No history would be complete without some mention of the fire of the
early morning of 11 December 1907 which destroyed most of Parliament
Buildings. It began in the old portion formerly occupied by the Library
at about 2 a.m. and rapidly spread to the Legislative Council on one
side and the House of Representatives on the other. Both these portions
were of wood and burned fiercely.
Though the Library was in the brick portion, fire danger had still been
considered to be great so that earlier in the year the stackroom
windows overlooking the courtyard had been bricked up. In addition, the
entrance door was protected by a steel blind.
It appeared at first that the Library was in no danger and no attempt
was made to remove books. Eventually, about 4 a.m. the roof of the new
committee rooms and entrance was in danger of catching alight, and Mr
Wilson decided to clear the building. With the help of some of the
staff and the general public, some 15,000 volumes were taken either to
the Government Buildings or to houses in Hill Street. Though the rear
portion of brick with wooden floors and partitions caught fire about 5
a.m. and damage was done to the roof, the Library was seen to be in no
further danger and the clearance was stopped.
Some slight damage was done to these books, but insurance covered this,
and generally little damage was done to the Library itself. The removal
of the wooden portion has reduced the risk of fire considerably, and
although the rear portion still has wooden floors, little of value is
stored here. If any future outbreak occurred it is probable that more
damage would be done by water. To prevent this a large drain was
recently made in the basement to allow water to escape readily.
After the fire there was some discussion on the possibility of using
the reading room as the Chamber of the House of Representatives, but
Government House was finally chosen. The brick building was repaired
and a covered access way provided across Sydney Street from the Library
to the Chamber.
At the time of the fire the Library was insured for £4,000, a small
portion of its true value. This insurance was continued until 1928 when
the cover was raised to £10,000, still much below the cost of
replacement. In 1942, with the introduction of war damage insurance and
the consequent increase of premiums, it was decided that the Library
should, like other Government Departments, not be insured, the
Government carrying the risk itself.