New Zealand Parliamentary Library

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Parliamentary Library
Te Whare Pukapuka o te Paremata  (Māori)
WellingtonParliamentaryLibrary gobeirne.jpg
The Parliamentary Library building in 2006
Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap
Former namesGeneral Assembly Library (until 1985)
General information
TypeLibrary
Architectural styleGothic Revival
Town or cityWellington
CountryNew Zealand
Coordinates41°16′38″S 174°46′36″E / 41.27723°S 174.77666°E / -41.27723; 174.77666
Construction started1897
Completed1899
Technical details
Structural systemBrick
Design and construction
ArchitectThomas Turnbull
John Campbell
Designated20 July 1989
Reference no.217
References
NZHP website

The New Zealand Parliamentary Library (Māori: Te Whare Pukapuka o te Paremata;[1]), known until 1985 as the General Assembly Library,[2][3] is the library and information resource of the New Zealand Parliament.

History of the Library to 1897[]

The first General Assembly Library was a small room shared with the Auckland Provincial Council. It contained 750 volumes in 1860. The library then moved to a cottage behind Parliament's main building, and the collection grew to 4000 books.[4] After Parliament moved to Wellington in 1862, some books were sent down on a ship, White Swan, which was wrecked on the Wairarapa coast. Many parliamentary papers and reference books of the inchoate library were lost.[5] The library also lost its accounts in the wreck. The Premier Fox, most of his Cabinet and government officials were on board, but no lives were lost. However, the order to jettison cases of papers and books in an effort to right the ship after it struck a reef, caused those cases to be swept into the Pacific and were never seen again, despite pleas for their return. In subsequent years, it became common to blame the wreck of the White Swan for failure to produce documents which it was "thought inexpedient to produce".[6] The library then moved to six large rooms behind Parliament in Wellington.

The earliest catalogue was an author catalogue published in 1867 (8vo, pp. 213). The next was a classified catalogue, published in 1872, the library then contained 8,700 volumes. In 1875, an elaborately classified catalogue of 11,450 books was compiled by Ewan McColl (8vo, pp. 351). In 1880, the library contained 18,562 works, and by 1897 it held close to 40,000 volumes.[7][8]

It was New Zealand's finest library and source of overseas ideas, philosophy and literature for representatives and staff. NZ Premier and poet Alfred Domett supported access for some non-parliamentarians, although the offering of this privilege had its opponents at different times. The writer Katherine Mansfield had borrowing privileges when parliament was not in session, accessing books by Heinrich Heine, Nietzsche, a translation of Bushido by Dr Inazo Nitobe, the English poets, Ibsen, Maeterlinck, and a book on the psychology of women.[9][10][11]

By the 1920s the library's collection had reached more than 100,000 volumes; by 1950 this had grown to 200,000 volumes.

The Parliamentary Library Building[]

The current library building in Wellington was completed in 1899 and is the oldest of the extant buildings in the Parliament complex. It stands to the north of Parliament House (to its right, looking from the front). The library was originally designed as a three-storey building by Thomas Turnbull in Gothic Revival style.[12] It was fire resistant, being constructed of brick made at Mount Cook gaol[13] with an iron firedoor separating the then General Assembly Library from the main entrance section. The third storey of the design was not built to save money (costs had reached £50,000) and it was completed by the government architect John Campbell. He redesigned the parapets, gables and roof to take account of the building's reduced height.[14] Turnbull dissociated himself from the entire project and asked for his name to be removed from the foundation stone.[15]

The fireproofing saved the General Assembly Library from the fire of 1907, which destroyed the rest of the wooden parliament buildings.[16] (Coincidentally, the same thing happened in Ottawa, Canada, in 1916—with fire doors saving the Library of Parliament when the Centre Block of the Canadian Parliament burned.[17])

1990s refurbishment[]

