Throughout 2009, the John Oxley Library has been celebrating its 75 years of existence with a range of programs and events to mark this significant milestone. It has also been a time to reflect on the value of the collection and those who have contributed to its growth. 

It is thanks to the generosity of donors that many of our remarkable collection items are available to researchers in the John Oxley Library Reading Room.

In September, a special morning tea, organised by the Queensland Library Foundation, was held in the State Library of Queensland’s boardroom. The Governor-General, Her Excellency Ms Quentin Bryce AC and Mr Michael Bryce AM AE joined the State Librarian, Ms Lea Giles-Peters, and her staff to thank the many donors in attendance for their wonderful contributions to the John Oxley Library.

Among the valued guests present were Mrs Joyce Hewitt, who had donated a diary written by Ms Lucy Adams whilst on voyage from Ipswich to England in 1866 and a letter from the bushranger James Macpherson, written from Brisbane Gaol in 1869. Mrs Hewitt’s Great-Great Uncle was the turnkey at Brisbane Gaol at that time.

Well known former Brisbane TV personality, Mr Hugh Cornish, also enjoyed the event. Hugh donated his entire archive to the John Oxley Library and this provides a great insight into his personal and public life.

Hugh is seen pictured above with Ms Shirley Lahey, who has donated artworks, papers, and awards belonging to her aunt, the famous artist Vida Lahey.

We are always interested in collecting materials that document Queensland’s unique history, so if you have something tucked away under a bed, or at the back of a cupboard, please consider the benefit to future generations of donating these precious items to the State Library of Queensland. 

Contact the Heritage Collections Unit on 38407880 for more information.

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The new Kurilpa Bridge, linking Kurilpa Point in South Brisbane to Tank Street in the Brisbane CBD, was officially opened on Sunday 4th October by the Queensland Premier Anna Bligh. The name of the bridge comes from an Indigenous name for West End.

The $63.3 million Kurilpa Bridge, designed and constructed by Baulderstone Pty Ltd., is the world’s largest tensegrity pedestrian and cycle bridge which balances tension and compression components to produce a light but incredibly strong structure.

The cables and flying struts are designed to resemble the ropes and spars of sailing ships and boats. There are two large viewing and relaxation platforms, two rest areas, and a continuous all-weather canopy along the entire length of the bridge.

The bridge completes a pedestrian and cycle loop between the city and South Bank via the Goodwill Bridge and serves as a link between the cultural precinct and the Brisbane CBD.

State Library has a large collection of photographs of bridges, including bridge openings.

  Official opening of the Indooroopilly Toll Bridge, 1932. Image No: 181335

  Crowds of people gathered for the opening of the William Jolly Bridge, 1932. Image No: 34276

The Kurilpa Bridge is the most recent of the Brisbane bridges. Why not check out our photographs of other Brisbane bridges on slideshare or The Commons on Flickr.     
 

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Last Friday evening, State Library was first to screen the Common Ground 2009 slideshow. The slideshow contained over 400 images from cultural organisations which have images in The Commons on Flickr and was curated (chosen) by Flickr members.

Common Ground event, Queensland Terrace

Greg Poppleton (Sydney Educational Radio’s Phantom Dancer) mixed some amazing tunes to accompany the historic images on the slideshow.

“The images are amazing. There are happy, sad, funny and cute images and also ones that make you think and ones that are unexpected. Some show ordinary people doing ordinary things, while others are extraordinary and make you gasp. They demonstrate not only the differences between the collections from which they are drawn, but also the things that are the same, the common ground” (Liz Holcombe, Australian War Memorial).

This event was also hosted, around the globe, by other members of The Commons.

In Australia, The Powerhouse Museum and the State Library of New South Wales joined forces in Sydney and the Australian War Memorial in Canberra also participated.

In the Northern Hemisphere, George Eastman House, State Library and Archives of Florida, Oregon State University Archives, Brooklyn Museum together with the New York Public Library and the Swedish National Heritage Board all hosted events at various times over the weekend.

If you missed the event, you can still see the images in this slideshow on Flickr Commons and read the Common Ground wrap-up on the indicommons blog.

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A two hour presentation on Irish records filled the State Library’s auditorium 2 to capacity this morning, proving once again that there are more than a few sons and daughters of Erin in our midst with a passion for tracing their family history.

Senior Family History Librarian Stephanie Ryan covered the range of materials available to researchers including maps, directories, county records, books, indexes, reports and online resources such as Ask about Ireland.

Interesting insights into the historical context of Irish immigration to Australia were provided and key documents were considered such as Griffith’s valuation of Ireland 1848-1864 and reports on the potato famine of the 1840s, including the Devon Commission: Report from Her majesty’s Commissioners of Inquiry into the State of the Law and Practice in respect of the Occupation of Land in Ireland: with minutes of evidence, supplements, appndices and index, 1845.

The State Library’s Family History Unit has a guide titled Resources for Irish history: a select list available onsite and a range of other useful information guides available via the State Library of Queensland’s website.

Thanks to Stephanie for her entertaining, informative talk and to all who attended.

