The Paul McGuire Maritime Library was established in 1979 following a donation to the Libraries Board of South Australia of a considerable sum of money by Mrs Frances Margaret McGuire in memory of her husband, the late Paul McGuire, to establish a trust fund for the development of a special maritime library.
The library contains publications from all over the world relating to the sea and shipping. This, together with existing collections, makes the State Library one of the leading repositories of maritime information in the world.
The Paul McGuire Maritime Library includes the Thomas Walter Hardy America's Cup Collection which was launched by Sir James Hardy OBE and the Walker Collection in memory of Commander Jefferson H. Walker D.S.O., R.A.N.
The State Library of South Australia has a particular interest in the literature of the sea and ships, and has built up a strong collection of books, magazines and maps on maritime matters. The Library also has several special collections of photographic material about shipping. More detail is provided on the State Library's shipping collections in a facstsheet on Ships and maritime history.