Visitor guide | National Library of Australia (NLA)

Visitor guide

Find everything you need to know before your visit to the Library.

Plan

Man and woman in casual wear holding hands and laughing as they walk up the stairs towards the National Library entrance
Opening hours

Find opening hours for the building, cafes, shop, reading rooms and more.

Library services
View of the Library building, carparks and nearby buildings and roads seen from a drone
Getting here

The Library is located on Parkes Place in the central Canberra suburb of Parkes in the Parliamentary Triangle.

Information article
Man and woman smiling as they are being greeted and having questions answered at the front information desk in the Library foyer
Start researching

Before you begin your research at the National Library it is important to be prepared.

People in the Main Reading Room at the Library
Facilities for visitors

Facilities and access

Library services

Explore the building

Orange, brown and white painting hung in the main reading room

Minnie Lumai (b. 1940), Yab-yab-gnerni-gnim (Sugarbag Dreaming), 2009, natural ochre on canvas ; 130 x 125 cm, Main Reading Room.

Two young women having morning tea at the Bookplate cafe

Bookplate cafe

Information for families

Read

Share the joy of reading with children. We have a small selection of children’s books in the Main Reading Room—our friendly reading room staff can point you in the right direction. If you’re looking for books to take home, our bookshop has a range of books for everyone.

Discover

Our exhibitions often include family labels to help children enjoy their visit. Here are some tips:

  • Let children take the lead
  • If they're interested in something, ask questions! How does it make them feel? How do they think it was created? What can we learn from it?
  • If children are still struggling, try playing i-spy.

Learn

Our onsite and online programs offer lifelong learning opportunities, from Library tours to using specific resources and discovering our collection. Our Australian curriculum–based school programs use exhibitions, collections and reading rooms as a springboard for students to find out more about Australian history and culture. Delve into our online Digital Classroom to find resources by year level.

Four framed pictures hanging on a wall that has an image of an island on it.
Mabo v Queensland (No. 2): 30th Anniversary
Daily

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Mabo decision, the Library invited Gail Mabo, Eddie’s daughter, to select material for display to mark this landmark moment in Australian legal history.

Exhibition
First Australians
Treasures Gallery
Assistance animals icon Assistance animals icon
Assistance animals welcome
Wheelchair icon Wheelchair icon
Wheelchair accessible
Parents and child smiling and talking in the Library's Treasures Gallery
Treasures Gallery
Daily

The Treasures Gallery showcases the extraordinary holdings of the National Library of Australia.

Exhibition
Treasures Gallery
Assistance animals icon Assistance animals icon
Assistance animals welcome
Wheelchair icon Wheelchair icon
Wheelchair accessible
Title page of a landscape oriented printed book: ornate engraving featuring musical performers. Scene is framed by theatre curtains.

James Hook, Guida di Musica: Being a Complete Book of Instructions for Beginners on the Harpsichord or Piano Forte, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn8650184

The Excellencies of Musick: Highlights from the Jamie and Michael Kassler Collection
03 Dec 2024 - 17 Aug 2025

Enter the musical world of seventeenth and early nineteenth century Britain with rare prints, books and manuscripts.

Exhibition
Treasures Gallery
Assistance animals icon Assistance animals icon
Assistance animals welcome
Wheelchair icon Wheelchair icon
Wheelchair accessible

Get in touch

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