Landmark Australia and Oceania
National Library of Australia
The National Library of Australia is a big library in Canberra. Tall white columns stand all around it!
The National Library of Australia keeps about 10 million items for the whole country. Its main building in Canberra, on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin, opened on 15 August 1968. Tall columns surround it, and its walls are covered in pale marble.
The National Library of Australia grew out of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Library of 1901 and became a separate library by an Act of Parliament in 1960. Its Parkes Place building, designed by Walter Bunning of Bunning and Madden with T. E. O'Mahony in a 'Contemporary Classical' style, opened on 15 August 1968 after seven years of design and construction.
Photo: Shkuru Afshar, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Discover the National Library
The National Library of Australia is in Canberra. It keeps millions of books and other items for the whole country.
Its building has tall columns and a flat roof.
The National Library of Australia is the country's national library. It collects and keeps about 10 million items, and people can visit its reading rooms and galleries.
Its main building stands at Parkes Place in Canberra, on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin. It opened on 15 August 1968, and it was the first time since the library moved to Canberra in 1927 that all its collections and staff were together in one building.
The National Library of Australia holds a collection of about 10 million items. Its main building at Parkes Place, on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra, opened on 15 August 1968; for the first time since the library's move to Canberra in 1927, all of the collections and staff were housed in one building.
Today the Parkes building has 47,000 square meters of floor space over eight levels, and in 2024–25 the library ran two reading rooms and two galleries there: the Main Reading Room, the Special Collections Reading Room, the Treasures Gallery and the Exhibition Gallery.
- Where
- Parkes Place, Canberra, Australia
- Opened
- 15 August 1968
- Architect
- Walter Bunning (Bunning and Madden), with T. E. O'Mahony
- Collection
- about 10 million items
From Parliament's library to the nation's
The library began in 1901. Then it moved to Canberra.
In 1968, its big new building opened!
The library's story begins in 1901, when the Commonwealth Parliamentary Library served both the Australian Parliament and the nation. In 1927 it moved from Melbourne to Canberra, along with Parliament.
In 1960, a law made the National Library separate from Parliament's library. An earlier library building in Canberra, on Kings Avenue, was never finished: only one of its wings was completed. After seven years of design and construction, the Parkes Place building opened in 1968.
The library's origins go back to the years after Federation in 1901, when the Commonwealth Parliamentary Library served both Federal Parliament and the nation. It moved from Melbourne to Canberra with Parliament in 1927, and an Act of Parliament in 1960 formally separated the National Library from the Parliamentary Library.
An earlier library building on Kings Avenue, designed by Edward Henderson in the Stripped Classical style, had its foundation stones laid in November 1934, but for economic reasons only one wing was completed; it was demolished in 1970. The Parkes Place building took seven years of design and construction and cost $8 million in 1968, plus $600,000 for furnishings and equipment.
Columns like the Parthenon
The library's design was inspired by the Parthenon, a very old building in Greece.
Its walls are covered in pale marble.
The library's style is called 'Contemporary Classical'. It was influenced by the work of the American architect Edward Stone and by the Parthenon in Greece. The plan was to have the same number of columns as the Parthenon, 17 by 8, but one row was cut to save $250,000, leaving 16 by 8.
The outside is covered in light-colored marble, with granite, bronze, slate and copper. The walls of the podium, the raised base, are gray trachyte, and the roof is copper.
Walter Bunning (1912–1977) of Bunning and Madden was chief architect, in association with T. E. O'Mahony. The library describes the style as 'Contemporary Classical' (or 'Late-Twentieth Century Stripped Classical'), influenced by the American architect Edward Stone and by the Parthenon. It was planned with the same number of columns as the Parthenon (17 × 8), but the National Capital Development Commission cut one row (to 16 × 8) to save $250,000.
Bunning's classical vision called for traditional materials: light-colored marble cladding with granite, bronze, slate and copper, podium walls of gray trachyte and a copper roof. Inside, fine Australian woods line some reading rooms, and the furniture was designed by Fred Ward and Arthur Robinson. In the 1980s the lower ground floors were extended under the podium for storage.
Art built into the building
Above the front doors is a big sculpture made of copper.
Inside, colored glass windows and giant woven pictures hang in the hall.
Most of the art in and around the library was ordered while it was being built. Above the front doors stretches the Lintel Sculpture by Tom Bass, made of more than 3 metric tons of copper. It came to the library on 3 trucks, and the pieces were welded together on site.
Inside the entrance hall are 16 stained-glass windows by Leonard French and three huge tapestries by Mathieu Matégot. One tapestry shows a radio telescope, and another shows Australian plants and animals, including a two-meter parrot.
Tom Bass's Lintel Sculpture, over 3 metric tons of copper welded together on site, draws on symbols from ancient Sumerian and Akkadian seals; the library explains its central winged sun as standing for enlightenment and inspired truth. Seven copper panels called Knowledge, designed by Arthur Robb, run along the outer lakeside wall of the Main Reading Room.
