er of catching alight, and Mr
Wilson decided to clear the building. With the help of some of the
staff and the general public, some 15,000 volumes were taken either to
the Government Buildings or to houses in Hill Street. Though the rear
portion of brick with wooden floors and partitions caught fire about 5
a.m. and damage was done to the roof, the Library was seen to be in no
further danger and the clearance was stopped.

Some slight damage was done to these books, but insurance covered this,
and generally little damage was done to the Library itself. The removal
of the wooden portion has reduced the risk of fire considerably, and
although the rear portion still has wooden floors, little of value is
stored here. If any future outbreak occurred it is probable that more
damage would be done by water. To prevent this a large drain was
recently made in the basement to allow water to escape readily.

After the fire there was some discussion on the possibility of using
the reading room as the Chamber of the House of Representatives, but
Government House was finally chosen. The brick building was repaired
and a covered access way provided across Sydney Street from the Library
to the Chamber.

At the time of the fire the Library was insured for L4,000, a small
portion of its true value. This insurance was continued until 1928 when
the cover was raised to L10,000, still much below the cost of
replacement. In 1942, with the introduction of war damage insurance and
the consequent increase of premiums, it was decided that the Library
should, like other Government Departments, not be insured, the
Government carrying the risk itself.

GENERAL

_Circulation of Books_

The first library rules that can be discovered today are those for
1869. Though it is certain that borrowing was permitted before this,
members were permitted by these rules to borrow two books for a period
of a fortnight. Even so, the privilege of borrowing was restricted to
the session.

It is doubtful if the rules were strictly enforced for as early as 1873
Mr T. Kelly from New Plymouth moved that the Library Committee should
be instructed to allow members outside Wellington the right to take out
books and to keep them for two months. Though the motion was not
approved it appears that members residing in Wellington did have books
at their homes.

No great change was made in the wording of the rules, but it appears
that at t