page_title: State Library of New South Wales
section_title: The Mitchell Building
hierarchical_section_title: State Library of New South Wales / Building / The Mitchell Building
caption_attribution_description: English: State Library of New South Wales
context_page_description: The State Library of New South Wales, part of which is known as the Mitchell Library, is a large heritage-listed special collections, reference and research library open to the public. It is the oldest library in Australia, being the first established in the colony of New South Wales in 1826. The library is located on the corner of Macquarie Street and Shakespeare Place, in the Sydney central business district adjacent to the Domain and the Royal Botanic Gardens, in the City of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The library is a member of the National and State Libraries Australia consortium.
  The State Library of New South Wales building was designed by Walter Liberty Vernon, assisted by H. C. L. Anderson and was built from 1905 to 1910, with further additions by Howie Bros in 1939; by FWC Powell & Sons in 1959; and by Mellocco Bros in 1964. The property was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
context_section_description: By the 1890s, the library was running out of space to house its collection and accommodate staff. Plans were underway for a new 'national' library building. The stimulus for this was David Scott Mitchell's offer of his extensive collection of Australiana to the people of New South Wales.
  The condition of his offer was that his collection be housed either in the Public Library building or in a separate new building; as there was no room in the Public Library building and no suitable building existed a new building was erected. Work on the Mitchell Building began in 1906 and finished in 1910 based on designs prepared by Walter Liberty Vernon, the Head of the Government Architect's Branch. It formerly housed the Mitchell Library reading rooms, work areas and galleries.
  In 1939 work began on the central section of the building, including the portico, the ornate vestibule and its reproduced Tasman Map in marble mosaic and the main reading room. The building was ready to be used in June 1942 and the Library (as a whole) was under one roof. Bronze doors were presented by William Dixson and were decorated with a series of images depicting Indigenous Australian people and European explorers. In 1964, the final section of the sandstone Mitchell Wing was laid on the south east corner. This was designed by Alan Robertson from the Government Architect's Branch; one of the junior architects on the team was Andrew Andersons, who would later be principal architect for the design of the Macquarie Street Wing. Within 10 years the Library had outgrown this space too.
  The Mitchell Wing celebrated its centenary in 2010 and in the lead-up to its centenary (from 2001), held a series of related exhibitions and events.
caption: Tasman's map on the floor of the foyer of the Mitchell library
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