Alice Springs Public Library

Last updated

Alice Springs Public Library
ASPL exterior mural (i) 04.jpg
The entrance to Alice Springs Public Library featuring the Nevil Shute Memorial Garden there, 2024
Alice Springs Public Library
23°42′06″S133°53′00″E / 23.701668165277656°S 133.8833562956607°E / -23.701668165277656; 133.8833562956607
Location Alice Springs, Australia
Type public library
Other information
Website https://alicesprings.nt.gov.au/recreation/library
Joy Cuskey, librarian, unpacking books for the first library, taking over the old Gum Tree Cafe in Todd Street, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, 1953 / Australian Information Service Joy Cuskey, librarian, unpacking books for the first library, taking over the old Gum Tree Cafe in Todd Street, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, 1953.jpg
Joy Cuskey, librarian, unpacking books for the first library, taking over the old Gum Tree Cafe in Todd Street, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, 1953 / Australian Information Service
Alice Springs Public Library, 2019 Alice Springs Public Library.jpg
Alice Springs Public Library, 2019
External view of the library showing mural painted/designed by Billy Tjampijinpa Kenda with Bindi Mwerre Anthurre Artists, Mural completed in 2020, photo taken 2024. ASPL exterior mural (i) 02.jpg
External view of the library showing mural painted/designed by Billy Tjampijinpa Kenda with Bindi Mwerre Anthurre Artists, Mural completed in 2020, photo taken 2024.

The Alice Springs Public Library is a public library service in the Northern Territory. The library provides traditional library services to the community of Alice Springs (Mparntwe) and is an essential part of the Central Australian community and receives more then 120,000 visitors every year. [1]

Contents

While officially named the 'Nevil Shute Memorial Library', the name is little used. [2] [3] [4]

History

A number of small libraries existed in Alice Springs from its earliest days and, during the 1930s, the Country Women's Association ran a small library for the community. In 1938 this was taken over by the Northern Territory Government and, by 1940, they boasted 760 books. During World War II the library fell in to disuse and, after the war, the National Library of Australia provided funds for a new library in the town. This would be the first public library and it was first located at the old 'Gum Tree Cafe' (formerly Charlie Meyers saddlery: see Annie Meyers). [5]

The first librarian appointed was Joy Cuskey (later Brucek) who arrived on 28 August 1953 with 3,000 books which she travelled from Darwin to Alice Springs with on a fire truck. [6] The library opened on 13 October 1953 and, within two hours of opening, had 50 members and 240 within the following week. [7] [8] [9] [10] When interviewed in 1954, six months after opening, Cuskey described the community of Alice Springs as "book hungry" and said that "people would read almost anything they can get, but travel books and mystery stories are the biggest demand". [11] From 1954 the library offered a 'Library of the Air' which sent out library catalogues and membership cards to outlying cattle stations with Connellan Airways freighting books at a small flat rate. [12] [5]

Soon the library outgrew its site and, in 1958, it moved to a refurbished cottage on Hartley Street - a low-slung, white fibro bungalow with a sloping roof next to the Old Courthouse. It was here that Sylvia Perrurle Neale, who later became the libraries first Indigenous Services Officer, first experienced the library and she remembers sitting outside the library and yearning to go in and said of it: [5]

There I was a skinny 9-year-old Aboriginal kid so shy I would become frozen in terror in any new situation, sitting outside that little white man's building waiting and watching the white people coming and going carrying books. Three of four times a week I would sit there trying to get a peek inside.

— Sylvia Perrurle Neale, as quoted in 'A library like Alice' (2021)

Cuskey, recognising her interest encouraged her to come inside and Neale said of this:

Through her small window Joy would glance at me every now and then; I would run away but always came back the next day or the day after. Joy made several attempts to get me to go inside; eventually my need to go inside overtook my terror. I crept inside, was given a drink and a biscuit.

