University of Western Australia Library

The University of Western Australia (UWA) Library consists of six library sites both on and within walking distance of the campus. The Library is an integral part of the UWA student experience and provides a wide range of services, facilities and resources to both students and staff and the community including teaching, learning and research support, student IT support, and individual and collaborative learning spaces.

When the University of Western Australia began teaching students in 1913 and the first building was constructed at the Irwin Street site, just £2000 was set aside for the purchase of roughly 100 books. By the time the campus moved to Crawley, there were over 10,000 volumes and a dedicated librarian.

The next thirty years saw steady but modest growth in the collections. Library services at Crawley initially operated out of the Main Library which was set up in a wing of the Administration building (now the Visitors Centre). By the early 1960s, overcrowding had become a significant issue leading to the Winthrop Hall Undercroft being enclosed and then re-opened as a temporary library annexe consisting of the Reserve collection for undergraduates and bound volumes of periodicals. It was not until Leonard Jolley became the University Librarian in 1959 that the Library began to expand its collections rapidly, to experiment with new forms of information technology, to erect major new library buildings, and to bring departmental libraries under central responsibility.

Technological improvements became even more significant in the 1980s as Arthur Ellis, Jolley's successor as University Librarian, worked to expand the collections of audio-visual and electronic materials and began the process of computerising the Library's catalogues.

By 2000, the Library consisted of 11 library sites. The 2000s-2010s saw the introduction of online information literacy delivery, a Course Materials Online (CMO) service and the launch of OneSearch, the Library’s single search tool for finding books, journal articles and online resources.

A steady increase in the number of UWA students owning laptops and tablets resulted in demand for student IT support and for the first time in Semester 1, 2013, students could go to the information desks in the libraries for assistance with Pheme passwords, Unifi connections, Learning Management System (LMS) troubleshooting, online class registrations (OLCR) and other university applications and systems.

There have been six University Librarians at UWA since 1927 when Malvina Evalyn Wood became the first female University Librarian in Australia.

Named after Sir Alexander Reid (UWA Chancellor 1956-1968), the Reid Library opened its doors to readers in February 1964, with its official opening taking place the following May. The building opened to widespread acclaim, winning the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) 1964 Bronze Medal and being generally regarded as one of the most attractive university buildings in Australia.

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