In the foyer, Leonard French's 16 stained-glass windows of Belgian and French chunk glass are set in concrete, and Mathieu Matégot's three tapestries, woven in Aubusson, France, from Australian merino wool, were installed in 1968. Henry Moore's bronze Two Piece Reclining Figure No. 9 (1969) stands in the grounds near the front of the building.
- Lintel Sculpture
- Tom Bass; over 3 metric tons of copper above the front doors
- Stained-glass windows
- 16, by Leonard French, 1967
- Tapestries
- 3, by Mathieu Matégot, installed 1968
The front steps
In this photo, wide steps lead up to the library doors. The sky is bright blue!
This photo of the library's entrance was taken on 25 December 2025. Wide steps lead up to glass doors, with the copper Lintel Sculpture above them.
Tall, thin columns rise all the way to the flat roof, which sticks out far beyond the walls. Between the columns are pale marble panels and narrow windows.
The photograph (25 December 2025, by Shkuru Afshar, titled on Commons 'National Library of Australia-East side entrance') shows the entrance front: broad steps rising to the glazed doors, the dark copper Lintel Sculpture above them, slender columns running up to the deep overhanging roof, and pale marble panels between narrow vertical windows.
In 2024–25 the library reported 20.9 million website sessions and 32,847 reference and information inquiries answered by its staff.
Amazing facts
-
The library was meant to have one more row of columns!
The library was planned with 17 by 8 columns, like the Parthenon, but one row was cut to save $250,000.
The National Capital Development Commission cut the planned 17 × 8 columns to 16 × 8, saving $250,000.
-
One giant woven picture shows a parrot two meters long!
One of the library's three tapestries shows Australian plants and animals, including a two-meter parrot.
The two-meter parrot on the middle tapestry recalls 'Terra Psittacorum', the 'Land of Parrots', a name given to the Australian region on early navigational charts.
-
The big sculpture over the doors came on 3 trucks!
The copper Lintel Sculpture weighs more than 3 metric tons. It arrived on 3 trucks and was welded together on site.
Over 3 metric tons of copper, the Lintel Sculpture was brought in 3 trucks and its pieces were welded together at the library.
Words to know
- library
- a place that keeps books and other items for people to read and study
- column
- a tall post that holds up a roof
- marble
- a hard, smooth stone used on fine buildings
- tapestry
- a large picture woven from threads
- stained glass
- colored glass that makes pictures or patterns when light shines through
- podium
- a raised base that a building stands on
Discovery challenge
-
In which city is the National Library of Australia?
In which city does the National Library of Australia's main building stand?
In which city, on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin, is the library's Parkes Place building?
- Canberra
- London
- Tokyo
Show the answer
Canberra
Canberra!
Canberra, Australia's capital.
Canberra, at Parkes Place.
-
Which old building in Greece inspired the library?
Which ancient Greek building inspired the library's columns?
Whose 17 × 8 column plan did the library's design first follow?
- The Parthenon
- The Eiffel Tower
- The Great Wall
Show the answer
The Parthenon
The Parthenon!
The Parthenon in Greece.
The Parthenon's; one row was cut to make 16 × 8.
-
When did the library's big building open?
In which year did the Parkes Place building open?
In which year did the Parkes Place building open after seven years of design and construction?
- 1968
- 1801
- 2020
Show the answer
1968
In 1968!
1968, on 15 August.
1968, on 15 August.
-
What is the big sculpture over the doors made of?
What metal is Tom Bass's Lintel Sculpture made of?
Of which metal are more than 3 metric tons used in the Lintel Sculpture?
- Copper
- Gold
- Plastic
Show the answer
Copper
Copper!
Copper: more than 3 metric tons of it.
Copper, welded together on site.
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Parthenon
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Australian Museum
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Kuk Swamp
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For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Explain what a national library does and where Australia's is.
- Describe how the building's columns and materials borrow ideas from the Parthenon.
- Use the library's numbers (16 × 8 columns, 8 levels, 10 million items) for counting and multiplying.
Recommended ages: 4 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Why might a country want one library that keeps a copy of its books, papers and pictures?
- The builders cut one row of columns to save money. Was that a good choice? Why?
- The library has art built into its walls and halls. Why do you think the designers wanted art in a library?
Try at home or in class
- Build a model of the library with paper-roll columns: try 16 × 8, then count how many columns you used.
- Make a 'stained-glass' window with colored tissue paper on a window and watch the light shine through.
Key vocabulary: library, column, marble, tapestry, stained glass, podium
Where these facts come from
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- Our building , National Library of Australia
- History of the National Library of Australia , National Library of Australia
- Artwork in the foyer, exterior and grounds , National Library of Australia
- Facts and figures , National Library of Australia
- File:National Library of Australia-East side entrance.jpg , Wikimedia Commons
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file (public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA); see each media record)
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated November 1, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.