The Main Reading Room houses a collection of sculptures and paintings inspired by Indigenous stories of the Australian landscape.

The Special Collections Reading Room houses art relating to Australian history and culture in the post-colonial era, focusing on modern Australian people and places.

View historical maps overlaid on a modern map.

The Library aims to collect all of our stories so Australians can understand our past, present and place in the world.

If you own a valuable or significant cultural work such as a painting, or a manuscript or a collection of photographs, and would like to donate them, we’d love to hear from you. Artworks, manuscripts, and collections of photographs all help to tell the history of Australia.

Who you need permission from

The Library maintains a small but significant collection of Khmer language materials; it consists of publications mainly from Cambodia, plus some from the Cambodian-Australian community in Australia.

The Library maintains a small but significant collection of Lao language materials.

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

Copyright law applies to Indigenous works in the same way as it applies to other works, however there may be additional legal and cultural issues.