Over 6000 books, pamphlets and journals mainly related to Australian history and politics, as well as personal papers and a significant number of British and American imprints.

Papers, photographs, ephemera, books and journals from Europe, Asia, America and Australia ranging from 1850-1950 collected by Eric Keast Burke.

Topic

The history of dance performance in Australia, as with all the performing arts, precedes the arrival of settlers from other nations.

The microfilm collection includes 78 manuscripts copied by the South Pacific Commission, created by missionaries, anthropologists, and linguists between 1900 and 1956. 

Hear from Dr Jo Langdon about her research and experience as a 2024 Creative Arts Fellow.

Strut down the catwalk of Australian fashion history with the Library’s collection.

Topic 

Professor Megan Davis is a leading Indigenous Australian whose work influences law and Indigenous policy in Australia, particularly advancing constitutional reform and recognition for Indigenous Australians.

Dr Kate Flaherty, senior Lecturer in English and Drama at ANU, and actors from Bell Shakespeare uncovered one of the most amusing and successful literary hoaxes of all time.

Award-winning author Christos Tsiolkas delivered the 2025 Ray Mathew Lecture, exploring the idea of 'Fence-sitting', and its place in the modern world.

Special guests held a conversation about their own stories around migration, and how our country can best recognise the extraordinary contribution of migrants to contemporary Australia.