ENG-1992 — Page 395

RECREATION, SPORTS AND THE ARTS

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February 1993 and all other council libraries to be automated in April 1994. This will open a new chapter in public library service as it will be the first major public library system in the world to provide an integrated library automation service for both Chinese and English library materials.

Installation of the mainframe computer at the Regional Council Building was completed in October 1992. It will be connected with some 300 terminals being installed at the council's libraries. The issue of computerised borrower's cards for registered borrowers started in the same month. During the year, work also started on building up a biblio- graphical database for the council's 1.8 million Chinese and English library materials.

Apart from achieving faster and better processing of library materials, the computer- isation project is also expected to help save a net $76 million over the next seven years. This is obtainable from achieving a gross saving of $169 million less the project cost of $93 million.

Books Registration Office

Hong Kong is a major printing centre. Under the Books Registration Ordinance (Chapter 142), all books first published, produced or printed locally are preserved permanently in depository libraries after registration with the Books Registration Office. The office enforces the ordinance and supervises the collection of publications from publishers and printers. A list of registered books is gazetted to provide bibliographic information_at quarterly intervals. In 1992, the office registered a total of 7 260 books and 9 100 periodicals.

The office is the local agent for the International Standard Book Numbering System (ISBN), and helps to promote its use among the publishing and book-selling trades. In all, 1 130 publishers' identifiers conforming to ISBN were issued.

Sports and Recreation

Sports and recreation activities and facilities are many and varied in Hong Kong. The Urban and Regional Councils, in addition to developing and managing facilities such as sports grounds, playgrounds, indoor games halls, holiday camps, swimming pools and beaches, organise training courses and sporting competitions for people of all ages and abilities. The councils also encourage passive recreation by providing parks and land- scaping services within their respective areas.

The Sir David Trench Fund for Recreation disburses grants for the construction and im- provement of recreational and sporting facilities as well as for the purchase of equipment.

Sports Development Board

Hong Kong Sports Development Board is a statutory body responsible for promoting the development of sports and physical recreation in Hong Kong. In the financial year 1991-2, the sum of $50 million was allocated to the Hong Kong Sports Development Board. Of this allocation, a total of $28 million was used for sports development purposes which included funding support to the Amateur Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong for expenses relating to the 1992 Olympic Games, and to sports associations for their staff salaries, office expenses and sports development programmes. The amount was also used for the board's special projects, including its international