Like Parliament House, the building was strengthened and refurbished between 1993 and 1995. The building design was replicated to match the original designs. The ornate main foyer, which was damaged by another fire in 1992, was refurbished. The Gothic elements of the roof, including ironwork, turrets, and finials, were recreated. The original iron door (that saved the General Assembly Library in 1907) was restored.[18]

The building is registered with the New Zealand Historic Places Trust as a Category I heritage structure with registration number 217.[19]

Services and Separate Identity[]

The Parliamentary Library is an information repository and research service for members of Parliament and parliamentary staff. Access to the building is generally restricted to those on parliamentary business, yet research publications produced are available to the public.[20]

In 1966 the General Assembly Library/Parliamentary Library became part of the new National Library of New Zealand; much of the library's collection (close to half a million volumes) was moved to other National Library locations, while relevant texts remain in the Gothic building. In 1985, the General Assembly became, henceforth, the "New Zealand Parliamentary Library", and then left the National Library altogether, to become part of the newly-formed Parliamentary Service. In so doing, it left its wide-ranging "non-parliamentary" collection in the care of the National Library.[21]

Gallery[]

  • Steps leading to entrance

  • Detail of the roof

  • Foundation stone

References[]

  1. ^ "Ngā whare Paremata". teara.govt.nz (in Maori). Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  2. ^ https://natlib.govt.nz/records/22363653
  3. ^ McLintock, Alexander Hare, ed. (2005) [originally published in 1966]. "General Assembly Library, Wellington". An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  4. ^ https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/parliament-buildings/library
  5. ^ https://www.parliament.nz/en/visit-and-learn/how-parliament-works/fact-sheets/history-of-library/
  6. ^ G.L.Meredith, quoted in John E. Martin, Parliament's Library, op. cit. p20
  7. ^ Gen Assembly library catalogue of 1897 Volume 1 | https://ia802809.us.archive.org/6/items/cataloguegenera01librgoog/cataloguegenera01librgoog.pdf
  8. ^ Gen Assembly library catalogue of 1897 Volume 2 | https://ia800907.us.archive.org/16/items/cataloguegenera00stregoog/cataloguegenera00stregoog.pdf
  9. ^ Guy H. Scholefield, 'Katherine Mansfield', Beauchamp, Reminiscences and Recollections, p. 195.
  10. ^ https://www.parliament.nz/en/get-involved/features/katherine-mansfield-and-the-parliamentary-library/
  11. ^ http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-StaMaor-t1-body-d5.html
  12. ^ "Parliamentary Library". Wellington City Council. 29 November 2017. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  13. ^ O'Neil, Andrea (16 September 2015). "Mt Cook Gaol a loathed landmark on Wellington's finest site". The Dominion Post. Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  14. ^ Parliamentary Library, Parliament Grounds, Molesworth Street, Wellington City Heritage, 6 March 2013, pp. 3, 4, 9, retrieved 17 June 2019
  15. ^ "Sydney and Florence Turnbull at the Parliamentary Library, Wellington - Photographed by Mark Coote". National Library of New Zealand. 11 May 1993. Retrieved 29 March 2020. Thomas Turnbull had demanded that his name be hidden after his original design was modified. Restoration work on the Parliamentary Library had revealed his name on the foundation stone.
  16. ^ "Parliamentary library escapes fire". nzhistory.govt.nz. New Zealand History online. 10 December 2018. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  17. ^ "Feb. 03, 1916: When Canada's Parliament burned". Radio Canada. 3 February 2014. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  18. ^ "Parliamentary Library today". www.parliament.nz. New Zealand Parliament. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  19. ^ "Parliamentary Library". Register of Historic Places. Heritage New Zealand. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  20. ^ "Need more information?". www.parliament.nz. New Zealand Parliament. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  21. ^ "History of the Parliamentary Library". www.parliament.nz. New Zealand Parliament. Retrieved 29 March 2020.


Further reading[]

  • General Assembly Library. Newsletter of the Wellington Regional Committee of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust. Vol. 1, no. 4, May 1977.

External links[]

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