Sydney - Public Library of New South Wales

The State Library of New South Wales is a big public library, which is owned by the state of New South Wales. The spacious library is located on the corner of Shakespeare and Sydney Place, Macquarie Street. The State Library hosts many free exhibitions, both from different organisations and its own collections.
The library is the oldest library in Australia. It was the first library, which was established in the colony of New South Wales. The library was first named the Australian Subscription Library in the year 1826 and then in was bought by the New South Wales Government in 1869 and became the Sydney Free Public Library. It was named The State Library of New South Wales in 1975.
The library contains a diverse and comprehensive collection of international and Australian research material. It contains over 5 million items including more than 1.2 million microforms, 2 million books, 1.1 million photographs, as well as maps, newspapers, manuscrips, architectural plans and many other items. Recent acquisitions include the Edward Close (1817–1818) sketchbook and personal letters of surveyor John Septimus Roe (1797–1878).