National Library of Australia

National Library of Australia
Map
35°17′47″S 149°07′46″E / 35.29639°S 149.12944°E / -35.29639; 149.12944
LocationCanberra, Australian Capital Territory
TypeReference library
ScopeCommonwealth of Australia
Established23 March 1961 (1961-03-23)
Reference to legal mandateNational Library Act 1960
Collection
Items collected
  • Books
  • magazines
  • pictures
  • photographs
  • maps
  • sheet music
  • manuscripts
  • websites
Size6.93 million items
Criteria for collectionPublications made available to the Australian public
Legal depositDigital and hard-copy Australian published materials
Other information
BudgetA$57,800,000 (2015–16)
DirectorMarie-Louise Ayres
Employees400 (2016)
Websitewww.nla.gov.au Edit this at Wikidata
Building details
National Library of Australia as viewed from Lake Burley Griffin, Canberra
Map
General information
StatusCompleted
Architectural styleLate Twentieth Century Stripped Classical
AddressParkes Place and King Edward Terrace, Parkes, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory
CountryAustralia
Construction started1961
Inaugurated15 August 1968 (1968-08-15) by Prime Minister John Gorton
CostA$8 million (1968)
Technical details
MaterialMarble, granite, bronze, slate, trachyte, and copper
Design and construction
Architect(s)Walter Bunning
Architecture firmBunning and Madden
Other designers
Official nameNational Library of Australia and Surrounds, Parkes Pl, Parkes, ACT, Australia
TypeListed place
CriteriaA., D., E., F., G., H.
Designated22 June 2004
Reference no.105470
References: [1][2][3][4][5][6]
Original National Library building (1934), demolished 1968

The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the National Library Act 1960 for "maintaining and developing a national collection of library material, including a comprehensive collection of library material relating to Australia and the Australian people", thus functioning as a national library. It is located in Parkes, Canberra, ACT.

Created in 1960 by the National Library Act, by the end of June 2019 its collection contained 7,717,579 items, with its manuscript material occupying 17,950 metres (58,890 ft) of shelf space. The NLA also hosts and manages the renowned Trove cultural heritage discovery service, which includes access to the Australian Web Archive and National edeposit (NED), a large collection of digitised newspapers, official documents, manuscripts and images, as well as born-digital material.

  1. ^ "NATIONAL LIBRARY ACT 1960 – NOTES". www.austlii.edu.au. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  2. ^ "NLA Annual Report 2015-2016 | National Library of Australia" (PDF). nla.gov.au. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference stats2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "CDP – How we collect". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  5. ^ "National Library of Australia and Surrounds, Parkes Pl, Parkes, ACT, Australia (Place ID 105470)". Australian Heritage Database. Australian Government. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  6. ^ "Our Building". nla.gov.au. National Library of Australia. Retrieved 25 July 2018.