— Sylvia Perrurle Neale, as quoted in 'A library like Alice' (2021)

During this period Olive Pink was also a regular visitor and would regularly try to 'pull rank' in appealing to Cuskey that she should have first rights to new books due to her research interests; this lead to conflict between the two and Pink began ordering books directly from the National Library. [13] Cuskey retired in the early 1960s. [5]

Having once again outgrown its location the library moved again and, on 19 October 1980, the library on its current location was opened and it was at this point that the library was officially called the 'Nevil Shute Memorial Library' in honour of the attention Nevil Shute's book A Town Like Alice, and the subsequent film, had drawn to the town. At the time of opening this was already a controversial choice but has never passed into common use. [4] [5]

Special collections

The library is home to two not-for-loan special collections; [14] these are the:

Alice Springs Collection

The Alice Springs Collection is a collection of materials which relate to the historical, scientific and cultural heritage of Central Australia. This is a reference collection and items are not available for loan. They can be viewed in the Library during regular opening hours. All items in the collection are not for loan. [14]

This collection was developed in response to the identified need for a reference collection dedicated to the Central Australian region for use by local and interstate visitors in the mid-1970s. It was originally stored in a small locked room and visitors had to request access, however, in recognition of its importance, an extension was made to the library in 1995 was made to house it with the addition of a spacious reading room. [5]

The Alice Springs Collection also has a significant digital collection and holds editions of the Centralian Advocate, from 1947-2015, in PDF format; [15] [16] access to issues published between 2015 and the Advocates closure in 2020 are available through Territory Stories with is operated by Library & Archives NT. [14] [17]

Additionally over 6000 images, most of which are from the Central Australian Historical Images Collection, which is made up from 29 smaller collections, these are available on an intranet system available on computers inside the collection room. [14] These images feature images from around the region and they were collected by local historian Geoff Purdie and Barry Allwright in partnership with the library. In 2019 the library received a grant to complete a cultural sensitivity assessment of the collection an this was carried out by Braydon Kanjira, a Traditional Owner from Ntaria (Hermannsburg) who has extensive experience in the repatriation of Arrernte knowledge and objects. [5] [18] [19] He worked alongside library staff, including the Indigenous Services Officer, and a 'traffic-lighting' system was used to classify the image's in terms of access. [5] These were:

Akaltye Antheme

The Akaltye-Antheme (pronounced 'aculcha andum') collection, a collection of materials produced for and by the Aboriginal people of Central Australia, is alongside the Alice Springs Collection, one of the major special collections at the library. [20] [21] It was established in 2002 in partnership with a group of Traditional Owners from the region. [22]

Meaning 'giving knowledge' in Arrernte, Akaltye-Antheme offers visitors to the library an insight into contemporary Indigenous issues and culture and is designed for browsing. All items in the collection are not for loan. [20] [23]

A sub-set of the collection is the Local Languages Collection which consists of early reader texts and books for adults in more than 8 different Central Australian languages including Arrernte, Warlpiri, Luritja, Anmatyerr, Pitjantjatjara and Alyawarre. [24]

This collection was recently awarded first prize in the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) Library Stars competition. This acknowledged the unique nature of this collection, which contains material not held by any other library or archive service. [24] [22]

Whereas other Australian library services are attempting to provide library services to the Indigenous people of Australia, this collection is part of an effort by past librarians which has been so successful that up to 80% of those using the library at any given moment may be Aboriginal. [24]

Of the Akaltye Antheme Collection Sylvia Perrurle Neale, the former Indigenous Services Officer at the library, said: [24]

Akaltye Antheme and the reasoning behind its development is a great beginning in achieving the Alice Springs Public Library’s goal for its commitments to its Indigenous patrons. I have witnessed this growth and development of the Collection, the new initiatives, the growth in the numbers of Indigenous people joining the Library, people using the internet and using the Library as a meeting place, a meeting place where they are welcomed and can access materials they can relate to.

