National Library building turns 40

The National Library of Australia is celebrating 40 years since the opening of its iconic building in Canberra.

The concept for the National Library emerged from federation and in the 1920s the collection was moved from Melbourne to Canberra. But by the mid-1950s the collection was being stored in 15 different buildings across Canberra. It was not until 1961 that Sydney firm Bunning and Madden was appointed to design a new home for the hundreds of books, photographs and documents. In March 1966, Sir Robert Menzies laid the foundation stone for the building on the southern shore of Lake Burley Griffin. Two-and-a-half years later Prime Minister John Gorton officially opened the library and the entire collection was finally brought together under one roof.

National Library Director-General Jan Fullerton says the building, with its Parthenon-like columns, is considered one of Canberra's landmarks. "It's a fabulous building, it's a building that's stood the test of time, a classic building," she said. "But it's the content that's really exciting. The National Library's responsibility is to collect all documents relating to Australia and Australians. So every single thing that tells the story of Australia." Ms Fullerton says the library collects more than books. "People tend to think 'library, books', but of course our collecting is much, much wider than that," she said. "So pictures, maps, oral history sound recordings ... things that come in the mailbox on weekends that tell us what the price of pizzas are - those sorts of things are important social documents. It's the accumulation of all those little pieces that really add up to marvelous institutions."

From: ABC News 25-Aug-08