GEORGE MORRISON MEMORIAL LIBRARY
George Morrison Memorial Library Interior, circa 1904
The George Morrison Memorial Library was first named as a memorial in honour of
Dr George Morrison who died in 1898. A number of Old Boys who attended his funeral asked Neil Campbell and Stanley Calvert to organise a movement to perpetuate the memory of "the Doctor". The result was the George Morrison Memorial Library, the key of which was handed to Mr Norman Morrison at a gathering on 27 May 1899, as recorded on the brass tablet in the present library entrance.
The building was constructed of brick with Waurn Ponds stone facings and bluestone foundations and finished off with a battlemented parapet. A cross surmounting the gable gave the building a quasi-religious aspect. The Library was designed by former collegian F Purnell. A feature of this gothic library was a stained glass window at the southern end supplied by Brooks, Robinson and Co of Melbourne. At its centre were a representation of the College Crest and motto and the monogram of the late Dr Morrison in the apex of the window. Interwoven with Scotch thistles are the dates 1861 and 1898. The eventual fate of this window is unknown.
One of the Library's original bookcases, the
George Morrison Memorial Library Cabinet was located in the original Northern Entry foyer of the George Morrison Building.
The original George Morrison Library was demolished in about 1937 and re-established in the former Dining Room and now Staff Reading Room until the library's re-location in 1973. The current library, architecturally complementary to the Sir Arthur Coles Science Block, was designed by McGlashan Everist Architects, and built by Dimes Construction Pty Ltd, with the aid of Commonwealth funds. The library was opened in 1973.
Pat Wood became the first full-time librarian in 1959. She retired in 1981 after 23 years service. The Middle and Junior Schools each have their own library. The Middle School Library is known as the Helen Mackie Library.
George Morrison Memorial Library
and Cadet Parade, circa 1930.
George Morrison Memorial Library, circa 1938.