The Library is open. See frequently asked questions.
Newsflash:
Due to essential maintenance, digital image viewers in the old catalogue will be temporarily unavailable between 1 pm and 4 pm (AEDT) this Thursday, 9 December 2021. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.
Site map
Front page
Main Menu
- What's On
- Research and Collections
- Get a Library card
- Ask a Librarian
- Using the Library
- First time here?
- Get a Library card
- Using the Library's collections
- How to use special collections
- Wi-fi
- Wi-fi printing
- Printing, copying and scanning
- Researching your family history
- Ordering copies of Library material
- Ordering digital images and archival prints
- Newspapers
- Card catalogues and indexes
- Research and Collections
- Research and Collections
- Richardson Collection
- Donald MacPherson Collection of Art and Literature
- Personal diaries and letters from the First World War
- Indigenous Languages Collection
- First Fleet Collection
- TAL & Dai-ichi Life (Earl of Derby) Collection
- Angus & Robertson Collection
- Robbins Magic Collection
- Shakespeare Folios
- Subdivision plans
- Holtermann Collection
- George Morrison Collection
- Cervantes Collection
- Sir Joseph Banks Papers, 1767-1822
- Red Cross
- Sir William Dixson numismatic collection
- World War I collection
- Social Media Archive
- Research and Collections
- Research and Collections
- About Books in the City
- Catalogue: search tips and tricks
- Critics' Picks
- Using the Library
- Multilingual information and services
- Researching from home
- Stories
- The Free Public Library of Sydney
- 3rd Australian General Hospital
- A French sailor-artist on the South Seas
- A maiden over
- A Map of Africa, Asia and the East Indies, 1599
- A degree of neatness & regularity
- A distant paradise for Dickens
- A hint of eccentricity
- A nice little business
- A remote drama
- After life
- Alec Chisholm: bush naturalist and benign nationalist
- Americans on campus
- An unknown warrior
- Ancestry tree
- Andre Breton: early Surrealist publications
- Antarctica: Frank Hurley
- Antarctica: modern adventures
- Antarcticans and the war
- Anzac Day captured in 2015
- Architect of the screen
- Architecture: arrival of modernism
- Architecture: nineteenth-century Sydney
- Armistice and peace
- Arresting gaze
- Art of Newcastle
- Arthur Moon, prisoner of war, 1943
- Australia and the bomb
- Australia's conscription debate
- Australian Inspiration
- Australian Inspiration: Chapter 1: Design for Life
- Australian Inspiration: Chapter 2: Seeking Inspiration
- Australian Inspiration: Chapter 4: Back to the bush: Deconstructing the flower
- Australian Inspiration: Chapter 5: Testing Ideas: Paper Stencils
- Australian Inspiration: Chapter 6: Coming to Life
- Australian Inspiration: Chapter 7: Continuing Collaboration
- Australian Inspiration: Chapter 8: Julie's Talk
- Australian Inspiration: Introduction
- Australian Jewish community and culture
- Arts and culture - Barnett Levey
- Australia at the UN
- Business
- Dr Fanny Reading
- Esther Johnston and Michael Isaacs
- Ikey Solomon
- Isaac Nathan and George Goodman
- Jewish convicts
- NSW war memorial
- Percy J Marks
- Public life
- Religious life
- The Great Synagogue
- The Holocaust and survivors' stories
- Unpromised land
- York Street Synagogue, Sydney
- Zionism and Australia
- Australian Photo Review
- Australian agricultural and rural life
- Agricultural produce
- Australian Agricultural Company
- Australian wheat
- Australian wool
- Berrys
- Country Women's Association
- Crops, horticulture and viticulture
