While attending the Dunedin Public Libraries' Christmas morning tea to thank volunteers and supporters, he was singled out and presented with a framed citation in recognition of his long and outstanding contribution.
"It was totally unexpected . . . but very nice. The citation already has pride of place on my wall at home," Mr Barnes said afterwards.
Mr Barnes (71) was a paid library staff member for 27 years before retiring in 2001.
After a year at home, he was asked if he would return to the library as a volunteer to examine the books and other materials in several historical collections and to enter subject data on to the library's electronic catalogue.
He did this several hours a week for six years until retiring again in July.
Mr Barnes' work diligently cataloguing more than 3000 items in the Portobello, Whitman, Reed Printing and Johnson collections was of permanent benefit because it enabled people locally, nationally and internationally to access otherwise hidden resources, the citation read.
The library catalogue is available on the Dunedin City Council website and accessible from anywhere in the world.
The citation awards were instigated in 2001 to acknowledge the contribution of volunteers, writers, artists, researchers, sponsors and others.
Previous recipients include University Book Shop manager Bill Noble, book illustrator David Elliot, former City Librarian Mary Ronnie and long-serving Middlemarch community librarian Edith Heffernan.
