First section of the National Library, Barton, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory

Abstract

View of the front entrance and façade of the building intended to house the National and Parliamentary Libraries, as well as serve as a public lending library. It was designed by Edward Henderson in the Stripped Classical style with features such as Corinthian columns within the entrance alcove and regularly spaced vertical windows. A relief border with inserts that runs below the roof of the nearest façade introduces a horizontal decorative element. The building is set within a planting of conifers, roses and prunus trees.The foundation stones for the building were laid in November 1934 by the Governor-General and the Poet-Laureate John Masefield. For economic reasons only the one wing was completed and in 1968 it was demolished and the new National Library built on a site within the Parliamentary triangle. This photograph is from an album that was held at the London office of the Australian National University over the period 1949 to 1952. The album was used to inform prospective staff about Canberra. These images are part of the series produced by the Department of Information and kept at the National Archives of Australia in Canberra. National Archives holdings in this series have gaps and some images may be held only at the ANU Archives.