All Events
Public events at the State Library include talks on literary, historical and contemporary issues, movies, workshops and courses as well as presentations about, and showings of, the Library's rich collections.
You can also listen to selected talks online.
Thursday 23 May, 10.00 AM
Talk: Meet the 2013 NSW Premier's Literary Award winners: Sydney Writers' Festival
Join this year's NSW Premier's Literary Awards winners as they discuss their work with Suzanne Leal.
This event is part of the Sydney Writers' Festival series.
Thursday 23 May, 11.00 AM
Special event: Living Books - Andrew Tink
Living Books aim to connect and strengthen local communities through conversation. Members of the public are able to borrow a living person for a conversation rather than borrowing a book.
Through conversation, communities are brought closer together, attitudes changed, prejudice and fear reduced, and social inclusion is strengthened. It is a simple yet powerful strategy for building social cohesion between diverse community members who wouldn't ordinarily meet.
Thursday 23 May, 12.00 PM
Movie: CANCELLED Movie - Fifty Years of Silence
THIS FILM HAS BEEN CANCELLED
The war-time experiences of Jan Ruff-O'Herne and other young Dutch women who were forced to be prostitutes in Semarang when they and their families were imprisoned in camps by the Japanese in Indonesia during WWII.
Thursday 23 May, 2.00 PM
Special event: Living Books - Andrew Tink
Living Books aim to connect and strengthen local communities through conversation. Members of the public are able to borrow a living person for a conversation rather than borrowing a book.
Through conversation, communities are brought closer together, attitudes changed, prejudice and fear reduced, and social inclusion is strengthened. It is a simple yet powerful strategy for building social cohesion between diverse community members who wouldn't ordinarily meet.
Thursday 23 May, 6.00 PM
Talk: The State of Reviews: Part of Sydney Writers' Festival
Join Sophie Cunningham, Chair of the Literature Board, as she discusses the state of reviews in Australian media with Stephen Romei, James Ley, and Angela Meyer.This event is part of the Sydney Writers' Festival series.
Friday 24 May, 11.00 AM
Special event: Living Books - Verna Hennock
Living Books aim to connect and strengthen local communities through conversation. Members of the public are able to borrow a living person for a conversation rather than borrowing a book.
Through conversation, communities are brought closer together, attitudes changed, prejudice and fear reduced, and social inclusion is strengthened. It is a simple yet powerful strategy for building social cohesion between diverse community members who wouldn't ordinarily meet.
Friday 24 May, 11.30 AM
Talk: The Past is a Foreign Country: Sydney Writers' Festival
Winners of the 2012 NSW Premier’s History Awards Russell McGregor and Deborah Beck will discuss how historians recreate yesterday for the reader with judge Caroline Butler Bowdon.This event is part of the Sydney Writers' Festival series.
Saturday 25 May, 2.00 PM
Talk: On Set with Magnum Photographer Eli Reed
Renowned Magnum photographer Eli Reed will talk at the Library during Magnum on Stage, the latest exhibition presented by the State Library as part of Head On Photo Festival.
Reed joins us at the Library to give a presentation focusing on his time on film sets.
In association with the Magnum On Set exhibition.
Tuesday 28 May, 6.00 PM
Special event: Nikon-Walkley Sydney Slide Night 2013
This event is part of the Walkley Media Talks series.
Wednesday 29 May, 6.00 PM
Talk: Storytelling with Leah Purcell
Hear actor and author Leah Purcell UTS' Non-Fiction Writer in Residence talk about her work. Leah will talk on "Black Chick Talking- Contemporary Dreaming:Real Life. Real Stories.Storytelling Now".
Thursday 30 May, 9.30 AM
Talk: Preserving Photographs
A seminar dedicated to the long-term care of printed photographs. The emphasis will be on archival storage, with tips on what materials to use and where to find them. Participants are welcome to bring along one or two family photographs to discuss their care with a Library conservator.This event is part of the Lifelong Learning series.
Thursday 30 May, 6.00 PM
Movie: Moroder’s Metropolis
One of cinema’s most famous and iconic films, Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, has been enhanced with a modern soundtrack by Oscar winning Giorgio Moroder featuring performances by 1980's legends including Freddie Mercury, Bonnie Tyler and others. Moroder’s shorter version is a timeless story set in the future with present-day problems, including a love story. Metropolis stands out as a visual masterpiece of cinema!
Thursday 30 May, 6.00 PM
Movie: Moroder’s Metropolis
One of cinema’s most famous and iconic films, Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, has been enhanced with a modern soundtrack by Oscar winning Giorgio Moroder featuring performances by 1980's legends including Freddie Mercury, Bonnie Tyler and others. Moroder’s shorter version is a timeless story set in the future with present-day problems, including a love story. Metropolis stands out as a visual masterpiece of cinema!
