D-day for libraries across the world came in 1989. British-Indian novelist Salman Rushdie released his book The Satanic Verses, earning a death sentence from Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini.
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Two young women who had just taken over the reign of Griffith City Library faced one of the biggest decisions of their lives. Do they risk shelving the inflammatory book, or play it safe like so many others and ban it?
“We decided to go down the path of free speech and non-censorship,” Pam Young said.
In the 1980s, if you asked your boss if you could “job share”, odds are he would’ve directed you the nearest unemployment office.
But that’s exactly what Christine Del Gigante and Pam Young did when the Griffith City Library manager ended her tenure in 1989.
“I had three children and Pam had four, so neither of us could do the job full-time. Child care wasn’t that great in those days,” Christine said.
In July this year – 28 years later – the duo will call stumps, having transformed a small manually-operated library into one of the most dynamic and technologically advanced in rural Australia.
Known for their colourful outfits and necklaces, the pair shattered the stereotype of the dowdy librarian.
Christine Del Gigante, the woman often in red, said, “it’s been a fabulous journey of learning and friendship”.
She started her career as a library assistant in 1970, with Pam joining in 1974. Together, they have served the library for a combined 90 years.
Both studied a Bachelor of Arts (Library and Information Sciences) degree in the early 1980s, at distance from Charles Sturt University, before becoming joint managers in 1989.
“We really are proud at the state of the art library we have here. The library really is the first port of call for lots of people who visit Griffith. We get lots of visitors coming in off the street, asking for directions, and using the Internet,” Christine said.
The pair are also proud of Griffith City Council, for having the vision to allow a job share arrangement for a management job at a time when so many other employers didn’t even know such a thing existed.
“Our current mayor John Dal Broi was also mayor of Griffith back then. We were grateful that he was supportive of our proposed arrangement,” Pam said.
As joint library managers, the pair oversaw the replacement of the manual library card system to track loans and book collections, to the digitised system of today.
“There was some resistance to the introduction of email in the 1990s. Some said email would never last. But Christine and I were always progressive with that sort of thing,” Pam said.
E-books though really have been slow to catch on among library users.
“People prefer the physical books,” Pam said.
The pair always handled clients with charm and patience.
“You’ll sometimes get customers coming asking questions like – do you have that book about the man and the woman that fall in love,” Pam said.
Despite the odd tough customer, Pam and Christine agree that staff and clients have on the whole have been a pleasure to work with, and vow to remain connected to the library.
Neither intend to twiddle their thumbs in retirement. Christine wants to follow in the footsteps on her son Lawrence Del Gigante and write a book. Though unlike Lawrence’s edgy and complex sci-fi novel, Christine’s will be a children’s book. Pam wants to pursue business interests.
As they commence the next chapters in their lives, The Area News would like to thank them for their incredible service to the community and for always being so supportive of the local newspaper.
SOME OF THE ACTIVITIES AND SERVICES YOU’LL FIND AT GRIFFITH CITY LIBRARY
Griffith City Library Baby Bounce
Baby Bounce Every Tuesday at 10am. This half hour program of nursery rhymes, songs, finger plays, and dance with puppets and percussion instruments promotes language and literacy development in an interactive, fun-filled environment. These sessions encourage valuable one-on-one time between parent and child and are also a great networking opportunity for parents and carers.
Griffith City Library Storytime
Storytime – Every Friday 11am -11:30am Children aged 3-5 years Stories, rhymes, and craft designed to develop a love of reading, literacy and social skills.
Griffith City Library Premier’s Reading Challenge
2017 NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge is currently in effect. The library have done the hard work for you and Premier’s Reading Challenge titles are now easily accessible and available all in the one place.
Griffith City Library Tech Talks: Android tablets (beginners)
Wednesday 24 May 2017 2:30pm – 3:30pm. Bring your own device. Learn the basic features and functions of an Android tablet; how it looks, how it works, using the keyboard, browsing the internet and using the camera.
Griffith City Library Poetry Performance
The library presents a poetry performance with special guest poets Nathanael O’Reilly, writer in residence with the Booranga Writers Centre plus local poets Derek Motion, Mary Catanzariti and Sharni Montgomery on Thursday 25 May 2017 at 5:30pm
Griffith City Library Seniors Movie Screening
Seniors Movie Screening: La La Land Saturday 27 May 207 1:00pm Rated M – Comedy, Drama, Music An American musical romantic drama film written and directed by Damien Chazelle, and starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone as a musician and an aspiring actress who meet and fall in love in Los Angeles.
For further information on what’s on in the library, please visit the library website or see upcoming events at https://www.wrl.nsw.gov.au/whatson/
–OLIVER JACQUES