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Dear Madam, May I be allowed to make a few observations on the rather curious though interesting paper on classification by Mr R. Moss, published in the February issue.

THERE ARE few controversies which have dragged on so long as ‘Public Lending Right’ (PLR). Originally put forward in 1951 as ‘Brophy's penny’ the controversy has raged ever since. The late Sir Alan Herbert devoted the later years of his life to it. Bills got as far as Parliament and were then talked out. The details of this unhappy story are well known, especially to the sufferers, the authors.

THE SIX YEARS since the reorganisation of local government in Northern Ireland have seen a massive development of services in the public library field, with progress on almost all fronts simultaneously. Five Education and Library Boards were created under legislation which gave certain advantages to the library service, not least of which was the close link with education, and including a statutory library committee and a designated post of chief librarian. Another helpful feature is the close similarity of population, which ranges from 230,000 in the Western Board to 360,000 in Belfast.

PROMPTLY UPON the ending of the seemingly interminable Christmas/New Year holiday—I just had to go back to work between the two, because another plate of cold‐turkey‐plus‐cold‐Xmas‐pud would have driven me insane—there landed upon my desk the first issue of the LAR vacancies supplement, a sheet of job advertisements which is to be issued fortnightly while publication of the Times literary supplement Is suspended, and may even be continued thereafter on a permanent basis if demand warrants.

Dear Miss Ditmas, I am flattered that Mr Bird has found my article interesting enough to comment upon with such alacrity. I would be even more flattered if I could be sure he had allowed himself time to read it.

FOR SOME years now Leicestershire Libraries and Information Service has organised a programme of children's summer activities—very varied activities such as storytelling in parks, special events in libraries and a ‘Magic Bus’. The aim of all these has been to encourage library use, to introduce specific titles to whet children's appetite for books and reading by means of a carefully structured programme of storytelling sessions and reading aloud, fun and games, craft sessions, drama, and competitions. Most libraries do something like this but does it actively lead to more reading—reading for enjoyment, stimulation and emotional satisfaction rather than for information related to school work and increased functional literacy? Comments received from teachers, parents and librarians showed that through the Reading Tree, children did read more for pleasure.

Aarhus Kommunes Biblioteker (Teknisk Bibliotek), Ingerslevs Plads 7, Aarhus, Denmark. Representative: V. NEDERGAARD PEDERSEN (Librarian).

I HAD FORGOTTEN, in recent years, just how much dull donkey‐work there is about publishing books. My erstwhile firm eventually possessed just enough slaves to shelter me from the most boring and repetitive of the numerous jobs in a publishing house.

OF THREE senior staff who retired this summer from Strathclyde University's Department of Librarianship in Glasgow, one is going to Italy, one to Wales and one to work. The latter is Dr W R Aitken, who admittedly is confining his ‘work’ to an external examinership at the Aberdeen school of librarianship and membership of the Library Cooperation Committee of the National Library of Scotland, but it is a pleasure to know that this most charming and scholarly librarian will continue to involve himself directly in professional affairs.

The interesting and well‐informed contributions made by Dr Pryce and Mr Ross this morning have given, in some measure, the size of the problem facing all of those concerned with sources of information in the years of negotiation with the European Economic Community and afterwards. Bearing in mind the wealth of published material already appearing, this conference may well provide a fitting opportunity to pause and clear our thoughts before initiating any further information publications in this field. The major problem of the vast quantity of Common Market literature appearing in a language other than English is in itself one deserving early attention. At a lecture earlier this year about the European Iron and Steel Community, warning was given of the misinterpretation liable to follow from the simple use of the phrase ‘The Common Market’. It is probable, however, that the looseness of the term in this context can be accepted with comparative safety when compared with the apparent dangers of quoting from the English version of the Treaty of Rome, to which one of this morning's speakers referred.