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We're open on the King's Birthday public holiday, Monday 12 June 2023. View the public holiday opening hours.

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What’s got us talking

Join us for Family Sunday on 18 June

Photo of a mother and her daughter in a children's book exhibition

Explore our Pride Month events

People in the Pride Revolution exhibition

Apply for a paid research fellowship

Card catalogue with the card for 'Fellowships' visible

Visit the Shakespeare Room

Collection buzz

Take 5 stargazers

Shining a light on five celestial favourites from the collection.

Cross staff engraving by Joseph Moxon, 1686

Stars in the stacks

A rare books specialist finds that the Library holds surprises beyond the natural history books and Australiana for which its collection is renowned.

Ethel Turner gets personal

A new acquisition reveals the personal and professional lives of one of Australia’s best-known authors.

a collection of items from the Ethel Turner collection including a notepad and a photograph

The Flying Pieman of Sydney, en pointe

Anna Corkhill writes about rediscovering costume drawings for a ballet that never was.

A capital idea

Decorated initials — artworks in themselves — have a long history.

Featured events

History skills: Evaluating sources

Wednesday
Wed 7 Jun 2023
Free
Virtual excursion

Learn how to think like a historian in this skills-focused virtual excursion. 

Paintings on blue wall

‘Reading’ pictures - visual literacy skills

Friday
Fri 9 Jun 2023
Free
Virtual excursion

Put the ‘creative’ back into creative writing — turn a blank piece of paper into a map of your own magical land! 

Picture books lying on top of one another

Sally Young: Media Monsters

Wednesday
Wed 14 Jun 2023
Talk

Sally Young discusses her newly released book, Media Monsters: The Transformation of Australia’s Newspaper Empires, with Mela

Author headshot of Sally Young
Onsite

Send for Nellie

Thursday
Thu 15 Jun 2023
Special event

A celebration of Nellie Small – singer, entertainer and cross-dresser extraordinaire, highlighting the lived experiences of women of colour.

A black and white image of a woman holding a cigarette and smiling widely, looking out of frame.
Onsite