What we collect
Overview
We are responsible under the terms of the National Library Act for maintaining and developing a national collection of library material, including a comprehensive collection of library material relating to Australia and the Australian people.
The Library's collections of Australiana have developed into the nation's single most important resource of materials recording the Australian cultural heritage. The Library collects Australian materials of all kinds - not just works in print form - books, serials, newspapers, maps, music and ephemera - but also online publications and unpublished material such as manuscripts, pictures and oral histories. The Library has particular collection strengths in the performing arts, including dance.
The Library also has considerable collections of general overseas and rare book materials, as well as world-class Asian and Pacific collections which augment the Australiana collections.
The print collections are augmented by extensive microform holdings.
The Library maintains the National Reserve Braille Collection and owns the National Film & Video Lending Collection which is managed for the Library by National Film and Sound Archive .
In total, over 5 million items are held. Collection statistics detail the extent of the Library's holdings by type of material and the growth of the collection over time.
The Library's Collection Development Policy outlines the scope and nature of the collecting of both Australian and overseas materials.
'A History of the National Library Collections' prepared in 1981 by C. A. Burmester, formerly Assistant National Librarian, outlines the development of the Library's diverse collections from its foundation as the Commonwealth Parliamentary Library in 1901 to 1980. Burmester's magisterial essay draws particular attention to the strengths in some of the Library's major formed collections; his four volume Guide to the Collections 1974-1982 (only available in print form) still provides a useful overview of many aspects of the collection.
See Treasures from the National Library for a small sample of the wealth and diversity of material held in the collection