Behind the scenes

In 2015 the Library began sharing some of its digitised collections on Google’s Cultural Institute. 

The Library celebrates International Women's Day by honouring the legacy of female Librarians.

A compelling portrait of a young colonial woman has been given new life. 

Winner of the 2017 Jean Arnot Memorial Fellowship essay by Kristin Twomey on the importance of libraries as information, educational, cultural and social institutions assisting to build local communities. 

Between 1826 and 1869 the Australian Subscription Library was reshaped into a Free Public Library.

In 25 years at the State Library, our Curator of Photographs has seen four people cry.

A major exhibition opening in July at the Library will celebrate UNESCO’s International Year of Indigenous Languages.

While the Nazis had conquered Western Europe in 1940 and threatened Britain’s very existence, the State Library had continued on much as it had before the war.

In 2019, we celebrate the 150th anniversary of a vital public institution.

For over 50 years, the site next to the New South Wales Parliament on Macquarie Street was occupied by one of the Colony's more unusual pieces of architecture.