Welsh Journals

Search over 450 titles and 1.2 million pages

agricultural, craft, etc), folk tales, beliefs, songs, etc. He began his duties in 1957 and has already done field work in various parts of Wales. The Museum undertook to find some of the money necessary for his equipment and has done so. Aberystwyth The report records that the Central Block of the National Library of Wales was completed in 1955 and officially opened by Her Majesty The Queen on 8 August of that year. The Library used all its own resources and the money obtained from a public appeal to pay for the Central Block. The heavy deficit of r14,000 which existed owing to the depreciation in the value of the Library's investments was cleared in 1957. The only contribution made by the Treasury was C7,000, that is, half the cost of furnishing this building. The report recommends that the National Library should receive financial help for the completion of its Bookstack. The storage situation, which has been serious for some time, has now become acute, and further delay in this connection will seriously handicap the Library's work and retard its development. Steps are being taken to bring the Library into closer contact with the schools of Wales. Visits to the Library are becoming more and more popular by schools of all grades and education authorities are aware of the educational value of such visits. Housing the Arts The Reports of the Committees of Enquiry surveying the needs for cultural buildings in London, Scotland and Wales has now been published in one volume by the Arts Council of Great Britain and can be obtained from H M Stationery Office at a cost of 5s. The Arts Council's Welsh Committee announce that an off-print of the Welsh section has now been prepared and can be obtained from their office at 29 Park Place, Cardiff. The recommendations in the Welsh section include a National Theatre for Wales, a home for the Welsh National Opera Company, the early extension of the National Museum of Wales, the Museum Block at St Fagans and an art gallery for Bangor. In addition to the above recommendations the Welsh Committee of Enquiry urged that the National Eisteddfod and the Llangollen International Eisteddfod, two festivals which rely on temporary accommodation, should receive every encouragement to improve that accommodation. Cultural Buildings One important feature of the Welsh Report which deserves particular notice was the reference made to the care and maintenance of existing buildings and the design and function of new ones. The survey of Wales conducted by the Welsh Committee of Enquiry showed that there are many buildings where the arts can be housed. By modern standards there are few of these buildings that can be designated cultural buildings. It was considered, however, that much could be done, without incurring great expenditure, to make those buildings attractive, comfortable and worthy of the artistic events presented there. The majority of these buildings are owned by local Government authorities who for many years have not been able to maintain them properly. There are indications now that the time is more propitious and therefore opportune for schemes for the refurbishing of these buildings to be undertaken. An imaginative plan for redecoration and improvement based upon consultation with experts would, it is suggested, provide Wales with many attractive buildings for the presentation of the arts. The Welsh Report also emphasises the importance of the design and function of new buildings and urges that expert advice, so readily available today, should be taken by all those contemplating new building, for example, if a building is to provide facilities for drama then a properly designed and equipped stage should be provided and an appendix of the Welsh Report lists a number of essential points concerning stage design. I