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University of New South Wales UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES WILLIAM HERBERT IFOULD AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF LIBRARY SERVICES IN NEW SOUTH WALES, 1912-1942 A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF INFORMATION, LIBRARY AND ARCHIVE STUDIES IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY BY DAVID JOHN JONES SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES 1993 i CANDIDATE'S STATEMENT I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, it contains no material previously published or written by another person nor material which to a substantial extent has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma of a university or other institute of higher learning, except where due acknowledgement is made in the text. David John Jones. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many individuals have assisted or inspired me during the course of my research: their support and interest has been as encouraging as it has been sustained. Those who provided information or leads are recorded in the list of Sources Consulted. I acknowledge their friendly cooperation and willingness to respond to my letters, telephone calls and appeals in professional journals. It is with regret that I note the passing of four of their number: May Dobbie, Dr. Arthur Fleischmann, Axel Lodewycks and Sir Harold White. I have received special assistance and encouragement from Jean Arnot, Dr. Russell Cope, Professor Norman Horrocks, Mary Ifould and other members of the Ifould family, Professor John Levett, the Hon. Thomas McKay, Dr. Jack Nelson, Dr. Neil Radford, Wilma Radford, Dr. Michael Talbot, Emeritus Professor Jean Whyte, and from three of Ifould's successors: Gordon Richardson, Russell Doust and Alison Crook. I wish to thank the staff of various libraries and archives who have helped me gain access to information in their collections: the Archives Office of New South Wales, the Carnegie Corporation of New York Archives, the National Library of Australia, the State Library of New South Wales, especially the Manuscripts staff of the Mitchell Library, the State Library of South Australia, the State Library of Tasmania, and the State Library of Victoria. Thanks are also due to fellow research students in the School of Information, Library and Archive Studies at the University of New South Wales, whose seminars provided an occasional forum for some of my ideas and an opportunity to share some of the frequent excitement and occasional frustrations of historical research. iii I owe a special debt of gratitude to my supervisor, Professor W. Boyd Rayward, Dean of the Faculty of Professional Studies at the University of New South Wales, who has provided support, encouragement and sound advice throughout my research for this dissertation. Last, but by no means least, my thanks are due to my long-suffering family who for five years have had to share me, generally stoically, with W. H. Ifould. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vi ABSTRACT vii 1. INTRODUCTION 1 2. IFOULD AND THE LITERATURE 9 3. CHILDHOOD AND EARLY CAREER 22 4. THE PUBLIC LIBRARY OF NEW SOUTH WALES 39 5. SETTING THE HOUSE IN ORDER 64 6. WORLD WAR I AND THE LIBRARY 108 7. EXPANDING HORIZONS: THE EARLY TWENTIES 136 8. METCALFE, AN ASSOCIATION AND THE DIXSON WING 174 9. DEPRESSION AND SUCCESSION 204 10. THE BUILDING CAMPAIGN AND THE MUNN-PITT SURVEY 219 11. PROPHETS FROM ABROAD AND LOCAL INITIATIVES 238 12. IFOULD'S 1936 TOUR AND FORMATION OF THE LIBRARIES ADVISORY COMMITTEE 263 13. THE LIBRARIES ADVISORY COMMITTEE 284 14. THE IMMEDIATE IMPACT OF THE "IFOULD REPORT" 304 15. WORLD WAR II AND LIBRARY LEGISLATION 323 16. IFOULD SOLDIERS ON 346 17. A NEW CAREER AND ACTIVE RETIREMENT 371 18. FINAL GLIMPSES 384 19. CONCLUSIONS 390 Appendix 1. GOVERNMENT SUBSIDY TO SCHOOLS OF ARTS AND KINDRED INSTITUTIONS 1909-31 404 Appendix 2. COUNTRY COLLECTIONS AND LOANS 1912-42 405 Appendix 3. PUBLIC LIBRARY OF NEW SOUTH WALES COLLECTIONS 1912-42 407 Appendix 4. VISITS TO THE LIBRARY 1912-42 409 SOURCES CONSULTED 410 v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS A & R Angus and Robertson ACER Australian Council for Educational Research ALP Australian Labor Party AONSW Archives Office of New South Wales CCD Country Circulation Department (Public Library of New South Wales) CRS Country Reference Section (Public Library of New South Wales) CSIR Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, later Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) FLM Free Library Movement LGA Local Government Association of New South Wales MHR Member of the House of Representatives ML Mitchell Library MLA Member of the Legislative Assembly (New South Wales) MLC Member of the Legislative Council (New South Wales) NSW New South Wales OBE Order of the British Empire P & C Parents and Citizens' Association PLNSW Public Library of New South Wales SA South Australia SLNSW State Library of New South Wales UCV Unimproved Capital Value UAP United Australia Party WOI Department of War Organization of Industry vi ABSTRACT 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. vii 1 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION Despite the prominent positions which he occupied in Australian librarianship during a half century of service, first at the Public Library of South Australia, and then as Principal Librarian of the Public Library of New South Wales from 1912 to 1942, William Herbert Ifould has been largely neglected by writers on Australian libraries.1 Yet Ifould was Principal Librarian in Sydney during some of the most challenging years of this century, spanning World War I, the Great Depression and the early years of World War II, all of which had a major impact on libraries and their users. Ifould was in office too during key events in Australian library development: Ralph Munn and E. R. Pitt's survey of Australian libraries; the foundation of the Australian Institute of Librarians (AIL); the work of the Free Library Movement (FLM) in New South Wales; the framing of the Library Act, 1939 in New South Wales; and the establishment of librarianship as a bona fide profession. Purposes of this study This study is intended to cast light on Ifould's professional activities during his time as Principal Librarian of the Public Library of New South Wales. It assesses the importance of his contribution to his own institution, to the 1 The Public Library of South Australia was renamed the State Library of South Australia in 1967. The Public Library of New South Wales was renamed the Library of New South Wales in 1969, and became the State Library of New South Wales in 1975. For a review of the literature relating to Ifould, see Chapter Two. 2 development of library services within New South Wales, and to the wider sphere of the library profession. It seeks to answer fundamental questions about the man, his methods and his impact. What manner of man was he? What was his background? What training had he received? What beliefs or philosophies sustained him? How did he come to be appointed, and what was his reception in Sydney? How did he establish himself as a prominent member of Sydney society, as a respected senior public servant, as a leader of a respectable profession? Why did he choose to remain in this profession? How important were money and status to him? How did he cope with a succession of political masters? What was the nature of the Library he inherited in 1912, and what did Ifould do to develop its stature? To what extent did he reorganize the Library and its staff? What were his staffing practices, and were they fair? Did he discriminate in favour of women, or against them? What was his role in the career of John Metcalfe? What did he do to
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