Founder
The Library is named after James Sykes Battye, the first State Librarian, who began the collection in the early 1900s. It was established in December 1956. [2]
The J S Battye Library (more properly known as the J. S. Battye Library of West Australian History) is an arm of the State Library of Western Australia. It stores much of the state's historical records and original publications including books, newspapers, periodicals, maps, and ephemera, as well as oral history tapes, photographs and artworks, films and video, and non-government records which are kept in the library's Private Archives collection. The Library provides a range of services, including reference, copying, and genealogical services, as well as consultancy and reader education. [1]
The Library is named after James Sykes Battye, the first State Librarian, who began the collection in the early 1900s. It was established in December 1956. [2]
Mollie Lukis and Margaret Medcalf were successors to Battye as Battye librarians, and their long service to the Library was an important part of the library's development. [3]
The Battye Library is housed on the Level 3 of the State Library of Western Australia (formerly known as the Alexander Library Building). The public access can access rare and precious material from the Leah Jane Chen Reading Room. There is a help desk, microfiche readers, reference materials and computers.
The separate State Records Office of Western Australia houses the State and local government archives.
The current administrative structure of the State Library has removed mention of the name of the library from the library catalogue and now refers to it as 3rd Floor of the Alexander building, however it still has a web page. [4]
The Friends of Battye Library has been a significant support to the library during an era where staffing and funding have been reduced by government restrictions on funding. [5] The organisation has been instrumental in attracting external funding for a range of projects including publishing. [6]
At different stages in the library history, publications have been an important indicator of the library collection and its holdings. [7] [8] [9]
The State Library of Western Australia is a research, education, reference and public lending library located in the Perth Cultural Centre in Perth, Western Australia. It is a portfolio agency of the Western Australia Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries, and facilitated by the Library Board of Western Australia.
The Comptroller General of Convicts was the head of the convict establishment in Western Australia.
Blackboy Hill was named after the Australian native "black boy" plants, Xanthorrhoea preissii, which dominated the site which is now absorbed into Greenmount, Western Australia.
The Canning River is a major tributary of the Swan River in the South West Land Division of Western Australia. It is home to much wildlife including dolphins, pelicans, swans and many other bird species.
John Stanley Beard was a British-born forester and ecologist who resided in Australia. Beard studied at the University of Oxford where he completed his doctoral thesis on tropical forestry.
Frederica Lucy "Rica" Erickson, née Sandilands, was an Australian naturalist, botanical artist, historian, author and teacher. Without any formal scientific training, she wrote extensively on botany and birds, as well as genealogy and general history. Erickson authored ten books, co-authored four, was editor of twelve, and author or co-author of numerous papers and articles that have been printed in popular, scientific and encyclopaedic publications.
James Sykes Battye (1871–1954) was an Australian librarian who was the first chief librarian of the Victoria Public Library in Perth, Western Australia. He was a leading historian, librarian and public figure in Western Australia and also served as a Chancellor of the University of Western Australia.
The Dictionary of Western Australians and the related Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians are two multi-volume biographical dictionaries containing details of European and non-European settlement in Western Australia from the foundation of the Swan River Colony in 1829 until 1888.
The State Records Office of Western Australia (SRO) is the Western Australian government authority with responsibility for identifying, managing, preserving and providing access to the state's archives. The SRO also delivers best-practice records management services to state and local government agencies.
The Alexander Library Building is located in the Cultural Centre of Perth, Western Australia.
The Western Australia Post Office Directory, also known as Wise Directories or Wise Street Directories, was published in Perth in 1893–1949.
The Cyclopedia of Western Australia, edited by James Battye, was the pre-eminent written summary of Western Australia's development and context prior to World War I.
Colin John Jamieson, AO JP, was a politician in Western Australia. A member of the Labor Party, he served as a member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1953 until 1986, as the Minister for Works and Water Supplies in the Tonkin Ministry (1971–1974) and as Leader of the Opposition (1976–1978). Ron Davies succeeded him in the latter role. He was defeated by incumbent Liberal Premier Sir Charles Court at the state election of 1977.
Margaret Battye was an Australian barrister and jurist, who was one of the most influential women in politics, business and the legal advancement in Oceania. Battye was the first woman to represent a client and begin a legal practice in Western Australia, and she held a number of roles in the early history of the state's division of the Liberal Party of Australia.
Neville Graeme Marchant is a retired Western Australian botanist. He was formerly the Director of the Western Australian Herbarium.
The North West Shelf is a continental shelf region of Western Australia. It includes an extensive oil and gas region off the North West Australia coast in the Pilbara region.
Izzy Orloff (1891–1983), also known as Abraham Orloff, was a photographer in Fremantle, Western Australia.
Malvina Evalyn Wood (1893-1976), university librarian and college warden, was born in Guildford, Western Australia, daughter of a railway porter. Genealogy records show that the family's name was initially Shell, but was changed to Wood for unknown reasons.
Norfolk Street runs between Marine Terrace and South Terrace in Fremantle, Western Australia.
The Australian Society of Archivists is a professional organization of archivists in Australia.