Allan Percy Fleming (5 March 191218 January 2001) was a senior Australian public servant and journalist, best known for his time as National Librarian in the 1970s.

Biography

Early life

Allan Fleming was born on 5 March 1912 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. He was educated at Lee Street State school in North Carlton, Scotch College and Melbourne University. His first career was in journalism, first at the

Melbourne Argus ''The Argus'' was an Australian daily morning newspaper in Melbourne from 2 June 1846 to 19 January 1957, and was considered to be the general Australian newspaper of record for this period. Widely known as a conservative newspaper for most ...

and later at the

Brisbane Courier Mail ''The Courier-Mail'' is an Australian newspaper published in Brisbane. Owned by News Corp Australia, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, in Brisbane's inner northe ...

World War II service

At the outbreak of World War II in 1939, Fleming enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force. He saw service in North Africa, Greece, New Guinea and the South-West Pacific, rising to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. After the war, he returned to journalism before joining the public sector.

Professional career

In 1968 Fleming was appointed Parliamentary Librarian. He became National Librarian in 1970, heading the

National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...

. In 1972 he went on a 10-week world tour studying libraries in Japan, Sweden, France, Belgium, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada. Retiring in 1973, Fleming told media that he intended to write a book and spend time traveling in Europe.

later years

In 1976, returning from retirement, Fleming was appointed to head the Government Agency for Security of VIPs, responsible for coordinating security arrangements for the protection of visiting heads of state and other VIPs. Fleming died on 18 January 2001.

Awards

Fleming was awarded as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for distinguished military service in the South West Pacific. He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1978, in recognition of his work in the Australian Public Service.