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Two local studies librarians, Jamie Treble from Logan City Council Libraries and Kyla Stephan from Gold Coast City Council Libraries recently took part in the Storylines - Q150 digital story workshops.

Jamie has told an evocative story about the floods that passed through Logan in 2008. Kyla shares the tale about Southport’s World War I digger memorial and all the places he has been stationed. For more information about the project and other stories that people have made, visit the Storylines website.

On 18 September local studies librarians and staff from the John Oxley Library attended the South-East Queensland local studies librarians meeting. During the meeting, attendees discussed the multitude of interesting projects they’re involved in. Below are just two examples.

 Southport’s Digger, by Kyla Stephan

 Let the rivers run, by Jamie Treble

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Common Ground – a global meet up celebrating The Commons on Flickr will be held at the State Library of Queensland. This event will also be hosted, around the globe, by other members of The Commons.

The event in Brisbane will consist of a large projection onto the screen in the State Library’s stunning Queensland Terrace using a slideshow of content from The Commons on Flickr participating institutions that is curated by its community of users – making the Flickr Commons go ‘live’ through a connected slideshow. This special event will include images from Picture Queensland – the State Library of Queensland’s image library.

Light refreshments will be served.

When 6pm, Fri 2 Oct
Where Queensland Terrace, level 2
RSVP to marketing@slq.qld.gov.au (acceptances only Thurs 1 Oct)

  Cherry Walker modelling swimsuits at Surfers Paradise, 1951.  Image No: 181603

  Asking for Gary Cooper’s autograph, November 1943.  Image No: 105715

  Crocodile bagged on the Herbert River. ca. 1930.  Image No: 6670-0001-0034

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  Steve Irwin, 2009 Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame inductee

Eleven new digital stories are now online as part of the Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame. These stories celebrate, record and retell the history of outstanding Queensland business leaders, leading businesses and their contribution to Queensland.

Terri Irwin talks about the life of her husband and his lasting legacy; Frank Burnett of Castlemaine Perkins tells the story about well-known character “Mr Fourex” and Sister Angela Mary, Queenslander of the Year in 1989, reflects on her time as Chief Executive of the Mater Hospitals. There are stories on many other businesses and business leaders, including QANTAS, Clem Jones, Don Argus, Bob Bryan, Burns Philp, Jim Kennedy, Joe Saragossi, John and Valmai Pidgeon.

View all the stories via Queensland Stories website

These stories are available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommerical - No Derivative Works license.

These stories were created as part of a joint partnership between the State Library of Queensland, QUT’s Faculty of Business and the Queensland Library Foundation.

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The dust cloud that swept across Brisbane yesterday made for some spectacular photographs. These shots were taken by the State Library’s photographer, Reina Irmer, at lunchtime yesterday, showing views of and from the State Library.

It is not the first time Queensland has been hit by dust storms though, as the following photographs testify.

  Dust storm approaching Boulia in Western Queensland, ca. 1926.  Image No: 164563

  Dust storm over Cloncurry, 1930.  Image No: 44719

  Dust storm between Bedourie and Boulia, Queensland, 1954.  Image No: lbp00242

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In 2009 Australia Post launched a fantastic project called Letters of a Nation to mark its 200th anniversary. This  project aims to form an archive of some of the more interesting letters delivered by posties throughout this period. A book will be compiled later in the year.

Members of the public and major archives and libraries around the country have been asked to contribute their best letters for the project and these are available through a searchable online database:

https://200years.auspost.com.au/html/loan/archive/ 

 Dame Nellie Melba photographed outside the Gresham Hotel, Brisbane, ca. 1909. neg 36747

If you do a search on the database you will discover two letters contributed by the State Library of Queensland. One is written by a young Nellie Armstrong (Dame Nellie Melba) to her singing teacher, Signor Cecchi, in 1883:

https://200years.auspost.com.au/html/loan/archive/view_detail/1172

 Bert Hinkler alighting from his plane, 1928. neg 65644

The other is by Bert Hinkler in London to his parents in Bundaberg written in 1919 which details his plans to fly his ”Sopwith Dove” from England to Australia.

https://200years.auspost.com.au/html/loan/archive/view_detail/1177

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The collection on display in the John Oxley reading room on level 4 is only a small percentage of our total collections.  The State Library building at South Bank has repositories containing around 24 km of shelving.  You can order items from this Closed Access collection, and view them in the reading rooms.  Orders can be placed through our OneSearch catalogue or ask our staff to help you find what you want.

        Views of the South Bank repository

From Monday to Friday, requests submitted before half past the hour are delivered on the next hour when the library is open.  Did you know that we keep your requests for you for 3 days?  This means you can plan your visit to the library, and order in advance.

Changes in delivery times on weekends

On weekends there will be fewer delivery times, starting from 3rd October.
The new delivery times:
11am (order by 10.30am)
12 noon (order by 11:30am)
2pm (order by 1:30pm)
3pm (order by 2:30pm)

To avoid having to wait for a delivery, simply order ahead!  Orders for the weekend can be placed as early as Thursday. This will ensure that the items you want are available for you over the weekend.

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