South Australian Parliament Research Library
In 1851 Mr G. S. Kingston moved in the Legislative Council that a Select Committee be appointed to inquire and report which books and maps should be purchased for use of the Council. Two years later Mr Kingston had a motion carried in the Legislative Council that a Select Committee be appointed as a Standing Library Committee to make arrangement for the purchase of books and maps and to have the general management of the Library.
Prior to 1889 the Library was housed on the ground floor of the Old Parliament building, but in 1889, when the House of Assembly shifted to the western wing of the present Parliament House, the Parliamentary Library was moved to the first floor room vacated by the House of Assembly, where it remained until its transfer in 1939 to its present location.
In April 2007 the name was changed to the South Australian Parliament Research Library in acknowledgement of the increased emphasis placed on its research function.
Operation and Contents
The Library is managed on behalf of Members by the Parliamentary Librarian. The Library offers traditional services such as the acquisition and lending of books and other documents. It also provides a range of value-added information services such as specialist databases and research support to Members. Research staff are highly qualified and recruited from a variety of disciplines. The Library primarily serves current Members of the South Australian Parliament but former Members and Members of other Australian Parliaments have right of access.
The Library contains about 100 000 Volumes. Its core collections comprise official publications from South Australia, other Australian States, the Commonwealth and New Zealand. Since 1936 the Library has been a legal deposit library for South Australian publications. Section 35 of the Libraries Act 1982 requires that a copy of any South Australian publication must be lodged with the Parliamentary Librarian.