Abstract
From ‘the university for the common man’ to today's connected libraries, public libraries provide a wealth of information in a variety of forms. But the concept of the free public library offers much more than a conduit for the delivery of books and ebooks, journals and databases. It represents a bold statement in favour of opportunity for all, a statement famously taken up by Andrew Carnegie whose influence was worldwide. That boldness, not a hesitant ambivalence, must direct our planning for libraries. The 2014 celebration of the 75th anniversary of the passing of the New South Wales Library Act in 1939 reminded the sector of the importance of that landmark library legislation for Australia and of the strong network of public libraries enjoyed today. Those libraries are rapidly adapting to both the challenges and the opportunities of the digital age as they create new public libraries for their communities. The new libraries embrace digital technologies and differ considerably in collections, services and use of space from earlier models, but they maintain the tradition of the free public library as a resource open to all.
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