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ISSN 1443-0568 | no. 39 | June 1999


A farewell message from Warren Horton

This is will be the last contribution I publish in Gateways, since I am retiring from the position of Director-General of the National Library of Australia on 27 July 1999. While I will have opportunities around Australia before then to say farewell to many colleagues and friends, I appreciate the suggestion of the editor that I might also want to say something here.

Jenny Sages: Warren Horton 1999

It has been a great privilege, and one I am very conscious of, to have occupied this position for 14 years. The National Library of Australia is a splendid library in its own right, and the position of Director-General is extraordinarily interesting because of the leadership and infrastructure responsibilities embedded in the functions in our Act. While it horrifies some colleagues when I say it, I have also loved the opportunities to work with politicians and in the Commonwealth Government bureaucracy. Certainly I have enjoyed my time in Canberra immensely.

I have no interest in assessing what has happened in those 14 years, apart from saying that the cliché is true—it has been a time of great change, especially in recent years—in technology and telecommunications. If history judges the National Library of Australia to have reacted sensibly to that change, and to remain balanced and flexible as an organisation, then that will be sufficient reward for me.

But I do want to say how much it has pleased me to see the increased recognition internationally over the last decade of the world class quality of Australian librarianship, and the major contribution we are now making to global developments. An important reason is of course the Internet, enabling us to share information so readily, but globalisation of information resources matters too. I remarked in the opening speech at the ALIA Centenary Conference in Melbourne in 1996 that I felt Australia still punched below its weight internationally. I doubt I would say that now.

I do want to comment also on the National Library staff, and the Australian library community. So far as our staff is concerned, I have few opportunities to publicly thank them for their service to the Library and the Australian people. In this message I want simply to compliment them on their commitment to the Library, and their continued achievement through a very turbulent time, often under great resource constraint. The National Library is one of Australia’s great cultural institutions; its success is largely due to them, and it has been a privilege to be part of this team.

As for the Australian library community, I have now been a member of it for 42 years, since I started as a junior staff member in the then Public Library of New South Wales on 25 March 1957. I have never regretted my almost immediate decision to march with this profession for the rest of my career. I suppose I have had the same splendid frustration on occasions as others, and certainly many disappointments and failures over the years. But my main professional interest in the last two decades has been national cooperation. The capacity of this profession to act so broadly in the national interest, even in harder times, has been a very rewarding experience for me. It has certainly helped the National Library of Australia, and my colleagues and I are very grateful for it.

Earlier today I re-read the last issue of Gateways, and was amused by the photograph on the front page of the first meeting of the ABN Network Committee in 1981. How young the NLA staff and we first Committee members all look! But how much the photograph brings home the importance of ABN, and its successor Kinetica, to the Australian libraries and our users. Whatever else I have been involved in, it has been a great privilege to be part of that long march over the last 20 years.

The photograph also brought home to me, very strongly, the continuity, strength and warmth of the relationship between the National Library and the Australian library community. That relationship has been of central concern to me during my stewardship of the Library, and I have very much appreciated the continued goodwill of the profession, and necessary tolerance on occasion, during my time here. I want to thank you for it, and say I hope my successor as Director-General also has the same relationship and support. I wish you all well in your future activities to further develop the Australian library system.

Above:
Jenny Sages
Warren Horton 1999
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From the Pictorial Collection

Warren Horton

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Please address any comments and enquiries to The Editor, Gateways: lkirwan@nla.gov.au

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