This year has been another busy one at the National Library. Before 2024 officially ends, let’s look back at some of the highlights.  

Building the collection 

We welcomed thousands of new items to the collection this year. Just a few of these include photographs of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, a rare map of the Sunda Strait from 1602, an early picture of an echidna, a letter from Mark Twain that included a draft poem about Australian wildlife and a diary containing accounts of watching an Indigenous Australian cricket team playing in England in the 1860s.  

In March, we began the Indian Diaspora in Australia Collecting Project, which will see the representation of Australians with Indian heritage in our collection grow significantly. The material we’ve gathered and commissioned for this project so far includes photographs, oral history interviews, community newsletters, newspapers, books and more.  

We’ve also been adding to our oral history collection with interviews capturing the experiences of Australians during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of these interviews are already available in our catalogue and can be listened to online, and more will be added in 2025.

Making our ever-growing collection more accessible was, as always, a priority in 2024. 

Explore what’s been digitised this year and can now be explored online through Trove.

Sharing stories 

This year, NLA Publishing has released a dozen new books for all ages and interests. Explore Australian regional towns in Our Streets, enjoy a summer day with some furry friends in Dog Beach, pick up a new skill with Vintage Crochet or read the original words of Margaret Tucker MBE in If Everyone Cared Enough.  

Additionally, the first two books of the Artists of the National Library of Australia series were released, focusing on two Australian icons: Harold Cazneaux and Ellis Rowan. Stay tuned in 2025 for the next books in this series.  

Highlights of the event calendar

The year has been full of exciting events taking place in the building, many of which were also streamed online. We had two instalments of our Deadly Dialogues series, the first being a conversation between Joe Williams and Alethea Beetson and the second between Karlie Noon and Celeste Carnegie. Other highlights from our event calendar included book launches from Jelena Dokic and Kasey Chambers, uncovering the Vortigern hoax with Dr Kate Flaherty and actors from Bell Shakespeare, and 15 lectures from our National Library Fellows.  

Find recordings of our past events

Uncovering family history  

During Family History Month in August, we celebrated with blogs to help you on your family history research journey, guiding you through using the Library’s family charts and answering common questions about discovering your ancestors’ migration journey. We also had a webinar on family history for beginners, the recording of which is available to watch online.  

Improvements onsite and online 

We’ve continued to make improvements to our heritage building, and broken ground on a significant expansion to the Hume Repository. The Treasures and Exhibition Galleries were among the areas worked on this year, reopening in July for our Hopes and Fears: Australian Migration Stories exhibition.  

See more about building activities that may impact collection access

On 10 December, a new corporate website was released with new features and an enhanced look and feel. Amongst the improvements are new options to explore collections and find what matters most to you. The new look and feel was also carried across to the Catalogue, Bookshop and, eResources. 

Looking forward to 2025 

2025 is sure to be just as busy and exciting as 2024, and we’re looking forward to seeing more stories from the collection come to life.