Service and Access: The Role of the National Library of Australia

Abstract

The cultural politics associated with the National Library of Australia (NLA) as a storehouse of the national textual capital is today infused with a symbolism and rhetoric that exert considerable power in any discourse concerning the cultural state of the nation. The role of the National Library is of particular interest in that it is a service institution, but also a major cultural institution, a strategic element in the Commonwealth government's cultural policy. According to policy documents, the National Library exists to record the Australian cultural heritage, to provide a ‘crucial resource in the formation of our culture and national identity and provide a foundation for further advancement of the nation’. Within the National Library there have been a series of philosophic shifts and changes to future planning and development strategies in response to various government policy imperatives and economic contingencies. This paper will investigate the external and internal pressures and philosophies that work to change or reinforce the position of the National Library of Australia as a major cultural institution.