Covid caused many delays to celebrating Dr Cope’s 90th birthday which was last year in July … so those who were Covid free were able to get together today to mark the milestone … 
National Treasure, Dr Cope was the longest serving NSW parliamentary librarian ( the Godfather of the NSW legislature Johno Johnson named Dr cope - National Treasure )
Dr Cope calling a spade a shovel: Myths and Realities of Administering Australian Parliaments
No one is better qualified to write about parliamentary libraries than Dr Cope. For over 30 years he was the Parliamentary Librarian of the New South Wales Parliament, and generations of parliamentary officers and students of Parliament have found his writings of great interest.
12 years ago: NSW Parliamentary Library Staff Reunion
A unique reunion luncheon for staff who had worked with Russell Cope (Parliamentary Librarian, 1962-1991) brought together a cross-section of staff from those years. A working party of present and former staff organised the contact of the dispersed staff and the reunion arrangements. The venue, Bill and Toni's East Sydney restaurant, was festively decorated for the 35-40 people who attended the reunion in late November.
Former staff gathering together at Bohemian place to mark Dr Cope 20th year of retirement in 2011 ... John gets the best shot ;-) 
John Botherway and Andrew Cope flew up from Melbourne, Necia Agnew came from Canberra, Marlene Knowles and Lyn Miller came from the Central Coast, several came from the Blue Mountains.
The reunion stretched from noon to 6 pm, allowing plenty of scope for reminiscences to be exchanged and photos inspected. A number of working highlights and personalities of the past were recalled with hilarity. Only the news of the death of former Deputy Parliamentary Librarian, Richard Baker, brought a note of sadness.
Recalling happy times and events, participants mentioned the celebrations throughout 1990 to mark the Parliamentary Library's sesquicentenary. As Australia's oldest parliamentary library, it received wide notice at the time and even held the first Open Day in the Parliamentary Library's history. The 1990 celebrations mark a highlight in the library's annals. A second, earlier highpoint, but no less significant, was the move in 1980 to the spacious, elegant new library in the award-winning parliamentary building facing the Sydney Domain.
The reunion did not let sad developments dampen its spirits. The general consensus was one of gratitude for the good, stimulating times we enjoyed. An added pleasure was seeing old colleagues doing well in family and professional life. The camaraderie from those days was still much alive at the reunion.
Russell Cope rcope@ozemail.com.au
Dr Cope’s latest project is to review Jenkins’ report:
An essay from the current Parliamentary Librarian ( as sometimes it not loading well - copy and paste from PDF provided)
Deb Bennett, Parliamentary Librarian, New South Wales Parliament Deborah.Bennett@parliament.nsw.gov.au
In 2015, after working in a court library for 19 years, I took the plunge and entered the world of parliamentary libraries. As the Manager of the Law Courts Library in Sydney it was a hard decision to jump ship. I loved my job, I had an amazing team and I had built up enough experi- ence to be a competent legal researcher. I’d always said the only other library I’d like to work in is the Parliamentary Library, so when the position of Parliamentary Librarian was advertised, I applied and was offered the position.
After three years in the role I find myself asking ‘am I still a law librarian?’
History of the Position of NSW Parliamentary Librarian
I firstly offer just a little history of the Library and the position of Parliamentary Librarian. The early librarians were definitely not law librarians. Nor were they ‘librarians’ by any measure we would apply today, as there was no formal qualification required to be a librarian in Australia until 1944.1
The NSW Parliamentary Library is one of the oldest libraries in Australia. In 1840, at a time when there was only one house of parliament, the Legislative Council, a legislative library was estab- lished, with a budget of £300 to purchase books. Richard O’Connor, a clerk in the Legislative
Council, was given the responsibility of running the Library, so was in effect the first ‘librarian’.2 In this role he published its first three Library catalogues.
In 1856 two houses were created. With the establishment of the Legislative Assembly, Mr O’Connor was promoted to be the first Clerk of this House, and Walter McEvilly, an assistant librarian in the Legislative Council Library, was the first person to be formally designated as Parliamentary Librarian. With this prestigious position came a residence in the parliamentary precinct. It was reported that McEvilly ‘zealously and well discharged the duties of Librarian’3 (apart perhaps from a documented physical fight between McEvilly and his assistant in 18634) – not a bad effort for a boy from County Mayo, Ireland who was transported to Australia in 1840 for the crime of forgery! McEvilly was responsible for doubling the Library’s collection and uniting the two separate libraries of the Council and Assembly into one official Parliamentary Library. Mc Evilly continued to hold this position until his death in 1867. He died in his librarian’s residence.
