Tasman District Libraries Information Services Librarian Cathy Vaughan said the level of public interest was very encouraging, supported by the number of library members who stopped by, the number signed up at the stand, and numbers of people keen to try their luck at the guessing games.

Library A and P Show competition winners named

There were 292 lollies in the jar at the show and Michael Shearer of Wakefield was the closest. His guess of 291 lollies was only one off the mark, while Sabrina Hennings of Atawhai guessed 290. Michael chose the jar of lollies as his prize, which meant Sabrina won the 2007 edition of the Guinness Book of Records.

The competition for adults, who were asked to guess the number of visitors in an average week at Richmond Library, revealed some surprising results, said Tasman District Libraries Information Services Librarian Cathy Vaughan.

“We had a range of answers, from 66 people to 59,000. Most people thought the average was in the hundreds, when for an average week (13-18 November 2006), there were 3223 people who visited.”

Michelle Wyllie of Wakefield guessed the nearest figure of 3217 people in a week. She took home a book on farming in New Zealand.