Our collections

What we collect

The Library holds the greatest collection in the world of material relating to Australia and the Australian people.  It ranges from the earliest European works about the Great Southern Land to the most current publications.  The collection includes all formats of material, from books and magazines to pictures, photographs, maps, sheet music, oral history recordings, manuscript papers, ephemera and much, much more!

more information...

Collection highlight

Explore Kokoda through our maps collection


2/1st Australian Army Topographic Survey Company, Kokoda, New Guinea 1944

This Second World War topographic map of Kokoda shows the location of villages, tracks, a canoe route, seaplane bases and mission stations. Map images from the Library’s Digital Collection are interactive. Use the Zoom control to pan and examine details.