Thea Schmitz

Schmitz was born in Cologne, Germany, and was the younger of two children to Franz Joseph Karl and Paula Louisa Schmitz. Schmitz's father, a lawyer, died while she was still attending school. Schmitz's teenage years coincided with World War II and she remained with her family and completed her schooling and went on to attend the University of Cologne where, in 1953, she received her Doctorate of Philosophy. In 1956 Schmitz immigrated to Australia where she first worked as a cook in 'Outback' Queensland and, soon after, she begun studying for the Library Association of Australia's registration examination, to become a librarian. This study was via correspondence. After completing this she held a number of roles including establishing and running the Administrative College Library in Papua New Guinea (1961-1966), being the chief librarian at the South Pacific Commission in Nouméa (1966-1970) before returning to Australia to be the foundation librarian at the Riverina College of Advanced Education in Wagga Wagga (1970-1971). == Life in the Northern Territory ==

In 1971 Schmitz accepted the position as the chief librarian at the Northern Territory Library, now Library & Archives NT where she immediately began advocating for increased funding and now professional positions. She also became actively involved in advocating and planning for new libraries in other parts of the Northern Territory including Nhulunbuy Public Library (1974), Alice Springs Public Library (1980) and Casuarina Public Library (1980). After Cyclone Tracy Schmitz was transferred to Canberra, to work from the National Library of Australia, and continue running the library service from there. This move was due to a government policy which meant that only essential personnel would remain in Darwin. == Legacy ==

A rare book collection, the "Thea Schmitz Collection" at Library & Archives NT is named for Schmitz. == References ==