‘Nobody dodges Remington’: the Free Library Movement and the achievement of public library legislation in New South Wales, 1935–39

Abstract

Traces the role of Geoffrey Cochrane Remington, Sydney solicitor and businessman, in free public library development in Australia. Describes how the Munn Pitt Report on Australian libraries and Remington’s acquaintance with John Wallace Metcalfe of the Public Library of New South Wales led to the birth of the Free Library Movement in 1935, and shows how the combination of legal expertise, public relations skills, technical knowledge and passion led to the passing of the New South Wales Library Act in 1939. Outlines the involvement of other key figures, including W. H. Ifould, Principal Librarian of the Public Library of New South Wales, George Brain, an accountant and later politician, Ministers of the Crown, High Court judges and politicians. Shows how Remington’s legendary powers of persuasion also won over the media, and organisations such as the Australian Council for Educational Research and the Carnegie Corporation of New York, leading one newspaper columnist to conclude that ‘nobody dodges Remington’.