- First farms
- Fruit industry
- Getting to market
- Homesteading
- Learning the trade
- Life on the land
- Livestock
- Looking after the land
- Macarthurs
- Natural disasters
- Organisations and societies
- Pests
- Rural communities
- Settler’s guides and emigrant publications
- Sheep shearing
- Squattocracy
- Station life
- Station stories
- Water management
- Working the land
- Wyndhams
- Aviation in Australia
- Behind the scenes in our new galleries
- Leading the way
- Big things grow
- Bodyline cricket series, 1932-33
- Boy oh boy! : Max Dupain at the Library
- Buddhist modernism
- Burke and Wills
- Bushrangers of New South Wales
- Captain Cook’s voyages of discovery
- Catching a cab
- Celebration: Jewish community photographs
- Claiming space
- Colour in darkness
- Conrad Martens and George Edwards Peacock: Sydney artists
- Contact prints by J W Lindt
- Convict artists in the time of Governor Macquarie
- Crossing the Blue Mountains
- Crowd source
- David Unaipon
- Dead Central
- Decoration and Glass Magazine
- Diaries of ‘enemy aliens’
- Dorothea Mackellar's My Country
- Eora
- Early Antarctic adventures
- Electric image
- Endgame
- Eternally yours
- Ethel Turner's Seven Little Australians
- Eureka! The rush for gold
- Everything
- Exploring Dyarubbin
- Family Keeps Us Going
- Family business
- Felons
- Flash mob
- Found in the trenches
- Francis Greenway: convict architect
- Frank Hurley's World War I photography
- Fred Harris - Sydney Tattoo Studio
- French in Australia
- From Terra Australis to Australia
- Artists of the First Fleet
- Charting the land
- HMS Guardian and Captain Riou
- Journals from the First Fleet
- Letters home
- Matthew Flinders' journeys
- Mutiny on the bounty
- Published accounts
- Tales from the First Fleet
- The 1808 'Rum' Rebellion
- The Bowman flag - the first Australian coat of arms
- The Guardian is safe!
- The main players - Macarthur, Bligh and Johnston
- Voyage of the Rattlesnake
- From protest to party
- George Bell, prisoner of war
- George Caddy
- Government House, Domain, Sydney
- Governor Arthur's Proclamation to the Aborigines
- Grief and mourning: Terence Garling and the Fry brothers
- Harry Seidler collection
- Henry Beaufoy Merlin: Australian showman and photographer
- Henry C. Marshall, 1890-1915
- Henry Lawson: poet of the people
- Hitting the slopes
- The Holtermann Collection
- How Australia builds
- Hudson Brothers Building and Engineering Company
- Hume and Hovell
- Hunter Valley
- Illuminated manuscripts
- Jackson and the Paper VC
- Keeping company
- Lasseter's lost reef
- Leaving home
- Leichhardt’s continental treks
- Letters from Bergen-Belsen
- Libraries building communities
- Living language
- Looking east: Darling Point and beyond
- Looking north: Sydney's Upper North Shore
- Love is all
- Love letters
- Magna Carta
- Mallarmé: ‘Pages’ and ‘A throw of the dice’
- Mapping the war
- Matthew Flinders: placing Australia on the map
- Max Dupain's images of Penrith, 1948
- May Gibbs
- Memories on glass
- Michael Riley
- Miles Franklin
- Mitchell or burn: the Thompson family papers
- Mother Country
- Moulding an Eligant impression from “primitive” earth
- Mysterious leaves from the past
- Mythical country
- Old Government House, Sydney Cove
- Openbook online
- Origins of the State Library of New South Wales, 1826–1869
- Pan-Pacific modernist
- Papua New Guinea: forty years of independence
- Peace with pestilence
- Peas
- Photography - Sydney exposed
- Planting Dreams: audio guides
- Power and influence on the Cumberland Plain
- Quick march!