Once it was known there was a vacancy, the applications from interested parties arrived! I have seen these applications, which are part of
In 1944 the Australian Institute of Librarians instituted a national system of examining and certificating librarians. This ‘Registration’ system was finally phased out in 1980. For a history of the qualifications required to be a librarian in Australia, see ALIA’s ‘History of the Association’ at https://www.alia.org.au/about-alia/ history-association.
See more on Richard O’Connor in his entry in the Australian Dictionary of Biography (Melbourne University Press, 1974) vol 5. Available online at http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/oconnor-richard-4317
L A Jeckeln, ‘McEvilly, Walter O’Malley (1820–1867)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography (Melbourne University Press, 1974) vol 5. Available online at http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/mcevilly-walter-omalley-4088. Ibid.
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the Parliamentary archives, and one stands out. This gentleman’s claim for his suitability for the position was ‘I am much amongst books’. So much for selection criteria! Amongst these appli- cations was one from a Conrad Martens – yes, the landscape artist and voyager on the Beagle with Charles Darwin. Martens was appointed Acting Parliamentary Librarian from 1868-1878. In 1879 Robert Rogers was appointed as the next Parliamentary Librarian.5
Some other interesting historical facts:
• Somewhere between 1944-1962 it became a prerequisite for professional staff to hold library qualifications.6
• In 1961 Diana Hill was the first woman employed in the Parliamentary Library as a professional librarian.
• The longest serving Parliamentary Librarian is Dr Russell Cope, who was in the role from 1962 until 1991 – nearly 30 years!
• The first female Parliamentary Librarian was appointed in 2012. I am the second.
• Baz Luhrmann was employed in the library in 1981. He was not available to attend the 175 year anniversary celebration we held in 2015!
Fast forward and back to my story ...
The first thing that struck me on starting this job was the amazing collection that has built up over 178 years. The Parliament of NSW is the
oldest Parliament in Australia, so by extension the Library is the oldest parliamentary library, and its collection reflects this longevity. As impressed as I was with the rare and historical material I was now custodian of, I was most struck by the fact that not every book was a law book – we have books classified at numbers other than 340! There is even a fiction collection, including books I’d personally want to read. I was in heaven! The Parliamentary Library is a NSW legal deposit library, along with the State Library of NSW and Sydney University Library,7 so of course our collection reflects this.
I soon realised that collecting both print and electronic sources on a wide range of subjects was important in a parliamentary library. Think about the work of a Member of Parliament, from chamber work, through to debating and passing legislation, being on committees and working on electorate matters. The topics they need to be on top of are obviously wide ranging, and the Library collection needs to reflect this.
With regard to reference and research services, in all senses of the word the Library is a research library. We have both a reference service consist- ing of qualified reference librarians, and a research service consisting of subject specialists that provide time poor MPs with confidential, authoritative and timely information. In 1965, the Parliamen- tary Librarian observed that the ‘provisions of a specialised legislative research and information
For more information on the history of the NSW Parliamentary Library, see ‘The Parliamentary Library and Jubilee Room’ (Parliament of New South Wales History Bulletin No 3, 2016). https://www.parliament.nsw.gov. au/about/education/Documents/history-bulletin-3-parliamentary-library-and-jub/History%20Bulletin%203.pdf See note 1 above.
‘Legal deposit’ is mandated by s 5 of the Copyright Act 1879 (NSW), which stipulates that a copy of materials published in New South Wales must be deposited by the publisher with the State Library of New South Wales, the University of Sydney Library and the Parliamentary Library of New South Wales.
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service is considered the paramount function of the Library’.8 This remains true today. While the legislative research is well within my comfort zone, the other ‘information’ can be about liter- ally anything. The first time I was rostered on the reference desk (a little nervous I might add!) I was asked a question about drains. OK ... right, drains. The first thing I did was check the legislation like a good law librarian and quickly discovered that I wasn’t going to find the answer there. I’d need to expand both my horizons and research skills.
Another area that the Library is responsible for and that was new to me is that of media monitor- ing and chamber footage.
