ENG-1974 — Page 251

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RECREATION

Total attendance at the City Museum and Art Gallery for 1974 was 250,836 representing an average of 828 people per day. The corresponding figures for 1973 were 279,189 and 901.

Libraries

During 1974 a new branch library was opened in Aberdeen taking the number of Urban Council public libraries to six-three on the Kowloon peninsula and three on Hong Kong Island. There is also a separate students' study room at Kowloon Park with 282 seats.

The facilities of these libraries and study room are freely available to all residents of Hong Kong. The branch libraries at Waterloo Road and Ping Shek Estate in Kowloon and at Wah Fu Estate and Aberdeen on the island concentrate primarily on lending facilities for adult and junior readers, but also have newspaper/periodical sections and study rooms for students.

The City Hall and Yau Ma Tei libraries, the main libraries for each side of the harbour, provide similar facilities as the branch libraries but on a larger scale, and in addition have comprehensive reference sections. That of the City Hall concentrates on the humanities and social sciences, while the Yau Ma Tei Library is strong on science and technology.

The Tsuen Wan Public Library, the first public library to be set up in the New Territories by the Urban Services Department, opened in March 1974, and has proved popular.

The libraries have a total book stock of 587,056 in both Chinese and English, 3,939 reels of microfilm, and subscribe to 600 current newspapers and periodicals from all over the world. In the 12 years since the first (at the City Hall) was opened, 492,420 people have registered as borrowers. During the year, 3,076,206 books were borrowed from the lending sections and 366,360 books consulted in the reference sections.

Extension activities in the form of book exhibitions, children's story hours, Christmas card competitions and organised school visits have been regular and popular features at the libraries. New libraries in Kwun Tong and Sham Shui Po are anticipated open in 1975.

The British Council

The British Council's educational activities continued at a high level during 1974. Assistance was given to government departments and the two universities to enable staff members to visit British universities and other institutions and to attend specialist courses. Five British Council scholarships were awarded during 1974, four for training in teaching of English overseas. Acting for the Sino-British Fellowship Trust the council arranged five scholarships for post-graduate studies in Britain. The council also completed placing and travel arrangements for 13 British Common- wealth Fellows and Scholars from Hong Kong going to Britain.

The British Council also made arrangements for specialists from Britain to visit Hong Kong for consultations with government departments, the universities, and