- Recipes for country living
- Reclaiming our story
- Record catch
- Red Cross under the Southern Cross
- Religion, church and missions in Australia
- Reviving the "Pictorial Panorama of the Great War"
- River dreams
- Shakespeare at the Library
- Shakespeare's birthplace, home and grave: in pictures
- Shipboard: the 19th century emigrant experience
- Shooting the war: Australia's first Oscar
- Slide show: Robert Hallams’ photographic slides
- Splendid Species: Gould's Birds of Australia
- Stories from our exhibitions
- Stories from the World War I collection
- Stories in the sun
- Success story: the Mitchell campaign
- Sydney Female Refuge Society, 1848-1925
- The 1954 Royal Tour of Queen Elizabeth II
- The Bowman flag
- The Bridge
- The Dixson map collection
- The first Indigenous cricket tour of England in 1868
- The Garden Palace
- The Iron Church, Macquarie Street, Sydney
- The Library at war: 1939–1943
- The Library’s digitised collections showcased by Google’s Cultural Institute
- The Magic Pudding
- The Randolph Hughes Collection
- The Redfern All Blacks in 1946
- The Spanish quest for Terra Australis
- The Sydney Royal Easter Show
- The Sydney wars
- The TAL & Dai-ichi Life Derby Collection
- The Tasman Map
- The Tichborne case: a Victorian melodrama
- The Treaty of Waitangi, 1840
- The Wallis album
- The Western Front
- The book that Joseph Banks burned
- The cabin in the woods
- The convict experience
- The cruise of 'The Freak'
- The enjoyment of a good story
- The first Mrs Dark
- The first sugar
- The five bridges
- The modern garden
- The reconstruction of the Holtermann
- The world in a book
- These strange days
- Thomas Livingstone Mitchell: mapmaker
- Thomas Sutcliffe Mort
- Through Darwin's eyes
- Toulgra
- Under the Rainbow: The Nimbin 'Aquarius Festival'
- Under the sun
- Underground albums
- Vasco Loureiro (Louis Vasco)
- Voyages of discovery
- War’s lexicon
- We tell the world
- Wesley Choat, prisoner of war
- Women of the Library
- Woollen comforts from home
- Working for the Weekend
- World War I diaries
- Writing at Gallipoli
- ‘Unprecedented’
- Learning at the library
- Schools and teachers
- HSC: Society and Culture
- HSC: English Extension 2
- Seeking Shakespeare
- Exploring Australia
- Striking Gold!
- Who was Quong Tart?
- A long voyage
- A place of plenty
- Aboriginal Identities: Sydney Elders
- Aboriginal Women of Sydney
- All Things Shakespeare
- An era of change
- Ancient Egypt
- Animation Analysis
- Anzac War Memorial Sydney
- Being seen and heard in the 70s
- The Best Cat, The Est Cat: Teachers notes
- Billy Blue
- Botanical sketches
- 1788: Before and After
- Capturing the Zeitgeist
- Collaroy Case Study
- Composing a text for an audio guide
- Cook: It was only eight days
- Create
- Creative writing adventures
- Duelling poets and visual representations
- A day's picnic at Clark Island
- An inflatable rubber suit
- Persuasion and media bias
- Kangaroo, Possum, Platypus and more!
- Learn to swim
- Meet the Mount Pitt bird
- Monkey on stilts
- New shoes
- Shakespeare's Seven Ages of Man
- The Five Stages of Inebriation
- The Wonderful Large Wild Man
- Explore!
- Exploring perspectives through animation
- Factors that shape places: Urban places
- Features of Places - Beaches
- A diverse and connected world - Papua New Guinea
- Places are similar and different - Glebe and Gulargambone
- Places are similar and different - Macquarie Island World Heritage Area
- People live in places. Important places - Homes
- Going places: Migration to Australia
- HSC Help 2021
- HSC: History Extension
- HSC: History Extension
- HSC: word eXpress English Extension 2 Seminar
- Hands On World War I
- Helpful hints to enjoy your excursion
- History Skills: Evaluating Sources
- A Medieval calendar
- Actions for Aboriginal Rights
- Captain James Cook
- Every picture tells a story
- Family photo albums
- Female convicts in the First fleet
- Flying into history
- Gallipoli - AE2
- Games children play
- Get your ice cream
- Holidays, past and present
- Johnny Kangatong - Making sense of the world
- Let's celebrate
- Migration to Australia in the 1800s
- Oskar Schindler
- Significant Individuals - David Unaipon
- Significant individuals - Frank Hurley
- Significant Individuals - Caroline Chisholm
- Significant Individuals - Mary Reibey
- Significant Individuals - Governor Macquarie
- Sydney Harbour Bridge: The past in the present
- Sydney - A story of change
- The Gold Rush
- The move to Federation
- The world of Mickey of Ulladulla
- Cemetery site study
- When we were babies
- Whose shoes?
