Farewell to Helen Cole, Coordinator of the Australian Library of Art

Helen Cole. Image courtesy Doug Spowart

On Friday 25th November colleagues, friends and associates gathered to say goodbye to Helen during a morning tea in the board room of the State Library. Her resignation after thirty years of service will be felt by colleagues, as Helen leaves with her the exceptional knowledge and expertise for the Australian Library of Art collections.

Helen commenced work at State Library of Queensland on 13th October 1986 and in her early career described many of the original materials collections in John Oxley Library.   In 1992 she joined the Arts Unit as James Hardie Librarian. In this role she was responsible for developing the James Hardie Library of Australian Fine Arts, in particular the antiquarian, botanical art and artists’ book collections. By 2006 the Arts Unit rare book collections were incorporated into the Australian Library of Art with Helen appointed as coordinator. Helen curated Freestyle Books, an exhibition in the SLQ Gallery showcasing our artists’ book collection, one of the most significant in Australia.  Her passion for artists’ books resulted in the very successful Siganto Foundation Artists’ Book Series which sponsors international book artists to give lectures and workshops at SLQ.

Doug Spowart, Tim Roberts, Geoff Thompson, Victoria Cooper.

Back: Caroline Fewtrell, Sue Edmiston, Ruth Gardiner, Christene Drewe. Front: Joan Bruce, Helen Cole. Image courtesy Tania Schaffer.

Tania Schafer, Helen, Troy Keith

We wish Helen the very best for the journey ahead and acknowledge her significant contribution to the care, development and promotion of the Australian Library of Art. Thank you Helen for your exceptional work.

Christene Drewe,

Australian Library of Art Librarian