Suzie Gately

Portrait of Suzie Gately

Suzie Gately

Assistant Director, Library Sector Services

Libraries & Archives Northern Territory

Suzie Gately has a B.Ed (Librarianship) and is an alumni of the Leadership Victoria Williamson Program. She has over 25 years experience in public libraries over three state/territory jurisdictions mostly at leader level. She led the transformation of two library services in major renewal projects for both physical and technology infrastructure to deliver better community services and to enhance the member and user experiences.S

She has presented at several seminars on the various aspects of designing and building new spaces physical or digital and has championed the significant role that libraries play in 'smart city' developments. As leader of the City of Newcastle libraries team, she aligned the goals of the ALIA Outcomes Framework with programs which also targeted the UN Sustainable Development Goals. As custodian of the large and significant heritage collection at Newcastle Libraries, she embarked on an ambitious digitisation program to improve access to the collections and valued the existence of Trove to assist in creating better access to highly valued collections. 

She is also a member of Metropolitan Libraries Professional Standing Committee with IFLA. Suzie and her team also tested and provided feedback to the IFLA Rare books and Special collections committee prior to the launch of their new guidelines. 

I would like to be a member of TSAC to continue to represent and provide advocacy on behalf of public libraries at the leadership level. In my current role as Assistant Director Library Sector Services I have a new perspective of public libraries. Far different challenges of remoteness, staff availability and turnover are faced and met by the public library teams in the NT. It reinforces to me the critical role of our larger institutions and their services in providing support and expertise. I am a pragmatic leader skilled at working with teams to foster innovation and find sustainable solutions.