Newcastle Region Library

Folders of cuttings for Hunter locations

On Friday I found myself in Newcastle, NSW, with a couple of hours to spare. After sporting myself a coffee and sandwich I did what any self-respecting genealogist  would do and headed to the local library.
 
Serving the population of one of our major regional cities The Newcastle Region Library is one of the larger public library services in NSW. The Local Studies Library is on the second floor of the building that the library shares with the Regional Art Gallery. The Library aims to collect information and resources relating to the Lower Hunter Region. I hadn't visited for about 8 years and didn't spot any obvious differences in the decor, furniture and fittings. There were a few computers and microfiche readers and a reasonable collection of printed material on open access; the library was extremely tidy.

As my Tierney and Kealy ancestors lived in Dungog I spent  an hour reading through the three binders of cuttings there were for that town. I only found one reference to my great-grandfather, John D'Arcy Tierney. The articles that recounted the early history of the Dungog district will give me value background on conditions of the time. I photographed quite a few pages for future digestion.

In addition to local resurces there is a good collection of general genealogy resources. I found burial details for a few more local relatives before I started on cemetery indexes for other areas. Unfortunately I only managed to get to Cobar in the alphabetically arranged collection before I had to leave.

The library was very quiet during my visit with less than half a dozen patrons  present.

Library Desk - A good spot for a gossip

I have been ruminating about whether I should write these next few sentences but have decided that I will. As an old librarian I was extremely disappointed by the behaviour of the three library staff who stood behind the desk and gossiped for at least 45 minutes of my visit. As they discussed the General Manager, Library Manager, other library staff and their suitability for various roles plus library procedures I cringed. I could not believe that I was witnessing such a display of unprofessional behaviour. That this happened in a public area where library patrons could hear their every word made this a more reprehensible act. Their chatter did nothing to enhance the otherwise peaceful environment in the library.

Surely they could have found a more productive way to spend over two hours of Council's time .  If they were on their lunchbreaks I apologise but reiterate that this location was not appropriate for that conversation.

That having been said I would recommend that any genealogist within cooee of Newcastle or those with links to the Hunter pay a visit to The Newcastle Region Library.