Information Scotland The Journal of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in Scotland ISSN 1743-5471 Issue contents | Journal contents | About the online edition of the journal December 2006 Volume 4(6)

Obituary

Andrew Miller MA, FLA 1936-2006

In 1974 he returned to Glasgow Corporation as Depute City Librarian under Bill Alison. Following local government reorganisation in 1975 he was appointed Depute Director of Libraries for the new Glasgow District Council. In 1981, on Bill Alison’s retiral, he became Director of Libraries, a post he held until, as Director of Libraries and Archives in the new unitary authority of Glasgow City Council, he retired in 1998.

His long period of office saw him play a key role in the planning and eventual opening of the much-extended Mitchell Library in 1981, the building of several new branch libraries and the refurbishment of many more. He was an early proponent of the introduction of ICT, which brought many improvements to the city’s library service.

Andrew was always an enthusiastic supporter of the wider library and information profession. He was a member of many organisations, working parties and advisory committees in which he almost always took on an active role. This work was recognised in 1990 when he was awarded the honorary degree of Master of Arts by Strathclyde University.

In the (then) Scottish Library Association, he was President in 1984, served as Honorary Treasurer, was Chair of Council and, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the profession, was made an Honorary Vice-President in 2000. He was made an Honorary Member in 1985.

He was instrumental in the creation of the Scottish Library and Information Council, the body which advises the Scottish Executive on library and information services, being a member of its Management Committee and serving for a period as Company Secretary.

He chaired meetings of SCURL (Scottish Confederation of University and Research Libraries), was Honorary Executive Secretary of COCRIL (Council of City Research and Information Libraries) and was a member of the working party which produced the first set of COSLA Public Library Standards in 1986. He also served on the CIPFA library statistics committee for a number of years.

His interest in professional affairs extended beyond Scotland. Glasgow had been a founder member of INTAMEL, the International Association of Metropolitan City Libraries which is a round table of IFLA, the International Federation of Library Associations; membership being open to cities with a population of over 400,000. Andrew attended many of its annual conferences building up myriad contacts in Europe and North America, helping to promote Glasgow. He served as Secretary/Treasurer and was President from 1996 until 1998.

One by-product of this involvement saw him invited to the centenary dinner of the New York Public Library, where he met a representative from Israel. Their subsequent conversation directly led to the Scrolls of the Dead Sea exhibition being brought to Glasgow the following year.

In his private life Andrew was an active member of Cadzow Parish Church in Hamilton serving both as a church and presbytery elder. He enjoyed his garden, but probably his greatest satisfaction came from the many talks and speeches he gave to organisations, professional and otherwise over the years. He was an inveterate storyteller and, as an accomplished public speaker, was much in demand.

He was a respected professional, but more, he was a genuinely kind and decent man, with an engaging sense of humour, who was able to mix with politicians, colleagues, friends, and family with equal ease.

Andrew was often able to sum up a situation or describe a complicated scenario with a few aptly chosen words. On one occasion he was being interviewed by the writer of a report on the value of public libraries and said to her, “when, at night, you see lights in the darkness, they are our lights”. When the report was published it was entitled “Lights in the Darkness”. After attending a particularly difficult budget meeting at the City Chambers, he was asked by a colleague if the committee convenor was supporting his case. He responded that the councillor in question had “bluetacked his colours to the mast!”.

I was fortunate to be his deputy and close colleague for 18 years. He was a considerate chief and came to be a good friend. The city of Glasgow and the library and information profession have lost a good servant and a fine ambassador.

He was devoted to his family and is survived by his wife Jean, daughters Mhairi and Morven and grandchildren Adam, Leah and Angus who were his chief joy in his later years.
Bill Bell

Information Scotland Vol. 4(6) December 2006

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