AARL

Preface

Warren Horton was a dominant figure in Australian librarianship for much of his 43 year career. After 24 years at the State Library of New South Wales and five years at the State Library of Victoria, he arrived in the National Library in 1985 full of energy, enthusiasm and confidence.

He was convinced that he was exactly what the institution and the profession needed for the times. He set about planning the future of the National Library. He had a strong sense of national purpose and the leading role he would play. He would have enjoyed, enormously, having an issue of this journal written about him. He would have felt it was his due. He spoke often about his place in history. 'History will judge me kindly' was a frequent mantra.

He was not beyond creating a mythology about himself. He lectured, he wrote and recorded tens of hours of oral history about the library world and his part in it. He loved intrigue and conspiracy. His achievements and complex personality are captured in the articles here.

He was a paradox. I was present in the early days in the National Library when Warren declared emphatically that he did not see why any director-general of the National Library should ever need to travel outside Australia. The National Library had a long involvement with libraries and librarianship around the world. At that stage, Warren did not. He entered the world of international librarianship cautiously but ultimately performed superbly in that arena.

He was the recipient of many honours but always declared that he was proudest of the HCL Anderson award conferred by the Australian Library and Information Association in 1992. He was passionately interested in Australian librarianship.

It is unlikely that we will see the likes of Warren again.

Jan Fullerton, Director-general
National Library of Australia