State Library of NSW

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What’s got us talking

Love in the Library

Some 200 greeting cards trace the love story between Sydney couple Dorothy and Frank Campbell, known to each other as ‘Princess Dorothy’ and ‘Snuggle Bunny’ Frank.

Bundles of cards, photographed with a red backdrop.

Dear Librarian... Which street is this?

Our Librarians love to research and solve interesting questions received from our Ask a Librarian service!

Party safe: top tips for the festival season

Make all your festival experiences ones to remember with these top tips to party safely, provided by NSW Health.

Back to school!

Find out what's in store for students and teachers in 2019.

group of primary students sitting on the floor

Collection buzz

The Treaty of Waitangi 1840

On 6 February some 45 chiefs signed a ‘Treaty of Cession’, now known as the Treaty of Waitangi.

Elaborate running writing covers this aged document. Marks of broken dark red wax seals mark the bottom and left side edges of the document.

Across the curator's desk: Peter Hall's 1968 travel sketchbook

Anna Corkhill, curator in the Library's Research and Discovery team, shares a sketchbook from a crucial stage in the development of the Sydney Opera House.

Sketchbook with pencil drawing of Sydney Opera House

Book of Hours

View our newly digitised Book of Hours, featuring 14 large miniatures, framed by pink marble columns or brown bands, and enter the world of an illuminated manuscript.

Places of Industry - works by Jeff Rigby

The Library has recently acquired a series of 25 works by Blue Mountains-based artist Jeff Rigby.

One hundred years of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie

It’s one hundred years since May Gibbs’ much loved gumnut brothers, Snugglepot and Cuddlepie found their way into the hearts and homes of Australians.

Cover for Snugglepot and Cuddlepie : their Adventures Wonderful

Rose de Freycinet poem

A recent addition to the collection, a poem dedicated to Rose de Freycinet, shows us how this remarkable woman was perceived by those she met on her voyage around the world.

Who was Kath?

The Library recently acquired an album of photographs, with no details of the owner or the subjects of the photographs – except for one named person. But who was Kath?

Australian journalist and radio presenter, Frederick Spencer Burnell's (1880-1958) was as a special correspondent with the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force during World War One. His recently digitised album contains 99 black & white photographs that documenting this experience.

Featured events

Grattan: NSW Election 2019

Tuesday

Tuesday 19 February 2019 - 6pm to 7:15pm

Talk

NSW voters goes to the polls next month, with the state budget under pressure as property prices fall, the state government in dispute with the Commonwealth over energy and climate-change policy, and parts of Sydney feeling the squeeze as the population booms. The opinion polls suggest it’s a tight race, but what are the big policy questions people should consider before they vote.

Scholar Talk: Life and Death in the Library

Scholar Talks

Tuesday

Tuesday 5 March 2019 - 11am to 12pm

Talk

In this scholar talk, Dr Catie Gilchrist will discuss some of the materials held in the library’s collections that relate to life and death in colonial Sydney.