Smart, Egbert E.. Photographer for the Borough of Dagenham, 1907-1999

Egbert E. Smart (19th April 1907-1999) won a scholarship to St. Olave's Grammar School, London in 1918. From 1925 until 1928 he attended University College School of Librarianship, where he received the Sir John McAllister Medal for Best Student. He went on to work at the Medical Society Library.

Mr Smart began work on a temporary basis for the Dagenham Public Library Service in 1941, due to staffing crisis occasioned by World War II (1939-1945). Mr Smart was deferred from wartime service due to medical reasons. He became a Fellow of the Library Association in 1944, and was put in charge of Wantz Library, then a new branch the same year. He transferred to Rectory Library in 1960, where he remained until his retirement in 1972. The Dagenham Branch Libraries were pioneering, regarding each as cultural centres. Egbert Smart was the local contact for the Rectory Music Circle and Fanshawe Film Society.

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