National Library of New Zealand

National Library of New Zealand

The National Library of New Zealand is located at the corner of Aitken Street and Molesworth Street in Wellington, the capital city, adjacent to the New Zealand Parliament. It was formed in 1965 through the merger of the Alexander Turnbull Library, The Parliamentary Library, and the National Library Service.

The National Library of New Zealand is dedicated to collecting, preserving, and protecting materials to make them accessible to the people of New Zealand; it supplements and develops collections that other libraries in the country may lack. It is the most important library in New Zealand. Unlike national libraries in other countries, the National Library of New Zealand is an autonomous government department. On March 25, 2010, the Minister of State Services announced the integration of Archives New Zealand and the National Library into the Department of Internal Affairs.

The National Library of New Zealand houses 5,200,000 volumes of books and periodicals; 12,000 current periodicals; 22,500 maps; 218,500 photographs; 16,700 sound recordings; 12,000 items of disks and audiovisual materials; 314,700 negatives; 1.7 million microforms; 40,000 works of art; 8,400 posters; and 2,600 meters of manuscripts.

National Library of New Zealand

Reason to visit: The most important library in New Zealand

Continent: Oceania

Country/Region: New Zealand

Province/State: Wellington Region

City: Wellington