- World War I - The Western Front
- Illustrating Explained
- In their shoes
- Library Adventure Tours
- Library Tour for Secondary Students
- Making headlines
- Making sense of a changing world
- Mapping stories to syllabus
- Oscar Wilde
- Perfecting Poetry and Prose
- Perspectives
- Picture Books Reimagined
- Teachers: Reach Out! Regional workshops
- Royal Seal of Henry IV
- Rush for Gold
- Surviving Antarctica
- Seeing without understanding
- Sharpen your debating skills
- Significant Individuals
- Significant Individuals: Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson
- Sydney Elders: Oral histories
- Symbolism and poster design
- The First Fleet
- Then and now
- Trophies
- Violence on the shore
- Clay bust sculpture
- Create a collage
- Create a textured, abstract design
- Design a perspective drawing
- Make a pen and wash drawing
- Make a watercolour painting
- Make a painting
- Portrait drawing using a grid
- Voices of resistance
- WWI Resources for the Classroom
- We call them pirates
- We saw them coming
- Writing and recording the audio guide
- Writing with Purpose
- Features of places - Weather
- Kids and families
- Lifelong learners
- Tertiary Student Groups
- Award for emerging children’s authors
- HSC: Aboriginal Studies major projects
- Learning at home
- Art Club
- Art Club 1 - Fairy Bower
- Art Club 10 - Man with rabbit
- Art Club 11 - The Boating Season
- Art Club 12 – Red Kangaroos
- Art Club 13 – Mr Hapuku
- Art Club 14 – Guest presenter
- Art Club 15 – Collection Day
- Art Club 6 - Neighbourhood Watch
- Art Club 7 - Al Fresco
- Art Club 8 - Margaret Coen
- Art Club 9 - George Street
- Art Club Online Gallery
- Art Club 2 - Picnic at the Rocks
- Art Club 3 - Sydney Public Library
- Art Club 4 - The Atlas Works
- Art Club 5 – Stephen Butts in Macquarie Street
- Creative Kids Box
- Inspiration for creative writing
- Flipgrid activities
- Download a fun activity
- Young Writers Club
- Art Club
- Schools and teachers
Secondary Menu
About The State Library
- About the Library
- Your State Library
- History of the Library
- Strategic Plan
- Library Council
- Library Executive
- The Foundation
- Publications
- Media Centre
- Media Releases - 2015
- Media Releases - 2014
- Media Releases - 2013
- Media Releases - 2012
- ‘Blazing talent’ Kate Mulvany wins top prize for women playwrights
- 2016 National Biography Award winner drawn from the ashes
- 2019 NSW Premier’s History Awards winners announced
- 2019 National Biography Award shortlist announced
- 2020 National Biography Award shortlist announced
- 2020 State Library of NSW fellowships announced
- 2021 Building Plan: FAQs
- 2021 State Library of NSW fellowships announced
- 2022 State Library fellowships announced
- Add your entry to the great pandemic diary of 2020
- Animated dark comedy wins State Library’s inaugural short film prize
- Applications open for $30,000 digital fellowship
- Australian first: chat-bot that gets kids reading
- Australian libraries join forces to build national digital collection
- Bligh’s Bounty logbooks recognised by UNESCO
- Call for nominations: NSW Premier’s History Awards 2020
- Call for nominations: NSW Premier’s Literary Awards 2020
- Call for nominations: NSW Premier’s Literary Awards 2021
- Colourful history of 'Big Four' wins prestigious $30,000 Ashurst Business Literature Prize
- Did you come out in the 1970s?
- Entries now open for the 2020 National Biography Award
- Entries now open for the National Biography Award 2021
- Entries open for $40,000 award for female scriptwriters
- Entries open for NSW Premier’s History Awards
- Entries open for State Library’s $20,000 short film competition
- Ethel Turner’s Seven Little Australians recognised by UNESCO
- Exciting new $20,000 short film prize announced
- Exhibition reveals little-known stories of the Dyarubbin
- Finalists for State Library’s new short film prize announced
- Great love story of the seas revealed
- Help create the ‘Children’s Library’ of NSW
- Help us solve the mystery of the disappearing magician
- Library announces new humour writing prize for young people
- Living Language celebrated in landmark exhibition
- Millions turn to libraries to get them through
- Mr Archimedes and friends move into NSW State Library
- NSW Government announces $12.3M funding for State Library’s new plan
- NSW State Library brings World Press Photo to Sydney for 20th year
- NSW State Library explores greater access for all
- NSW State Library offering $116,000 in paid research opportunities
- NSW State Library offering $216,000 in paid research opportunities
- NSW State Library secures ‘holy grail’ of Australiana
- 14-year-old Balmain boy dies from world's deadliest virus!
