What we collect

Australia has many stories.

The Library aims to collect all of our stories so Australians can understand our past, present and place in the world, and holds the largest collection in the world of material about Australia and the Australian people.

By bringing together our stories, we can build a rich and vibrant resource that lets current and future generations know who we are.

What we collect is directed by our collection development policy and collecting strategy. Our collecting is focused on Australia through:

  • Legal deposit
  • Selectively collecting Australian works
  • Commissioning photographs of key events or producing selected oral histories
  • Selectively collecting items from overseas

Legal deposit

Legal deposit makes up the core of our collection. Legal deposit is required under the Copyright Act (1968).  It's how we have a comprehensive collection telling the stories of Australia and its people for present and future generations. Anything that is published or self-published in Australia has to be deposited to the Library.

What kinds of things does the Library collect?

The Library collects a wide variety of formats including:

  • Books
  • Serials
  • Sheet music
  • Pictures
  • Manuscripts 
  • Magazines
  • Journals
  • Oral histories
  • Maps
  • Ephemera

What we look for

The Library collects material that is of national significance. We selectively acquire a wide range of unique materials documenting the lives and activities of Australian people, places and events that have shaped society.

What is national significance?

National significance can be difficult to explain.  An item of national significance should tell us something about the wider Australian story. For instance: Australian historical patterns, social trends, changes or movements. What is considered nationally significant may change over time. We become aware of topics that may have not received the recognition they deserve within Australian culture and history. 

Examples of material that has national significance might include:

  • A major event that had an impact on Australia (for example, the Freedom Rides or the Gold Rush).
  • An item that tells us about a broader social experience (for example, a photograph of people wearing masks during the influenza epidemic that devastated Australia after the First World War).
  • An item that portrays a person or people known by the whole country (for example a photograph of the Australian Olympians from 1932).

National significance is not always easy to determine. A good rule of thumb is to ask 'will this item mean something to people in all parts of the country?'

What are we looking for right now?

Our collecting priorities change.

See what we are currently looking for

Learn more about our collections

Regions

Japanese portrait of a women reading

Bijin Shinobazunoike o nozomu, Beauty looking at Shinobazu Pond (1895), nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn5744665

Asian collections

The Asian language collections cover a broad range of formats and focus on contemporary Asia from the 19th century onwards 

Information article
A group of men performing a traditional dance

Terence & Margaret Spencer, Independence Day Celebration (15) Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, 1975, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-145645567

Pacific collections

The National Library holds a rich and diverse range of library materials on the Pacific region, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.

Information article

Formats

Screenshot of an old website with a blue colour scheme, open to a page with information about the 2000 Paralympics with an image of an athlete running

Official site of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, captured in the Australian Web Archive, 3 October 2000 (view online)

Australian Web Archive

Just as a regular library gathers together books and manuscripts, the Australian Web Archive (AWA) collects online publications.

Information article
Six women ballet dancers standing in a line

Greg Power & National Library of Australia, Annabel Knight, Juliette Barton and dancers during dress rehearsal for Sid's Waltzing Masquerade by Aszure Barton, Sydney Dance Company, The Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre, 1 September 2009, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-132043442

Dance collection

Our dance collection contains portraits, manuscripts, oral history interviews, photographs, music scores, personal papers, theatre programs and memorabilia.

Information article
Illustrated cover featuring an angelic figure beside the map of Australia for the programme of celebrations marking the opening of the first Parliament, May 1901

Norman Lindsay & John Longstaff, Official programme of functions and displays to celebrate the opening of the first Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia by His Royal Highness the Duke of Cornwall and York, at Melbourne, 1901, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-226142741

Ephemera

The National Library has been selectively collecting Australian printed ephemera since the early 1960s so we can tell the story of Australian life, culture, and major events and issues.

Information article
This image shows two handwritten journal pages: the left features structured, titled entries, while the right is filled with continuous cursive text, densely covering the page in a narrative style.

James Cook, Excerpt from Captain James Cook's Journal of the H.M.S. Endeavour, Friday, 23rd March, 1770, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2354391495

Manuscripts collection

Our Manuscripts collections are wide ranging and provide rich evidence of the lives and activities of Australians who have shaped our society.

Information article
Globe of the world, surrounded with rings depicting the 'horizon' and signs of zodiac

J. van. Loon & Andreas Cellarius, Sitvs terrae circvlis coelestibvs circvndatae, 1660, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-230714394

Maps collection

Our Maps collection includes around 1 million maps, from early European charts to current mapping of Australia, in print and digital form.

Information article
Paolo Giorza's 1879 Exhibition album for piano.

Paolo Giorza's 1879 Exhibition album for piano, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-165951572

Music collection

The music collection contains over 300,000 musical scores and the largest collection of music research resources in Australia.

Information article
Arrival of the first newspapers to go by air to Normanton

Arrival of the first newspapers to go by air to Normanton, aircraft was a Perseus, a DH 50 built by Qantas at Longreach, 1 July 1927, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-144684965

Newspaper collections

Our newspaper collections include digitised historic and modern newspapers accessible online, as well as newspapers in microform and paper formats.

Information article
Black and white photo of Smoky and Dot Dawson sitting and smiling at the camera

Damian McDonald, Portrait of Smoky and Dot Dawson at the National Library, 2000, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-136550848

Oral history and folklore collection

The Library’s Oral History and Folklore Collection dates back to the 1950’s and includes a rich and diverse collection of interviews and recordings with Australians from all walks of life.

Information article
Painting of chrysanthemums

Ellis Rowan, Chrysanthemums, ca. 1890, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-138089294

Australian artist Ellis Rowan primarily worked in watercolour and gouache, and is best known for painting Australian native flowers. She caused a stir at the 1888–89 Centennial International Exhibition in Melbourne when her painting Chrysanthemums won First Order of Merit and Gold Medal. This similar painting, depicting the same type of flower, is a more recent addition to the Library's vast Rowan Collection, the bulk of which was acquired for the nation for £5,000 in 1923.

Pictures collection

Our rich and varied Pictures collection focuses on Australian people, places and events, from early European exploration of the South Pacific to contemporary events.

Information article
Page published: 05 Jul 2022

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