articularly so in the first years when Sir Francis
Bell was Agent-General. Though the books were supplied by a bookseller
in Edinburgh, Sir Francis, as a former member of the Library Committee,
took a personal interest in the orders and anticipated the purchase of
many popular books.

The High Commissioner in London, successor to the Agent-General, has
continued to oversee the purchase of books for the Library either from
booksellers or from the publishers. He has been of invaluable
assistance to the Library in this task; and the assistance given in
this field is only paralleled by that of the other overseas agencies of
New Zealand, particularly those in the United States, Canada, and
Australia.

A large and increasing number of books has also been purchased from
booksellers in New Zealand. Particularly in the case of novels, it is
of advantage to inspect the book before buying a copy.

For many years books purchased in England were rebound uniformly in
morocco. In 1886, in an attempt to reduce costs, the Committee decided
that works costing less than 10s. were to be sent out in the ordinary
cloth binding. The more expensive and important works still continued
to be rebound in leather, but as time went on this too was discontinued
and all books were dispatched in the publisher's binding.

THE AIMS OF THE LIBRARY

What does the General Assembly Library exist for and what does it
set out to do? Its primary function is to assist members to obtain
information needed for the performance of their parliamentary duties
and also to make available to them books, periodicals, etc., which may
better equip them as men of affairs.

From the first the Library set out to obtain books on matters and
topics likely to be the subject of legislation and on matters likely to
be of interest to members. As funds became available and the Library
grew it was also possible to purchase books for recreational reading,
but this has always been a lesser aim.

The necessity for obtaining books on matters likely to be subject to
legislation has directly led to the acquisition of books relating to
New Zealand. The principal subject of legislation before the New
Zealand Parliament is New Zealand, and in order to give the information
required it is essential to have as complete a collection as possible
on New Zealand.

The advent of the Liberal Government in 1891, and later of the Labour
Government, led to wide extension