y Committee in welcoming it had, however, considered one copy
sufficient.

There the matter rested until 1903 when two vigorous supporters of the
Library, the Hon. R. McNab and the Hon. John Rigg, introduced the
General Assembly Library Bill requiring publishers to present two
copies of their books to the Library. The Bill passed without
difficulty and became law on 30 October 1903. Though there was some
argument whether the Act required the deposit of issues of periodicals,
the Act was generally welcomed, and increased the amount of New Zealand
material reaching the Library.

There has been little change in the provisions affecting deposit,
though the previous Act is no longer in force, and has been replaced by
section 52 of the Copyright Act 1913.

In the 55 years during which deposit has been required the Library has
taken its responsibility for preservation seriously and now possesses
thousands of volumes not only of books, but of newspapers, periodicals,
and pamphlets. In addition, every attempt has been made to obtain
material which for various reasons was not obtained at the time of
publication. While not by any means perfect, the New Zealand collection
of the Library is probably without equal.

THE LIBRARIANS

Mr Charles Wilson had a considerable interest in literature as such and
contributed a literary column to a Wellington weekly for many years.
Though he had an excellent knowledge of literature, library technique
generally in New Zealand was not at its best, and not all the work done
in the Library was of the highest standard.

He was responsible for further attempts to buy the more important New
Zealand books still missing from the Library and for housing them in
special cases where they were available for consultation but were not
permitted to leave the Library. From this has grown the special New
Zealand collection with its own rooms.

Mr Wilson introduced the present system of alternate weekly shifts for
the staff working nights. Previously the staff worked broken shifts
which meant that some often had "all nighters" without breaks and were
called on to make their appearance fairly early the following day. If
the House sits late, the present system relieves the night staff when
the House rises or at 8 a.m. and they are not required till 5.30 p.m.

Stocktaking was a major task of the staff. The Library did not possess
a shelf list and the system used was slow. It did,