Library of Parliament — Attraction in Ottawa

The Library of Parliament (French: Bibliothèque du Parlement) is the main information repository and research resource for the Parliament of Canada. The main branch of the library sits at the rear of the Centre Block on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, and is the last untouched part of that larger building's original incarnation after it burned down in 1916. The library has been augmented and renovated a number of times since its construction in 1876, the last between 2002 and 2006, though the form and decor remain essentially authentic. The building today serves as a Canadian icon, and appears on the obverse of the Canadian ten-dollar bill.

The library is overseen by the Parliamentary Librarian of Canada and an associate or assistant librarian. The Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate is considered to be an officer of the library.

Designed by Thomas Fuller and Chilion Jones, and inspired by the British Museum Reading Room, the building is formed as a chapter house, separated from the main body of the Centre Block by a corridor; this arrangement, as well as many other details of the design, was reached with the input of the then parliamentary librarian, Alpheus Todd. The walls, supported by a ring of 16 flying buttresses, are loadbearing, double-wythe masonry, consisting of a hydraulic lime rubble fill core between an interior layer of dressed stone and rustic Nepean sandstone on the exterior. Around the windows and along other edges is dressed stone trim, along with a multitude of stone carvings, including floral patterns and friezes, keeping with the Victorian High Gothic style of the rest of the parliamentary complex. The roof, set in three tiers topped by a cupola, used to be a timber frame structure covered with slate tiles, but has been rebuilt with steel framing and deck covered with copper. The initial overall combination of colours—grey Gloucester limestone and grey Nepean, red Potsdam and buff Ohio sandstones, as well as purple and green slate banding—conformed to the picturesque style known as structural polychromy.

The main reading room rises to a vaulted ceiling and the walls and stacks are lined with white pine panelling carved into a variety of textures, flowers, masks, and mythical creatures. In the galleries are displayed the coats of arms of the seven provinces that existed in 1876, as well as that of the Dominion of Canada, and standing directly in the centre of the room is a white marble statue of Queen Victoria, sculpted by Marchall Wood in 1871. The northern galleries are also flanked with the white marble busts of Sir John Sandfield Macdonald; Prince Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII); Alexandra, Princess of Wales (later Queen Alexandra); and Sir Étienne-Paschal Taché.

The library's collection comprises 650,000 items, covering hundreds of years of history and tended by a staff of 300. Access to the facility is generally restricted to those on parliamentary business, but research publications are produced by the library and are available to the public. The main branch on Parliament Hill is only the central hub of a larger complex that spreads to other parliamentary buildings, where services are offered in a number of branch libraries and...

Located inside parliament building at the center of city of Ottawa, this library survived of big fire, which destroyed all other part of the building, on February 3, 1916, a member of parliament noticed smoke in the House of Commons Reading Room in the Centre Block of the parliament building. The fire quickly raced out of control, but as the Library of Parliament had been built with iron safety doors, which were slammed shut against the fire and smoke, and a narrow corridor separating the Library from the Centre Block also contributed to the Library's survival. The Library’s wood panelling features more than 1,600 designs, featuring flowers, masks and mythical beasts. The statue of Queen Victoria situated at the centre of the Main Library was carved by Marshall Wood from a block of white marble. It is 3.45 metres tall and weighs about 3,500 kilograms.The Library’s dome measures 47.2 metres in diameter and 40.2 metres from the floor to its top. The galleries display eight coats of arms – seven for the provinces at the time the Library opened and one for Canada. Public can visit the liabrary, it's part of parliament building tour, a must see at Ottawa, you need go early in the morning, and get a ticket at the visiting center cross the street, there is Terry Fox statue in...

Best free tour in Ottawa! I am biased as librarianship is my field of expertise but truly the library of parliament is one of the most beautiful libraries I have ever stepped into. The tour of Parliament is a great way to learn more about Canadian history especially how the government and legislative branch operates, I highly...