— Sylvia Perrurle Neale, Akaltye Antheme, a continuing partnership (2008)

In the early 2000s an area known as the 'Tjiplis' Cinema' was established in the main library space, next to the Akaltye Antheme Collection, where visitors to the library can watch movies (VHS and now DVDs) in the comfort of the library space using headphones. This proved to be very popular with those unable to watch movies at home, including town campers and is a way of ensuring the library is a place for everybody in the region. [5] [16] Tjilpi is a Pitjantjatjara word meaning "old man". [25]

Public art

There are numerous pieces of public art around the Alice Springs Public Library; these include:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nevil Shute</span> English aeronautical engineer and writer (1899–1960)

Nevil Shute Norway was an English novelist and aeronautical engineer who spent his later years in Australia. He used his full name in his engineering career and Nevil Shute as his pen name, in order to protect his engineering career from inferences by his employers (Vickers) or from fellow engineers that he was "not a serious person" or from potentially adverse publicity in connection with his novels, which included On the Beach and A Town Like Alice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alice Springs</span> Town in the Northern Territory, Australia

Alice Springs is a town in the Northern Territory, Australia; the third largest settlement after Darwin and Palmerston. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd, wife of the telegraph pioneer Sir Charles Todd. Known colloquially as The Alice or simply Alice, the town is situated roughly in Australia's geographic centre. It is nearly equidistant from Adelaide and Darwin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Todd River</span> Ephemeral river in the Northern Territory, Australia.

The Todd River is an ephemeral river in the southern Northern Territory, central Australia. The origins of the Todd River are in the MacDonnell Ranges, where it flows past the Telegraph Station, almost through the centre of Alice Springs (Mparntwe), through Heavitree Gap at the southern end of Alice Springs and continuing on for some distance, passing through the western part of the Simpson Desert, as it becomes a tributary of the Hale River, and eventually flowing into Lake Eyre in South Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arrernte language</span> Dialect cluster of Central Australia

Arrernte or Aranda, or sometimes referred to as Upper Arrernte, is a dialect cluster in the Arandic language group spoken in parts of the Northern Territory, Australia, by the Arrernte people. Other spelling variations are Arunta or Arrarnta, and all of the dialects have multiple other names.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Town of Alice Springs</span> Local government area in the Northern Territory, Australia

The Alice Springs Town Council is a local government area in the Northern Territory. On 1 July 1971, Alice Springs was gazetted as a Municipality with the town council elected on 25 July 1971. It is situated 1,498 kilometres (931 mi) south of Darwin. The council governs an area of 328 square kilometres (127 sq mi) and had a population of 26,534 in June 2018.

Ltyentye Apurte, also known as Santa Teresa, is a community in the Northern Territory, Australia, many residents of the locality are members of the Arrernte indigenous community, whose origins are located about 80 kilometres (50 mi) south-east of Alice Springs.

Contemporary Indigenous Australian art is the modern art work produced by Indigenous Australians, that is, Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander people. It is generally regarded as beginning in 1971 with a painting movement that started at Papunya, northwest of Alice Springs, Northern Territory, involving Aboriginal artists such as Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri and Kaapa Tjampitjinpa, and facilitated by white Australian teacher and art worker Geoffrey Bardon. The movement spawned widespread interest across rural and remote Aboriginal Australia in creating art, while contemporary Indigenous art of a different nature also emerged in urban centres; together they have become central to Australian art. Indigenous art centres have fostered the emergence of the contemporary art movement, and as of 2010 were estimated to represent over 5000 artists, mostly in Australia's north and west.

<i>Centralian Advocate</i> Newspaper in Northern Territory, Australia

The Centralian Advocate was an Australian regional online newspaper based at Alice Springs, Northern Territory. The Centralian Advocate is part of News Corp Australia, and serves under the Northern Territory News banner, containing headlines from the newspaper, as well as stories that cover various events and issues primarily outside of Darwin, particularly central Australia. Until 2020, it was published as a standalone bi-weekly print newspaper on Tuesdays and Fridays, claiming a readership of 15,000 people and with an audited circulation of 4401 as of 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arltunga Historical Reserve</span> Protected area in the Northern Territory, Australia

Arltunga Historical Reserve, known also as Arnerre-ntyenge is a deserted gold rush town located in the Northern Territory of Australia in the locality of Hart about 110 kilometres (68 mi) east of Alice Springs. It is on the lands of the Eastern Arrernte people who are the Traditional Owners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alice Springs Telegraph Station</span>

The Alice Springs Telegraph Station is located within the Alice Springs Telegraph Station Historical Reserve, four kilometres north of the Alice Springs town centre in the Northern Territory of Australia. Established in 1872 to relay messages between Darwin and Adelaide, it is the original site of the first European settlement in central Australia. It was one of twelve stations along the Overland Telegraph Line.

