Editing National Library of New Zealand (section)

===General Assembly Library collections===
From the foundation of the National Library in 1965 until 1986 the General Assembly Library was one of the three pillars of the institution. The General Assembly Library had previously acted as a ''de facto'' National Library, offering recess privileges to the public when parliament was not in session. In 1924, for example, "6,135 books were issued during the recess period, and 670 recess access cards had been granted".<ref>Report of the Chief Librarian for the Year 1924–25, by General Assembly Library (New Zealand). Editor: Charles Wilson</ref> The Chief Librarian further notes that "the New Zealand General Assembly Library is the only legislative library in the world from which volumes may be taken out during the recess". Until 1986, its collections included a significant overseas collection and copious parliamentary documents. The General Assembly Library became a stand-alone institution in 1986, when it restricted its focus to documents of immediate pertinence to parliamentary activities. Many of its overseas collections remained with the National Library and some works, particularly its rare books, then entered under the protection of the Alexander Turnbull Library.