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

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Latest stories

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.  

Gabrielle Antolovich, CAMP Sex Lib Week Demo, Hyde Park, Sydney, NSW, July 1972, film still from footage shot by ABC.

Drawing to a close

by Sarah Morley

An artist followed in the inspiring footsteps of a botanist rescued from a tragic expedition in 1848. 

Backscratcher Ginger, drawing by Janet Hauser, 2017

The Art of the Title page

A title page has always told readers what the book is about, but sometimes with an artistic flourish.

Vlyssis Aldrovandi patricii Bononiensis Serpentum, et draconu[m] historiae libri duo, 1640, by Vlyssis Aldrovandi

A writer’s guide: POC edition

by Maryam Azam

Illustration by Amani Haydar

Featured

Eight days in Kamay

On 29 April 1770, the Gweagal people of Kamay (Botany Bay) discovered James Cook and his crew as they sailed into the bay and came ashore. The eight days that followed changed the course of Australia’s history. 250 years later the events of those eight days and their continuing impact are still being debated, contested, felt.

The Diary Files 

by Richard Neville

The Library’s online diary preserves everyday experiences of Australians during the pandemic. 

The Diary Files

The Gatherings Order 

by Elise Edmonds

A behind the scenes look at the new podcast series exploring the last great influenza pandemic in 1919.

Mr Archimedes Moves In

by Sarah Morley

The Library is the new home of award-winning children’s author and illustrator Pamela Allen’s extensive archive.

A man is sitting in a bath with a wombat, goat and kangaroo and the water is overflowing onto the floor