News & Media

Dr Lowitja O'Donoghue sitting in an armchair and smiling

Dr Lowitja O'Donoghue, image by Leanna King, courtesy of the Lowitja Institute

Speeches of Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue now available online

04 Feb 2025

The Library has recently digitised the speeches of Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue AC CBE DSG.

News

Old book open to page reading 'As You Like It: A comedy'

Nicholas Rowe (editor), The Works of Mr. William Shakespear, 6 volumes, volume 2, London: Printed for Jacob Tonson, 1709–1710, David Nichol Smith Collection, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn1355760

Shakespeare in the Library’s rare books collections

21 Apr 2023

Celebrate William Shakespeare's birthday with Shakespearean gems from the National Library's rare books collections.

Blog

Close-up of hands typing on a black computer keyboard

Services unavailable from 8am on 10 February to after midday on 11 February (AEDT)

14 Dec 2023

Online services will be temporarily unavailable while we undertake planned maintenance.

News

Two women standing behind a trolley with books on it in the Library stacks.

2022 Asia Study Grants recipients Ms Younghye Whitney and Dr Mei-Fen Kuo.

Scholarships and Grants 2024: See your research come together

01 May 2023

Researchers, academics and creatives are encouraged to apply for 6 philanthropically funded scholarships and 5 grants which open for applications on Monday 1 May 2023.

Media release

Two men and a woman leaning on the glass railing on the National Library podium and smiling

2024 National Library of Australia Scholars Tandee Wang, Jacinta Mackay, & Scott McCarthy

Scholarships 2026: Explore, question, discover and share

28 Apr 2025

Applications for 2026 National Library of Australia Scholarships open on 28 April 2025.

Media release

Four illustrations of a man demonstrating the different stages of executing a swimming stroke.

Podporuchik Pokrovskiĭ, Samouchitel sportivnago plavanii︠a︡: sostavleno po novieiǐshim ni︠e︡metskim rukovodstvam I. V. Mang i E. Raush i dopolneno avtorom [detail], 1913, nla.obj-3264329400

Russian lessons on 'Australian' swimming

05 Dec 2023

A 1913 Russian brochure on teaching the 'Australian method' of swimming has recently been added to our collection.

News

Smiling woman with short black hair and a fringe sitting at a table where several black and white photos of a woman are spread out

Researching a biography of scriptwriter and playwright Eleanor Witcombe

24 Jun 2024

Learn about the fascinating career of Eleanor Witcombe with 2023 National Library Fellow and biographer Eleanor Hogan.

Blog

Two people at the bottom of Mount Townsend with flowers on the ground and rocks up the mountain

Frank Hurley, Mt Townshend with flowers in foreground [Kosciuszko, New South Wales], 1910, nla.obj-159969111

Researching 'Townsend of the Ranges'

03 Oct 2024

Hear from Peter Crowley about his research for his debut book about surveyor Thomas Scott Townsend.

Blog

Title page of the Margarita Philosophica (1517)

Reisch’s Margarita Philosophica (1517)

14 Jun 2023

The Margarita Philosophica (Pearl of Philosophy) (1517) of German Carthusian monk and prior Gregor Reisch (c. 1467-1525).

Blog

Text from an old newspaper that reads 'The United States Governed by Six Hundred Thousand Despots. A True Story of Slavery, Showing That Brutality is inseparable from Slavery, That the Constitution of the United States of America is the Bulwark of American Slavery, That the only hope of abolition of Slavery is in separation from the Union. By a Fugitive Slave.'

THE UNITED STATES GOVERNED BY SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND DESPOTS., Empire (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1875), 25 April 1855, nla.gov.au/nla.news-article60178733

Rediscovering the firsthand account of a fugitive slave

13 Nov 2024

Find out how a powerful newspaper article written in 1855 by a fugitive slave was re-published into a book and added to our collection.

News

A laptop sitting on a desk with a stylised purple book on the screen.

Redeveloped Catalogue

13 Jul 2023

The redeveloped Catalogue is now live.

News

The Library: A Fragile History by Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduw

09 Feb 2023

Explore these book recommendations from the National Library staff to help library lovers of all ages get in the Library Lovers’ Day spirit!

Blog

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