Sunday 2 June, 2.00 PM
Movie: The Circus (1928)
Charlie Chaplin, the legendary screen icon of silent comedy, wrote and stars in this sophisticated late 1920’s production. Chaplin also composed the score and song which accompanies this delightful old-fashioned romantic comedy! This film won Charlie his first Academy Award.
Sunday 2 June, 2.00 PM
Movie: The Circus (1928)
Charlie Chaplin, the legendary screen icon of silent comedy, wrote and stars in this sophisticated late 1920’s production. Chaplin also composed the score and song which accompanies this delightful old-fashioned romantic comedy! This film won Charlie his first Academy Award.
Tuesday 4 June, 11.00 AM
Talk: Scholarly Musing - Professor Barbara Santich
Contrary to popular belief, early settlers in Australia did not systematically shun native food resources. Whether out of despair or curiosity or simply to add variety to the diet, many pioneers sampled and savoured a wide range of native fauna and flora, from the relatively conventional species of seafood to unfamiliar animals such as the bandicoot and echidna and strange new plants. Most importantly, many of them recorded their experiences.
Thursday 6 June, 6.00 PM
Movie: The Circus (1928)
Charlie Chaplin, the legendary screen icon of silent comedy, wrote and stars in this sophisticated late 1920’s production. Chaplin also composed the score and song which accompanies this delightful old-fashioned romantic comedy! This film won Charlie his first Academy Award.
Thursday 6 June, 6.00 PM
Talk: Out of the Vaults: Crossing the Blue Mountains (Encore)
At 4 pm on Tuesday 11 May 1813, Gregory Blaxland, William Lawson and William Charles Wentworth set out with a plan to find a passage to the western plains by following a line of ridges that ran westward between two river valleys.This event is part of the Out of the Vaults series.
Thursday 6 June, 6.00 PM
Movie: The Circus (1928)
Charlie Chaplin, the legendary screen icon of silent comedy, wrote and stars in this sophisticated late 1920’s production. Chaplin also composed the score and song which accompanies this delightful old-fashioned romantic comedy! This film won Charlie his first Academy Award.
Friday 7 June, 10.00 AM
Workshop: Climb your family tree
Join us for five Family History Fridays. This short course will take you from starting your family history through to finding out all the details of your ancestors' lives. Was your ancestor a convict? When did the family first arrive in Australia? Where did they come from? Learn how to find this information for yourself and all the tips and tricks in climbing your family tree. This course will include a tour of the Society of Australian Genealogists library. Presented in association with the Society of Australian GenealogistsThis event is part of the Lifelong Learning series.
Friday 14 June, 10.00 AM
Workshop: Climb your family tree
Join us for five Family History Fridays. This short course will take you from starting your family history through to finding out all the details of your ancestors' lives. Was your ancestor a convict? When did the family first arrive in Australia? Where did they come from? Learn how to find this information for yourself and all the tips and tricks in climbing your family tree. This course will include a tour of the Society of Australian Genealogists library. Presented in association with the Society of Australian GenealogistsThis event is part of the Lifelong Learning series.
Thursday 20 June, 10.30 AM
Talk: Reliving the 60's
Remember miniskirts, bell-bottoms, flower children, anti-Vietnam War protests, Pettit & Sevitt project homes? The swinging sixties were a time of great social change in Australia. They heralded the start of women’s liberation, the conservation movement and a popular culture increasingly influenced by international trends. Come to reminisce or discover an era you missed out on! Magazines, newspapers, posters, diaries and much more from the swinging 60s will be on display.This event is part of the Lifelong Learning series.
Thursday 20 June, 6.00 PM
Talk: Walkley Media Talk: Stop the boats – or stop the hype?
Some politicians, journalists and media commentators would have us believe that Australia is being over-run by “illegal arrivals”, placing our own livelihoods at risk – but how much of what they tell us is true? Is Australia doing more than its fair share to help refugees – or not nearly enough? What role do journalists play in shaping the public debate about asylum seekers and perpetuating or counteracting popular myths? What do journalists find when they go to the source countries – Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sudan, Somalia and Malaysia – to uncover the human stories behind the headlines? As hundreds of boatloads of people continue to arrive on Australian shores and the government argues about “solutions”, is the situation spiralling out of control?
In this special Walkleys Media Talk for World Refugee Day on June 20, join ABC Stateline host Quentin Dempster as he leads our panel of speakers Steve Pennells (2012 Gold Walkley Award-winner, The West Australian), Robin de Crespigny (author, The People Smuggler) and Jessie Taylor (Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea) through a challenging and thought-provoking conversation.
This event is part of the Walkley Media Talks series.
