MS 9616 comprises five files of "whites", ie. copies of Jean Whyte's official letters and minutes during her employment with the National Library of Australia, with letters and minutes of A.P. Fleming, the National Librarian 1970-1973, and drafts of articles. Colour transparencies taken at Whyte's farewell from the National Library include Pauline Fanning, Dulcie Penfold, George Clark and Dr George Chandler, National Librarian 1974-1980. The collection also includes letters and poems of Donovan Clarke (2 boxes).
The Acc02.171 instalment includes notebooks from Whyte's undergraduate days in the early 1950s, papers relating to her training as a librarian, and correspondence, references, talks, notes of meetings and reports dating from her time at the State Library of South Australia, Fisher Library, the National Library of Australia and Monash University. There are also diaries and audio tapes (2 boxes, 6 A3 cartons).
The Acc07.199 instalment comprises papers collected or created by Whyte for Uniting a profession including rough notes, draft chapters of the book, card indexes, lists of figures associated with the Australian Institute of Librarians and Library Association of Australia, and series of subject files containing original and photocopied manuscripts from the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) archives (7 boxes).
The Acc10.044 instalment comprises correspondence, appointment diaries, family papers, photographs, and poetry and other writings of Whyte (2 boxes).
The Acc11.052 instalment comprises unpublished articles on library themes written by Whyte, university newsletters and business correspondence (1 packet).
Librarian. Jean Primrose Whyte was born in Adelaide in 1923. Whyte became a professional librarian after taking the examinations of the Australian Institute of Librarians, and joined the Fisher Library, University of Sydney, in 1959. In 1965, she graduated as a Master of Arts in librarianship from the University of Chicago with a comparative study on education for librarianship in the United States and Australia. In 1972, she moved to Canberra to take up the position of Director of Information, Reference and Research at the National Library of Australia.
In 1975, she became foundation professor in the Graduate School of Librarianship at Monash University. She retired as an emeritus professor in 1988. Whyte edited the Australian library journal from 1959 until 1971 and, in 1988, she was created a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for service to education particularly in the field of librarianship. She was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree by Monash University in 1996. Whyte died in Melbourne in 2003.
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