Due to major building activity at the Library you may hear some intermittent construction noise during your visit. We apologise for the inconvenience and we are grateful for your understanding. Some of our collection is also temporarily unavailable. This means we may not be able to fulfil some requests for deliveries of Library items to the Reading Rooms. This includes the Pictures Collections - Hanging Art Works (until September 2024) and Asian Collections – general books and serials (until June 2025). Please check the catalogue carefully to find out if your selection is impacted. Learn more about these temporary changes.

Special Collections Reading Room

The Special Collections Reading Room has been temporarily relocated to Lower Ground 1. This Reading Room is a dedicated space set aside for those readers who are wishing to view and research material from the Library's special collections.  These collections include photographs, artworks, manuscripts, maps, oral history recordings, sheet music, ephemera and rare printed material from both Australia and overseas.

Access to all other collection material, including books, journals, magazines, newspapers and microform is made available to readers in the Main Reading Room. 

Staff of the Special Collections Reading Room can advise you on:

  • Use of special collections for your research.
  • Care and handling requirements for various formats of material.
  • Any special permissions required to access or copy special collections for your research or publication.
  • Use of audio equipment to listen to our Oral History and Folklore collections. 

To make the most of your research time, read our tips in the Using the Special Collections Reading Room guide. In particular, be aware that: 

  • Special collection material is delivered to the Special Collections Reading Room three times per weekday only: there are no collection deliveries after 5pm on weeknights, Monday-Thursday or on weekends.  Check our collection delivery times before you visit.
  • Items are kept on reserve for 7 days from date of request. Items with special storage conditions are held for 1 day only. 
  • For the next 12 months we will be operating with reduced space, which may impact deliveries of large amounts of material and our capacity to accommodate researchers. 
  • The reading room is closed on Sundays. For Special Collection Reading Room opening hours see our opening hours page.

For the security of our special collections, bags cannot be brought into the Special Collections Reading Room. These, as well as coats, umbrellas and other large objects can be stored in our free self-service lockers on Lower Ground 1. 

Food and drink is not allowed, including bottled water.  This is in line with our policy on Food and drink in public areas.  

The Petherick Reading Room is co-located within the Special Collections Reading Room and provides a dedicated space for registered advanced researchers.

For further advice and assistance on using our special collections AskaLibrarian. 

The National Library of Australia acknowledges Australia’s First Nations Peoples – the First Australians – as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of this land and gives respect to the Elders – past and present – and through them to all Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Cultural Notification

Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that this website contains a range of material which may be considered culturally sensitive including the records of people who have passed away.

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