Hide message

Newsflash:

The Library will be closed on Christmas Day, 25 December. View holiday opening hours.

See more

What’s got us talking

Explore the Nikon-Walkley Press Photography Exhibition

Woman stands in Nikon-Walkley Press Photography Exhibition looking at photograph

Get your entry in for the 2024 Mona Brand Award

Close up photograph of a typewriter

See the Australian War Memorial's touring exhibition

Apply now for the 2024 National Biography Award

Books arranged on table

Collection buzz

400 photographs. 200 photographers. 3 centuries.

Curator Geoff Barker looks at the Library’s extraordinary image collection with fresh eyes.

Rara Avis the impossible black swan

A new addition to the Library’s world-class collection of Australian ornithological drawings.

A wicker basket of photos

A librarian discovers an extraordinary photo in an old wicker basket.

Daguerreotype group portrait

A model archive

A daughter decides to give the scrapbooks and journals of her beloved mother — an Australian fashion icon — to the Library.

June Dally- Watkins in ad

All the Will in the world

The 1623 volume, Mr William Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories & Tragedies, aka the ‘First Folio’, is 400 years old this year. Why is it so special?

Shakespeare First Folio open on title page featuring a picture of William Shakespeare

Featured events

Discover our new photography exhibition: Shot

Tuesday
Tue 16 Jan 2024, 2.00 pm
Free
Tour
Join a curator-led tour of Shot, and immerse yourself in Australia’s past as seen through the lens of Australian photogr
Curator displaying photo items
Onsite

Create your own Mitchell Library!

Wednesday
Wed 24 Jan 2024, 10.00 am
Free
In this two-hour workshop, you will create your own model of the famous Mitchell Library. 
 
young girl holding paper cutting out
Onsite

Masters of their fates: Julius Caesar

Thursday
Thu 25 Jan 2024, 6.30 pm
Talk
In connection with the exhibition For All Time, a panel of experts discuss the influence of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.
An image of two old books, one large and one small on a red velvet backdrop. The larger book is open to a page that reads The Tragedie of Romeo and Juliet.
Onsite

Incredibilia

Tuesday
Tue 14 May 2024, 10.30 am
Performance
20 stories, 101 objects, music and song!
 
incredibilia 500x500 small
Onsite