Page:History of Knox Church Dunedin.djvu/83

Rh merged in the Knox Church Literary and Debating Society, has been maintained in fairly vigorous operation, and has been of service in developing and strengthening the literary tastes of a number of the young men of the congregation. The Society meets fortnightly during six months of the year, in Old Knox Church, and visitors are always welcome. The Society is deserving of the hearty support of the congregation. It was mainly owing to the personal efforts and liberality of the earlier members of the society that the congregational library was formed in 1866.

The Deacons' Court, considering that there were in Dunedin a number of youths in various employments during the day, resolved in July 1865 to open an evening school for their benefit, and appointed a committee, consisting of the minister, Messrs R. Gillies and J. (now Dr) Hislop, to give effect to this resolution. In the course of a few weeks the committee reported that the use of the North Dunedin Public School had been obtained, and that evening classes had been successfully established by them under Mr (now Sir) Robert Stout and Mr D. Ross as teachers, and that about 70 pupils had been enrolled, with the prospect of a considerable increase. It may fairly be claimed that this evening school was the precursor of the largely-attended evening classes so successfully carried on by the Caledonian Society for a number of years, in which Dr Stuart and several members of his church took a warm and active interest.

In June 1866 a Library Committee, composed of Messrs W. T. Glasgow, R. Gillies, and Dr Hislop, was authorised by the Deacons' Court to procure from the Home Country suitable books to the value of £100, to form the nucleus of a congregational library. One half of this amount was contributed by the Young Men's Society, the other half by the Deacons' Court. It was resolved that the library should be open free of charge to the members and adherents of the congregation and their families. In November 1867 the committee was authorised to procure another supply of books to the value of £50. Since that period several valuable additions have been made to the library, which now comprises over one thousand volumes in history, biography, science, theology, travels and adventures, poetry, fiction, and other departments of literature. In the beginning of 1890 the library received a thorough overhaul, and the books were classified