George Brandis's plans for a second taxpayer-funded library have, for the time being at least, been shelved.

The Attorney General, who described himself as “minister for books” in response to media reports about his vast personal library, which cost taxpayers $20,000, ordered a new custom-made bookcase to be built in his office but his request was rejected, a Senate committee has heard.

“Finance advised DPS [Department of Parliamentary Services] that it's not something that we would be paying,” a Finance Department bureaucrat told a Senate committee on Tuesday night, when asked about the Attorney General's requests.