About Us

The State Library of New South Wales traces its origins to 1826, with the opening of the Australian Subion Library. In 1869, the NSW Government took over responsibility for the Library and created a free public library, the Sydney Free Public Library. In 1895, the name was altered to the Public Library of New South Wales and the Library became the State Library of New South Wales in 1975. Number of items in the Collection: Over 4.7 million items (including monographs, pictures, posters, ephemera, sheet music, talking books, maps, CDROMs, newspapers, microfilm and fiche, films and videos, computer software, kits, sound recordings, photographs, objects, architectural plans, coins and postage stamps. Significant Items in the Collection: Original accounts of the voyages of the great explorers Abel Tasman, James Cook, Bass and Flinders, and William Bligh including 9 of the 11 known journals of the First Fleet. Paintings and sketchbooks by great colonial artists John Glover, Conrad Martens, Eugene von Guerard, Tom Roberts Literary papers of famous authors Patrick White, Elizabeth Jolley, James McAuley, Miles Franklin Plans and Designs by leading architects J