knox grammar school

CENTENARY STORIES

History of the Library

Knox Campus

17 Dec 2023
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The first mention of a School Library can be found in the Council Minutes from 1925 (21 January 1925). With the Main School building nearly completed it was decided that bookshelves would be obtained for the books that were already on hand. The Library was initially situated in a ground floor classroom of the Main School Building.

The first known Library Committee was formed in 1928 lead by Mr G R Hayward with Samuel (Mac) FitzSimons (OKG28) as his assistant. The Grammarian (December 1928) proudly announced that “A library room now provides a resting place for our growing reference library, which previously was inconveniently kept in the assembly hall”.

By 1929 Colin Peebles (OKG29), Ian Fleming OBE (OKG30) and Alister Johnstone (OKG29) joined the Library Committee. With the help of Miss Drennan, the collection was completely reorganised and proudly held a complete set of Encyclopedia Britannica.

In the May 1930 Grammarian it was reported that the Oxford Dictionary was purchased, and the School Council made a commitment to build up the collection which now numbered 698 books. In 1931 the small Ewan House boarder’s library was made available to all boys at the Prep School. One of the School’s founders, Andrew Reid, regularly donated books to the library.

By 1938 the Library had outgrown the classroom and moved upstairs to the Assembly Hall. In 1945 the Library introduced the abridged Dewey Decimal system which had been specifically designed for school libraries.

1938 School Library

1939 plan of the Library

1974 Library

Thanks to the generous donation of ER Williams, in memory of his son John (OKG38), the Library found a new home. John a Warrant Officer in the RAAF tragically lost his life in 1942. In September 1954, the library moved into the John Williams Memorial Hall.

More than 3,000 books were added to the collection in 1973, and the building of a complex, which included a new library, commenced. In February 1974 the new Library Building was officially opened. Ten years later, the building was named the TR McKenzie Building after the School’s fourth Headmaster. The McKenzie Library underwent a major refurbishment in 1998 when a computer lab was, added including eight desktop computers.

In 2015 the Senior Library for boys in Years 11 and 12 was constructed as part of the Weeks Senior Academy Complex; at that time the McKenzie Library was refurbished for use by students in Years 7 to 12.