{{Short description|Australian librarian, trade unionist and feminist}} {{Use British English|date=September 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox person | name = Jean Arnot | image = Jean Arnot (1903–1995).jpg | image_size = 220 | caption = Portrait of Jean Arnot | birth_name = Jean Fleming Arnot | birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1903|4|23}} | birth_place = Pymble, New South Wales, Australia | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1995|09|27|1903|04|23}} | occupation = Librarian at State Library of New South Wales | parents = }}
'''Jean Fleming Arnot''' MBE (23 April 1903 – 27 September 1995) was an Australian librarian, trade unionist, activist for equal pay for women and feminist. She worked at the State Library of New South Wales from 1921 until her retirement in 1968.<ref name="Arnot AWR">{{cite web|title=Arnot, Jean Fleming (1903–1995)|url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/people/622017?c=people|work=Australian Women's Register|publisher=Trove|access-date=12 December 2013}}</ref>
==Early life== Jean Arnot was born in Pymble, New South Wales, on 23 April 1903.<ref name="Arnot obit">{{cite web|last=Jones|first=David J.|title=Arnot, Jean Fleming (1903–1995)|url=http://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/arnot-jean-fleming-14114|work=Obituaries Australia, National Centre of Biography|publisher=Australian National University|access-date=12 December 2013}}</ref> She attended Fort Street Girls' High School.<ref name="Arnot obit"/> Arnot enjoyed mathematics at school and hoped to study science at university, but her family circumstances prevented her from pursuing further study.<ref name="Arnot McLeod">{{cite journal|last=McLeod|first=Louise|title=Women in Australian librarianship: the example of Jean Fleming Arnot|journal=Australian Library Journal|year=2007|volume=56|issue=3/4|pages=322–334|doi=10.1080/00049670.2007.10722426|s2cid=111007837|issn=0004-9670|doi-access=free}}</ref>
==Career== thumb|Librarians attending a cataloguing class at the Mitchell Library in 1943 Arnot's career at the State Library of New South Wales began with the role of temporary junior library assistant in March 1921.<ref name="Arnot obit"/> She was acutely aware of the disparity of the wages earned by women, for example a male cleaner was paid considerably more than a female graduate library assistant when she joined the library staff.<ref name="Arnot obit"/><ref>{{Citation |last1=Arnot |first1=Jean Fleming |last2=McGrath |first2=Amy | title=Jean Arnot interviewed by Amy McGrath | publication-date=1979 | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/31627142 | access-date=12 December 2013 }}</ref> She became an active campaigner for equal pay for women from 1937 onwards.<ref name="Arnot AWR"/><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17367869 |title=EQUAL PAY. |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=14 May 1937 |access-date=12 December 2013 |page=18 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
Arnot progressed through a number of roles at the library, including cataloguing serials,<ref name="Arnot McLeod"/> extension librarian providing services to country areas of New South Wales, head cataloguer and acting Mitchell librarian from 1956–1958.<ref name="Arnot AWR"/> She also received funding from the British Council and the Carnegie Corporation of New York which allowed her to travel in 1948–1949 to study library services in Great Britain and North America.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article27578902 |title=Train, Plane Book-mobiles Planned For N.S.W. |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=1 March 1949 |access-date=12 December 2013 |page=7 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Despite acknowledgement by the Library trustees of her achievements as Acting Mitchell Librarian during the absence of Phyllis Mander-Jones, Arnot was unsuccessful in applying for the position of Mitchell Librarian in 1958.<ref name="Magnificent">{{Citation | author1=Fletcher, Brian H. (Brian Hinton) | author2=State Library of New South Wales | title=Magnificent obsession : the story of the Mitchell Library, Sydney | year=2007 | publication-date=2007 | publisher=Allen & Unwin in association with State Library of New South Wales | pages=232–233 | isbn=978-1-74175-291-5 }}</ref>
In 1961, Arnot was a member of the Australian delegation to the First International Conference on Cataloguing Principles, which was held in Paris.<ref name="Arnot AWR"/> Amongst the delegates representing fifty-three countries, including Dr S. R. Ranganathan from India and Seymour Lubetzky from the Library of Congress, Arnot's contributions to the discussions are recorded in the conference papers.<ref name="Arnot McLeod"/><ref>{{Citation | author1=International Conference on Cataloguing Principles (1961 : Paris, France) | author2=Anderson, Dorothy, 1923– | author3=Chaplin, A. H. (Arthur Hugh), 1905– | author4=International Federation of Library Associations | title=Report | publication-date=1963 | publisher=Organizing Committee of the International Conference on Cataloguing Principles | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/11604192 | access-date=12 December 2013 }}</ref>
Arnot retired as head cataloguer in 1968 after a distinguished career of over 47 years of service.<ref name="Arnot obit"/> In her retirement she held the voluntary role of honorary librarian of the Royal Australian Historical Society from 1969 to 1980.<ref name="Arnot obit"/>
==Awards and memorials== Arnot received the Gold Medal of the Public Service Association of New South Wales in 1944.<ref name="Arnot AWR"/> In 1963, she was recognised by her peers, receiving the distinction of Fellow of the Library Association of Australia.<ref name="Arnot obit"/> On 12 June 1965, Arnot was appointed as a Member of the Order of the British Empire (Civil) for her community services in the Sydney area.<ref name="Arnot AWR"/>
The Jean Arnot Memorial Fellowship is an award made to a female librarian or female student of librarianship in Australia, funded by the National Council of Women of New South Wales Incorporated and the Australian Federation of Business and Professional Women's Associations Incorporated as a memorial to Arnot and her achievements.<ref>{{cite web|title=Jean Arnot Memorial Fellowship|url=http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/about/awards/arnot.html|publisher=State Library of New South Wales|access-date=12 December 2013}}</ref> Arnot was very active in both these associations.<ref name="Magnificent"/><ref>{{cite web|title=State Library of New South Wales – Jean Arnot interviewed by Rosemary Block about her life after she retired from the State Library. She also speaks in some detail of her colleagues Miss Nita Kibble and Miss Nita Dobbie, 1994.|url=http://www.acmssearch.sl.nsw.gov.au/search/itemDetailPaged.cgi?itemID=412774|work=Catalogue|publisher=State Library of New South Wales|access-date=12 December 2013}}</ref>
Arnot died in Sydney on 27 September 1995, at the age of 92.<ref name="Arnot AWR"/>
==See also== * State Library of New South Wales * Ida Leeson * Nita Kibble * Phyllis Mander-Jones
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Arnot, Jean Fleming}} Category:1903 births Category:1995 deaths Category:People from New South Wales Category:Australian librarians Category:Australian women librarians Category:Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire Category:People educated at Fort Street High School Category:20th-century librarians Category:20th-century women librarians