ABSTRACT
The Depression changed the way Australian schoolgirls accessed books, as many were unable to keep buying books and magazines and had to rely more on borrowing books, either from libraries or from networks of families and friends. This chapter utilizes recollections of reading and education in memoirs and autobiographies. It discusses education and school-leavers found in newspapers and parliamentary debates, as well as the Victorian School Readers to discuss the place of the schoolgirl in the 1930s education system. The chapter explores the marginalisation of girl-characters in educational texts. Looking at the publishing of school readers and the expansion of library services, it shows the way in which the Depression caused the state to assume a bigger role in the provision of reading material. The generous provision of at cost/free readers to families during the Depression can be seen as a way to ensure that young children were growing up being able to read Australian and British classic literature.
