The State Library of New South Wales began in 1826, with the opening of the Australian Subscription Library. In 1869, the New South Wales Government took over responsibility for the Library and created the Sydney Free Public Library. In 1895 it was renamed the Public Library of New South Wales, and in 1975 it became the State Library of New South Wales.

In December 1827 operations began in rented premises in Pitt Street, and for the next two years the Library led a peripatetic existence, a few years in George Street, then Bridge Street, Macquarie Street and Macquarie Place. In 1845 it finally moved into its own new building on the corner of Bent and Macquarie Streets, approximately where the Aurora Place development now stands.

By 1869 the subscription library was hopelessly in debt, and the New South Wales Government was persuaded to buy it (£1500 for the books and £3600 for the building). In September 1869, the Sydney Free Public Library opened its doors with a stock of 20,000 volumes.

The library contains over 4.7 million books and other items and also serves as a general purpose reference and research library. It contains many historically significant collections dating from the European colonisation of Australia, including accounts from Australian explorers and other pioneers, paintings and sketches, and many other historical records. These are held in the Australiana research collections known as the Mitchell (named for David Scott Mitchell) and Dixson libraries. The collections grow through purchase and other acquisitions of material, and legal deposit for all books published in New South Wales.

The Library hosts many exhibitions, both from its own collections and from other organisations such as World Press Photo and the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize.

Mitchell Library & Mitchell Wing
The Library soon outgrew its premises, and a new wing was built in the mid-1880s. By the turn of the century this too was outgrown, and plans were prepared for a completely new 'national' library building. David Scott Mitchell's offered his immense collection of Australiana to the people of New South Wales on condition a new building be erected to house the collection as a separate library. Work on this wing began in 1906 and was completed in 1910. It contains reading rooms, work areas and galleries.

The Dixson Wing:
It was another 20 years before more building took place on the site of the national library. The Dixson Wing, completed in 1929, was added to the south side of the Mitchell Wing to provide storage and gallery space for the extensive collection of historical paintings presented by Sir William Dixson.

In 1939 work began on the central portion of the building, which includes the portico, the ornate vestibule with its reproduction of the Tasman Map in marble mosaic, and the main reading room. The building was ready for occupation in June 1942, and the Library was at last under one roof.

In 1964, the final section of the sandstone Mitchell Wing was added to the south east corner. Within 10 years the Library had outgrown this space too.

The Macquarie Street Wing:
Work began on the Macquarie Street Wing in 1983 which was opened in 1988 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in company with Prince Philip. Facing Macquarie Street it links to the Mitchell Wing via a first-floor bridge and below ground at a number of points.

Opening hours	Mon–Thur	Fri	Sat	Sun
State Reference Library	9 am to 8 pm	9 am to 5 pm	10 am to 5 pm	10 am to 5 pm
Mitchell Library	9 am to 8 pm	9 am to 5 pm	10 am to 5 pm	Closed
Legal Information Access Centre	10 am to 5 pm	10 am to 5 pm	Closed	10 am to 5 pm
Exhibition Galleries	9 am to 8 pm	9 am to 5 pm	10 am to 5 pm	10 am to 5 pm
Library Shop	9 am to 5 pm	9 am to 5 pm	11 am to 5 pm	11 am to 5 pm
Shakespeare Room	Tuesdays 10 am to 4 pm
Cafe Trim	7.30 am to 5 pm	7.30 am to 5 pm	10.30 am to 4.30 pm	10.30 am to 4.30 pm

Normal operating hours resume from Saturday, 3 January, 2009.

GEORGE CADDY COLLECTION
A free exhibition until 22 February 2009
Don't miss this extraordinary collection of 60 B&W images taken at Bondi Beach by amateur photographer and champion jitterbug dancer George Caddy, in the 1930s and 1940s. Recently discovered and exhibited for the first time, these photographs reveal a beachside parade of lifesavers, fashionable sunbathers and the daring gymnastic feats known as 'beachobatics'.

Information abridged from Wikipedea