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What's on

Explore our events, exhibitions, workshops and talks.

In the spotlight

Large, colourful, immersive, inflatable artwork with people wandering through
Enlighten 2025: The Guardians
28 Feb - 10 Mar 2025

As part of the Enlighten Festival, the Library welcomed 'The Guardians' to our podium area, from opening night on 28 February.

Event
Enlighten
For kids and families
Past event
Grey background with white text reading 'Fit to Print: Defining Moments from the Fairfax Archive' and a black and white photo of two men working on a large ship propeller
Fit to Print: Defining Moments from the Fairfax Photo Archive selected by Mike Bowers
27 Feb - 20 Jul 2025

Explore the art of photojournalism with highlights from the Fairfax Photo Archive selected by renowned Australian photojournalist Mike Bowers.

Exhibition
Assistance animals icon Assistance animals icon
Assistance animals welcome
Wheelchair icon Wheelchair icon
Wheelchair accessible
Orange and black stylised image of a house
The Australian Dream? with Tim Ross
04 Apr 2025

Hear Tim Ross discuss the telling images he uncovered from public libraries that reveal a multi-decade story of Australian homes and home ownership.

Event
Talks and ideas

Exhibitions

Grey background with white text reading 'Fit to Print: Defining Moments from the Fairfax Archive' and a black and white photo of two men working on a large ship propeller
Fit to Print: Defining Moments from the Fairfax Photo Archive selected by Mike Bowers
27 Feb - 20 Jul 2025

Explore the art of photojournalism with highlights from the Fairfax Photo Archive selected by renowned Australian photojournalist Mike Bowers.

Exhibition
Exhibition Gallery
Assistance animals icon Assistance animals icon
Assistance animals welcome
Wheelchair icon Wheelchair icon
Wheelchair accessible
Title page of a landscape oriented printed book: ornate engraving featuring musical performers. Scene is framed by theatre curtains.

James Hook, Guida di Musica: Being a Complete Book of Instructions for Beginners on the Harpsichord or Piano Forte, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn8650184

The Excellencies of Musick: Highlights from the Jamie and Michael Kassler Collection
03 Dec 2024 - 17 Aug 2025

Enter the musical world of seventeenth and early nineteenth century Britain with rare prints, books and manuscripts.

Exhibition
Treasures Gallery
Assistance animals icon Assistance animals icon
Assistance animals welcome
Wheelchair icon Wheelchair icon
Wheelchair accessible
Anticlockwise from the bottom right hand corner: two people sitting on a bench in a gallery, looking at the Mabo wall displays. One person is standing up looking at a framed poster. Another person is standing at the back of the gallery space looking at botanical artworks. Another person is blurred as they walk through the space.
Treasures Gallery
Daily

The Treasures Gallery showcases the extraordinary holdings of the National Library of Australia.

Exhibition
Treasures Gallery
Assistance animals icon Assistance animals icon
Assistance animals welcome
Wheelchair icon Wheelchair icon
Wheelchair accessible
View all exhibitions

Events

Black and white photograph of playwright Millicent Armstrong and two horses. On the bottom left corner a purple circle with white text reading 'Friends Event' has been photoshopped on.

Millicent Armstrong with horses at her Gunning property, courtesy Lucy Knight.

Discovering Millicent Armstrong with Dianna Nixon
19 Mar 2025

Join the Friends of the National Library and Dianna Nixon as she shares with us her 9 year journey uncovering the life and work of the playwright, Millicent Armstrong.

Event
Friends of the Library event
Talks and ideas
Dirt road cutting through forest of dark, leafless trees

Sean Davey, Aftermath of a large bushfire that swept through forest area along Yowrie Road, Yowrie, New South Wales, 31 December 2019, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2428728997

Remembering the Fires: How one community has recorded their memories
29 Mar 2025

Join us for a special event that will explore some of the ways in which southern NSW community members have told and preserved their bushfire stories.

Event
Film screening
Talks and ideas
Panel discussion
An adult and child reading a book with a dog sitting between them.
Story Dogs on Sunday - March 2025
30 Mar 2025

Join us for a paw-sitive reading experience with the  Story Dogs program.

Event
Books and authors
Storytime
For kids and families
View all events

Explore more

Volunteer Library tour guide smiling and greeting a tour group, made up of people of various ages, in the foyer.
Library tours
Orange, brown and white painting hung in the main reading room

Minnie Lumai (b. 1940), Yab-yab-gnerni-gnim (Sugarbag Dreaming), 2009, natural ochre on canvas ; 130 x 125 cm, Main Reading Room.

Artworks in and around the building
Two young women having morning tea at the Bookplate cafe

Bookplate cafe

Cafes
Woman browsing books on display at the Library's Bookshop
Bookshop
People reading and talking in a large, sunny room at tables, desks and computer stations

Main Reading Room

Reading rooms

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