How to locate items

Most items in the State Library of New South Wales (about 98 per cent) are located in stack storage within the Library building. The catalogue entry indicates whether the item is held in stack storage. To request an item, follow these steps

Fill in a stack slip, showing the:
1. call/location number
2. title
3. author
4. date and/or volume
5. number (for periodicals only).
Hand in your stack slip at the Request Desk in the State Reference Library or the Mitchell Library Reading Room.
Your stack slip will be stamped with the date, time and request number of your item.
Staff will collect the item from stack storage and deliver it to the pick-up shelves for you to collect. The average delivery time is 20–30 minutes.
The item will be arranged numerically on the pick-up shelves by the request number on your ticket.
Return the item to the book return shelves when you have finished

Reference and open access items

You can find items yourself if they are in the reference or open access collections in the State Reference Library or Mitchell Library.

Reference items are on Lower Ground 1 (Macquarie Street Wing) in the State Reference Library, and on Ground in the Mitchell Library, unless otherwise stated.
Open access items are on Lower Ground 2 (Macquarie Street Wing). They include new and frequently requested items

Offsite storage

To handle the growth of the Library’s collections, some materials are stored offsite. The Library’s offsite storage policy is used in determining the material to be stored offsite. The material chosen is:

hard copy newspapers published prior to 2000 (many available onsite on microfilms)
selected serial titles published prior to 1960
book jackets
some manuscript collections.

You can request these items on your next visit to the Library, or pre-order them beforehand by telephoning the Library, Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm.

To access these items, you will be registered with a readers card. You can apply for this at the Information and Request Desks in the State Reference Library or Mitchell Library. You will need to give your name, address, telephone number and email address (if you have one), and provide at least one form of identification, such a driver's licence, passport, student card with address, pension card, health benefits card, or recent utilities bill.

The Library offers next day delivery, Monday to Friday. Material should be available after 3.30 pm the day after your request.

The catalogue indicates whether an item is stored offsite.