without the initiative, the enthusiasm and the hard work of the staff of the Urban Council libraries. I wish to take this opportunity of commending the staff of all our libraries and I feel sure that in this I have the support of all my fellow Councillors.

DR. HUANG (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, I thank Mrs. ELLIOTT for her reply and I hope that most Hong Kong people can use the facilities and services provided by the Council's libraries.

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