Friday 21 June, 10.00 AM
Workshop: Climb your family tree
Join us for five Family History Fridays. This short course will take you from starting your family history through to finding out all the details of your ancestors' lives. Was your ancestor a convict? When did the family first arrive in Australia? Where did they come from? Learn how to find this information for yourself and all the tips and tricks in climbing your family tree. This course will include a tour of the Society of Australian Genealogists library. Presented in association with the Society of Australian GenealogistsThis event is part of the Lifelong Learning series.
Wednesday 26 June, 5.30 PM
Talk: Hail Fellows: A Night with the Library Fellows
Join two Library Fellows for a fascinating night learning about a diverse range of research and ideas.
Friday 28 June, 10.00 AM
Workshop: Climb your family tree
Join us for five Family History Fridays. This short course will take you from starting your family history through to finding out all the details of your ancestors' lives. Was your ancestor a convict? When did the family first arrive in Australia? Where did they come from? Learn how to find this information for yourself and all the tips and tricks in climbing your family tree. This course will include a tour of the Society of Australian Genealogists library. Presented in association with the Society of Australian GenealogistsThis event is part of the Lifelong Learning series.
Tuesday 2 July, 11.00 AM
Talk: Scholarly Musing - Dr. Angela Dunstan
This paper draws upon the Woolner letters held by the Mitchell library to examine the shifting aesthetic and economic value of sculpture in the nineteenth century, examining the implications of the expansion of the marketplace for sculpture in the colonies and the role of celebrity in the rise of individual sculptors and the popularity of certain sculptural forms.
Friday 5 July, 10.00 AM
Workshop: Climb your family tree
Join us for five Family History Fridays. This short course will take you from starting your family history through to finding out all the details of your ancestors' lives. Was your ancestor a convict? When did the family first arrive in Australia? Where did they come from? Learn how to find this information for yourself and all the tips and tricks in climbing your family tree. This course will include a tour of the Society of Australian Genealogists library. Presented in association with the Society of Australian GenealogistsThis event is part of the Lifelong Learning series.
Thursday 11 July, 6.00 PM
Talk: The Book Stack 3: Book (night)club
Bring a book you have read and loved, chat to anyone in the room and find someone to swap with. It doesn’t matter if it is fiction or non-fiction, but it's even better if it’s an award-winning book.Based on the book club at Paris’ Le Carmen nightclub, this will be an evening of beloved books, passionate conversation, wine and cheese – what could be better on a winter evening?
A panel of award-winning writers and industry expects will briefly discuss their favourite award-winning books.
This event is part of the The Book Stack series.
Monday 15 July, 10.00 AM
Workshop: Reading Yesterday's News
Join us for this hands-on workshop and learn more about the State Library’s newspaper collection and its strengths. Discover how to find newspapers in our computer catalogue, via our electronic databases and on the internet. Find out how you can access newspaper databases at home using your Library card. Explore selected historical and contemporary newspaper databases and take a guided tour of Australian Newspapers 1803–1954, available via the National Library of Australia’s Trove service. Basic computing skills are required.This event is part of the Lifelong Learning series.
Thursday 25 July, 4.00 PM
Workshop: Online resources for teachers
These authentic online information resources are for busy teachers. Explore the State Library’s extraordinary online collections and resources which are ready for classroom use. A competent level of computer literacy is assumed.This event is part of the Lifelong Learning series.
Tuesday 6 August, 10.00 AM
Workshop: Uncover and Discover - Exploring the Library's Website
A hands-on workshop providing first-time users with an overview of the services and resources available from the State Library website. Explore highlights of the Library’s historical and contemporary collections, take a guided tour of the catalogues and browse our exhibitions and events. Basic computing skills are required.This event is part of the Lifelong Learning series.
Tuesday 6 August, 11.00 AM
Talk: Scholarly Musing - Dr. Julie McIntyre
For the first time, First Vintage provides a context for wine growing in the early Australian imaginary, beginning with the planting of wine grape plants at First Government House, Circular Quay in 1788 through to the boom in wine growing in New South Wales a hundred years later.
Tuesday 3 September, 11.00 AM
Talk: Scholarly Musing - Mr. Patrick Dodd
Patrick is a Volunteer Guide and Public Speaker at the Library and travelled with 'The Governor' exhibition to reginal NSW. He has followed in the footsteps of the Governor Macquarie to the Cowpastures, the Illawarra, the Hawkesbury, Lake George, Bathurst, Port Macquarie and Tasmania and still wonders when the Governor had time to sleep.
Thursday 5 September, 10.00 AM
Course: Social Networking for Beginners
Communicate with friends and family and make new contacts using two of the most popular social networking sites on the web: Facebook and Twitter. Set up a Facebook page and a Twitter account. Learn how to read and send messages, read and contribute to live updates, make new friends and see how each site provides its own unique online networking experience. You will need an email account before attending the course.This event is part of the Lifelong Learning series.
