Annie Maude Blackett

Annie Maude Blackett (30 July 1889 – 12 June 1956) was a New Zealand librarian. She was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, England, on 30 July 1889 to Annie Pile and Thomas Robert Blackett. She was one of the first Chief Librarians to be trained in New Zealand.

Biography

Early life Blackett attended several schools in her hometown of Newcastle, including attending a boarding school for three years, when the family moved to South Africa she did not attend school due to remoteness. Blackett arrived in New Zealand around 1907 with her sister, Ellen, and became a junior library assistant at Canterbury Public Library in 1913.

Career During her time at Canterbury Public Library Blackett worked with Howard Strong, and Ernest Bell. The chief Librarian at the time Blackett started was Howard Strong, who increased her salary when he heard it was difficult for her to live on her weekly salary. When Strong was succeeded by Ernest Bell in mid-1913, Blackett was promoted to second assistant. Bell was a prominent English Librarian and implemented the Dewey Decimal whilst at Canterbury Public Library, Blackett felt she owed a lot to Bell for her training during this time.

She was appointed chief librarian at Wanganui Public Library in 1918. She received significant support from the library committee and the town clerk as well as being given an assistant to help with several innovations she made whilst in the role. The most significant innovation Blackett made was the introduction of a juvenile department at Wanganui Public Library, this continued throughout her career with children's reading needs at the forefront of her work for many years. She persuaded members of the Wanganui City Council to invite J.C. Andersen, the librarian at Alexander Turnbull Library to speak to children. Her other initiatives included sending withdrawn books to psychiatric facilities and military camps, on one occasion 1 1/2 tons of books were sent to Waiouru during the Second World War.

She died in Wanganui on 12 June 1956.