- Winners of Australia’s only humour writing prize announced
- New $30,000 Fellowship for Aboriginal creatives in NSW
- New Children's Library opens in 150th year of free access to books
- New exhibition showcases defining images of 2020
- New exhibition unearths Central Station’s deep dark history!
- New home for rare & priceless maps at NSW State Library
- New online exhibition revisits Cook’s eight days in Kamay
- New website gives bird’s-eye view of 1M+ digital images
- Precious, unseen letters to ‘Dear Old Dad’ capture WWI experience for children
- Public libraries report spike in demand for books in language
- Quirky collection of stories about ‘dysfunctional men’ takes out Australia’s only humour writing prize
- Rare pieces of Australian history head to the South Coast
- Rare pieces of Australian history heading to local primary schools
- Record $36.5M State funding to benefit public libraries
- Shortlist announced for Australia’s richest biography prize
- Shortlists announced for 2019 NSW Premier's Literary Awards
- Shortlists announced for 2019 NSW Premier’s History Awards
- Shortlists announced for 2019 Russell Prize for Humour Writing
- Shortlists announced for 2020 NSW Premier’s History Awards
- Shortlists announced for 2020 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards
- Shortlists announced for 2021 NSW Premier’s History Awards
- Shortlists announced for 2021 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards
- Shortlists announced for Australia’s only humour writing prize
- State Library creates a new space for Aboriginal communities to connect with their cultural heritage
- State Library galleries reopen with new exhibition which tackles Cook’s legacy
- State Library offering over $200,000 in paid research opportunities
- State Library’s collection comes out of lockdown!
- The Burial Files – new podcast unearths Sydney’s shady past
- The Gatherings Order – new podcast unearths 101-year-old pandemic stories
- The Library launches a major rare maps exhibition
- The Library launches its first children’s book
- Turn your ‘iso’ moments into history
- Unlikely biography on former PM wins nation’s richest prize for life writing
- What if images could speak?
- Winners announced for 2019 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards
- 2020 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards announced
- Winners announced for 2021 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards
- Winners announced for NSW Premier’s History Awards
- Winners announced for NSW Premier’s History Awards
- World Press Photo Contest winners on show at NSW State Library
- World Press Photo Contest winners on show at NSW State Library
- ‘Impassioned letter’ from Manus Island wins 2019 National Biography Award
- ‘Sheilas’, ‘fake truths’ and a 700th celebration
- “Sydney’s most important story” revealed for all the world to see
- “Vivid and complex” portrait wins nation’s richest prize for life writing
- Tenders
- Jobs at the State Library
- Fellowships
- Coral Thomas Fellowship
- Australian Religious History Fellowship
- CH Currey Memorial Fellowship
- Dr AM Hertzberg AO Fellowship
- Nancy Keesing AM Fellowship
- Merewether Fellowship
- David Scott Mitchell Memorial Fellowship
- Ross Steele AM Fellowship
- NSW Aboriginal Creative Fellowship
- Jean Arnot Memorial Fellowship
- Visiting scholars
- Artist in Residence
- Fellowship guidelines
- Fellowships FAQs
- Archived Fellowships and Residencies
- Legislation and policies
- Access to Special Collections Policy
- Ask a Librarian Service Guidelines
- COVID-19 Safety Plan
- Reader and Visitor Code of Conduct
- Complaint Handling Policy
- Incoming Loans Policy
- Information Security Policy
- Legislative Compliance Policy
- Outgoing Loans Policy
- Policy for the administration of gifts to the State Library of NSW Foundation
- Requests to Produce Documents: Subpoenas, Summons, Statutory notices and Orders
- Take-down requests
- Services
- Indigenous Engagement
- Aboriginal family history
- Rediscovering Indigenous Languages project
- Connecting with the community
- Events on Indigenous Australian culture and history
- Indigenous Spaces in Library Places
- Aboriginal historical collections
- About Indigenous services
- Reconnecting collections to communities
- Contact Indigenous Engagement at the Library
- Help us to collect Indigenous voices for the future
- Indigenous collecting
- Our Protocols
- Recent acquisitions of Indigenous material
- What we aim to collect
- Why collect Indigenous voices
- Indigenous Engagement
- Venue hire
- Access & Inclusion
- Our Media Partners
- Major Building Plan
- The Library Bar
- Annual Reports
- Collection care
- Guidelines for local government authorities
- Datavisualisation for local studies
- Reference and information services
- Guidelines to Section 12a
- Library user satisfaction survey
- Blogs
- Forms for public libraries
- Multicultural bulk loan request
Footer Menu
- Disclaimer
- Copyright
- Privacy
- Right to information
- What is Right to Information?
