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Library reopening Monday 1 June 2020. See Frequently Asked Questions here

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What’s got us talking

Millions turn to libraries to get them through

Over 20,000 new members have signed up online since the lockdown. 

The Diary Files

Tell us what you see, what you feel. What you had for breakfast, and what keeps you up at night.

The Diary Files

Smart research for HSC students

Optimise your valuable study time. These online sessions, designed by specialist librarians, will help you find the right tools, manage your citations, recognise the best quality information sources and save you time. 

Logo for HSC research

Researching at home

Need help researching at home? All you need is a Library card! Find journal articles, newspapers, reference material and more here.

Researching at home

Collection buzz

Researching the Pacific: The Pacific Manuscripts Bureau

We asked Kari James, Executive Officer of the Pacific Manuscripts Bureau, to answer some of your questions about the history, significance and future plans of this collection.

collage of images from The Pacific Manuscripts Bureau

Cook commemoration sparks 1970 protest

On 29 April 1970 protestors marched through Sydney's CBD before making their way to La Perouse. 

Tribune negatives including meeting of FCAATSI leaders at Sydney Town Hall and protestors at Day of Mourning memorial gathering and procession in Sydney, 28 April 1970-29 April 1970

The making of Slater’s Field Guide to Australian Birds

The Library has recently acquired the extraordinary archive of  Peter Slater, one of Australia’s best-known ornithologists.

It's only rock’n’roll… but I like it

The Library has added 61 new photographs of New South Wales–based musicians by Wendy McDougall to our catalogue.

Across the curator’s desk: Piranesi’s etchings, c 1761

Piranesi was an Italian printmaker known for his detailed technical drawings, architectural studies of Rome and imaginary buildings.

Piranesi, The Drawbridge c1761

Featured events

Art Around the Library - Collage

Kids at the Library
Thursday
Thursday 28 May 2020 - 10am to 11am
Free
Workshop

Be inspired by the painting Ann Piper and her children by Augustus Earle and make a collage of your family.

Author Talk: Good Dog

Author Talks
Thursday
Thursday 28 May 2020 - 7pm to 7:30pm
Free
Talk

Like the rest of us, Kate Leaver and her beloved rescue shih tzu, Bertie, are living in lockdown. Many of us are realising that the dog-human bond is one of the most extraordinary cross-species friendships on the planet. 

Online

Captain’s log: The logbooks of HMB Endeavour, 1768–71

Saturday
Saturday 30 May 2020 - 3pm
Free
Talk

The voyage of James Cook in the Endeavour was the first European voyage of exploration to include scientific discovery as a major objective — the observation of the transit of Venus in Tahiti, the study of botany and of animal life, and the mapping and surveying of the Pacific, specifically the ongoing search for the Great South Land.