Sunday Mail editorial: Don’t close the book on the library

SOUTH Australian libraries are among the most important of our cultural institutions; the equal of art galleries, museums, Parliaments, schools and universities.

SOUTH Australian libraries are among the most important of our cultural institutions; the equal of art galleries, museums, Parliaments, schools and universities.

At the heart of a network of these institutions, mostly run by councils throughout the state but also private corporations like Advertiser Newspapers, has always proudly been the State Library of South Australia. For the weighty affairs of state which require good record-keeping, for the economically challenged toddler who can learn to read mainly at the library’s borrowing desk, for the pensioner for whom being able to afford a trip to Dymocks is a distant memory; the State Library performs an essential service.

The State Library is nothing less than the keeper of our culture’s written words and images, but its future is under threat because of $6 million State Government budget savings over three years causing the loss of nearly 20 fulltime jobs out of a staff of 115. The impact will be significant, and because of the importance of the institution, will go way beyond the very modest amount of funding in proportion to the overall State Budget. An institution so ably assisted by the donations and bequests of those who recognise its significance beyond the appreciation of the State Government, is more than deserving of being saved the arbitrary and indifferent government axe. If the AFL and cricket were worthy of a $500 million-plus taxpayer spend to upgrade the Adelaide Oval, and they were, then the State Library is worthy of keeping its $6 million.

The AFL and cricket vote may be significant, perhaps far more so than the library vote. But it is hard to believe that our Premier Jay Weatherill, or any premier with one eye on how history will judge them, would hold the care of State Library records in such scant regard.

Historical artefacts are often considered the most important record produced by a society; the first Holden, the first grape press, Colonel Light’s theodolite or the first flag. They allow people to look into windows and wonder, look through a scope and see what the Colonel must have seen, or gaze up at the material of a historic flag and feel what it must have been like to be there at the time. But the knowledge laid down in documents offers another opportunity entirely, and not necessarily as tangible to the bean counters and the politicians. Documents allow historians and others to much more accurately interpret what the people of the time were thinking and doing. They are essential for cultural interpretation.

For example, a rifle used by a WWI digger in the South Australian Museum is exciting for many to look at, may attract a large crowd and we may take great pride in the fact that we have maintained this important tool in the defence of our society’s values. But equally important in history have been the letters the people who used those tools sent home. These letters, kept by libraries like our State Library, were central in exposing the incompetence of army command, especially British command, which led to so many Australian deaths in WWI.

These budget cuts are an attack on our community, our culture and our history. The impact cannot be underestimated just because they involve dust-covered yellowing paper in some darkened room in North Terrace that few people ever see, or in some little-used corner of the internet.

The fact that we are only metaphorically burning the books, letters, documents and photographs, does not detract from the fact that there are strong parallels with historical events. Book burning throughout human history has preceded or followed attempted genocide. While nothing of the sort is suggested here, the abhorrent practice highlights the importance our libraries have in the material culture of South Australia and making sure we fund their protection for posterity.