With regard to media, a colleague and I wrote an article last year about collecting media in this library and we started with the following very apt quote:
No decision beyond what to have for lunch is made without a thought for what the media and communications angle might be ... Media is the first thing any politician with any responsibility thinks about in the morning and the last thing they think about at night.9
The media is an integral part of the work of each Member of Parliament and in this age of the 24-hour news cycle, the way in which it is delivered to the members is becoming increas- ingly important. The aim of the Library is to
provide access to products that successfully deliver what they want, when they want it and to the device on which they want to receive it. This has been achieved using a commercial self-service web portal. This portal was rolled out before I started in Parliament. Prior to that it was done in-house by the Library. The portal gives MPs all newspaper articles and radio and TV broadcasts. They can download them themselves and set up alerts. You quickly realise the importance of this service when something goes wrong, such as when the MPs aren’t getting what they need quickly enough. I now know the difference between set top capturing and digital capturing and VOD and other highly technical terms!
The copying of chamber footage is also a service provided by the Library, and I’ve seen this increase dramatically in my three years in the Library. It also coincidences with an increased acceptance of social media as a way to reach as many constitu- ents as quickly as possible. There is no longer a need to wait for a community meeting or for the traditional media to report their message. If you look at your local NSW Member’s Facebook page or twitter accounts and see a video of them giving a community recognition statement, discussing a Bill or asking a question during NSW Parlia- ment’s infamous question time, this comes from the Parliamentary Library. This isn’t anything being a law librarian had prepared me for!
Quoted in ‘The Parliamentary Library and Jubilee Room’ (Parliament of New South Wales History Bulletin
No 3, 2016) https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/about/education/Documents/history-bulletin-3-parliamentary- library-and-jub/History%20Bulletin%203.pdf
Colin Jacobs, former Greens staffer, quoted in Mahalia Dobson, ‘Why Does the Govt Spend Big on Media Monitoring?’, Crikey Clarifier, 7 January 2015 https://www.crikey.com.au/2015/01/07/crikey-clarifier-why-does- the-govt-spend-big-on-media-monitoring/
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Not long after I started I was informed that the Parliament’s Records & Archives section was to become part of the Library. I could definitely see the connection with Archives and understand that this made sense. But the whole records manage- ment thing was a very different story. I have learnt a lot but still have a lot to learn in this area. Luckily, I have experienced staff to teach me.
Apart from collections, reference, research, media, chamber footage, records and archives, there is one more area for which the Library is respon- sible: web content. This is the administration of the Parliament’s website and intranet. I’m happy that this job sits with the Library instead of IT, as it does in many organisations. Librarians are trained in information seeking and how users access resources, so having a librarian in charge of this is of real benefit.
Other Parliamentary Librarian ‘duties’ include:
• Digitising historical parliamentary documents from the First Legislative Council 1823-1856 and beyond.
• Being involved in exhibitions and displays around Parliament, including research and graphic design.
• Being a member of the Community Engage- ment Committee.
• Being involved in the Parliamentary Informa- tion Management System.
• Understanding parliamentary procedure – it’s more complicated than I imagined.
• Event planning various events
• Working with a team to update a book on the
NSW Parliament.
• Budgets ... my least favourite part of the job.
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• Networking with other parliamentary librar- ies. The Parliamentary Librarians from around Australia are members of the Association of Parliamentary Libraries of Australasia (‘APLA’). Once a year we meet in Australia or New Zealand. This is a really important network, as parliamentary libraries are differ- ent to other libraries and there are only 10 of us. Our little conference will never be as big as an ALLA conference but is a great place to share and collaborate.
With all the above going on, I don’t spend much time on the reference desk anymore. But when I do I’m still amazed at the breath of topics on which information is sought. As in many other libraries these days, the requests can be compli- cated because the clients have often already done the easy part. The requests, on topics with which I may not be at all familiar, can therefore take a long time to answer. Sometimes I do get to do legal research, and I’m happy to say I can still do it, and that the knowledge built up over 19 years hasn’t been lost yet! Sadly, the Parliamentary Library does not have the wonderful range of legal resources I took for granted when I had them at my fingertips in the Law Courts Library.
So, to answer the question ‘am I still a law librar- ian’, I think the answer to that is no. Perhaps the more important question is ‘am I still a librarian?’. As many of the readers know, the further up the ladder you go, the less you get the opportunity to do the work that attracted you to the profes- sion in the first place. Managing people and balancing budgets becomes your life, rather than those tricky but immensely satisfying reference questions. It’s not all bad though: you do get to contribute to the development of your staff, mentor them and watch them grow, and that is
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as satisfying as any complicated reference request. Perhaps even more so.
I do miss the law. I do miss doing legal research, but I try and keep my hand in when I can. However, I now have opportunities to do things I never dreamed would be part of my career back in the early days. Being involved in ALLA and
now IALL is important for me, as I still feel like a law librarian. Even though I said ‘no’ above, perhaps it’s a case of once a law librarian, always a law librarian!
