National Library of Australia, National library in Canberra, Australia.
The National Library of Australia in Parkes, Canberra, is a long rectangular building completed in 1968 and designed by Bunning and Madden in the Late Twentieth Century Stripped Classical style. Its facade is divided by tall light-beige stone pillars into seven bays, with pale grooved stone panels and dark vertical glass strips between them. Three dark cast-metal reliefs sit above the glass entrance doors, reached by a wide flight of light stone steps with metal handrails.
The institution grew out of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Library, which began its work with the founding of the federation in 1901. The National Library Act of 1960 granted it the current status, and it later moved into the present building.
The name reflects the role of holding the country's documentary memory and making it available to everyone. Visitors often enter the reading rooms with high ceilings and long tables, where researchers and students work among shelves and catalogs.
Reading rooms and collections are open on weekdays from 8:30 to 17:00 and on weekends from 9:00 to 17:00. Some areas require registration, so it helps to check access conditions beforehand.
The institution operates Trove, a digital platform linking millions of records and documents from numerous institutions across the country. Users can browse historical newspapers, photographs, and archives from home.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 93,384 contributors worldwide.
