Francis Aubie Sharr

Francis Aubie Sharr (1914–2002) was a state librarian of Western Australia, the first to be appointed after the formation of a board in 1956 to oversee the state's library system.

F. A. Sharr, known as Ali, was born in England in 1914, the only child of Ethel Lucy née Bennett and her husband Francis Joseph Sharr. He worked in British public libraries after graduating in London at University College and completing post graduate study at the University of London School of Librarianship. During the Second World War he was enlisted in the Royal Artillery. While serving as the city of Manchester's Deputy City Librarian, after completion of his military service, he was appointed to become the first State Librarian of Western Australia in 1956. Sharr held dual roles as state librarian and secretary of the library board, established as the coordinating body for local and regional collections and the State Library of Western Australia; he held these positions from the time of his first arrival until retiring in 1976.