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!
The Library also has considerable collections of general overseas and rare book materials, as well as world-class Asian and Pacific collections which augment the Australiana collections.
The Library's Collection Development Policy provides more detail about the scope and nature of the collecting of both Australian and overseas materials.
Collection statistics detail the extent of the Library's holdings by type of material and the growth of the collection over time.
In addition to its own collection, the Library maintains the National Braille Reserve Collection, a lending collection of infrequently used braille books which have been transferred from braille libraries throughout Australia.
