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| QUEEN VICTORIA BUILDING TODAY (Photo Dietmar Rabich) |
In 1955 and 1956 I went to finish my Secondary Schooling at Marist
Brothers'College Darlinghurst - that will be the subject of a later
post. My purpose on this occasion is to mention visits I started making
to the City of Sydney Library which occupied two levels at the
end of the Queen Victoria Building shown in the photograph
above. That Northern end on Market Street, across George Street from
GOWINGS menswear store - famous for its location and its quirky , rather
old-world stock and presentation, and its slogan "Gone to Gowings"was a
landmark well into the 1990's when newer management had tried to
modernise and popularise the brand. They finally failed - things had
moved on and they never did succeed in re-invention.
The library was reached by climbing the broad stairs or riding the ancient
lift cage to the first or second floor. Neither option would avoid the
heavy odour of ancient wines from the City Council's Cellar in the
Basement- a heavy mustiness that was not pleasant but not revolting
either . It simply suggested something - in quantity - that was"off".!
The library itself was not impressive in its reception or counters ,
everything suggested lack of money, care or attention.The collection
however was full of items of interest. I usually visited with my
classmate Tony Hannon, now my longtime Brother-in Law. We shared many
interests in common especially history. We got a lot of satisfaction out
of copies of The Illustrated London News, which were kept tolerably
up-to-date. Both older copies and more recent ones were full of
interest, especially when they did major photo essays on particular
events or places. I regretted its passing in later years. The library
also gave access to "Jane's All the World's Fighting Ships"editions from
recent times back to the First World War. These were a remarkable
source of FACTS and, if you know ANYTHING about teenage males, you will
know that they are very keen on facts.The opportunity to absorb all of
the interesting information from this large library's extensive
collections was giving us a horse and buggy equivalent of the self
education the Internet now provides at home. We, or at least I, did not
use the library for study purposes on many occasions. For Tony it was a
twenty-five minutes bus trip home on the little blue private bus from
Bathurst Street to his home. For me it was a train trip to Lidcombe,
change for Berala often, then a ten minute walk home - all up about an
hour and ten minutes allowing for connections.
A few years later , Tony discovered the United States Information
Service Library in Margaret Street. It was rather a different
experience. In a smallish very modern building just down from the
Assembly Rooms which contained the Scots Church where my Mum's sister
Mable had married Robert Campbell Kerr before the War ( WW II).
The USIS Library was the very model of modernity and efficiency and its
carefully planned collection was recent and regularly up-dated with the
latest books and selected magazines, all breathing a healthy, happy
optimism.By this time Tony was at University I think and I had left the
Seminary ( another future post) and , due to an "accident "I was working
for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
I had for a very long time been interested in steam locomotives and
railways
( this is not so much an intellectual exercise- an act of the
will- no, it is in some way " in the blood "or in the spirit - a type of
romantic enthusiasm defying logic. Anyway, I particularly remember a
very large format new book that the library took into its collection
crammed with fantastic photography on the New York Central Railroad's
newest ( and as it turned out, last) mighty steam locomotives the huge
4-8-4 "NIAGARA"Class with their massive 10 Wheel (I think) Tenders. They
were the very last word( too true) in post war modern locomotive
design, roller bearings on every turning surface and massive boilers to
the very limit of the loading gauge , mission : beat the diesels for
efficiency.They did well , but it was not "mission accomplished". How I
would love to have a copy of that book. A Niagara is one of my 4
locomotive model collection , which I hope my Grandsons may appreciate
in due course. 4 Locomotive models, 3 Grandsons....Hmmmm!
Sadly, in one of those periodic expansion/contraction spasms that
American short-term financial reporting recurringly causes, a whole host
of USIS Libraries around the world was closed in the 1960s or 70s and
the poor old Aussies "who are our Allies anyway" lost their USIS Library
for a few years . In a later spasm it was re-opened up in Park St in
the City - I never have been there - very big on security I believe.
Sometimes I think the best times are behind us all, at least in that
regard
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