State Library of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

The State Library of New South Wales, the oldest library in Australia, started as a subscription library in the 1820s for residents. In 1869 the New South Wales (NSW) Government purchased the Australian Subscription Library, which had been established in 1826, and the newly named Sydney Free Public Library had a collection of 20,000 books. Today it contains over six million items, including books, pictures, posters, sheet music, audiobooks, maps, CD-ROMs, newspapers, microfilm and microfiche, films and videos, computer software, sound recordings, photographs, architectural plans, coins, postage stamps and other objects. The library’s vision, as described on its website, is to serve as

• a pre-eminent and welcoming cultural destination
• acknowledged for excellent client service and staff expertise
• an innovative gateway to information and cultural enrichment
• recognised for a unique and accessible collection
• an active advocate for the NSW public library network
• a proactive partner in knowledge creation.

Its mission includes:

• providing equitable access to contemporary and historical knowledge
• collecting and preserving Australia’s heritage
• promoting our role as a cultural destination
• collaborating with the NSW public library network.

Its most imposing building was designed by the local architect Walter Liberty Vernon. Born in England, Vernon (1846 –1914) moved to Australia where he worked as New South Wales Government Architect, creating many buildings in the classical style, still valued today, including the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the Central Railway Station, and Newcastle Court House. Vernon’s 1910 library, built of sandstone, features high bookshelves in a main reading room lit by skylights.

Collections

Among the rare treasures in the library collection are diaries and letters written by Australians who fought served in the First World War. There are also four Folios of works by William Shakespeare, printed in the 1600s. The oldest and rarest of these, known as the First Folio, has been digitized by the library for the benefit of researchers. First editions by such noted authors as Giovanni Boccaccio, Charles Dickens, William Makepeace Thackeray, T. S. Eliot, and Samuel Beckett are present. There are also rare editions of bibles printed in the 1500s and 1600s, as well as medieval manuscripts, including one assembled by Italian monks around the year 1200. Fans of magic will be charmed to note that the library also offers a collection of books and other printed materials about stage music, originally owned by Australia’s most renowned magician, the Great Levante (Leslie George Cole).

Digitization

In 1997, the library completed its first digitization project, followed by further efforts, and in 2012 a government grant was received to digitize 12 million pages from its collection, including newspapers, manuscripts, pictures, and books. In 2012, the state librarian, Dr. Alex Byrne, who is retiring this month, stated that he sees the library as

a mall of ideas and knowledge.

Dr. Byrne confided that his favorite object in the library collection was a map of the Australian coastline dating back to the 1600s. In its job advertisement to find a new state librarian, the NSW government announced that main challenges for any new hire would include

developing innovative strategies that position the State Library as a world leading library and centre of digital excellence, client development and engagement, fostering a culture of innovation and transformation and building strategic partnerships with government, business, philanthropy, cultural and educational institutions.

Thailand and Australia

Among Australia’s many outreach programs to Thailand include the Endeavour Scholarships and Fellowships for study, research and professional development in Australia. Since the program began in 2007, about 150 Thai scholars have been granted scholarships and fellowships for postgraduate, research, vocational education and training, and executive studies. Thai scholars, researchers, students and professionals are eligible, and awards are based on merit.

The goal is to promote leadership, research and academic excellence and build links between Australia and other countries. All fields of study are considered, and there is no age limit for applicants. Applications for the 2018 round of the Endeavour Scholarships and Fellowships are expected to open in April 2017. Please check the Endeavour Scholarship and Fellowships website closer to April 2017 for further information or for any questions, write to aei.bkk@dfat.gov.au

Australians studying Thailand.

Last year, His Excellency Paul Robilliard, Australian Ambassador to the Kingdom of Thailand welcomed twelve business and economics students from the University of Adelaide, Australia, in the Kingdom to study the Thai business environment and bilateral economics and trade at Mahidol University. Mahidol’s Associate Dean for International Affairs and Networking Assistant Professor Dr. Chanuantong Tanasugarn commented:

Having students from Australia where the education quality is high will make our classroom interaction more towards the western side while still being in the Asian context. Our plan is to increase the number of partnerships with Australian universities and this mobility program can be a starting point to extend these networks and relationships.

Under the same program, the New Colombo Plan, about 160 Australian students were selected to study in Thailand in 2015. Participating institutions in Thailand for 2016 include Thammasat, Chiang Mai, Chulalongkorn, Mahidol, and Kasetsart Universities. TU hosted Catherine Yen, a bachelor of philosophy student in Asia Pacific Studies at The Australian National University; she assumed internships with a Thai newspaper, Prachatai, and as a research assistant in TU’s Faculty of Political Science.

Social issues.

Last March, to commemorate International Women’s Day 2015, The Australian Embassy, Bangkok sponsored Crossing Borders: Women’s and Gender Mobility in ASEAN, a public forum to encourage discussion of women’s political, social and economic empowerment and priorities. The Department of Women’s Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University organized and hosted the event. Regional progress towards gender equality was examined. Among the distinguished speakers were Ajarn Wannaporn Panthaloet of the Faculty of Sociology and Anthropology, Thammasat University, Dr. Sita Sumrit, a project advisor for Promotion of Women’s and Children’s Rights Project, Thailand Institute of Justice, and Norairi Tungmuangthong and Kulsuwarak Puyee, both of the Indigenous Women Network of Thailand. Ambassador Robilliard noted:

Australia is committed to supporting and partnering with Thailand and other regional countries to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment.

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)