John Howard library to open at Old Parliament House

The University of NSW Canberra will open the John Howard prime ministerial library at Old Parliament House, featuring personal papers, mementos and documents from Howard’s time as prime minister from 1996-2007, reports the Canberra Times.

The library will be split between Howard and his government, and will include Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit costumes, gifts from world leaders, Howard’s former desk, and the personal papers of ministers Peter Reith and Philip Ruddock.

Library director Tom Frame said the library would be a ‘treasure trove’ for researchers. ‘We’re hoping eventually to have all the papers of the senior ministers of the Howard government so that researchers can come to one place and write about 1996 to 2007 using all the material that we will have,’ said Frame.

The library will host its first official visitors on 14 November before it opens to the public in early 2018.

Category: Library news