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ISSN 1039-3498 | no. 46 | August 2000


Library Service receives $250 000 bequest

The Northern Territory Library and Information Service has received a bequest of more than $250 000 to help school libraries in remote Aboriginal communities.

The late Mrs Joan Gold, a Canberra resident and Friend of the National Library, left the money to the Library Service in her will to ‘progress technological innovations in school libraries in remote Aboriginal communities and non-city schools’. Mrs Gold, who was killed in a car accident last December, also bequeathed the proceeds from her Indigenous Australian art collection to the Library Service.

Northern Territory Libraries Minister, Peter Adamson said Mrs Gold had read about a project to upgrade remote school libraries in Northern Territory Aboriginal communities to a national standard in the October 1995 edition of the National Library of Australia News. The project is automating the libraries using the AGAMA program created by Gail Dous and Mary West, School Library Advisers in the Northern Territory Library Service.

Mr Adamson said by the end of the year, 70 of the 84 libraries in the project would be upgraded.

‘The generous bequest by Mrs Gold will enable the further development of these and other school libraries in remote communities,’ he said.

In addition, a Joan Gold Scholarship would be established to encourage the development of library and information technology skills in Aboriginal people in isolated communities. A national award would also be established for the best original research on developing innovative school library services for remote regions.

Joan GoldThe Director of the Northern Territory Library and Information Service, Lea Giles-Peters, said the bequest would allow the Library Service to undertake innovative projects which could not otherwise have been accommodated in its budget.

‘It is very gratifying to think that someone from Canberra recognised the value of the work the State Library is doing and shared our vision of the role of libraries in supporting education and literature in remote communities,’ she said.

Canberra art gallery owner, Ben Grady said Mrs Gold had been a widow and was survived by a stepdaughter and two nieces.

‘She had no children of her own. Her friends were her family,’ Mr Grady said, adding that Mrs Gold had been deeply committed to Indigenous Australian culture.

‘She was very much in favour of Reconciliation, a staunch Republican and a great supporter of contemporary art, particularly the work of emerging artists.’

Originally from New Zealand, Mrs Gold moved to Australia with her family at a young age.

‘She was a very private person,’ Mr Grady said. ‘We are still trying to piece a lot of things together. Joan did not talk much about the past. She was a futurist and it is very sad that she did not get to see the new millennium.’

Above right: Joan Gold, pictured last year at a music festival, had a great love of the arts. Photograph courtesy of Ben Grady

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