National Library of Australia - Gateways

ISSN 1443-0568 | no. 68 | April 2004


Celebrating a Distinguished Librarian
Warren Horton AM (1938-2003) Memorial Event

We are, of course, here to celebrate Warren's life and professional contributions to librarianship. We are here to remember him as a man who was a colleague and friend to us, and as an exceedingly distinguished librarian who did much for library and information practice and the status of librarianship in Australia and internationally.

—Alex Byrne, President-elect, IFLA Executive Committee

The National Library's Director-General, Jan Fullerton, with Glynn Huleatt (Warren Horton’s sister), at the memorial celebration
The National Library's Director-General, Jan Fullerton, with Glynn Huleatt (Warren Horton’s sister), at the celebration

Over 150 friends and colleagues of the National Library of Australia's former Director-General, Warren Horton AM, gathered at the Library on the evening of Friday 26 March 2004 to celebrate Warren’s career as a librarian, a career which commenced at the State Library of New South Wales in March 1957. Warren died after a long illness in November 2003.

Alex Byrne, Earle Gow, Dagmar Schmidmaier, Eric Wainwright and Ian McCallum, friends and colleagues of Warren, reflected on the contribution he made to the library profession. Through the course of the evening, we were reminded of a man who challenged many orthodoxies, who made a major contribution to identifying and developing talented librarians in Australia and New Zealand, who offered advice and guidance to many, and who raised the status of Australian librarianship internationally.

A visual presentation of Warren’s career was followed by a reception in the foyer of the National Library, during which guests recalled their personal memories of him. The National Library's Director-General, Jan Fullerton, presented Warren’s sister, Ms Glynn Huleatt, with a collection of photographs taken of Warren during his career.

He showed [young librarians] what success as a librarian looked like, he demonstrated the value of working together, and the camaraderie involved in supporting each other. He proved that librarianship is a deeply personal as well as a professional commitment.

—Ian McCallum, Libraries Alive

Warren Horton will also be remembered during the ALIA 2004 Biennial Conference being held in Brisbane in September 2004.

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