Friday 6 September, 10.30 AM
Workshop: Welcome to the World of Ebooks
Not sure where to start with ebooks? Join us for a hands-on workshop exploring ebooks and ereaders. Find out how to use an ereader, phone or tablet to read ebooks. Explore the Library's ebook collections and learn how to download ebooks from popular websites.This event is part of the Lifelong Learning series.
Tuesday 10 September, 10.30 AM
Talk: Rediscovering old Sydney
Join State Library staff and take a look at the shifting fortunes of an inner-Sydney locality, discovering in the process the rich collections that can be used for historical research. From oral histories to manuscripts, maps and photographs, many tools can be used to uncover the history of a particular place. Practise using the Library’s catalogues and other search tools, and discover the many formats that can be researched to discover old Sydney. A selection of unique collection items will be on display.This event is part of the Lifelong Learning series.
Thursday 12 September, 9.30 AM
Workshop: Preserving Your Family History
A seminar dedicated to the long-term care of documents, family photographs, letters and diaries. The emphasis will be on archival storage; with tips on what materials to use and where to find them. Participants are welcome to bring along one or two items of family memorabilia to discuss their care with a Library conservator.This event is part of the Lifelong Learning series.
Friday 13 September, 10.00 AM
Workshop: Reading Yesterday's News
Join us for this hands-on workshop and learn more about the State Library’s newspaper collection and its strengths. Discover how to find newspapers in our computer catalogue, via our electronic databases and on the internet. Find out how you can access newspaper databases at home using your Library card. Explore selected historical and contemporary newspaper databases and take a guided tour of Australian Newspapers 1803–1954, available via the National Library of Australia’s Trove service. Basic computing skills are required.This event is part of the Lifelong Learning series.
Tuesday 17 September, 10.30 AM
Workshop: An anatomy of a rare map
Maps can tell us more than simply how to get from here to there. This hands-on workshop will use examples from the Library’s extensive map collections to reveal the key elements of a map — from cartouche to neat line.This event is part of the Lifelong Learning series.
Tuesday 1 October, 11.00 AM
Talk: Scholarly Musing - Dr. Rosemary Kerr
Roads are dynamic spaces, culturally constructed and invested with multiple layers of meaning and symbolism which reach far beyond their physical and utilitarian elements. As such, roads can reveal much about the cultures that produce them. In this paper, based on her doctoral thesis, Rosemary Kerr explores how ‘the road’, as a physical and cultural space beyond the urban fringe, has been imagined, experienced and represented in Australia from the late nineteenth century to the present.
Wednesday 9 October, 10.30 AM
Workshop: Starting family history research
Family history can reveal surprising and sometimes moving lost stories that enhance an individual's understanding of who they are. Family history librarians will provide an introductory program on the State Library’s diverse family history collections. The sessions will focus on how to access a wealth of resources for beginners and beyond. Some unique, rarely seen collection items will be highlighted.This event is part of the Lifelong Learning series.
Tuesday 15 October, 4.00 PM
Workshop: Online resources for teachers
These authentic online information resources are for busy teachers. Explore the State Library’s extraordinary online collections and resources which are ready for classroom use. A competent level of computer literacy is assumed.This event is part of the Lifelong Learning series.
Thursday 17 October, 6.00 PM
Talk: Colin Simpson Memorial Lecture
Presented by the Australian Society of Authors, award-winning Australian Aboriginal author and speaker Melissa Lucashenko will deliver the prestigious Colin Simpson Memorial Lecture in 2013. Lucashenko will examine what it means to be an Indigenous author in contemporary Australian society and outline what needs to be done to support the creation and distribution of works by Indigenous authors in Australia.
Monday 11 November, 9.30 AM
Workshop: Preserving your family history
A seminar dedicated to the long-term care of documents, family photographs, letters and diaries. The emphasis will be on archival storage, with tips on what materials to use and where to find them. Participants are welcome to bring along one or two items of family memorabilia to discuss their care with a Library conservator.This event is part of the Lifelong Learning series.
Tuesday 12 November, 11.00 AM
Talk: Scholarly Musing - Dr. Michael Jacklin
Literary work in Spanish is an important part of Australia’s multicultural heritage. With over 110,000 Australians speaking Spanish at home, according to the 2011 census, it is not surprising that this linguistic community has its share of writers, or that Australian Spanish language writing is well represented in the collections of the NSW State Library.
Thursday 21 November, 10.00 AM
Workshop: Uncover and Discover - Exploring the Library's Website
A hands-on workshop providing first-time users with an overview of the services and resources available from the State Library website. Explore highlights of the Library’s historical and contemporary collections, take a guided tour of the catalogues and browse our exhibitions and events. Basic computing skills are required.This event is part of the Lifelong Learning series.
