The University of Queensland

The Student’s Dramatic Society commemorated the memory of their late Vice–President, Jack Fryer, by establishing the Fryer Memorial Library of Australian Literature in early 1927. The Library was established by a donation from the Society of a modest sum of ten pounds. The initial gift of the Dramatic Society was soon supported by other gifts in money and kind.

F.W. Robinson was appointed Lecturer in Modern Languages in 1922. In 1923 he was asked by his Professor, J.J. Stable, to start teaching Australian literature as part of the first year course of English. At this time, few universities included Australian literature in their set courses. The University of Queensland was one of the first to do so. Robinson, known as ‘Doc Robbie’ to his students, developed resources for the study of Australian literature and history through the Fryer Library collection.

The Library, with Robinson as custodian, was initially opened as a reading room "approached through Dr Robinson’s own study" (Thomis, M. A Place of Light and Learning: the University of Queensland’s First Seventy-five Years. St. Lucia : University of Queensland Press, 1985, p. 139). It contained not only works of Australian literature but also background books of Australiana. As custodian of the Fryer Memorial Library, Robinson nurtured its development over some 25 years. The Fryer Library reading room is named the "F.W. Robinson Reading Room" to acknowledge his contribution to the development of the collection.

Reflecting on the growth of the library’s collection, Robinson wrote in the 1950s:

"The search for books led one far afield ... Grubby second-hand shops were ransacked for volumes in three capitals. One had to climb a 20-foot ladder to find Furphy’s book, Rigby’s Romance, for 2/-; it took three years to acquire G.B. Barton’s Literature in New South Wales (1866), the first attempt to write a history of Australian Literature. A lucky strike was David Burn’s Plays and Fugitive Pieces (1842) – the first publication of drama in Australia. ... Slowly, and through all sorts of channels, quite a fair collection of earlier works was got together."

(Robinson, F.W. The Fryer Memorial Library of Australian Literature Brisbane: The University of Queensland Library, 197-).

St Lucia was chosen as the permanent site for the University in the 1930s. Building work commenced on the sandstone Forgan Smith Building in the late 1930s. The use of the building for teaching purposes was interrupted by military occupation of the building during the Second World War. In 1949 the first classes were taught on the St Lucia campus.

The Faculty of Arts moved to St Lucia in that year. The Fryer Library moved from the cramped accommodation at George Street to a "handsome room 30 feet long, under the cloisters of the main St Lucia building". (Robinson, F.W. The Fryer Memorial Library of Australian Literature Brisbane : The University of Queensland Library, 197-)

The Library contained a number of bookcases and had a display case in the centre bay. The Arts Faculty staff acknowledged the beginning of University teaching at St Lucia by a gift to the Fryer Library of forty pounds. Books on Australian art were purchased with this gift.

The Fryer Library collection now hele 2300 books and other items. The additional space at St Lucia provided an impetus to add to the collection. 1556 of the items in the collection had been added since the move to St Lucia. Robinson wrote:

"We have 42 volumes of plays, from David Burns to Douglas Stewart. Books of verse range from Praed and Wentworth to Judith Wright and David Campbell, and include those of quite a number from our own students. ... A particularly valuable work of reference is a complete set of Pugh"s Queensland Almanac from 1859 to 1897. This was the set of Theophilus Pugh himself, the founder of the Almanac. It was presented by his descendant, the late J.T. Bale, graduate and for some years member of the University Senate" (Robinson, F.W.).

During this period, the Library was also to receive as a donation a complete set of Art in Australia.