This is a beautiful, pristine and cultural building. The library's cafe is decorated with stained glass windows which makes it an artistic atmosphere. Outdoors the back terrace overlooks the river, manicured gardens and a well kept garden. I was surprised to see the cafe food was five star restaurant quality, was expecting basic cafe food. Coffee was amazing. Good, friendly and fast service.
I attended an author talk with Michael Connelly at the National Library and it was fantastic! The seating in the auditorium was comfortable, the hosting was exceptional and the refreshments afterwards were delicious. Thankyou!
Great service and a beautiful place to read. Just be wary that you do need to order books but service is very fast
Great place to research the staff are very helpful. Exhibition on Cook and the Pacific worth the look as is the treasures exhibition. Coffee shop and book shop worth visiting on their own.
Nice displays and the gift shop is wonderful. So interesting and so much to buy with a great collection. Something to satisfy everyone.
Beautiful building, a great place to learn and study. I lost a black glove here on Sunday morning. Let me know if you have seen it. Thanks
The National Library is one of Australia's great institutions! Whenever I contact the National Library I always get very helpful and courteous advice. Also, the ability to look at old newspapers, magazines, manuscripts, etc, free of charge, prompts me to give the NLA a five star rating, as it is undoubtedly one of the best libraries in the world!
Wonderful place to do some studying or research.
Chair looks comfy and the view from the windows is just relaxing.
River side walking trail let you relax your brain if you study in the library for extended hours.
Think past the word library and you'll enjoy much more than books. Currently two wonderful exhibitions, walk through the reading and book areas, have coffee or lunch and finally a browse through the book Shop. All free! Thats right absolutely free!
Went to see free exhibition (Cook and the Pacific) with the kids, one in a pram. Staff were great, no issues. Will need to go back sans children, so I can have a proper look.
Not the first exhibition I have seen there, always well curated and full of interesting items.
Great location overlooking the lake, surrounded by public art and part of the parliamentary triangle. Has a cafe, bookshop, paid parking.
They have a reading room too.
I fell in love with the place, one of my favorite places in Canberra; indeed a flagship of Australia in terms of great people, architecture, arts and superb food! Warmth wormed effortlessly into our hearts
Coffee is amazing BUT there's something fundamentally wrong with this place.
Nice... NICE LIBRARIANS & STAFF! I never thought such a phenomenon could occur after traversing the educational system drifting from library to library and being told off by the gatekeepers of the sacred Where's Wally books to stop breathing.
But seriously, I absolutely love this place and I hope it never changes.
Great book collection, creamy old marble everywhere, fascinating stain glass and well made coffee served politely.
Peaceful, intellectual vibe, just what you'd expect. Worth a visit just for the glorious stain glass.
Amazing views and facilities with absolutely effective Covid safe plans
Lovely library and if you are lucky, some great exhibits on show as well.
Staffed by wonderful, helpful people and with a plethora of rooms available to hire for events, the National Library is a great place to visit in Canberra.
Helpful opening hours til the sunset. Thank you :)
I was doing it at 8 o'clock in the evening! Thankfully and :)
Small display on history of literature and Australiana exploration. Interesting enough though some displays were rather dark in their presentation cases. Mainly s library being used on daily basis by all.
The library looks beautiful, but because I live out of Canberra I sent my daughter in to find infro on a incomplete wedding certicate. She was told by a staff member who was reading a book, to get it online. Well we need the church record to find out who the parents are, so now I will have to travel to Canberra to look. Really the last time my daughter went, she was helped by a lovely lady. Hope this is just a one off.
Spacious place to relax and unwind. Also a nice quiet place to read or study.
Wonderful library with huge space. Perfect place to do research and study.
If you love books you should visit this place. If you don't you will start loving them. There is a book shop also, which also has a great collection of books. The building in itself looks amazing and the terrace adds to the grandeur. Staff is helpful. Parking is free on weekends.
Great place to visit indoors.Love the gardens and water founntain too
Great huge building. Interesting exhibition and collection which you should check on the website to book a ticket if necessary. Recently, they have Celestial Empire: Life in China exhibition which is worth to see.
Beautiful building with a great terrace area. Feels a bit disused because it's surrounded by surface car parks and not close to other land use types or housing. Apparently the public can't browse the shelves which detracts from my romantic ideals of a national scale labyrinth of books.
More of a museum than a library. You aren t allowed to bring in bags, and there are limited power sources for you laptop. Overall a bit annoying if you were planning on a day of study. Despite being beside the lake, the study area is very dim and offers no views whatsoever. The best areas of the library are VIP (very important old white person) access only.
It is one of greatest libraries I ever seen. I was lucky and had an chance to see how the book catalogues bing registered and stored
sound several items about a few ancestors. I haven't seen this stuff anywhere else, inspite of searching high and low. Thank you.
I love to visit the Treasures Gallery and the temporary exhibition space next to it has a great exhibition Australian Dreams on at the moment. I love browsing the bookshop, especially the section of National Library published books. Not to forget about the building itself, including the lead lighting in the Bookplate cafe and the a piece of marble from an Athenian library dating back around 1800 years. If you're lucky you may see Frankie a local magpie lark who visits the foyer and has worked out how to open the automatic doors to let himself out :-)
We visited the library during Easter holidays and were extremely impressed by the then current exhibition The Sell. It was a walk down memory line remembering the progression of advertising during our lifetime. Recently I have discovered the library has an online bookstore. I cannot recommend it highly enough. Books were delivered within two days of purchase, questions and personal attention of the staff is exceptional, and prices and choice of topics was well above average.
It is freely available, they must not pay anything, they have expos on the ground floor, and if they walk with a backpack they must leave it in a locker of the subway that is free.
