The House of Commons Library is the library and information resource of the
lower house of the
British Parliament
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprem ...
. It was established in 1818, although its original 1828 construction was destroyed during the
burning of Parliament in 1834.
The library has adopted the phrase "Contributing to a well-informed democracy" as a summary of its mission statement.
History
![London - Victorian Building in Westminster - Detail](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/London_-_Victorian_Building_in_Westminster_-_Detail.jpg)
The Library was established in 1818 and a purpose-designed library was built for it by Sir
John Soane
Sir John Soane (; né Soan; 10 September 1753 – 20 January 1837) was an English architect who specialised in the Neo-Classical style. The son of a bricklayer, he rose to the top of his profession, becoming professor of architecture at the R ...
and completed in 1828. This building, along with much of the mediaeval
Palace of Westminster, to which it was added, was destroyed by fire in 1834.
In the rebuilding of the
Palace of Westminster by
Sir Charles Barry and
Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin
Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 181214 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and, ultimately, Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival st ...
, the Library was given four large rooms on the river front of the principal floor of the new palace, each 40 feet by 25 feet and some 20 ft high. This suite was fully opened by 1852, and two additional rooms added in the mid/late 1850s. One of these was to compensate for the loss of Room D, which was taken over by Speaker Denison and his successors as their private library (It was not restored until the 1960s).
The Library was stocked with some 30,000 books majoring in history, topography, literature, biography and politics, as well as the official papers of the House. Almost alone among contemporary parliamentary libraries, from about 1860 onwards, the staff were given free rein to determine the scope of the collection.
In 1945–46, the House of Commons reorganised its library on modern lines. A Research Division was created, to provide briefings to Members, and to answer their individual detailed enquiries on a confidential and non-partisan basis. A modern reference library was created in the former Map Room, which had been previously equipped with pull-down maps of all parts of the world.
The Public Information Office (now
House of Commons Information Office), was set up in 1978, headed by Chris Pond under the oversight of
David Menhennet.
Menhennet also began
electronic publication
Electronic publishing (also referred to as publishing, digital publishing, or online publishing) includes the digital publication of e-books, digital magazines, and the development of digital libraries and catalogues. It also includes the editi ...
in the same year, when the Library contributed to the
Prestel
Prestel (abbrev. from press telephone), the brand name for the UK Post Office Telecommunications's Viewdata technology, was an interactive videotex system developed during the late 1970s and commercially launched in 1979. It achieved a maxim ...
viewdata
Viewdata is a Videotex implementation. It is a type of information retrieval service in which a subscriber can access a remote database via a common carrier channel, request data and receive requested data on a video display over a separate c ...
system. Computerisation of the Library's information systems began in 1979 with the creation of POLIS, the Parliamentary On-Line Information System.
The total holdings are about 350,000 print items, plus journals and official papers, together with extensive on-line and electronic sources. The Library is not a mandatory or
copyright deposit library, unlike the
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...
and the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...
. Some of the older book stock was placed on permanent loan in 2004 with the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
, to populate the King's Library there (the original King's Library bookstock having been transferred to the
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...
at
St Pancras). It is the official custodian of the House's printed records.
In 2008 the Library was incorporated into the new Department of Information Services following a ''Review of Management and Services of the House of Commons'' conducted by Sir Kevin Tebbit. However, research, information and library services continue to be provided to Members of Parliament and their staff under the House of Commons Library banner. The Department of Information Services is also responsible for information services for the public including Parliament's Education Service, the House of Commons Information Office, Visitor Services and the Web & Intranet Service.
The Library today
The Library provides four core services to the House, Members and their staff:
* A confidential enquiry service for Members and their staff covering all subjects of parliamentary interest. Some 19,200 substantive requests ("logged enquiries") were received in 2010/11.
* Briefings for the House and Members generally covering the business of the House and other issues of parliamentary concern. 83 Research Papers (around half on bills before the House) and 187 Debate Packs were produced in 2010/11. 494 new Standard Notes were published in the year and around 1,200 were updated at least once. Research Papers and most Standard Notes are generally available via th
Parliament Website
* Library services including reading rooms, book loans, on-line resources and reference collections. The Library is one of the main common spaces of the Houses of Parliament; Members use it for conversation, discussion and relaxation as well as consulting information sources. Reading room facilities for Members' Staff are provided in the Derby Gate Library.
* Training and guidance in the use of information, particularly online resources and Library services.
In 2011, the Library had 150 staff, and occupied premises outside the Palace of Westminster (principally the old Whitehall Club at no.1 Derby Gate) as well as within it. Many of the staff have specialist qualifications in, for instance, law, statistics, and various aspects of public affairs, or librarianship. Staff of the Library are not, and have never been, employed by the
civil service; they serve, and provide completely impartial advice and analysis to, Members of Parliament.
Although Members of the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...
may by courtesy use the Library, the House of Lords has a separate
Library
A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...
(and equally fine set of rooms).
The Library is not open to the general public, though information about the history and work of the Commons can be supplied by the House of Commons Information Office. Arrangements can often be made for members of the public who wish to use resources of the Library not available elsewhere to have access to them in the Parliamentary Archives.
Librarians of the House of Commons
The following have served as Librarian:
* 1818: Benjamin Spiller
* 1831: Thomas Vardon
* 1867: George Howard
* 1887: Ralph Walpole
* 1908: Austin Smyth
* 1937: John Vivian Kitto
* 1946:
Hilary Saunders
* 1950: Strathearn Gordon
* 1967: David Holland
* 1976:
David Menhennet
* 1991: Dermot Englefield
* 1993: Jennifer Tanfield
* 1999: Priscilla Baines
* 2004:
John Pullinger
John James Pullinger (born 1 June 1959) was the National Statistician for the United Kingdom, serving in this role from 1 July 2014 until retiring on 30 June 2019. He was succeeded on an interim basis by Deputy National Statistician Jonathan A ...
* 2015: Penny Young
See also
*
Parliamentary Archives
A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democracy, democratic government, governance of a sovereign state, state (or subordinate entity) where the Executive (government), executive derives its democratic legitimacy ...
*
House of Lords Library
The House of Lords Library is the library and information resource of the House of Lords, the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It provides Members of the House and their staff with books, Parliamentary material and reference ...
*
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...
,
Congressional Research Service
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a public policy research institute of the United States Congress. Operating within the Library of Congress, it works primarily and directly for members of Congress and their committees and staff on a ...
(USA)
*
Library of Parliament
The Library of Parliament (french: Bibliothèque du Parlement) is the main information repository and research resource for the Parliament of Canada. The main branch of the library sits at the rear of the Centre Block on Parliament Hill in Otta ...
(Canada)
References
*"The House of Commons Library - a History", by David Menhennet, 2nd edition 2000
*"The Early History of the House of Commons Library", by Chris Pond, published in 2001
External links
Records of the House of Commons Library are kept at the Parliamentary ArchivesCommons Library websiteParliament's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:House Of Commons Library
House of Commons of the United Kingdom
Libraries in the City of Westminster
1818 establishments in the United Kingdom
Palace of Westminster
Legislative libraries