National Library Act 1905 (NSW)

A c t No. 28, 1905.

An A c t t o s anc t i on t h e e r e c t i o n of a N a t i o n a l

L i b r a r y for t h e S t a t e of N e w S o u t h W a l e s .

[6th December, 1905.]

W H E R E A S , in accordance W o r k s Act, 1900, the Legis la t ive Assembly did by resolut ion

declare t h a t i t was expedient to car ry out a certain work, namely , the

erect ion of a Nat iona l L ibrary for t he Sta te of N e w South W a l e s : And whereas on the pass ing of t h e said resolut ion a s ta tu tory d u t y Avas, by the said Act , imposed on the Secretary for Pub l ic W o r k s to in t roduce a Bill in to the said Assembly to sanct ion t he car ry ing ou t of t he work : P e it therefore enacted by t h e K i n g ' s Mos t Exce l l en t Majes ty , by and with the advice and consent of t he Legislat ive Counci l and Legis la t ive Assembly of New South W a l e s in P a r l i a m e n t assembled, and hv the au thor i ty of the same, as follows :—

wi th the provisions of t he Pub l i c

1. This Ac t may be cited as t he " Na t iona l L ib ra ry Act , 1905 . " 2. The ca r ry ing out of t he said work (more par t icu la r ly

described in t he Schedule to th is Act ) is hereby sanctioned, and the Secretary for Pub l i c W o r k s , or the M e m b e r of the Execu t i ve Council for the t ime being performing the dut ies of the said Secretary, is hereby authorised to u n d e r t a k e and carry out the said work, subjec t to the proA'isions of this Act , and for t h a t purpose shall be and shal l have the powers and dut ies of a cons t ruc t ing au tho r i t y wi th in the

m e a n i n g of the Pub l i c W o r k s Act , 1900.

3 . Tha t pa r t of the said work to be used for t he Mi tche l l

Library shall be commenced immedia te ly after the pass ing of th is
Ac t .

4 .    The p lans of the said Avork are the p lans m a r k e d one to e ight

inclusive, signed by the Gove rnmen t Archi tec t and deposited in t h e

publ ic office; of the said Secretary.

5 . The cost of ca r ry ing out t h e said work, es t imated at one

hundred and t w e n t y thousand four hundred and forty-four pounds , m a y be defrayed from such Loan Votes as are now or may hereafter be appl icable to tha t purpose, and shall not under any c i rcumstances

exceed the es t imated cost by more t han ten per c e n t u m .

SCHEDULE.

True site of the proposed building is t ha t to the north of the present garden a t tached to Par l iament House, with think frontage to ]\I a ci marie-street, and ex tending n o r t h w a r d and eas tward over land now part ly occupied by an enclosed plantat ion, electric-power bouse, Richmond Terrace and the Oute r l)omain, as is indicated upon the plans. It is in tended t h a t the main facade of the building shall face nor th , overlooking the Palace (Jardeii (!rounds, requir ing s o n i c deviat ion and rea r rangement of the Domain en t rance ,

roads, and fencing in its immediate vicinity. The

The bui lding is rectangular in plan, with two inner c o u r t y a r d s , the general

disposition being a main front en t rance to the noil li, leading direct into a c nt ral reading- room, flanked on t h " western side by the portion to be devoted to the Mitchell Library, and on the eastern side by a lofty bookstack and th.3 accommodation generally required for the S ta te Library. The basement (alth nigh somewhat under the general level) will have its windows above the ground level.

The portion to be devoted to the Mitchell Library consists of three floors, viz., basement, ground, and first floors, with one portion of the l a t t e r having special top- l ight ing for picture gallery purposes.
The S ta te Library also contains basement, ground and first floors, with galleries and reading-room dome, and bookstack on six floors.
The whole of the building is designed to accommodate metal and o the r fittings requisite for l ibrary, search, and exhibi t ion purposes.

The construction of the building throughout is of a fireproof character .

The ventilation is to be provided by motive power, with d is t r ibutors th roughout

all the bookstacks.

The design generally is in the I tal ian Renaissance style, the external faces being in stone and the internal areas in brick and stone.