Best and largest library in Australia with almost 6,500,000 items worldwide!!
Lovely huge building. 5 miles from the carpark like most places over here. More of an exhibition center than a place to renew your books, unless you like hiking. Yes has loads of books and more. Great coffee as well.
A national treasure with a collection rivaling the great libraries of the world. Calm environment for research and study; excellent amenities (clean toilets, free lockers, water fountains). There is also a bit for the visitor too with exhibits and galleries on rotation. Bookplate is a very popular restaurant with spectacular views across the lake, and they cater for vegans. Free wifi and ample parking.
From a business perspective, this is a beautiful and striking building with excellent facilities for holding meetings/presentations and so forth. I was extremely pleased with the service received by the Venue Hire staff and will be recommending the National Library to any colleagues who need to find a venue in Canberra in future.
Very good features: Spacious open computer rooms, secure lockers. The computers don't require a login and can be used all day! There's also standing desks, great for somebody who needs to wake up from sit-down reading from time to time. Haven't borrowed books here though, so no idea about that. Nice little cafe. And underground has a cosy reading area too. Overall: Pretty darn good!
Fantastic resource for all, not just those who live in Canberra. Special mention to Sonja who was incredibly helpful when my friend and I visited. Good to know that the hold every book published in Australia!
Impressive building with a large photographs archive.
A great place to sit quietly and read. Very exciting to find my wife's book stocked. Do yourself a favour
A fine national institution. I spent most of today there at a free public seminar, then in one of the special collection rooms. The exhibitions are always very good - at the moment it is on Australian advertising materials from settlement to more recent times.
The architecture is very beautiful and seems to be in good maintenance. It is close to stations and shopping areas of the Capital of Australia. I believe it is an iconic tourist attraction in Canberra. Exhibitions occur at and around the building with many opportunities to take photos and interact with the community.
One of Australia's national treasures, the National Library of Australia has a copy of every publication produced in Australia and is therefore an archive of our national literary culture. It also has brilliantly curated exhibitions and has an excellent on-site restaurant. An essential destination for a pilgrimage by any culturally-minded Australian.
TROVE is indeed a treasure trove! With so many online primary resources, it is an invaluable research tool. Thanks NLA!
beautiful building, great place to study & access to a quick and great coffee fix at the Bookplate cafe
The atmosphere is great. You can go to the main area and hear the hundreds of pages turned or mouses clicked, you can go to the underground breakout area to be surrounded by conversation, or you can go to the quiet reading area for almost total silence. They have public computers that don't require a signup.
While the foyer is rich and beautiful in its 1960s marble style it is drafty on a cold winter day. Encroachment of the Bookplate restaurant into the lobby adds life but reduces space for public seating
Cool place, easy parking. Obviously heaps and heaps of books! good facilities and range of books! Worth a look
I love National Liberey. Enjoying the friendly quite, classy coffee and shop. It the best 5stares.
Beautiful setting next to the lake, interesting exhibitions and really helpful staff if you just want to explore the amazing collection of books and information in this iconic building. The cafe is also quite good - the outside terrace is great if the weather is not freezing cold.
A beautiful library to relax with a coffee. Massive collection of books. Sadly we visited with our kids so we couldn't stay long, but you could easily spend a whole day in here.
Lots of space and a huge selection of books to choose from. However to access the archives you will need a library card, have to order the books online and wait up to an hour to receive them, this can be done ahead of time so not to worry.
Great crimpy climbing on the exterior walls. Bring a rug and a slackline for a nice afternoon picnic in between climbs.
Have alot of memories from this place. It has an amazing atmosphere.
Within walking distance of Old Parliament House, Capital Hill, Treasury Building, Supreme Court, Questacon and the National Library.
Neoclassical architecture, soothing interior, great reading room where you can study, read or write or whatever in silence, surrounded by people similarly focused. Treasures Gallery is great, and their exhibitions are more interesting than what you'll find at the National Museum.
Great, Impressive Library by the capital's river. It is one of the most complete library collection in the world. Some of the historical sources are dating back to 19-20 century. I found so many rare books in this central library. The reading room is so impressive as well. It is really a national library with an international standard.
Very historic, almost to the level of being a museum if you visit the gallery. Special emphasison Captain Cook which I think is rather appropriate. You can read his journal or view his desk. Other small things like the actual Sydney Olympic torch used at the games (see attched), etc.
Lemon tart in the cafe is great with the stained windows and wonderful outlook. Coffee excellent
Great collection! Librarians are reasonably helpful. I would give this place 5 stars but there are a lot of questionable looking people hanging looking dodgy. Very nice building in a very beautiful place.
Great place to visit or to study or to even just relax in the cafe and look at the beautiful views outside the library
beautiful building with lovely lighting. exhibitions are always very interesting. the main reading room is my favourite place to study, very good place to concentrate. library selection is fantastic as well.
Beautiful grounds and had a fantastic exhibition on advertising. Just a beautiful place to stay on a cold day
Had great fun here! Came her last year and still had a great experience. We were here for a school excursion and the tour was fantastic! We got to go downstairs and saw sine amazing stuff, including ISAAC which was cool as! The explanation of how the library worked was just wow. We learned lots of stuff here. Including they have 10 million objects in their library
Free decent speed internet or computers if you don't have your own device, always interesting side exhibitions, great cafe overlooking the lake, another cafe in the basement, free lockers, library shop, plenty of places to sit and study, read newspapers etc, and most importantly quiet and not very busy. Love this place.
Service was incredible by the librarians. They made my search very easy and I was able to find what I went for.
Incredible collections and service
