Vale John Free John Free

John Free, teacher librarian extraordinaire, died peacefully in early June after a short illness.  John was diagnosed with a rare form of connective tissue cancer in mid-January this year.  He faced death bravely and with great dignity.

Those of you who knew John knew his passion for teacher librarianship.  He nurtured amazing relationships with all those with whom he came in contact.  He developed Barker College's "Boys and Books" program with the teacher  

librarian team.  He was joint winner of the ASLA(NSW) NSW Teacher Librarian of the Year 2008, presented at the State Library of NSW earlier this year. He threw himself into all aspects of school life - readers' theatre, school camps, staff concerts, sports' days to name a few. He was a remarkable short story writer for adolescents and was an excellent bass guitarist and took every opportunity to be involved in all things musical at the school.  He was also part of the band "Blind Lemon Chicken" and played at various locations all over Sydney, especially the Botany View Hotel.

A wonderful inspirational teacher Librarian!