Browsing and reading the National Library of Australia’s collection is the main reason to visit this large reference library. Whether you’re looking for early accounts of colonial explorers or material on Aboriginal folklore, you can get help finding it and then sit down to read it in the Main Reading Room. The library also provides daily tours and hosts exhibitions in the Treasures Gallery that shine light on Australia’s culture and history.
To gain access to the library’s collection, you first need to get a library card (for Australian residents) or a temporary card (for overseas visitors).
Amenities at the National Library of Australia include a café, bookshop, self-service lockers, and free access to computers and Wi-Fi.
The library has ramp access on the building’s south side and automatic doors or open doorways throughout. The reading rooms are fitted with wheelchair-accessible desks.
Deliveries from collection storage are not available in the evening or on weekends, but you can order material in advance for the daytime.
The National Library of Australia is a short walk from other popular attractions in the suburb of Parkes, including the High Court of Australia and National Portrait Gallery. Visitors can take the Nos. 2 or 6 bus from the City Interchange in the city center to the King Edward Terrace bus stop or drive to the library and park in the parking lot directly outside the building.
When you visit the National Library of Australia will depend on whether you need staff assistance. If you have questions or need items retrieved from storage, visit on a weekday in the morning or afternoon. Otherwise, you’ll find that the library and its reading rooms are often quieter over the weekend.
The National Library of Australia hosts temporary exhibitions, but the central exhibition of the library is the Treasures Gallery. While some items in the Treasures Gallery get rotated out periodically, the gallery also has permanent highlights. One is the journal of Captain Cook from his time aboard the HMS Endeavour, upon which the navigator reached the east coast of Australia in 1770.
