392 The Library. No. of Libraries. No. of Books. Victoria 380 722,282 New South Wales 199 326,517 South Australia 139 1 54,337 Queensland 87 113,680 Tasmania ... ... ... 39 ... ... 69,339 New Zealand ... ... 298 ... ... 330,770 Total of six Colonies ...1,142 ... ...1,716,925 Coming now to the details of the separate Colonies, New South Wales as being the Mother Colony claims first attention. The Free Public Library of Sydney was established in 1869, when the books, numbering 16,000, and the building of the Australian Subscription Library were purchased by the Government, the books thus acquired forming the nucleus of the present Library, which, according to the latest statistics, contains 97,348 volumes, including those in a lending branch or lent to country libraries, and embracing one of the most complete collections of works upon Australasia in existence, which has been rendered acces- sible by means of an excellent catalogue, recently published under the somewhat misleading title of an "Australasian Bibliography," compiled by Mr. R. C. Walker. An important department of the Library is the lending branch, a system having been intro- duced by which country Libraries and Mechanics' Institutes may obtain, on loan, works of a select kind which in many instances would be too expensive for them to purchase on account of the limited funds at their disposal. This system enables the Sydney Public Library to make up boxes containing from 60 to 100 books, which are forwarded to the country libraries on application, to be returned or exchanged within four months. So successful has this system proved that during last year 130 boxes, containing 10,141 volumes, were forwarded to 80 institu- tions, many of them being at considerable distances from the Metropolis. All charges in connection with the despatch and return of books, insurance, &c., are defrayed by the State, and the system generally is stated to be the most liberal of its kind in existence. The Library is supported entirely by the Govern- ment of the Colony, it being free to the public in every sense of the word. It forms a separate department under the control of the Minister of Public Instruction, and its cost to the State has already been ^"59,185, exclusive of salaries and maintenance, which last year amounted to ^"4,208. The popularity of the
