State Library of Queensland - Wikipedia

While we're on the subject of libraries, I decided to have a look at the Wikipedia entry for State Library of Queensland.

The entry is quite dry, and cries out for some extra colour and flavour. I decided it needed some extra information about the architecture, so have added details about the accolades received by the architects for their wonderful refurbishment of the building, and given some suggestions for further reading in the architectural press. I've also added the bit about offering a free reference service at the top of the list under 'Services', given that that's what I've spent the good part of my adult life doing. We all know that Wikipedia's strength lies with the collaborative power of volunteer editors who are passionate and knowlegeable about their subject, but that we musn't refer people to it on account of its 'untrustworthiness' as a source. Here we have an opportunity to create an entry that puts the lie to that notion.

I notice the Wikipedia entry for the British Library has some topics that could be adopted to enhance the entry for SLQ - Highlights of the Collection, Legal deposit, Exhibitions and Newspapers. Any takers?

"There is no institution that matters more than a library" - David Malouf

Photograph: Peter Marquis Kyle

Last Saturday David Malouf was in town – an opportunity not to be missed. In the morning he spoke to a gathering in the privileged upstairs space of the West End Public Library, on the occasion of its 80th birthday.

The charm of this little library, officially known as the Kurilpa Library, is due to its pleasing neo-Georgian proportions and interesting bell tower, which honours the fallen from WW1. It was opened in 1929, making it the first purpose-built public library in Queensland - something I gleaned from it's entry on the Queensland Heritage List. It continues to thrive as a busy community resource today.

David Malouf spoke in his intelligent and refreshingly modest way about the libraries in his life, their cultural importance, about reading, and about his childhood memories of growing up in West End. I remember scribbling down in my notebook one of the things he said that morning - "there is no institution that matters more than a library". It left me with decidedly nice warm fuzzy feelings about my chosen profession.

I am now in posession of a signed copy of his most recent work Ransom whose genesis dates back to a reading of The Illiad by one of Malouf's primary school teachers on a rainy Brisbane afternoon in the mid 1940s.

Borges and libraries

The Borges Cultural Centre is on the top floor of the Galería Pacifico in the centre of Buenos Aires. It's a space for concerts, exhibitions and the Escuela Argentina de Tango. I noticed this piece from Jorge Luis Borges, Argentina's great literary luminary and Librarian of the National Library of Aregentina (how often does that happen in Australia or anywhere else for that matter?), etched into the ceiling of one of the levels. I discovered that it's an excerpt from his 'Poema de los Dones' (1959) and translates as 'I, who had always thought of Paradise in form and image as a library'. Nice. Also ironic, as the poem is about recieving the gift of books at the same time he was going blind. The full text of the poem, together with a recording by Borges himself, can be found at the PalabraVirtual site.