§ 14. Mr. Teelingasked the Minister of Education if he will introduce legislation to compel local authorities to charge those who do not live within their boundaries for the use of their public libraries.
§ Sir D. EcclesNo, Sir. But some of the technical problems of the extra-district use of public libraries will, I hope, receive further study by the working party which I am appointing to consider inter-library co-operation.
§ Mr. TeelingTo take just one example, does my right hon. Friend realise that in the year 1957–58 the population of the district served by the Westminster public libraries was roughly 95,000 and the number of registered readers was 146,140? Does he not think that the thing is beginning to get a little out of hand and, furthermore, that it is grossly unfair on the poor authors who are trying to obtain some sort of reward for writing books?
§ Sir D. EcclesNo. I am inclined to agree with the Reports Committee that extra-district charges to borrowers should be abolished.