Today my former boss reached a mile stone 95th birthday 🎂
There are not many characters who speak and write fluently, German, Russian, French and Farsi …
National Treasure, Dr Cope was the longest serving NSW parliamentary librarian ( the Godfather of the NSW legislature Johno Johnson named Dr cope - National Treasure )
Dr Cope calling a spade a shovel: Myths and Realities of Administering Australian Parliaments
No one is better qualified to write about parliamentary libraries than Dr Cope. For over 30 years he was the Parliamentary Librarian of the New South Wales Parliament, and generations of parliamentary officers and students of Parliament have found his writings of great interest.
12 years ago: NSW Parliamentary Library Staff Reunion
A unique reunion luncheon for staff who had worked with Russell Cope (Parliamentary Librarian, 1962-1991) brought together a cross-section of staff from those years. A working party of present and former staff organised the contact of the dispersed staff and the reunion arrangements. The venue, Bill and Toni's East Sydney restaurant, was festively decorated for the 35-40 people who attended the reunion in late November.
Former staff gathering together at Bohemian place to mark Dr Cope 20th year of retirement in 2011 ... John gets the best shot ;-) 
John Botherway and Andrew Cope flew up from Melbourne, Necia Agnew came from Canberra, Marlene Knowles and Lyn Miller came from the Central Coast, several came from the Blue Mountains.
The reunion stretched from noon to 6 pm, allowing plenty of scope for reminiscences to be exchanged and photos inspected. A number of working highlights and personalities of the past were recalled with hilarity. Only the news of the death of former Deputy Parliamentary Librarian, Richard Baker, brought a note of sadness.
Recalling happy times and events, participants mentioned the celebrations throughout 1990 to mark the Parliamentary Library's sesquicentenary. As Australia's oldest parliamentary library, it received wide notice at the time and even held the first Open Day in the Parliamentary Library's history. The 1990 celebrations mark a highlight in the library's annals. A second, earlier highpoint, but no less significant, was the move in 1980 to the spacious, elegant new library in the award-winning parliamentary building facing the Sydney Domain.
The reunion did not let sad developments dampen its spirits. The general consensus was one of gratitude for the good, stimulating times we enjoyed. An added pleasure was seeing old colleagues doing well in family and professional life. The camaraderie from those days was still much alive at the reunion.
Russell Cope rcope@ozemail.com.au
#LibraryHonours Honorary Fellows are Ms Kathleen Bresnahan and Dr Russell Leslie David Cope
