Kay Delahunt

BA. (UNSW), Grad Dip Lib. (CCAE), Dip Project Man. Practice, Dip Man. (UNEP), Cert. Cultural Planning (UBC)  

Kay Delahunt is the Manager of Cultural and Community Services at Tamworth Regional Council. She has over thirty years’ experience in public libraries, including the management of the Central Northern Regional Library which services six local government areas and covers an area of 45,972 square kilometres.  

Kay has led the modernisation of Central Northern Regional Library with improvements reaching communities from the regional centre to the smaller towns and villages. She has implemented the ‘early uptake’ of a number of library initiatives such as the ‘living room library’ concept, the ‘One Book One Region’ program, roving reference service, science and technology programming, enhanced early childhood literacy programming, a distributed local studies collection and the introduction of RFID technology. In 2014 Central Northern Regional Library was the first library in New South Wales to introduce a horticultural seed collection.

What inspired you to take this role? 

Libraries enrich our lives! They enable the preservation and sharing of our histories and stories. They are an environment for social inclusion, social connection, and appreciation of diversity. They are places for developing new understanding, and for finding inspiration. Working in public libraries, I have had the opportunity to witness, first hand, the way in which libraries can transform people’s lives. 

The State Library of New South Wales is an esteemed institution. It holds, and provides access to, items of significance to our culture and development. The State Library is continually improving access and enhancing the way it engages with the community. To be part of this environment and have the opportunity to contribute is a privilege.  

Photo: Kay Delahunt is photographed in the Children’s Library, which opened in 2019, holding The Best Cat, the Est Cat, a book about discovering treasures in the State Library, written by Libby Hathorn and illustrated by Rosie Handley.