More Info →Carol Morrison, Children's Librarian, 1982

This photograph was taken shortly after a session of the May school holiday programme in 1982. Children's Librarian Carol Morrison had to serve on the public desk immediately after reading stories about witches to children attending the programme. The photograph gives a clear picture of public library systems before the advent of computers. To the left of Miss Morrison is a wooden box containing sequentially numbered issue cards. Fourteen sets of these were used, rotated through a fourteen week cycle. The left hand edge of each card was punched with a series of slots and holes allowing them to be sorted in blocks using a pair of wire 'knitting needles.' Each card was pre stamped with the due date. When issuing a book, staff would write the customer's membership card number and book's accession number on a prepared sheet containing 100 cells - rather like an Excel speadsheet. The correctly numbered issue card was slipped into a pocket at the back of each book. Books were then stamped with a due date on a thin sheet of paper glued into the back cover where it could be easily checked by the customer. To the right, a row of metal reserves screens can be seen propped up behind the piles of books. When a book was reserved, the title and classification were written on a thin strip of card. Each screen consisted of a mild steel sheet with its bottom and side edges folded over to form grooves. The strips of card could be slipped into these and arranged in alphabetical or Dewey order. When a book was returned, it would be checked against these lists before being shelved. The issue card was removed from the pocket and put aside, later to be returned to its sequence and sorted using the 'knitting needles.' This process determined which cards were missing and by checking the issues sheets, which books were overdue. Feilding Municipal Library became Feilding Public Library in 1989 when the Borough of Feilding amalgamated with Manawatu, Kairanga, Oroua and Pohangina County Councils. An automated library management system was introduced a year later, in time to handle the rapid growth in Library use resulting from the doubling of population. Prior to amalgamation, county members were required to pay an annual subscription to use Feilding's library. Carol Morrison moved to the Palmerston North Teachers' College Library in 1983. She married Municipal Librarian Simon Johnson in August the same year.