If there’s a stack of old newspapers gathering dust under the bed or out in the shed, Australian libraries want to know about it.
The search is on for these valuable pieces of our social history, as part of the Australian Newspaper Plan (www.nla.gov.au/anplan), a nation-wide initiative of state and territory libraries designed to find, collect and preserve access to historic newspapers.
National spokeswoman for the ANPlan, Cathy Pilgrim, of the National Library of Australia, said newspapers did not just report the news. They told stories of their times, through advertisements, photographs and even their design – stories we want to save for all Australians.
“The aim is to find the thousands of missing pieces in the jigsaw of our history,” she said.
“Old newspapers are an important part of our social, political and cultural history and they offer valuable insights into a society changed forever.
Some of Australia’s most wanted newspapers include:
* Cairns Advocate (1897-1882);
* Croydon Miner (1887-1888)
* Mundic Miner and Etheridge Gazette (1889-1917);
* Pilbarra Goldfields News (1901);
* Mercury and South Australian sporting chronicle (1849-1851);
* Renmark Pioneer (1893-1895).
“Often a chance conversation uncovers these wanted papers which may have been lying hidden in someone’s garage, in an elderly person’s collection of keepsakes, or even in the vaults of a local historical society or archive,” Ms Pilgrim said.
Once the wanted newspapers have been tracked down, they will be carefully saved to ensure their preservation for future generations of Australians. Access will be made freely available through the National Library of Australia and state and territory libraries.
For a full list of the wanted newspapers from all states of Australia, go to www.nla.gov.au/anplan
For information on the Australian Newspaper Plan:
Contact Cathy Pilgrim on 02 6262 1514; firstname.lastname@example.org
For information on ACT newspapers:
Contact Julie Whiting on 02 6262 1157; email@example.com