Advance and retreat: aspects of public library services in New South Wales during World War II (original) (raw)
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This three-part series traces efforts to establish a system of free public libraries in New South Wales from the time of publication of the Munn-Pitt Report in 1935 to the passing of the New South Wales Library Act in 1939. The series delves beyond the published accounts of events and describes the actions and interactions of the interested parties - the senior librarians at the Public Library of New South Wales, the Free Library Movement, the Library Group, the Libraries Advisory Committee, New South Wales politicians, the media, local government bodies, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the Australian Council for Educational Research. There are also insights into the public and private views of key individuals, including Ralph Munn, W. H. Ifould, D. H. Drummond, and G. C. Remington. The third part outlines the immediate effects of the Libraries Advisory Committee Report and the protracted negotiations between the Government, the Free Library Movement and local government interests to finalise library legislation. The impact of the outbreak of war on library developments is described, together with the eventual implementation of the New South Wales Library Act.
This three-part series traces efforts to establish a system of free public libraries in New South Wales from the time of publication of the Munn-Pitt Report in 1935 to the passing of the New South Wales Library Act in 1939. The series delves beyond the published accounts of events and describes the actions and interactions of the interested parties - the senior librarians at the Public Library of New South Wales, the Free Library Movement, the Library Group, the Libraries Advisory Committee, New South Wales politicians, the media, local government bodies, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the Australian Council for Educational Research. There are also insights into the public and private views of key individuals, including Ralph Munn, W. H. Ifould, D. H. Drummond, and G.C. Remington. The first part describes efforts in 1935 to capitalise upon the impact of the Munn-Pitt Report, to devise a regional library system for New South Wales and to stimulate Carnegie Corporation of New York support. It also introduces the characters upon whom the fate of free library services in New South Wales would ultimately depend.
This three-part series traces efforts to establish a system of free public libraries in New South Wales from the time of publication of the Munn-Pitt Report in 1935 to the passing of the New South Wales Library Act in 1939. The series delves beyond the published accounts of events and describes the actions and interactions of the interested parties - the senior librarians at the Public Library of New South Wales, the Free Library Movement, the Library Group, the Libraries Advisory Committee, New South Wales politicians, the media, local government bodies, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the Australian Council for Educational Research. There are also insights into the public and private views of key individuals, including Ralph Munn, W. H. Ifould, D. H. Drummond, and G. C.. Remington. The second part describes the efforts of the Libraries Advisory Committee under the chairmanship of W. H. Ifould to develop a politically acceptable and workable free public library scheme for New South Wales. The paper outlines how contentious issues, such as compulsion of local government authorities, ministerial control and funding formulae, were handled by the Committee and reveals the influence of D. H. Drummond, Minister for Education, on the final report.
Public library development in New South Wales
Public Library News (State Library of New South Wales), 2004
A short account of the development of public library services in New South Wales, from subscription and schools of arts libraries beginning in the nineteenth century, through generally poorly-supported municipal libraries in the mid nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to a burgeoning free public library system from the 1940s onwards. Identifies milestones and key movements and individuals and seeks to explain why developments in New South Wales lagged behind those in comparable environments.
‘Political control’: the New South Wales Library (Amendment) Bill, 1975
In 1975 the New South Wales Government proposed to combine the functions of the Library Board of New South Wales and the Council of the (State) Library of New South Wales to form a new body, the Library Council of New South Wales. This was intended to improve coordination of library services to the public and there was general support, but when the Library (Amendment) Bill, 1975 was actually introduced, it contained a clause subjecting the new Library Council to the ‘direction and control’ of the Minister. This was unacceptable to members of the Council of the Library, especially its President, Mr Justice Rae Else-Mitchell. The Library had hitherto enjoyed considerable autonomy in selecting library materials and accepting benefactions. The Bill passed through the Legislative Assembly, but after hours of feverish lobbying and argument it was amended in the Legislative Council. The amended Bill which became law limited the Minister’s ‘direction and control’ to subsidies to local councils. This paper describes the Bill’s stormy progress, examines the parts played by Council members, politicians and librarians, and explores why little attention has been paid to this attempt to limit the autonomy of a statutory body which had operated successfully for a century under governments of all complexions.
2013
In the midst of World War II, as the attention of the Allies shifted to the Pacific, seven civilian women from the United States (US) arrived at The Heads, Sydney, Australia after fourteen days aboard a navy ship. Amongst these women were four librarians, members of a contingent of US Office of War Information (OWI) personnel sent to operate information centres, with the help of local staff in key cities, worldwide. Plans for the establishment of information libraries followed the success of the US Information Library opened in London in 1942 and were part of an emerging US agenda to employ access to information in support the war effort and promote democracy. The momentum of the success of the London OWI library was to propel the establishment of further centres and in 1943 the first of these new centres were established in four of the ‘British Dominions’-- that is Australia, New Zealand, India and South Africa. The US librarians’ arrival in Australia in 1944 followed in the wake o...
William Herbert Ifould and the development of library services in New South Wales, 1912-1942
1993
William Herbert Ifould (1877-1969) was Principal Librarian of the Public Library of New South Wales from 1912 to 1942, spanning critical years for library services in Australia, including the two Wars, the Great Depression, the Munn-Pitt Report, the campaign of the Free Library Movement and the passing of the New South Wales Library Act. He has however been neglected by scholars of this period of Australian library history. This study examines Ifould's activities during these years, and assesses his significance for the Public Library of New South Wales, for free public libraries and for the library profession in Australia. The study involved the examination of primary and secondary materials by and about Ifould in libraries, archives and private hands, and works on his Library and Australian librarianship of the period. There were interviews and correspondence with people who knew him, including former members of his staff, friends, neighbours, contemporaries in other libraries, members of his family, former users of the Library, and the sole surviving Library Trustee from the Ifould era. The study describes how Ifould achieved status as a public figure, a public servant and a professional librarian, and helped to create a hospitable climate for library development. It shows the lengths to which he went to achieve his objectives, including the completion of the Library building, the securing of benefactions, the development of the Library's collections, the containment of costs and the selection of staff. It provides the first detailed accounts of the Libraries Advisory Committee, which Ifould chaired, the passing of the Library Act and the formation of the Library Board of New South Wales. It also reveals the extent to which his successor, John Metcalfe, was indebted to him. The study concludes that Ifould's role throughout the period was highly significant, and that he played a critical role in laying the foundation for free public library services in New South Wales.
The Australian Library Journal
This article, based on a paper delivered at the 1997 HOBA (History of the Book in Australia) conference, discusses the implications of the term 'history of the book in Australia'. Consideration focuses on official publications in Australia and the impact of the 1964 Report of the Erwin Joint Select Committee on Government and Parliamentary Publications. The place of official publications in the collections of major libraries and their value as items for international gift and exchange between libraries are discussed. Next, the role of public institutions is considered, especially that of the National Library of Australia's attempts to develop the 'national collection'. The idea of the Distributed National Collection is reviewed, and the need for clarity on what is understood by a 'national collection' is stressed. A case is stated for a non-parliamentary committee of inquiry into problems of acquisitions and resources now confronting Australian libraries generally and the National Library in particular. The article concludes by examining the future of the important nineteenth-century collections of the Australian parliamentary libraries. A note of caution is sounded against taking 'use' as the guiding criterion for deciding whether to sell off or discard books from these libraries.