Keep Stanton Free

Abstract

This is a story that can at last be told – a local issue that became a national one. It is a story of a principle that became a civic right, one man's relentless opposition to the North Sydney library service (known as Stanton Library), political manoeuvres, a local government election and referendum and the efforts, sometimes open, sometimes covert, of a group of committed citizens and librarians to ensure that public libraries remained free. The committee formed to achieve this was set up in 1983, but the story begins long before that in 1935 with the Munn-Pitt report. This paper is based on a presentation given at the 11th Library History Forum held at the State Library of New South Wales on 18 and 19 November, 2014.