Excerpt from Annual Report of the Legislative Library and Archives, 1974

The past is prologue and in that sense, nineteen seventy-four was a year of accelerated activity in the Legislative Library in preparation for the imminent move of the Library's collections to premises which are nearing completion in the renovated Auditorium Building, at present known as the Provincial Library and Archives Building.

Since its establishment the Legislative Library has known as many changes in location as has the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba. It was first housed in the William Bannatyne residence, where the first Legislative Assembly of Manitoba was held in 1871. After fire destroyed the Bannatyne residence in 1873, the Library moved to the Court House of the City of Winnipeg which was located immediately south of the present Royal Bank Building at William Avenue. From 1882 to 1920 it was accommodated in the Legislative Building located on Kennedy Street. From 1920 when the present Legislative Building was officially opened, the Legislative Library has occupied the specially designed rooms located in the south wing and stack rooms in rooms 69 and 171.

In the half century intervening, expansion of the Library has demanded additional space to house the collections. In 1951 a large room known as the Writing Room adjacent to the library proper was allocated to the Library and a storage area located under the Dome was provided. The former Writing Room was shared with the Archives Branch which also required space to house its collections of manuscripts, pictures and other documentary material. As their collection grew through the years, it was necessary for the Archives to acquire some shelf space from the library areas located on the various floors of the Legislative Building with the inevitable result that library space was reduced with each passing year although its requirements were growing.

In successive annual reports of the last two decades the Librarian has stressed the increasing seriousness of the critical shortage of space, both in staff working areas and in the stacks housing the collections of the Library. In the present quarters in the Legislative Building continuous expansion of the Library's activities has created an almost insurmountable obstacle to the rational and efficient organization of library materials and services. This acute lack of space has constituted the Library's greatest single impediment to providing effective service. Materials have had to be doubly or triply shelved, with the overflow stacked in the aisles making them difficult of access and adversely affecting the efficiency of the staff and the level of service the Library has been able to offer.

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