Celebration time for National Library of Australia

In 2001 the National Library of Australia celebrates its 100th anniversary with a program of special centenary events from January to December including exhibitions, talks, conferences, lectures, seminars, readings, musical performances and an Open Day.

Major exhibitions are featured throughout the year, including Cook & Omai: The Cult of the South Seas (February 14 - May 30), Belonging, a Centenary of Federation exhibition, (August 22 - November 18) and Treasures from the World's Great Libraries (from December 4).

Bunyips - The Travelling Exhibition and Internet Experience, previews at the National Library (January 24 - February 7) before a three year tour of Australia, supported by a dynamic interactive on-line exhibition web site (www.nla.gov.au/exhibitions/bunyips/).

A limited edition centenary publication Remarkable Occurrences: The National Library of Australia's First 100 Years will be launched along with the first stage of a new Treasures Gallery to permanently display internationally renowned 'treasures' such as Captain Cook's Endeavour journal.

The first in the long-awaited multi-volume series of Donald Friend Diaries, is also to be released in 2001.

Four major conferences will be hosted by the National Library as part of the anniversary program: An Inventive Magic: Donald Friend and his Diaries (February 23 - 24); David Nichol Smith Conference (March 26 - 28); National Library Oral History Conference (August 30 - September 2); and, The Secret Self: Exploring Biography and Autobiography (October).

Internet highlights include a commemorative anniversary website (www.nla.gov.au/anniversary) on line from January 1 and the newly digitised Barton Papers, the first National Library manuscript collection to be made publicly accessible in its entirety on the web from March.

In its anniversary year, the National Library will also establish an Acquisitions Trust Fund to enable the Library to purchase significant collection items as well as launching the 100th Birthday Book Search.
According to Federal Minister for the Arts and the Centenary of Federation, Peter McGauran, the anniversary program provides an opportunity for all Australians to celebrate the institution's growth over 100 years.

"The National Library of Australia is committed to the development of ideas, scholarship, research, creativity, and enjoyment of these pursuits," Mr McGauran said.

"From its origins within the Commonwealth Parliamentary Library, the National Library has evolved to be one of Australia's pre-eminent collecting institutions and ensures all Australians have access to its comprehensive record of Australian history, creative achievements and intellectual endeavour.

"The scope of this program of anniversary events is exciting and impressive, demonstrating just how far the National Library has come in the past 100 years."

The National Library of Australia was established in 1901 as part of the Parliamentary Library and housed for many years in the original Parliament House building in Melbourne before moving to its new location in Canberra in 1926. In 1968, the National Library of Australia moved to its new permanent home on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin.

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