About us | National Library of Australia (NLA)

About us

With a focus on national collaboration and cultural preservation, we support learning, creativity, and intellectual exploration to enrich Australia’s diverse heritage.

Who we are

The National Library is one of several agencies within the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts portfolio.

What we do

The Library’s role, as defined by the National Library Act 1960, is to ensure that documentary resources of national significance relating to Australia and the Australian people, as well as significant non-Australian library materials, are collected, preserved and made accessible either through the Library itself or through collaborative arrangements with other libraries and information providers.

The National Library of Australia building at dusk, lit up with colourful projections.

The Library building lit up during Enlighten Festival 2023

Several people in the Parliamentary Reading Room. One man is looking down at documents on a round table.

Commonwealth Parliamentary Library Reading Room, 1956

Map of the National Library's research and Information  inquiries reach for 2024-25, with the dots of varying sizes indicating number of inquiries from an area. The dots are spread throughout the country, most concentrated along the east coast and in capital cities

Research and Information inquiries reach 2024-25

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