- Right to information: formal applications
- Right to information: internal review
- Right to information: external review
- Right to information: forms
- Right to information: Agency information guide
- Right to information: Disclosure log
- Right to information: policy documents
- Right to information: tabled documents
- Right to information: information not released
- Right to information: legislation
- Right to Information: External resources
- Right to information: Contracts register
- Right to Information Officer
- Service of a subpoena
- Website Accessibility
- Contact us
- Feedback
- Site map
Public Library Services
- About Public Library Services
- Advice and best practice
- Legislation
- Library Council Guidelines
- Public Libraries Consultative Committee
- Strategic Network Committee
- Library buildings and spaces
- Public library statistics
- Reference and collection management
- Research Projects
- Living Learning Libraries
- Digital collecting
- Strategy and planning
- FAMOUS - principles for delivery of external agency information
- Community and engagement
- Digital practice guidelines for public libraries
- Professional development and events
- Subsidies and grants
- Services
- Find Legal Answers for public libraries
- Drug Info for public libraries
- Multicultural services for public libraries
- NSW.net
- Indigenous spaces in library places
- Welcome Indigenous peoples into your library
- Support communities in your local area
- Share stories and build knowledge
- Include and support Indigenous employment
- Build vibrant collections and services
- Collaborate to share information on the Strategy
- Reach and spread the Indigenous spaces strategy across NSW
- About The Indigenous Spaces Strategy
- Share your stories
- Professional Development
- Download Resources
- Amplify: audio transcription tool
- indyreads
- Early language and literacy in NSW public libraries
- Keep up-to-date with public libraries
- Information for Working Groups
Find Legal Answers
- Find Legal Answers
- Accidents, compensation and insurance
- Cars and driving
- Consumers, business and media law
- Courts and the legal system
- Family, relationships and children
- Fines, debt and money
- Government and rights
- Health and ageing
- Legal information in community languages
- Neighbours, housing and the environment
- Police and crime
- Wills, estates and planning ahead
- Work and employment
- Books online
- Defend yourself: facing a charge in court
- How to run your own court case
- Neighbours and the law
- Rest assured: a legal guide to wills, estates, planning ahead and funerals in NSW
- Tenants' rights manual: a practical guide to renting in NSW
- The family law handbook
- The law handbook: your practical guide to the law in NSW
- Getting help
Drug Info
- Drugs
- A to Z of Drugs
- Analgesics
- Bath salts
- Benzodiazepines
- Betel nut
- Buprenorphine
- Caffeine
- Cannabis
- Cocaine
- Ecstasy
- Energy drinks
- GHB
- Hallucinogens
- Heroin
- Ice, speed & other methamphetamines
- Inhalants
- Kava
- Ketamine
- Khat
- LSD
- Natural hallucinogens
- Mephedrone
- Methadone
- NBOMes
- Naltrexone
- Oxycodone
- PMA
- Steroids
- Synthetic cannabis
- New and emerging psychoactive substances
- Tobacco
- Vaping
- Alcohol, tobacco and young people
- Discrimination against drug users
- Drug use, pregnancy and babies
- Drugs and the law
- Drugs in schools
- Drugs in sport
- Drugs, alcohol and the workplace
- Know your drug facts
- Mental health
- Polydrug use
- What are drugs?
- A to Z of Drugs
- Alcohol
- Getting help
News
Blogs
Podcasts