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The Library is open over the October long weekend, with reduced hours on Monday 2 October 2023. View the long weekend opening hours here.

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

You say you want a referendum

by Andrew Trigg

Andrew Trigg explores the Library's referenda-related ephemera.

Poster with picture of parrot and text saying 'Don't be taken in by Parrot cries vote No'

40 boxes

by Inez Baranay

Inez Baranay reflects on her complicated biographical subject, Sasha Soldatow.

Sasha Soldatow with a party hat holding a cigarette and smiling at the camera

A second home

by Omar Sakr

The libraries that made me.

Portrait of Omar Sakr sitting in Casula Library

The Clift edge

by Caroline Baum

Caroline Baum thinks about writer Charmian Clift’s legacy on the centenary of her birth.

Black and white photograph of Charmian Clift running up the beach.

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.