Manitoba
The Legislative Library is Manitoba’s oldest library and one of the major resource libraries in the province. The Manitoba Legislative Library was established in 1870, the year that the province entered Confederation. Its first dedicated librarian was John Robertson, appointed in 1884. In 1975, the library expanded to two sites: the main collection and services moved to a separate building, the retrofitted former Winnipeg Civic Auditorium while still maintaining the Legislative Reading Room in the Assembly building.
The Legislative Library is a key source of information for the Members of the Legislative Assembly, government departments and agencies. As a research library, it is also a resource for the academic community, researchers and the general public. Operating under The Legislative Library Act, the Library provides a confidential and non-partisan information service to the Legislature and all other clients.
The collection includes Manitoba government publications from the earliest days of the province, a rare book collection housed in a climate-controlled vault, and Manitoba newspapers dating from 1859. Since 1919, the library has benefited from legal deposit legislation, under which the library receives copies of all books and serials published in the Province thereby ensuring preservation of Manitoba’s published heritage.