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What’s got us talking

Vote in the 2022 People's Choice Award.

A pile of 6 books

Discover our autumn issue of Openbook magazine.

We need your help with collecting the election.

Election ephemera

Find out more about our major building plans.

Mitchell Library Reading Room

Collection buzz

The arch of strength and beauty

The Sydney Harbour Bridge — fondly nicknamed ‘the coathanger’ — will celebrate the 90th anniversary of its opening on 19 March 2022. 

Big bold botanicals

What could a twentieth-century artist’s book by surrealist Salvador Dali have in common with an early nineteenth-century French volume documenting the plants in a famous garden?

Flora Dalinae, flore, 1969 by Salvador Dali

All the world

An incredibly rare map from 1628 has been added to the Library’s rich cartographic collections.

Convict women of Van Diemen’s Land

They are laundresses from Leitrim, housemaids from Manchester, Wigan and London, and women who worked in skilled trades.

Hobart Town, Vandiemen's Land, George William Evans, 1828

All’s fair in love and war

From the 16th century onwards, many mapmakers attempted to draw one of the most mysterious and treacherous terrains — the human heart.

A close up of a map

Featured events

Regeneration

Silent Film Festival
Sunday
Sunday 24 April 2022 - 1pm to 2:30pm
Movie

An American silent biographical crime drama, this classic is one of the first full-length gangster films.

Movie still from 1915 film Regeneration
Onsite

Author talk with Phillipa McGuinness

Author Talks
Tuesday
Tuesday 26 April 2022 - 12:30pm to 1:30pm
Free
Talk

Hear about all things dermal, when Phillipa McGuinness talks about our biggest organ, as discussed in her new book Skin Deep: the inside story of our outer selves.

Professional headshot of author Phillipa McGuinness
Onsite

Starting Family History Research

Lifelong learning
Wednesday
Wednesday 27 April 2022 - 10:30am to 11:30pm
Free
Talk

Family history can reveal surprising and sometimes moving lost stories that enhance an individual’s understanding of who they are.

Online

Gallipoli: in their words

Schools
Wednesday
Wednesday 27 April 2022 - 2pm to 2:45pm
Free
Virtual excursion

Delve into the State Library’s rich World War 1 collection to discover the lived experience of those who served at Gallipoli.