ABOUT THE LIBRARY - OVERVIEW
Overview
Established in 1955, the Parliamentary Library offers research and information services to members of Parliament, Legislative Assistants and Parliamentary staff to assist them in their parliamentary responsibilities. We answer enquiries on a wide range of topics and keep Members up to date with the range of issues that are relevant to Parliament. The Library team currently comprises 2 librarians and 2 support staff.
Services
We seek to answer enquiries by the required timeline and provide information which is authoritative and impartial. Past requests received included background materials for speeches, committee meetings and parliamentary questions, information from newspapers, journals, books, as well as information on parliamentary debates and Bills.
We also provide electronic resources such as:
- Subscribed databases (Lexis-Nexis, Newslink, and EIU Country reports)
- Newspaper clippings on local parliamentarians and topics of interest
- Statistical information on Singapore
- Parliamentary proceedings in audio CDs, VCDs and DVDs from 1963 onwards
The electronic resources are accessible within the Library.
Alerts
Alerts on new book arrivals, country reports, etc are sent out on a regular basis to the MPs for their information.
Collection
The Parliament Library has a collection of over 20,000 volumes of books, journals, legislation, parliamentary publications and debates.
The collection of press clippings provides updated information on current news, with subjects including parliamentary procedures, politics and government, law, health, economics, environment, crime, community issues and many more.
Our collection focuses on books related to politics, parliamentary matters, government and governance, law, Singapore heritage and history. Books pertaining to other subjects can be loaned through inter-library loan arrangements with libraries in Singapore including National Library of Singapore.
Newspaper clippings
We collect information from local newspapers which are relevant to parliamentarians' use. This includes
- Events/interviews related to current Members of Parliament (printed and soft copies)
- Topics of interest (soft copies) including Aged, Central Provident Fund, Education, Defence, Environment, Healthcare, Housing, Law, Manpower, Parliament, Productivity, Transportation etc.
Library Usage Policy
Access to the Parliament Library and its materials are restricted to Members of Parliament, former Members of Parliament and authorised users.
Books and back issues of journals may be borrowed for a period of one month, and can be renewed for another month if requested. Books, official publications and other papers marked "R" and current journals may only be browsed within the Library.
Opening Hours:
8.30 am – 6.30 pm (Mon - Fri) (for non-sitting days)
8.30 am - till House adjourns (sitting days)
