National Library of Australia

Step back in time to schooling in New South Wales 150 years ago.

In the nineteenth century kids who were homeless or frequent truants were taken to special boarding schools called ’industrial schools’. One of these was a Nautical School Ship, called the Sobraon (pronounced ‘Sa-brawn’).

Marion and the Forty Thieves is based on these schools on the high seas.

Find out more from author Sarah Luke about the inspiration behind her book in our latest author blog: https://brnw.ch/21wLqaq

📷: Naval officers and cadets N.S.S. [Nautical School Ship] Sobraon, Sydney, Museums of History NSW

華藝電子書 (iRead) 提供主要在台灣、香港和澳門出版的中文電子書。

查找哲學、宗教、自然科學、應用科學、社會科學、歷史、地理、語言和語言學以及文學和藝術類書籍。

您可以通過我們的目錄訪問該資源。在目錄中單擊 「在線查看」，然後登錄您的澳洲國立圖書館賬戶。

訪問該資源：https://brnw.ch/21wLpSh

~

iRead provides access to Chinese ebooks primarily published in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.

Find books on philosophy, religion, natural sciences, applied sciences, social sciences, history, geography, language and linguistics, and literature and arts.

You can access this resource through our catalogue. From the catalogue, click 'view online’ and login to your National Library of Australia account.

Access this resource: https://brnw.ch/21wLpSh

📷: https://brnw.ch/21wLpSg

Madame Weigel was one of the first commercial publishers of pattern books in colonial Australia.

By the 1930s, her crochet pattern books were being mass produced and sold cheaply. They included patterns for tea cosies, afghans, egg cosies, cushions and more.

Pattern books and patterns published in women’s magazines led to innovations in crocheting at a time when major designers were uninterested in the craft.

‘Cushions & Cosies’ was published in 1940—check out the koala tea cosy!

Find more projects like these in our book, Vintage Crochet: https://brnw.ch/21wLpaj

Dive into a world of chilling mysteries this winter.

If you want to solve a mystery, check out this list of thrilling crime fiction recommendations from our librarians to help you find the clues and close the case.

Visit our blog to see more recommendations: https://brnw.ch/21wLkNx

UPDATE: Our website, catalogue, Ask a Librarian Service, and public wifi are now available.

Thanks for your patience while we worked to resolve this.

~

Our website, catalogue, Ask a Librarian Service, and public wifi are currently unavailable.

We're working to bring everything back online as quickly as possible.

We'll post updates on the progress here.

In 1927, Millicent Bryant became the first woman in Australia to hold a private pilot’s license.

She was also one of the oldest people to fly solo, proving it’s never too late to find new passions.

Discover our online collection to read more stories of other Australian women pilots: https://brnw.ch/21wLjuJ

Have you ordered a copy of our new Ellis Rowan book?

Ellis Rowan was a botanical artist, explorer, naturalist and writer. We hold over 900 of her breathtaking works in our collection.

This new title in the Artists of the NLA book series a curation of 80 of her wonderful works.

Pluck a copy on the NLA Bookshop website: https://brnw.ch/21wLigm

Prolific French author, Stéphanie, Comtesse de Genlis is best known for her educational novels. In Adéle et Thèodore she explains her theories on the importance of children’s education. She was also the first woman appointed governess of royal princes by the Duke d’Orléans.

While many of her works focused on education, de Genlis also published romantic novels and a volume of comedies. Her reputation as a writer grew over the years and her writings spread as far as England. She received an honorary doctorate from the University of Oxford in 1785.

Learn more about our rare books collection: https://brnw.ch/21wLhqS

In 1933, Nancy-Bird Walton AO OBE became Australia’s youngest female commercial pilot at the time. She also founded the Australian Women Pilots’ Association in 1950.

We recently digitised the records of the Australian Women Pilots’ Association, making them available on Trove.

Discover our online collection to read more stories of other Australian women pilots: https://brnw.ch/21wLeuu

📷: Russell Roberts, ‘Portrait of Nancy-Bird Walton AO OBE’, c.1930, https://brnw.ch/21wLeuv

Straight from the Strait is an upcoming musical that tells the 1968 story of the Torres Strait Islander workers involved in breaking the world record for laying the greatest length of railway in a single day.

Join Aunty Ruth Ghee, Uncle Luke Captain, Georgia Corowa and Rhianna Patrick in a panel discussion about their experiences working on the production and why opera was chosen to tell this story.

Head to our website to book a spot: https://brnw.ch/21wLepC

You can also watch the event online via our page or YouTube channel.

Catch up on our book launch event for Margaret Tucker’s ‘If Everyone Cared Enough’.

Hear from a panel of Margaret’s family members, as they discuss her life and lasting impact.

