| House of Commons Library | |
|---|---|
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 US Secretary of DefenseLeon E. Panetta (right) being given a tour of the House of Commons Library in 2013 | |
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| 51°30′00″N0°07′27″W / 51.4999°N 0.1241°W /51.4999; -0.1241 | |
| Location | London, England |
| Established | 1818 (1818) |
| Collection | |
| Items collected | Books,journals, official papers |
| Size | 350,000 items |
| Access and use | |
| Access requirements | Access restricted toMembers of Parliament and their staff |
| Other information | |
| Website | commonslibrary |
| This article is part of a series on the |
| House of Commons of the United Kingdom |
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 Logo of the House of Commons |
Committees |
TheHouse of Commons Library is the library and information resource of thelower house of theBritish Parliament. It was established in 1818, although its original 1828 construction was destroyed during theburning of Parliament in 1834.
The library has adopted the phrase "Contributing to a well-informed democracy" as a summary of its mission statement.
The Library was established in 1818 and a purpose-designed library was built for it by SirJohn Soane and completed in 1828. This building, along with much of the medievalPalace of Westminster, to which it was added, was destroyed by fire in 1834.
In the rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster bySir Charles Barry andAugustus Welby Northmore Pugin, 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 (nowHouse of Commons Information Office), was set up in 1978, headed by Chris Pond under the oversight ofDavid Menhennet.[1] Menhennet also beganelectronic publication in the same year, when the Library contributed to thePrestelviewdata 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 orcopyright deposit library, unlike theBritish Library and theLibrary of Congress. Some of the older book stock was placed on permanent loan in 2004 with theBritish Museum, to populate the King's Library there (the original King's Library bookstock having been transferred to theBritish Library atSt 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 aReview 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 provides four core services to the House, Members and their staff:
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 thecivil service; they serve, and provide completely impartial advice and analysis to, Members of Parliament.
Although Members of theHouse of Lords may by courtesy use the Library, the House of Lords has a separateLibrary.
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.
The following have served as Librarian:[2]
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