'''Russell Doust''' (19 September 1927 – 20 April 2025)<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-04-26 |title=Russell DOUST Obituary (2025) |url=https://tributes.smh.com.au/au/obituaries/smh-au/name/russell-doust-obituary?id=58236963 |access-date=2025-11-17 |website=Legacy.com |publisher=The Sydney Morning Herald}}</ref> was a State Library of New South Wales State Librarian, 1973-1987. He was appointed Deputy in December 1970, and became Acting Principal Librarian before becoming the Principal Librarian on 13 September 1973. He was instrumental in securing support for a major extension to the Library, the Macquarie Street building.
== Early life and education == Russell Fletcher Doust was born on 19 September 1927 in Lindfield. The son of Harold Stephen Doust and Dorothy Annie Doust (nee Fletcher).<ref name=":0" /> Doust attended Sydney Boys High School and was an organ scholar at the University of Sydney, graduating in 1948. He achieved registration as a librarian in 1953.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Doust |first=Russell |date=Autumn 2015 |title=My life in music |journal=Sydney Organ Journal |volume=46 |issue=2 |pages=31–33}}</ref> In 1969 he was awarded a Master of Librarianship by the University of New South Wales for his thesis, "The administration of official archives in N.S.W. 1870–1960".<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Doust |first=Russell Fletcher |title=The administration of official archives in New South Wales, 1870–1960 |date=1969 |publisher=UNSW Sydney |url=http://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/62718 |doi=10.26190/unsworks/8213 |hdl=1959.4/62718 }}</ref>
== Career == Russell Doust held a number of positions throughout his library career commencing at the Public Library of New South Wales as a junior library assistant (1944-1949) before moving on to the Newcastle Teachers College (1950-1951), Balmain Teachers College (1952-1958), Alexander Mackie Teachers College (1958-1960) and returning to the Public Library of New South Wales in 1960, Doust was the senior archivist (1962-1970), deputy principal librarian (1970-1973) and Principal Librarian, later known as State Librarian of New South Wales, from 1973 until his retirement in 1987.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Australian Library and Information Association Honours Board 2021 |url=https://read.alia.org.au/sites/default/files/documents/alia_honours_board_2021_a-f.pdf |access-date=27 September 2025 |website=Australian Library and Information Association}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |author1=Kosa |first=Geza Attila |title=Biographical dictionary of Australian librarians |year=1984 |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn1462987 |access-date=2025-09-27 |publisher=Academia Press |language=English |isbn=095896680X |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1973-11-16 |title=CHANGE OF DESIGNATION |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article220152598 |access-date=2025-09-27 |work=Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales |pages=5013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1974 |title=Library crammed: The Library of New South Wales, interview with the Principal Librarian, Russell Doust |url=https://collection.sl.nsw.gov.au/record/9O4Gkqyn |access-date=2025-09-28 |website=State Library of New South Wales}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1987 |title=State Library of New South Wales - Russell Doust, former State Librarian of State Library of New South Wales, interviewed on his retirement by Paul Brunton, 1987 |url=https://collection.sl.nsw.gov.au/record/YEGmVePn |access-date=2025-09-28 |website=State Library of New South Wales}}</ref> An active member of the professional association, Doust was made a foundation Fellow of the Library Association of Australia in 1963, recognising his contribution to library services.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Australian Library and Information Association |date=18 August 2021 |title=ALIA Honours Board |url=https://read.alia.org.au/sites/default/files/documents/2021-08-18_alia_honours_board_00_.pdf |access-date=2025-09-28 |website=www.alia.org.au}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Horton |first=Warren |date=20 March 1987 |title=Forty-three years on! |url=https://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/inCiteALIA/1987/66.pdf |journal=Incite: Newsletter of the Library Association of Australia |volume=8 |issue=4 |pages=1 |via=Austlii}}</ref>
In 1973 when he became Principal Librarian, Doust re-established the Mitchell Librarian role as a separate position reversing the decision of the previous Principal Librarian who had absorbed both the Deputy Principal Librarian and Mitchell Librarian roles into the Principal Librarian position.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fletcher |first=B. H. |title=Magnificent Obsession: The Story of the Mitchell Library, Sydney |date=2007 |publisher=Allen & Unwin |isbn=978-1-74175-291-5 |location=Sydney}}</ref> Doust led the amalgamation of the two statutory bodies previously responsible for the State Library and free public libraries into a single Library Council of New South Wales in 1975.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=State Library of New South Wales |date=2025-06-18 |title=Russell Fletcher Doust, 1927–2025 |url=https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/stories/russell-fletcher-doust-1927-2025 |access-date=2025-09-28 |website=www.sl.nsw.gov.au}}</ref>
Russell Doust wrote to Neville Wran, Premier of New South Wales, in June 1978 suggesting that a new wing for the State Library would be an appropriate way to commemorate the Bicentenary of European settlement in Australia.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Jones |first=David John |date=1 May 1988 |title=The Best of Both Worlds: The State Library of New South Wales New Building and Refurbishing Project |url=https://ssrn.com/abstract=1973826 |journal=Australian Library Journal |volume=37 |issue=2 |pages=81–86 |via=SSRN}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Jones |first=David John |date=November 2006 |title=State Librarians I have known since 1826 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00049670.2006.10721880 |journal=The Australian Library Journal |volume=55 |issue=4 |pages=343–359 |doi=10.1080/00049670.2006.10721880 |issn=0004-9670}}</ref> On 19 September 1980, Jill Hickson Wran, opened Australian Library Week in the State Library announcing the Government’s intention to “build a new Library, as part of the commemoration of Australia’s Bicentenary in 1988”.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jones |first=David John |date=21 November 1980 |title=Good news for New South Wales . . . Second State Library |url=https://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/inCiteALIA/1980/245.pdf |journal=Incite: Newsletter of the Library Association of Australia |volume=1 |issue=19 |pages=1 |via=Austlii}}</ref> This heralded the construction of the Macquarie Street wing of the State Library of NSW.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-04-21 |title=Neville Wran's reforms bridge the political divide |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/neville-wrans-reforms-bridge-the-political-divide-20140421-zqx9z.html |access-date=2025-09-28 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}}</ref> Work began on the Macquarie Street wing in 1983. Doust retired in 1987 and the Macquarie Street wing was officially opened in 1988 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.<ref>{{Cite web |last=State Library of New South Wales |date=2024-01-31 |title=History of the Library |url=https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/about-library/history-library |access-date=2025-09-28 |website=www.sl.nsw.gov.au}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Doust, Russell}} Category:1927 births Category:2025 deaths Category:Australian librarians Category:People from Sydney Category:People educated at Sydney Boys High School