The Chairman of the School
Board, Mr. (afterwards Sir) George White, who was a member of the
Committee, promised to raise the matter at a School Board Meeting, but
the scheme, to be financed by public subscription, did not come to
fruition until 1889. In that year the total amount of subscriptions
reached 276 pounds : 14 : 9, and 3,667 volumes suitable for juveniles
were obtained.
Batches of books were forwarded to every elementary school in the City,
and the head teacher in each was made responsible for the distribution of
the books to the scholars in standards IV and upwards. The tables
published in the annual report for the year ending March 1890 show that
3,621 books were sent to 38 schools, and that the total issues for the
first seven months was 52,312. In the report for the year ending March
1893 the Committee reported:
"The Juvenile Department having proved a source of labour and cost much
beyond what was anticipated, a Sub-Committee appointed to report on the
subject recommended that the School Board should be asked to contribute
to the expense of repair and renewal of books, and to urge upon their
staff increased care and vigilance in the management of the Department.
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