Cecil Charles Florey

Cecil Florey is the author of the publication 'A Passion for Books and People: Creating Public Library Services for the City of Stirling and the State of Western Australia, 1958 - 1987'.

Born on the 28th of September, 1927 in Dulwich, Kent, UK, Cecil completed school just after World War II and was enrolled in Great Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF) for 3 years before he was released from service in 1948.

Soon after leaving the RAF he began his career in the public libraries field. After many years working in libraries around the UK during that time he married and had 3 children, he applied for a job in Western Australia as the Senior Librarian for the future Perth Road Board (renamed the Shire of Perth then the City of Stirling) Scarborough Public Library. In 1958 Cecil left his job as the Deputy City Librarian of Peterborough, and he along with his family migrated to Western Australia.

In the same year of arriving in Western Australia, Scarborough Library was opened, making it the first public library in the City of Stirling. Cecil spent 20 years from 1958 to 1978 developing public libraries for the City of Stirling, opening Osborne Library in 1960, Inglewood Library in 1963 and Karrinyup Library in 1974. He also was involved in the planning of Dianella Library before leaving the City of Stirling in 1978 to work as a Principal Librarian for the (State) Library services.

As the Perth Road Board evolved into the Shire of Perth, and then the City of Stirling, Cecil Florey worked tirelessly to establish a network of libraries. Under his guidance, the City of Stirling pioneered library services to migrants and children and was at the cutting edge of library automation.