Mitchell Library Reading Room

Completed 1942
Built by FWC Powell & Sons
Stonework by Beat Brothers

This grand but ‘bright and inviting’* room measures 25 x 50 metres and is surrounded by three tiers of Tasmanian blackwood bookshelves, with the upper levels accessed by balconies of brass and timber. The panelling, door and window frames, and facings of the book galleries are made of cream Travertine (limestone). Most of the furniture, including the bentwood chairs, remains from the original 1942 fit-out, with the heavy teak tables dating back to 1910. The glass ceiling provides the chief source of light; it is made of shatter-proof glass with an outer roof of heat-resistant glass.

The room opened to the public as the General Reference Library in June 1942 as part of a major extension to the original 1910 Mitchell Library building. But again, the library quickly grew too big for the space. After many years of planning, interim solutions, delays and controversies, the General Reference Library – now called the State Reference Library – moved to its current location on Macquarie Street in 1988.

This much-loved Reading Room now houses the Australian and the South-West Pacific research collections; a special emphasis is also placed on resources documenting the history NSW. Services relating to the Dixson Library are also provided through the Mitchell Library Reading Room; both libraries contain unique manuscripts, photographs, pictures, maps, relics and ephemera which document Australian daily life. Not only is the Mitchell Library Reading Room used as a public place to read and research, but it serves as a backdrop to countless state, public and media events, photo shoots, films and special occasions.