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Stories

Showcasing people, places and ideas inspired by the collection and the library community.

Stories

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Aboriginal Australians Art and Design Behind the Scenes Biography  Exhibition Exploration History Literature Mapping Natural World Openbook Photography World War I

Latest stories

Ethel Turner gets personal

A new acquisition reveals the personal and professional lives of one of Australia’s best-known authors.

Bookcase filled with Ethel Turner works

Library tourism

by Mark Dapin

Mark Dapin’s wish-list of the most beautiful libraries in the world to visit.

Interior of library reading room.

Peter Kingston’s kingdom

by Elizabeth Fortescue

Elizabeth Fortescue writes about the late artist’s Lavender Bay home, a work of art itself.

Mostly empty corner of a room with view outside a window of Sydney Harbour.

The Flying Pieman of Sydney, en pointe

by Anna Corkhill

Rediscovering costume drawings for a ballet that never was.

Featured

Art & life: Cressida Campbell

by Elizabeth Fortescue

As she finalises work for her landmark exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia, Sydney artist Cressida Campbell invites Openbook into her studio.

Portrait of Cressida Campbell in 2022. Photo by Joy Lai

Calling the Koori Knockout

by Brad Cooke

One of the most important sporting and cultural events on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander calendar returns.

Group of players celebrate with arms in the air. One player is lifted on their shoulders.

Enemy aliens

by Kate Garrett, Andrew McNamara and Seumas Spark

Artworks — never before seen — by some of the ‘Dunera boys’ go on display in Orange, the place where many of the works were created.

Colourful artwork where two hands appear just above the water.

Coming Out in the 70s

Gay and lesbian life went public in the 70s. Speaking up and standing out, gay men and women took to the streets proudly demanding to be seen, heard and accepted.  

These chapters draw from stories and records in the Library’s collection to explore how the gay and lesbian rights movement emerged in NSW in the 1970s.