A Brief History of NTL

The structure and services delivered by the Northern Territory Library are the product of a complex organisational history. In general, the Library’s service responsibilities have expanded as a consequence of departmental reorganisations.

Since self-government, the Library has been located in eight agencies:

• The Department of Community Development (1978-1985)
• The Department of Education (1985-1990),
• The Office of Local Government (1990-1992)
• The Department of Lands, Housing and Local Government (1992-1995)
• The Department of Housing and Local Government (1995-1998),
• The Department of Corporate and Information Services (1998-2001)
• The Department of Community Development, Sport and Cultural Affairs (2001-2005)
• The Department of Local Government, Housing and Sport (2005-current)

When the Library was established, its charter focused on:

• Developing and supporting public library service in the major centres and in Aboriginal communities;
• Establishing a State Reference Library and Archives Service; and
• Developing computer-based systems to optimise usage of the Territory’s bibliographic resources.
• It was also to provide advice and support to Northern Territory Government department libraries.

The State Reference Library was opened in November 1980, and the provision of public library services was devolved from the Northern Territory Government to local authorities. Co-operation and liaison between the Library and the four corporations were maintained throughout the year to monitor progress and development of the service.

In 1985, the Library (but not the Northern Territory Archives Service) was transferred from the Department of Community Development to the Department of Education. The Library was restructured to include the centralised library services available to the Department’s officers and schools. The expanded Library was transferred to the Office of Local Government at the end of 1990 and services to the Department of Education have continued under the terms of an agreement which was drawn up at the time.

In addition, the Library became the provider of library services to the staff of the Office of Local Government, a situation which arose again in 1992, when the Office was absorbed into the new Department of Lands, Housing and Local Government. In both cases service responsibilities were extended without an increase in resources. Services were further extended with the separation of Lands to form the Department of Lands, Planning and the Environment in 1995.

The amalgamation of the State and Parliamentary Libraries during 1994/95 emerged from the Estimates Review Committee’s deliberations in 1991. Following their relocation to the new Parliament House complex in January 1995, the newly combined Library service was officially opened on 22nd May by the minister with responsibility for libraries, Hon Steve Hatton MLA, and the new service offered from Parliament House was re-named Reference and Parliamentary Library Services. After the restructure of Northern Territory Library in 1997, the joint-use service from Parliament House was renamed Northern Territory Library (NTL).

In 1998, with the creation of the Department of Corporate and Information Services, the Northern Territory Library and Information Service assumed responsibility for a number of Northern Territory Government agency libraries (collectively known as Government Libraries Information Service, GLIS).

In 2001, the Library returned to the Department of Community Development, Sport and Cultural Affairs, and in 2005 the name was revised to be the Northern Territory Library.

In 2005, Department of Community Development, Sport and Cultural Affairs changed to The Department of Local Government, Housing and Sport, and Northern Territory Library remained with this Department.