National Library of New Zealand

　　The National Library of New Zealand is situated at the corner of Aitken Street and Molesworth Street in the capital city of Wellington, 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 also supplements and develops resources that are lacking in other domestic libraries. It is the most important library in the country. Unlike national libraries in other parts of the world, the National Library of New Zealand is an autonomous government department. On March 25, 2010, the Minister of State Services announced that Archives New Zealand and the National Library would be integrated 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 pieces of artwork; 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