State Library of New South Wales, Research library in Sydney Central Business District, Australia
State Library of New South Wales is a research library and museum in Sydney with more than six million items, including books, manuscripts, maps, and historical photographs. The building extends across several wings, each offering different collections and reading areas for researchers and visitors.
The library was founded in 1869 when the New South Wales Government purchased the Australian Subscription Library, making it one of Australia's first public libraries. Over the decades, the collection grew substantially through donations of major private archives and estates.
The library's Australiana collections are named after their donors: the Mitchell Library for David Scott Mitchell, whose 1898 bequest of his collection to the people of New South Wales prompted the building of the Mitchell Wing, and the Dixson Library for Sir William Dixson. Dixson also gave the bronze entrance doors, decorated with scenes of Aboriginal Australians and European explorers.
The library offers free access to reading rooms and digital resources, while New South Wales residents with a library card can also use lending services. Most areas are wheelchair accessible, and staff are available to assist with research inquiries.
The library holds ten of the fifteen known First Fleet journals, the most comprehensive such collection in the world. It also keeps two of the three surviving copies of the New South Wales General Standing Orders, the first book printed in Australia.
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