What's On
Historian Michelle Arrow comes to the Library to talk about her new book examining how the personal became political in the decade that created contemporary Australia.
Thinking out Loud - Strangers in Europa: Migrants, Terrorists, Refugees
Thinking out Loud: Strangers in Europa (Full Series)
A growing extremism relies on an idealized figure of “Europa.” Its spread around the world is highlighted by acts of violence such as in Christchurch. At its core is the fear of a growing migrant population, especially Muslim. In this timely series of lectures Aamir R. Mufti takes long-view perspective in which Europe’s past is inescapably conjoined to the present.
Paul Brunton: Lecture 2 - The Thrill of the Chase
Learn about the fascinating stories behind the great State Library of NSW collections.
Paul Brunton: Lecture 3 - The Thrill of the Chase
Learn about the fascinating stories behind the great State Library of NSW collections.
Professor Grace Karskens was awarded a Coral Thomas Fellowship for a project based on an extraordinary document in the Library’s collection: the Reverend John McGarvie’s 1829 ‘Native Names of Places on the Hawkesbury’. Working with a team of Aboriginal researchers, artists, teachers and knowledge holders, as well as archaeologists, linguists and local experts, Grace has mapped most of the over 170 place names on McGarvie’s list.
Join us for the launch of Rare Book week. Professor Stuart Kells will explore the search for Shakespearean books, including volumes from Shakespeare’s own library, as a window into the mindset of bibliophiles and bibliomaniacs. Informed by examples from the State Library’s own collections, the talk will also shed light on how Shakespeare has been collected and appreciated in the New World.
A session dedicated to the long-term preservation of books and paper-based collections.
Presented by Emeritus Professor Robert Clancy AM. Robert Clancy has been an avid map collector for over 40 years, from $20 tourist maps to rare charts of exploration. Each map in his collection has a story attached - whether it be the first selection he bought in London or the Matthew Flinders atlas he bought in 1978.
Learn about what it takes to produce a prize-winning work and find out what sorts of books being published today will become the rare books of tomorrow.
Printmaker, bookbinder and book collector Monica Oppen, owns the largest private collection of books by artists in Australia. Monica will discuss how the collection grew to contain over 1700 books.
Join us for a festive show-and-tell to discover how Christmas has been celebrated in Australia.