Library Council of NSW
The Library Council of New South Wales is the governing body of the State Library of New South Wales. The nine members of Library Council are members of the public nominated by the State Government and appointed for a three year term by the Governor of New South Wales.
The Council's responsibilities relate to the promotion, provision and maintenance of library and information services for the people of New South Wales; and advising the Minister and local authorities on matters of policy and administration relating to library services.
Robert Thomas
President, Library Council
BEc, MSDIA, SF Fin-
Robert Thomas
It has been a real privilege to be President of the Library Council at such an exciting time. The Mitchell Library Centenary Exhibition and all the attendant events are a marvellous celebration of an extraordinary collection.
Of course, part of role on Council is the promotion of the NSW Public Library Network. Visitation is up strongly, and the role of libraries as a core component of vibrant Community Centres is increasingly appreciated.
I obviously get great enjoyment from working with the State Library Executive, the team of staff and the rest of the Library Council. The passion and enthusiasm of all our staff, volunteers, beneficiaries and friends continues to amaze me.
This year we are re-launching our Foundation and have set ourselves a goal to raise over $500,000 to conserve several very important items.
Our current exhibition only reinforces the need for this as well as digitisation to provide equity of access and to allow such documents to be linked into school curriculum.Apart from the Library Council, I have some public company boards and other non-profit interests which provide a very enjoyable diversity of interests.
I have a very understanding wife Kyrenia, and four great boys. Golf, collecting old maps, reading and Suduko remain my other interests.
Elsa Atkin
BA, MAICD-
Elsa Atkin
I have spent most of my professional life working in and managing cultural institutions (ABC, Evatt Foundation and National Trust). Having recently left the National Trust after 12 years as CEO, I heartily welcome my latest appointment as a member of the Library Council.
My association with this treasure house began way back when I spent time there reading and researching for my university assignments. More recently my professional role in the Trust provided a number of opportunities for collaboration with the Library.
I have long been focused on Australia's cultural and social development and I currently serve on non profit boards and committees involved in classical music, medical research, and social and educational programs. I am an avid consumer of the arts, especially music and the visual arts. I love reading, swimming and travelling and also enjoy cooking for my family and friends.
It is a great honour for me to be involved with the Library and to have the opportunity to contribute to its development, making use of my experience in caring for and enhancing the accessibility of our cultural heritage.
Graham Bradley AM
BA, LLB, LLM, FAICD-
Graham Bradley AM
I am honoured to have been a member of the Library Council since 2004, and to have chaired the atmitchell.com Capital Campaign. The atmitchell.com project captured the imagination of many generous benefactors and corporate supporters, and all of us on the Council.
My association with the Library goes back over 10 years when, in my former role as CEO at Perpetual Trustees, I was proud to sponsor some of the superb exhibitions staged by the Library. This led to my appreciation of the deep, diverse and priceless collection of absorbing materials held in the Mitchell Collection which are too little known or accessed. Photography has been a lifetime passion for me and the Library's collection is one of its greatest treasures.
After retiring from executive life in 2003, I am now a professional non-executive director on a range of public company and non profit boards. This leaves me with more time for my other passion - reading, especially Australian history and literature.
Michael Caulfield
-
Michael Caulfield
My first sight of the Library was as a young boy from the western suburbs of Sydney and the addiction was immediate. Libraries and librarians showed me a path to adulthood and life that could have come from no other source and I remain in their collective debt. These days, I appreciate and treasure the irreplaceable value of the Library’s archives more than ever and have explored them comprehensively for research in all my films and books.
I am particularly interested in the Library’s future in the digital age and the utilization of its cultural wealth across all the media platforms. I live in the Central West of NSW, on a farm, and so have a special interest in everything that makes it over the ‘sandstone curtain’ from Sydney. While there’s a necessary passion for development and growth out here, it’s critically important to ensure that cultural life grows as well, and it’s my hope that the Library will play its part as more and more people search for a different way of life away from the cities. I continue to make films and write books and look forward to using the immense privilege of my association with the Library to contribute to its future success.
