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Public Library Sydney. Plan shewing arrangement of books to which free access is allowed : Ground plan 1890

By
James Barnet
From the collections of the
State Library of New South Wales
[PXD 45, 9]
(Mitchell Library)

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Barnet, James

State Library of New South Wales

Libraries

Colonial architecture

Public building

Architecture

State Library of New South Wales

The State Library of NSW is the oldest library in Australia. In 1869 the NSW Government purchased the Australian Subscription Library, which had been established in 1826, to form the Sydney Free Public Library, the first truly public library for the people of NSW. The Mitchell Library, the first library in the country to concentrate entirely on Australian content, opened in 1910.

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Australian Subscription Library and Reading Room

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Building on the corner of Bent and Macquarie Streets constructed in 1845 to house the Australian Subscription Library. The subscription library ran into financial difficulties and was taken over by the state government to became the Sydney Free Public Library in 1869. An addition to the building was made in the 1880s as the collection and number of readers grew. In 1895 the name changed again to the Public Library of New South Wales. The  Public Library collection and staff moved to the new extension of the Mitchell Library building in June 1942. The building on Bent Street was demolished in 1969.