State Library of NSW

State Library of New South Wales

State Library of New South Wales, Mitchell Wing, exterior
Country	Australia
Type	State Library
Established	1826
Reference to legal mandate
Location	Macquarie Street, Sydney
Coordinates	33°51′58″S 151°12′48″E / 33.86611°S 151.21333°E / -33.86611; 151.21333Coordinates: 33°51′58″S 151°12′48″E / 33.86611°S 151.21333°E / -33.86611; 151.21333
Collection
Size	5 million items (5,000,000)
Legal deposit	Since 1879
Other information
Budget	A$91.7 million
Director	Lucy Milne (Acting State Librarian)
Website	State Library of New South Wales

The State Library of New South Wales is a large reference and research library open to the public. It is the oldest library in Australia, being the first established in New South Wales (now a state of Australia) in 1826. The library is located on the corner of Macquarie Street, Sydney and Shakespeare Place, adjacent to the Domain and the Royal Botanic Gardens. The library is a member of the National and State Libraries Australasia (NSLA) consortium.

The first library collections were part of the Australian Subscription Library which was started by a group of wealthy Sydney citizens in 1826. It was then purchased for £5100 by the New South Wales Government in 1869 and became the Sydney Free Public Library. In 1895 it was renamed the Public Library of New South Wales until its most recent name change in 1975, when it became the State Library of New South Wales.

The Australian Subscription Library was established in 1826 at a meeting at the Sydney Hotel chaired by barrister John Mackaness. Library membership was subject to committee approval. Dr James Mitchell, father of David Scott Mitchell (who would later bequeath his collection to the library), was a committee member from 1832 to 1853 and Vice President from 1856 to 1869.

In December 1827 operations began in rented premises in Pitt Street and in the two years following, the Library led a peripatetic existence having been located a few years in George Street, Bridge Street, Macquarie Street and Macquarie Place. The library had financial problems and required more space to house its growing collections but negotiations in 1838 to construct a new library building broke down over member unwillingness to broaden access to the library. Fortunately for the members later negotiations with the government were more successful and construction of a new library building began in 1843. The foundation stone for this new building, on the corner of Bent and Macquarie Streets, was laid by Alexander Macleay and ithe library was opened in 1845.