Richard Fisher AM
LLB, MEc-
Richard Fisher AM
I am General Counsel to the University of Sydney and an Adjunct Professor in its Graduate School of Government. Prior to my appointment at the University I was a partner of Blake Dawson and am its immediate past Chairman of Partners. A commercial lawyer for many years, I have specialised in the areas of corporate reorganisation and insolvency. I was also an International Consultant to the Asian Development Bank conducting projects on the development and harmonisation of insolvency laws in the Asian region.
My written work includes Corporate Insolvency Law (LBC, 2000) and the chapters on Corporate Reorganisation and on Receivership in The Laws of Australia. Other appointments held include directorships of InvoCare Limited and Baosteel Australia Mining Company Pty Limited. Beyond my involvement with the establishment of the BDW Prize for Business Literature, which the Library administers, it has been very rewarding to become involved with the most impressive programs undertaken by the Library to support both the Public Library Network and Specialist collections.
Professor Bridget Griffen-Foley
BA(Hons), PhD-
Professor Bridget Griffen-Foley
I am the Director of the Centre for Media History and an ARC Queen Elizabeth II Fellow at Macquarie University. My books, all of them drawing on the State Library's rich manuscript and periodical holdings, include The House of Packer, Party Games: Australian Politicians and the Media from War to Dismissal, and Changing Stations: The Story of Australian Commercial Radio. I am now embarking on the production of A Companion to the Australian Media.
I am the President of the Macquarie University Library Friends Foundation; I have been a member of the Friends of the State Library of NSW for several years; and in 2000 I was awarded a Harold White Fellowship by the National Library of Australia. I serve on the New South Wales Working Party of the Australian Dictionary of Biography, which meets in the State Library, and I write for a range of other publications. My interests include current affairs, theatre, food and tennis.
Jan Richards
BA(Lib&InfoSci), AALIA, ALGMA-
Jan Richards
I am the Manager of Central West Libraries, a regional public library based on the Central Tablelands and Western Slopes of NSW. I adore my job both for the diversity it offers and the location in Orange, one of Australia’s most beautiful cities. Because I’m passionate about public libraries and their place in society I have been an active participant in our professional associations over many years. I was President of the Australian Library and Information Association from 2009 to 2010 after serving as Vice-President during the previous 12 months. I continue my involvement with ALIA as Chairman of the Public Libraries Advisory Committee. I have previously held executive positions with Public Libraries NSW and Public Libraries Australia and am a long standing member of the State Records of NSW Community Advisory Committee. In 2010 I was elected to the International Federation of Library and Information Associations and Institutions (IFLA) Standing Committee on Public Libraries and I relish the chance to work with colleagues across the globe on issues relating to our sector and the wider Library and Information environment.
The State Library of New South Wales has been an crucial part of my working life for longer than I care to remember; a source of information, support, inspiration and advice. The opportunity to contribute to one of the world’s great libraries and to chair the Public Libraries Consultative Committee is an honour.
When not ‘thinking libraries’ I can be found enjoying life with family and friends or hatching grand plans (much to the unease of all around me).
Andrew Tink
BA LLB-
Andrew Tink
When I was an MP, the State Library next door was my refuge from politics. Writing became my creative outlet and the Library a key source of material for my biographies of William Charles Wentworth and Lord Sydney. I owe a great deal to the Library staff and all who have gone before them. As a member of the Library Council, I hope to give something back.
Dr John Vallance
BA, MA, PhD-
Dr John Vallance
I was born in Sydney, and went to North Sydney Boys' High School and the University of Sydney where I studied classics and archaeology. After that I went to Cambridge on a scholarship and did an MA and PhD in ancient philosophy. On graduating I became a Fellow of Gonville and Caius College Cambridge and taught in the Faculty of Classics at Cambridge for eight years before returning home to Sydney. I am currently Headmaster of Sydney Grammar School.
My published work centres on ancient Greek science and medicine. I have also worked as a musician and have a deep interest in art, especially sculpture.
The State Library has been part of my life since I was a child, and I am delighted now to have the opportunity to support its work in a practical way.
The Public Libraries Consultative Committee, a sub-committee of the Library Council of New South Wales, provides policy advice to Library Council and acts as a consultative framework for key public library stakeholders in NSW.
