The John Legge Library is a small, specialised collection of books and periodicals located at 356 Collins St.

Library Access

All current AIIA VIC members may access the Library.  Books are available to borrow for members and to view by visitors during business hours.  A list of the 1700 books and journals is available in the online catalogue.  There are 70 new books currently being catalogued.

Contributors

The Library has benefited from donations from past and current members of the AIIA and speakers who have launched books at the Institute.

Brief History

The Library is named after Professor John Legge AO FAIIA (1921-2016), who had a life-long involvement in the AIIA, first joining as a member in 1947.  He had a long and distinguished service on the Council of AIIA Victoria, including as President from 1963-1966.  He was made a Life Member in 1999 and was also a Friend of the AIIA.

In addition to his branch commitments, John was very active at the national level, including as Chair of the Research Committee from 1973 – 1978.  He authored a book on the history of the Institute, Australian Outlook, which was published in 1999.  John’s main research and teaching interests were the history of modern Indonesian and historiography.  He was appointed the foundation Chair of History at Monash University in 1960 and served in that position until 1977.  From 1978 to 1986 he was Dean of the Faculty of Arts.  In 1964 he founded the Monash Centre of Southeast Asian Studies, serving as its chair until 1977.  From 1969-70 he was Director of the Singapore Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.  From 1987-93 he was an Executive Member on the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Board. John was elected to the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia in 1964 and in 1988 he was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia. The citation reads: ‘For service to education, particularly in the field of Asian Studies and international relations’.

Publications

See the national list of publications and policy commentaries.