ON Friday, June 15, 1956, the Australian newspaper The Age ran a short news piece in its newspaper, announcing the passing of one of Fiji’s prominent former residents — Sir Alport Barker.
Sir Alport Barker was a former proprietor of The Fiji Times.
Many may not recognise his name today, but it was a legacy that he left behind that has benefitted many Fijians — their documented heritage.
Sir Alport bought The Fiji Times in 1918, 10 years after its founder Geoger Littleton Griffith’s death.
The Fiji Times merged with Western Pacific Herald which Sir Alport founded in 1901 to become Fiji Times and Herald.
He played a prominent part in Fijian affairs in Suva for 50 years since the 1900s. But two years before his passing in 1956, Sir Alport (who was also former mayor of Suva at one time) bequeathed all the collections of The Fiji Times from its first print in 1869 as well as copies from the Western Pacific Herald to the National Archives of Fiji (then known as the Central Archives of Fiji).
His wish was that a national reference library of Fiji be established and used as a nucleus of a national reference library of materials dealing with Fiji and the Pacific generally.
His collections also included books, papers and journals dealing mainly with Fiji’s history and that of its Pacific neighbours.
Such a collection has made it possible for Fijians to have knowledge of their documented history today with users numbering 7000 annually.
“It is quite an elaborate collection,” agrees current librarian Losena Tudreu.
“Throughout the years we received many deposits from various collectors as well as prominent people who played a part in Fiji’s political landscape in the early years.”
She said one of the oldest books within the library’s possession was a copy of the first printed Bible in the iTaukei language, which was printed on Viwa Island in 1847 by the well-known missionary John Hunt.
“Initially the library was housed at Berkley Crescent in Suva where the former Public Service Commission used to be before it moved to Carnarvon St,” she adds.
At the moment the staff members at the National Archives are working to digitise most of the fragile documents.
The Fijian Government allocated $1 million for the digitisation project.
“I never realised the importance of these historical documents until I joined the archives,” described a senior staff member Eta Vuiwakaya.
“We have films that recorded historical events from the 1940s to our nation celebrating our independence from Great Britain. It’s a rich history and one that we should protect,” she said. The Sir Alport Barker Memorial Library was officially opened on May 23, 1964.
Speaking at its official launch in 1964, the then Fiji Governor, Sir Derek Jakeway, said, “It is appropriate that the Sir Alport Barker Library be placed close to the Central Archives of Fiji (National Archives), which holds records not only of Fiji but also of all the other territories for which the British Government is responsible in the Pacific.”
Subsequent notable collections were either donated or purchased including the (Borron and Gatty collections among others) then in 1971 under the Legal Deposit Act, the National Archives of Fiji was designated as Fiji’s legal deposit library making it the national library.
Today, it holds more than 40,000 items including legal deposited items and private collections from many individuals.
It now acts as the official deposit for all newspapers currently published in Fiji.
