Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2019L00148:reg:2017:p2
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2019L00148
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 2017 (pt 2/81)
Character Range: 45316–48154

by those who had aspirations for a national library.

Principal Librarian of the Public Library of NSW, Henry Charles Lennox Anderson, for example, lobbied Prime Minister Edmund Barton by letter on 26 February 1901, recommending that Barton establish a copyright act to secure copies of all published Australian books, and appoint a skilled librarian to systematically collect Australian material.  While a Copyright Act was passed, mandatory deposit was not achieved until 1912.[9]  There was also lobbying within Parliament.  One of the Commonwealth government interim Cabinet's early decisions (taken on 13 April 1901, prior to the inauguration of the first Parliament on 9 May) was that Australia was to have a federal public library, separate from the Parliamentary Library, and that a conference of librarians was to be convened to advise it.  When Barton was asked in the new Parliament, on its 10th day of sitting, whether steps would be taken to secure Australia's documentary history in the Parliamentary Library, Barton replied that he intended to appoint a committee of experts to advise him on that matter.  The same day, 5 June 1901, both houses passed resolutions to appoint a Joint Library Committee.[10]

Barton's secretary, Atlee Hunt, wrote to selected librarians and other gentlemen on 11 June flagging the possible creation of a Board to advise on a Parliamentary Library and on the production of publications relating to the early history of Australia and the establishment of the Commonwealth as a special feature of the library, but seeking advice on these matters in the meantime.  Several responded, recommending a skilled librarian be appointed.

H C L Anderson wrote again on 8 July 1901 outlining his views on the setting up of a federal Parliamentary Library and the appointment of a librarian.  His key model was the Library of Congress, serving not only Parliament but also as the core of a national library collection, underpinned by a Copyright Act.  Anderson also mentioned the availability of the Petherick Collection as a core of the new national collection, but did not think Petherick a good choice for Librarian, hence warned against the acquisition of the collection if Petherick's employment was a condition.[11]

It is an interesting aside that a debate has occupied library historians for several decades as to whether the Library of Congress was really the model for the development of the Commonwealth National Library.  It was certainly proposed as such by Anderson, and championed by Frederick Holder, as first chairman of the Joint Library Committee, and was the model for National Librarians including Kenneth Binns and Harold White.  It was also a continuing model referred to repeatedly by the Parliamentary Library Committee, and the Public Works Committee in 1924 accepted the Library