In my local coffee shop, I ran into a friend and mentioned what was happening in my life. I must have mentioned my course, and that this weekend I would be busy writing an assignment, based around analysing a collection development policy. My friend, Richard said, “you should meet my mother who is visiting, she is a retired librarian.” He also mentioned that she was a librarian in many different settings, including a school and was an active member of ALIA for many years. I agreed to meet his mother Moyra for a coffee at our local coffee shop.
Moyra McAllister had such an interesting journey as a librarian over the years. She is probably one of few people who has worked in every library capacity, from cataloguing, acquisitions, reference, reader education, reader’s adviser, library manager in every type of library sector. Her first job was working as a librarian in a school in suburban Melbourne. She spent many years in the Northern Territory, as she was asked to assist with setting up the library in Parliament House. I always refer to this library as my happy place, as it is a beautiful space with a wonderfully curated history display with some of the archived resources. Moyra stressed the importance of being a member of ALIA and as it turns out, she was a member of the ALIA Board of Directors.
Now that she has retired, Moyra volunteers her time at the Athenaeum Library. As Melbourne’s oldest library, the Melbourne Athenaeum Library was founded in 1839 as part of the Melbourne Mechanics’ Institute. Its purpose was “the diffusion of literary, scientific and other useful knowledge to members and the general public”. Moyra also volunteers her time as a mentor to graduate librarians. She stressed that the life of a librarian doesn’t just stop. What I loved was that she shared that she always got up and looked forward to going to work. Every day presented something new, exciting and challenging.
My encounter with Moyra was an affirming and encouraging experience, that convinced me that what I was doing was worthwhile. While Moyra was as mystified as I was about the disappearance of Teacher Librarians from our schools in the Northern Territory, though confirmed that the need for TLs in schools is important and worth fighting for.
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