National Library of Australia

Created in 1960 by the National Library Act, by the end of June 2019 its collection contained 7,717,579 items, with its manuscript material occupying 17,950 metres (58,890 ft) of shelf space. The NLA also hosts and manages the renowned Trove cultural heritage discovery service, which includes access to the Australian Web Archive and National edeposit (NED), a large collection of digitised newspapers, official documents, manuscripts and images, as well as born-digital material.

The Library’s preservation role is mandated by the National Library Act 1960.

The Library acquires collection items either from external sources or through its own content creation activities (such as digitisation, photographic or oral history commissions).

For materials acquired for long term retention and use, the Library acquires the best available copy, and encourages the use of appropriate stable and manageable materials and formats where these exist. The Library considers the likely costs of ongoing preservation in making decisions to acquire materials for the collections.

The Library sets and monitors standards for materials, formats and metadata for items it creates or commissions itself, aimed at minimising the later costs of preserving such material.

The present library building was opened on 15 August 1968 by Prime Minister John Gorton. The building was designed by the architectural firm of Bunning and Madden in the Late Twentieth Century Stripped Classical style. The foyer is decorated in marble, with stained-glass windows by Leonard French and three tapestries by Mathieu Matégot. The building was listed on the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 22 June 2004. A Tom Bass sculpture called Lintel Sculpture is installed over the entrance to the library.

Approximately 92.1% of the Library's collection has been catalogued and is discoverable through the online catalogue.