Walter Smith also known as Walter Purula (Perrurle) or Wati Yuritja was a legendary Australian bushman from the Arltunga region in the Northern Territory of Australia. Wati Yuritja translates as man of the Water Dreaming).

Willowra Station was a 4,885 square kilometres (1,886 sq mi) pastoral property in the Northern Territory of Australia located about 350 kilometres (220 mi) north west of Alice Springs. This station straddles the Lander River and is adjacent to the Tanami Desert. In 1979, Willowra was subjected to land claim and after this process the land became Aboriginal Freehold.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Mills (surveyor)</span>

William Whitfield Mills, usually referred to as "W. Whitfield Mills" or "W. W. Mills", was an English surveyor of the Australian Overland Telegraph Line who is best known for naming a waterhole in Central Australia Alice Spring, from which the town of Alice Springs now takes its name. He also named Heavitree Gap as a tribute to his old school in Devon, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emily Gap</span>

Emily Gap / Anthwerrke is a natural attraction and significant cultural site to the Arrernte peoplein the East MacDonnell Ranges, eight kilometres to the east of Mparntwe/Alice Springs, in Australia's Northern Territory. Various sections of the Gap include Aboriginal rock art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gloria Ouida Lee</span> Chinese-Australian woman miner

Gloria Ouida Lee or Siew Yoke Kwan, also known as Gloria Purdy-Lee was a Chinese-Australian miner. She was the daughter of Alice Springs Chinese Market gardener Ah Hong and his Western Arrernte wife Ranjika. Lee travelled between Australia and China and experienced discrimination because of her mixed parentage. She is included in the archive collection of the Women's Museum of Australia, formerly known as the National Pioneer Women's Hall of Fame. Her oral history is held at the National Library of Australia.

The Charles River, which is often called Charles Creek is an ephemeral stream in the southern Northern Territory. It is a tributary of the Todd River and, like the Todd River, its naming is associated with Charles Todd; a senior civil servant involved with the Overland Telegraph Line.

Bindi Mwerre Anthurre Artists, or Mwerre Anthurre, is an Aboriginal art centre based in Alice Springs (Mparntwe). It was established in 2000 to encourage, nurture and support Aboriginal artists with disabilities and the organisation focuses on empowerment through art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Flynn's Grave Historical Reserve (Alice Springs)</span> Protected area in the Northern Territory, Australia

John Flynn's Grave Historical Reserve, more commonly referred to as Flynn's Grave is the grave site of John Flynn who was an Australian Presbyterian minister who founded the Australian Inland Mission (AIM) and founding the Royal Flying Doctor Service. The grave, which is now a historical reserve, is located at the base of Mount Gillen on Larapinta Drive in the Alice Springs suburb of Flynn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moses Tjalkabota</span> Aboriginal evangelist who spent many years at Hermannsburg (Ntaria)

Moses Tjalkabota, also known as Moses Tjalkabota Uraikuria or Blind Moses was a Western Arrernte man and Aboriginal evangelist who was born at Laprapuntja, east of Hermannsburg (Ntaria).

Hatches Creek wolfram field was an active wolfram, also known as tungsten, mining centre in Australia that operated between 1915 and 1957 and mining activities recommenced in 2019. Located on the Barkly Tableland in the Northern Territory, it is 375 kilometres (233 mi) northeast of Alice Springs.

