Alfred J. Taylor, librarian and publicist, was the son of Thomas Joseph Taylor and his wife Emma. He received little formal education but his enthusiasm for books enabled him to become a librarian at New Norfolk. In January 1874 he became librarian of the Tasmanian Public Library which had been constituted in 1870. He continued to work there until his death.
Science, especially medical science, also interested Taylor. He wrote too of Tasmanian fauna, flora and Aboriginals, mostly in the Tasmanian School Journal, which he edited and largely wrote in 1901-03. The State Library of Tasmania holds various pamphlets written by Taylor, including Forty-Five Years Public Librarian, Mr. Alfred J. Taylor: Some Incidents in His Career, A Many-sided and Useful Life (1919).
