I beg to move, "That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said Amendment."

This is a matter of some importance dealing with the position of the library-service in Scotland. It was discussed both in this House and in another place. The original intention of the Bill was that libraries which hitherto have been under the parish council in the country districts should he transferred to the new district councils which are being set up. Since the Bill went through this House the various education authorities, the county authorities and such library authorities as the Carnegie Trust, who are all deeply interested in this problem, represented that it would be more suitable if the libraries were transferred to the county to bring them within and into close touch with the educational service of the county, and to strengthen the possibilities of development. There arose, of course, the question whether there should be included the libraries belonging to the burghs. There were those, of course, who urged that there should be a complete transfer, but in view of the attitude taken by certain of the burghs, who have great pride in their libraries, I thought that while it was perfectly reasonable and fair to transfer the smaller libraries of the country districts to the county, we should in the meantime leave the burghs with their existing libraries in the hope that, as I have said in previous Debates, with fair certainty, working agreements will be come to, so that there will be a combination of purpose and development in this service.