John Metcalfe

John Metcalfe (16 May 1901 – 7 February 1982) was an Australian librarian, educator and author. He was the Principal Librarian at the Public Library of New South Wales (now State Library of New South Wales) from 1942 until 1958 and University Librarian at the University of New South Wales from 1959–1966. He was involved in the establishment and development of the Australian Institute of Librarians (AIL), the Free library movement and education for librarianship in Australia.

Early life John Wallace Metcalfe was born on 16 May 1901 at Blackburn, Lancashire to Henry Harwood Metcalfe, a paper-bag maker, and his wife Lilian, née Wilcock. The family migrated to Australia, via New Zealand, settling in Sydney in 1911. Metcalfe attended Marrickville Superior Public School and Fort Street Boys High School he later attended the University of Sydney.

The Public Library of New South Wales In 1923 Metcalfe was appointed to the Public Library of New South Wales.

In November 1933 John Metcalfe presented a paper about the state of libraries in Australia to the Federal Library Conference held in Melbourne. This paper was given to Ralph Munn and Ernest Pitt who had been funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York in 1934 to tour and inspect Australian libraries and to publish their report. In July 1934 Metcalfe was offered a travel grant of £2,000 by the Carnegie Corporation which allowed him to inspect libraries in the USA and Great Britain. The report from his trip was widely circulated.

Metcalfe contributed to the development of free public libraries in New South Wales, providing technical advice to the Free library movement (FLM), a citizens' lobby group advocating for free public libraries. As secretary for the Libraries Advisory Committee, established by the New South Wales government, Metcalfe helped to draft a bill, which became the basis for the New South Wales Library Act 1939. The Public Library of New South Wales provided the first formal Australian library school, commencing in 1939, Metcalfe wrote most of its textbooks.

Metcalfe opposed censorship, appearing before the Supreme Court of Queensland in a case involving 'objectionable' comics in 1955. Metcalfe was also made a member of the Professorial Board. On 2 February 1959 Metcalfe commenced as the University Librarian a role he held until May 1966. He oversaw the establishment of the first library school at an Australian university which opened in 1960 and he remained Director of the School of Librarianship until his retirement in 1968. John Metcalfe died on 7 February 1982 at Katoomba.