Applications are now open for the 2010 Community Heritage Grants.

Grants of up to $15 000 are available to community groups Australia-wide to help preserve and manage cultural heritage collections of national significance.

Projects supported included significance assessments, preservation needs
assessments, preservation training, conservation activities and collection management.

Applications close on 14 May 2010

Find out more

The Library's fifth Innovative Ideas Forum, being held on Friday 16 April, is fully booked.

However, the Forum will be recorded and made available on our podcasts page.

This year, the Forum will focus on the use of technology in cultural institutions and how this is changing visitor engagement and the visitor experience. Speakers include Dr Nicholas Gruen, chair of the Government 2.0 Taskforce, and Mark Pesce (pictured), panellist on the The New Inventors.

Find out more

Copies of the work of acclaimed industrial photographer Wolfgang Sievers are now on show at the Library.

Sievers, who arrived in Australia from Germany in 1938, concentrated on the unification of the arts and industry, and did not draw a distinction between his commercial and creative work.

The Library holds the largest collection of Sievers' images, with more than 11 700 prints and 51 000 negatives.

The display runs until 12 September 2010

Discover Wolfgang Sievers on Trove

On the eve of the National Folk Festival, zither-player and multi-instrumental performer, Andrew Cronshaw, will present a talk that ponders the question: what is world music?

Cronshaw will illustrate his lecture with visuals, audio and some live playing that will draw upon his vast experiences with music from across the globe.

Wednesday 31 March, 6 pm
Theatre, free
Bookings: 02 6262 1271 or bookings@nla.gov.au

Presented in association with the 2010 National Folk Festival

This Polish book of poetry, by Zibgniew Mystkowski, was donated to the Library by his son Stefan last year. Made up of 12 woodblocks of text and eight woodcut illustrations, the book was published secretly in a German POW camp in 1943. Copies were sold in the camp for six cigarettes or three cups of strong coffee.

It is the Library’s only published work from a POW camp, and contains poetry and images by Mystkowski, who later became an Australian citizen.

View 'Godziny Czekania' in our Digital Collections

Renowned sculptor, Tom Bass AM, died after a short illness on Friday 26 February, aged 93.

After graduating from the National Art School in 1948, Bass became known for his commissions for schools, universities, government, companies and religious institutions.

His 'Library Lintel Sculpture', which spreads across the building's entrance, is a lasting legacy to this master of public art.

Discover Tom Bass on Trove

Library users can now print wirelessly from a designated printer in the Main and Petherick reading rooms.

The Library's free Wi-Fi network is available from all public areas of the Library, including the outside perimeter of the building.

Find out more

More than 3 kilometres of manuscripts material will be moved during the period 24 March to 8 April 2010.

The collection move will make better use of our available storage space, and provide room for a collection that grows at around 400 metres per year.

During the move, some collections will be unavailable to our readers, and retrievals may take a little longer than usual. Please contact manuscripts@nla.gov.au beforehand, to check the availability of the collections you wish to view.

Informit e-Library: Humanities and Social Sciences

Informit e-Library provides full-text access to a range of journals, monographs and books, conference proceedings, research papers and references.

A highlight is the full-text access to the complete back catalogue of the Australian journal,
Meanjin, from 1940.

Access to Informit e-Library is available only to registered readers onsite at the Library via the eResources portal

You can register as a reader at the Library here

Little Book of Cats
Compiled by Maree Bentley & Jo Karmel

The poems in this latest addition to the Library's popular 'Little Books' series celebrate the feelings many Australians have for their cats.

This charming book features poems by Les Murray, William Hart-Smith and Gwen Harwood, accompanied by beautiful images from the Library's collection.

RRP: $15.95

Available for purchase at our Online Bookshop

George Raper (1769-1796)
The Melancholy Loss of H.M.S. Sirius off Norfolk Island March 19th 1790

Talented First Fleet artist George Raper was a midshipman aboard HMS Sirius when it was driven onto rocks in Sydney Bay, Norfolk Island, on 19 March 1790. In this watercolour of the devastating event, Raper shows the beleaguered ship foundering on the incoming tide and taking on water.

The Library will begin construction of its new Treasures Gallery and Exhibition Gallery in late 2010, with the exhibition program recommencing in late 2011. If you would like to make a tax deductible donation to the Treasures Gallery, please contact the Development Office on 02 6262 1141 or development@nla.gov.au

The latest edition of The National Library Magazine features an essay by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Geraldine Brooks, The Opportunity of Distance; the remarkable life of our first female political candidate Vida Goldstein; the 7000-strong Marcie Muir collection of Australian children's books; and the inspiration behind Leonard French's striking stained glass windows at the Library.

Read the latest edition of Gateways to find out what Library staff are up to, including significant recent acquisitions and the continuing work on the digitisation of the collection.

For all the news and latest publications from the Library Bookshop, read the latest INPRINT.

And become a Friend of the Library to enjoy discounts at the Library's Bookshop and cafés, invitations to Friends-only events and more.