Mr R. N. O’Reilly

Press, 14 July 1982, Page 6

Mr R. N. O’Reilly

Mr Ronald Norris O'Reilly, who was City Librarian in Christchurch between 1951 and 1968. has died in Wellington. He was 68. During Mr O'Reilly's term as Citv Librarian, the Canterbury Public Librarychanged from a subscription to a free service and books issued went'up by about 300 per cent. Special collections were built up. circulation was mechanised using punchcards and pictures, and records were made available on loan. Apart from his work with, the library. Mr O'Reilly was keenly interested in both philosophy and New Zealand art. He was a founding member of the Canterbury Philosophical Association and for his last two vears in Christchurch. was the picture buyer for the Canterbury Society of Arts. Mr O'Reilly was given special leave from 1964 to 1966 to be visiting professor in the Institute of Librarianship at the University of Ibadan. Nigeria. During his stay in Nigeria he was awarded' a Carnegie travelling fellowship to visit libraries in the United States. He also went to study British libraries before returning to Christchurch in 1966. Mr O'Reilly graduated from the University of Otago in 1939. and took a master of arts degree in philosophy the next year. He was a part-time lecturer in philosophy from 1941 to 1945, and then trained in the New Zealand Library School. Between 1947 and 1951 he was organising librarian in the Country Library Service, and was at different times, seconded to Government departments. Mr O'Reilly was appointed director of' the National ■Library School in Wellington in 1968. and held the post until his retirement in 1974. In 1975. Mr O'Reilly won a five-year appointment as director of the Govett-Brew-

ster Art Gallery in NewPlymouth. Since 1980 he had been a consultant on library and art gallery administration. Mr O'Reilly had one of the

biggest and most valuable private collections of New Zealand art in the country. He is survived by his wife and a son, a daughter, and stepdaughter.