Dictionary of Sydney

The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.

Australian Subscription Library

Sydney's first major public library. The organisation formed in 1826 and the Library opened in rented rooms in Pitt Street, 1 December 1827, with 1,000 volumes. In 1845 the Library moved into a purpose built building on the corner of Bent and Macquarie Streets. The organisation was renamed the Australian Library and Literary Institution in 1853. After financial difficulties, in 1869 the collection and building was bought by the colonial government and became the first Free Public Library of Sydney and has since evolved into the State Library of New South Wales.

Milestone
Formed
1826
Replaced by
1869
Name
Commemorated by
Alternate
Australian Library and Literary Institution
1853 - 1869
Alternate
Free Public Library
1869 - 1895
Position
1884 - 1886
1888 - 1897
Property
Occupied
1845 - 1869
Type

Free Public Library

,
2019


The Free Public Library - which we now know as the State Library of NSW - arose from the ashes of the Australian Library and Literary Institution and its immediate predecessor, the Australian Subscription Library.