References

  1. ↑ "About the library". Alice Springs Town Council. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  2. ↑ Australian Library and Information Association. "Library stars". Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
  3. ↑ "ALG: Details for Alice Springs Public Library". www.nla.gov.au. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  4. 1 2 "New Shute library gives good value". Centralian Advocate . 23 October 1980. p. 6.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Hogan, Eleanor (2021), A Library like Alice : a history of Alice Springs Public Library, Alice Springs Town Council, retrieved 3 June 2024
  6. ↑ Australian Information Service, (issuing body) (1953), Joy Cuskey, librarian, unpacking books for the first library, taking over the old Gum Tree Cafe in Todd Street, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, 1953 , retrieved 3 June 2024
  7. ↑ "Alice Springs Public Library". Centralian Advocate . Vol. VII, no. 331. Northern Territory, Australia. 9 October 1953. p. 12. Retrieved 3 June 2024– via National Library of Australia.
  8. ↑ "Alice library opens October 12". Centralian Advocate . Vol. VII, no. 331. Northern Territory, Australia. 9 October 1953. p. 1. Retrieved 3 June 2024– via National Library of Australia.
  9. ↑ "Library rushed at opening". Centralian Advocate . Vol. VII, no. 332. Northern Territory. 16 October 1953. p. 1. Retrieved 3 June 2024– via National Library of Australia.
  10. ↑ "Heavy demand on Alice library". Centralian Advocate . Vol. VII, no. 334. Northern Territory, Australia. 30 October 1953. p. 9. Retrieved 3 June 2024– via National Library of Australia.
  11. ↑ "Book hungry". Centralian Advocate . Vol. VII, no. 356. Northern Territory, Australia. 2 April 1954. p. 3. Retrieved 3 June 2024– via National Library of Australia.
  12. ↑ "Public library needs restocking". Centralian Advocate . Vol. VIII, no. 375. Northern Territory, Australia. 13 August 1954. p. 9. Retrieved 3 June 2024– via National Library of Australia.
  13. ↑ Marcus, Julie (2001), The indomitable Miss Pink : a life in anthropology, UNSW Press, pp. 259–260, ISBN   978-0-86840-547-6
  14. 1 2 3 4 "Catalogue and Research". Alice Springs Town Council. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  15. ↑ Tlozek, Eric (21 January 2005). "Latest technology gives added scope to old newspapers". Centralian Advocate .
  16. 1 2 Dane, Alexandra; Philips, Sandra; Gilbey, Kathryn; Driscoll, Beth; Wilkins, Kim (2024). "Book culture in Mparntwe". Incite. 45 (1): 20–22 – via via Informit.
  17. ↑ "Territory Stories | Library & Archives NT". lant.nt.gov.au. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  18. ↑ Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (29 August 2023). "Arrernte returns". aiatsis.gov.au. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  19. 1 2 Woods, Alice; Powell, Colleen (2019). "Sensitivity Assessment of Images Collections". Incite. 40 (11/12): 22 – via via Informit.
  20. 1 2 Senior, Denise (2007). "Giving Indigenous knowledge: the Akaltye Antheme Collection, Alice Springs Public Library". Australasian Public Libraries and Information Services. 20 (1): 28–33 – via Informit.
  21. ↑ Australian National University (18 May 2010). "Alice Springs Public Library". Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  22. 1 2 "The intersection between cultural competence and whiteness in libraries – In the Library with the Lead Pipe" . Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  23. ↑ Blackburn, Fiona (1 October 2017). "Community engagement, cultural competence and two Australian public libraries and Indigenous communities". IFLA Journal . 43 (3): 288–301. doi:10.1177/0340035217696320. ISSN   0340-0352 – via Sage.
  24. 1 2 3 4 Blackburn, Fiona; Neale, Sylvia Perrule (2 November 2021). "Akaltye Antheme, a continuing partnership". ALIA Library. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  25. ↑ Eckert, Paul A (2007), Pitjantjatjara/Yankuntyjatjara picture dictionary, IAD Press, ISBN   978-1-86465-086-0
  26. ↑ "Nevile Shute Giant Books". Alice Springs Public Artwork Map. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  27. ↑ "All Them Tourists Goin' to Look at Countryside". Alice Springs Public Art Map. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  28. ↑ "Lookin' Through Gap at Alice Springs Town". Alice Springs Public Artwork Map. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  29. ↑ "Bindi artist's work featured in town mural | Lifestyle Solutions". www.lifestylesolutions.org.au. 9 December 2020. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  30. ↑ "Library Art Path". Alice Springs Public Artwork Map. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.