Sydney - State Library of New South Wales

The new State Library is an 11-storey building (eight of them below ground) erected in 1988 and linked with the old state library by a covered walkway. The old library is an imposing two-storey building in Italian Renaissance style. The core of the library was the collection of DS Mitchell, who spent a lifetime assembling books and documents on Australia and the Pacific (61,000 volumes, now enlarged to 365,000 volumes and 35,000 manuscripts), supplemented by William Dixson's collection of Australian material.

Among the Library's treasures are the journals of Captain Cook and Joseph Banks and Captain Bligh's log from the Bounty. The collection also includes early 19th C photographs.

Opposite the State Library is Shakespeare Gate, leading to the Royal Botanic Gardens.