time’ — Gough Whitlam, his government and libraries in Australia

Why is 2023 the perfect time to talk about Gough Whitlam, his government and libraries? It is because a little over 50 years ago, in December 1972, Whitlam’s controversial reformist government was elected. Significantly Whitlam’s government was responsible for an expansion of postsecondary education in Australia and the abolition of university fees. The expansion of post-secondary education and abolition of fees was to have direct implications for the professionalisation of librarianship in Australia and education for the library and information science (LIS) professions.

When the Whitlam government came to power, the future of Australian public libraries looked particularly grim, suffering from long-term neglect by state and municipal governments. In most states, public library reach had hardly moved