About the Newfoundland and Labrador Collection

The Newfoundland & Labrador Collection is a section of the Provincial Resource Library, a division of the Provincial Information and Library Resources Board and exists primarily as a resource collection. The Collection is comprised of books, periodicals, newspapers, government documents, maps, photographs, post cards, pamphlets and manuscripts ‐ all related to Newfoundland & Labrador.

All 96 public libraries in the Province contain Newfoundland and Labrador materials. Books or other materials which are not available in your local library can be borrowed from other libraries through our Interlibrary Loans Department. To find out more, contact a Library near you.

Many of the books in the Newfoundland and Labrador Collection date to the 18th and 19th centuries; newspapers date back to 1810; the majority of the maps date from before 1900 with the earliest being 1630; and the Collection also has pre 1800 census returns from several areas of Newfoundland.

Our Guide to Genealogical Material in the Newfoundland & Labrador Collection 8th Edition (2011) is available in print or as a downloadable PDF document from our website. In the Guide you will find that certain materials are designated available through interlibrary loan and others are designated not for loan.

Available through interlibrary loan: Requests for materials through interlibrary loan must be made at your local public library.

Not for loan: These materials may not be borrowed, but you may request information from these or from any other materials in the NL Collection.

Requests should include as many details as possible, such as family and given names, birth/death dates, geographic location and any other relevant details. If you live within the St. John's metropolitan area, you are expected to visit the library to conduct your own research, unless there are special circumstances to prevent this.

For all requests, and correspondence please include your full mailing address and telephone number.

Please feel free to contact us: