Obituaries Tom Featherstone T


om Featherstone who passed away aged 91 on 12 October 2023 made a huge contribution to the library profession not just as a Chief Librarian but also through his work for numerous professional committees and organisations. He obtained his first job at 16 as a Junior Assistant at Newcastle Public Libraries with a salary of £135 a year. After completing National Service he rejoined the library world and continued a career which took him to Sunderland and then to Middlesbrough as Deputy Borough Librarian. He then moved to the London Borough of Havering as Deputy Borough Librarian and Arts Officer and finally to Tameside where he was Chief Librarian and Arts Officer.


Tameside was a new authority


and Tom had the job of welding together many small libraries, museums, an art gallery and later a 1,200 seater theatre into one coherent service, something which he did with gusto. As one of the first Chief Officers appointed he became a respected senior figure within the authority’s Management Team but he also enjoyed meeting them socially and after he retired in 1990 he looked for- ward to their regular ‘First Friday’ reunions in a local hostelry. His contribution to librarianship was recognised in 1991 when he became President of The Library Association. He produced a superb Presidential Address which is still relevant and worth reading today. In an interview for The Library Association Record, earlier in the year, he outlined his main professional concerns as “equal opportunities, intellectual freedom and accessibility of information”. These were important to him throughout his career. This is illustrated by a piece he wrote about Havering’s service to housebound readers. In this he argued, “we must try to ... offer them the fullest possible library facilities consistent with their circumstances. Librarians should resist the temptation to regard this as a charity service based on volunteer help and the goodwill of members of staff. The aim must always be a full professional service.” Long before he became LA President, Tom had undertaken copious work for the Association of Assistant Librarians (AAL) and was its President in 1965. I was then one of the young librari- ans who gained much from this group and Tom’s encouragement and support. Some 27 years later he wrote a letter to The Library Association Record suggesting that our professional body set up another group to support a different generation. In short a Retired Members Group. This received a positive response and the RMG was formed, though then the G stood for Guild rather than Group. The original intention was to be a ‘Group’ of the LA (later CILIP),


Keith Cheyney K


eith Cheyney, Haberdashers Boys School’s Chief Librarian for 33 years and one term (and also Hon- orary Archivist from 1994-2016), passed away after a short illness aged 89 on 28 May 2023. His devoted 55 years’ service to the school is one unlikely to be


January-February 2024 repeated in the coming years.


Keith was recruited by the then Headmaster, Tom Taylor, to create and develop the first Library at Elstree when the school moved from Westbere Road, being one of the first professional librarians in the country to be appointed to a school. He was


INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL 47


but that proposal was rejected by the Council resulting in the formation of an independent body. Tom chaired the guild/group for over 22 years. During this time it did not limit its activities to the UK but arranged numerous trips to libraries in different parts of the world notably Australia and Canada. He also lectured at and attended conferences abroad. For example an invitation from Chicago Library’s Board of Com- missioners resulted in Tom and two colleagues going to the city to talk about community librarianship. During his presidential year he led the UK Delegation to the IFLA Conference in Moscow which coincided with an attempted Russian coup. One day Tom and a few colleagues decided to join the crowds clustered around the few light tanks which had come out in support of Boris Yeltsin. They were made welcome and Tom handed out packets of cigarettes to the tank crews. On returning home he was inter- viewed by the local media who expressed surprise that librarians had become involved in the struggle against the junta. His reply, was “When freedom and democracy are threatened ... where else should librarians be but on the barricades.”


Tom of course had a life outside librarianship. From an early age he went to St. James Park to watch Newcastle United from the terraces and he supported them throughout his life. It was only his retirement from local government that enabled him to ‘come out’ as a Labour supporter and join the Party. His political colleagues remember him as a much appreciated member of the Labour family in Disley and further afield. Whether he was counting votes, distributing leaflets, selling raffle tickets or assigning roles, Tom dealt with all matters in a clear, diplomatic and even-handed way. He also co-founded the Disley Footpath Society whose objective was to ensure that the footpaths in the parish were free from obstruction. One of its first jobs was to construct a bridge across a very damp section of an important walk. Its newsletter reports that two of the bridge builders were Tom and Pat Featherstone. A task that represents his contribution to the library world. Tom also built bridges between the different sections of our profession. First in his work for the AAL which introduced young librarians to our world. He continued this throughout his career. Building bridges between library services and their users, between librarians in this country and abroad, between retired librarians and between practitioners and those who teach librarianship. I know that because my university colleagues and I benefited from some excellent trainees from Tameside. Those who knew him, valued his company, admired his erudition and learnt from him. His legacy will endure, not only in the pub- lications and records of professional bodies but also in the hearts and minds of his friends, colleagues and the people he served.


Bob Usherwood, Professor Emeritus. The University of Sheffield with help from Tom’s wife Pat, his family, colleagues and friends.


PEOPLE


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