Watch the full event online: https://brnw.ch/21wLbAs

This week we’re celebrating National NAIDOC!

One of the ways the library keeps the fire burning is through our Deadly Dialogues events.

Deadly Dialogues celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and their journeys, through in-conversation style events.

Catch up on our recent conversations: https://brnw.ch/21wLatC

If you’re fond of wonderful Australian photography, then you’ll love exploring the work of Harold Cazneaux.

Cazneaux is one of Australia’s greatest photographers of the early 20th century and he still has a passionate fan-base today.

In our collection we hold over 470 photographic prints and about 4,300 glass negatives of his work. This includes portraits, architecture, landscapes and much more.

This book showcases a curation of Cazneaux’s work as selected by talented photographer Max Dupain.

Snap up a copy: https://brnw.ch/21wL8bf

We’re delighted to reveal our new NLA Publishing series - Artists of The National Library of Australia.

This series will showcase some of your favourite artists in our collection including botanical artist Ellis Rowan.

For almost 50 years, she travelled to remote parts of Australia, India, Europe, America and New Guinea in pursuit of exotic flowers and wildlife to paint.

Her work in our collection comprises 919 watercolours and gouaches painted between 1870 and 1920.

This book includes a carefully curated selection of her incredible artwork.

Purchase a copy: https://brnw.ch/21wL715

Delve deep into our rich archival collection on aeronautics and Australian aviatrixes with 2024 Creative Arts Fellow Dr Jo Langdon tomorrow at 12:30pm.

She has examined the historical and biographical records of women pilots such as Millicent Bryant, Maude ‘Lores’ Bonney, Freda Thompson, Nancy Bird-Walton and Robin Miller Dicks.

Dr Langdon will discuss how she will re-present this in new works of poetry.

You can watch this event live on our page or YouTube channel.

For those in Canberra, don’t forget to book your free spot to attend the event at the Library: https://brnw.ch/21wL5M1

With winter officially upon us, it’s the perfect time to snuggle up next to the fireplace with a good book in hand.

If you’re looking for some reading inspiration to warm you up, our team of librarians have shared some winter book recommendations that are sure to warm you up.

Have you read these contemporary fiction recommendations?

View our blog for more recommendations: https://brnw.ch/21wL5Lz

We’re excited to announce the release of Marion and the Forty Thieves!

Discover Marion and her anything but ordinary life. Read about her adventures aboard a magnificent floating boys' school.

Based on real life floating schools in the late 1800s, this tale takes children on an exciting literary adventure.

Copies shipping out now: https://brnw.ch/21wL4xa

Are dogs an important chapter in your life story?

Throughout time our canine companions had an important place at our sides and in our hearts.

These illustrations were published in 1918 in Uncle Will's dog stories written by Mr William Wishart and illustrated by Mr V Brun.

Read the book: https://brnw.ch/21wL2ub

Made up of around one million rare maps, our maps collection lets you learn more about the history of Australia and the world beyond.

From Schevenhuysen’s map of the cosmos to a food map of France, there’s so much to explore.

Discover our blog to find out where our maps will take you: https://brnw.ch/21wL0mI

Which Australian State or Territory has the Royal Bluebell as its floral emblem?

Comment your answer below.

📷: https://brnw.ch/21wKZhm

Have you heard of the talented scriptwriter Eleanor Witcombe?

From theatre and radio drama to sketch comedy and film, Eleanor has had a tremendous impact on 20th century Australian media.

2023 National Library Fellow and biographer Dr Eleanor Hogan has set out to encapsulate her wonderful and varied career in one biography.

Learn more about what Dr Hogan discovered: https://brnw.ch/21wKVbh

“The following Moral Romance (or whatever Title the Reader shall please to give it) is the Work of a Woman, and her first Essay; which to the good-natured and candid Reader will, it is hoped, be a sufficient Apology for the many Inaccuracies he will find in the Style, and other faults of the Composition.” - Excerpt from Sarah Fielding’s ‘Advertisement to the Reader’.

Sarah Fielding is best known for her book The Adventures of David Simple (1744). The novel draws upon her own lived experiences to explore the moral and social issues facing British society at the time.

While many modern versions of the book use the second edition, the original is important as it includes Sarah’s ‘Advertisement to the Reader’.

Learn more about our rare books collection: https://brnw.ch/21wKUbI

Looking to escape the heat with a great summertime read?



Our team of librarians have shared some suggestions with a new display in the Main Reading Room.



Check out their recommendations: https://brnw.ch/21wFUne

2024 is an Olympics year. While they may not kick off until July, now might be the time to brush up on how to watch sports.

Scroll through our archive of images from the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and read our observations on how to be a sporting spectator.

Keep your eyes on the ball... we mean, blog: https://brnw.ch/21wFSkF