The Library That Made Me

200 years of the State Library of NSW

By: Richard Neville (Editor), Phillipa McGuinness (Editor)

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Hardcover | 1 March 2026

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Hardcover

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26.0 x 20.0

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The Library that Made Me celebrates 200 years of the State Library of NSW – its evolution, its remarkable collection and its people. The Library has earned its enduring place in the heart of the city, and in the hearts of readers and visitors everywhere.

In the early days members were vetted, women weren’t welcome and having fiction on the shelves raised eyebrows. Libraries today are vibrant cultural hubs open to all and are shaped by the people they serve.

A love letter to libraries everywhere, The Library that Made Me is a book readers will want on permanent loan. It will make you wonder about the library that made you.

About the Author

Richard Neville is the Mitchell Librarian and Director, Learning, Scholarship and Outreach at the State Library of NSW. With a research background in nineteenth-century Australian art and culture, he has curated numerous exhibitions and published widely on colonial art and society. He has also been extensively involved in the acquisition, arrangement, description and promotion of the Library’s renowned Australian research collections. A judge of the Miles Franklin Literary Award for 15 years, he is also the author of Mr JW Lewin: Painter and Naturalist and co-editor of Reading the Rooms.

Phillipa McGuinness is the editor of Openbook, the State Library of NSW’s quarterly magazine, and the Library’s Lead, Editing and Publishing. A former non-fiction book publisher, she is the editor of Copyfight, and author of The Year Everything Changed – 2001 and Skin Deep: The inside story of our outer selves. A keynote speaker and regular host of literary events, she has written for Griffith Review, Meanjin, The Guardian, Sydney Morning Herald, Weekend Australian Magazine, The Australian Women’s Weekly and The Monthly.

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