With the State election just around the corner, the State Library of South Australia (SLSA) is calling on participants, including voters, to collect and donate election promotional material to its collection.
The SLSA said it had collections for every State election dating back to 1890 and every Federal election since Federation in 1901 and it urged people not to discard promotional material appearing in letterboxes ahead of election day on 19 March.
“This material might seem insignificant once read, but it forms a valuable record of the State’s social life and political scene,” SLSA said.
“Future generations will be able to look at these collections and see the issues of the time, political parties, politicians and much more,” it said.
“We’re looking to you, to help us build these collections with material from this year’s State election.”
SLSA said it welcomed all material, including pamphlets, letters, posters and how-to-vote cards.
“We are particularly interested to receive material from regional, rural and remote areas, independent candidates, small or single-issue parties, special interest groups, and material in other languages, to ensure all these are represented in the collection.
“All identifying information will be removed from the material.
“If you can add a note naming the electorate where it came from that would be very helpful – please don’t write directly on it,” it said.
The SLSA said material could be dropped at the State Library, local public libraries, or posted to Election Ephemera, Published Collections, State Library of South Australia, GPO Box 419 , Adelaide SA 5001.
