Welcome to Jessie Street National Women’s Library
“To keep women’s words, women’s works alive and powerful”
— Ursula K Le Guin
Please note: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website may contain images, voices or names of deceased persons in photographs, film, audio recordings or printed material.
Jessie Street National Women’s Library is a unique specialist library dedicated to the preservation of Australian women’s work, words and history. The Library was established in 1989 and is named after Jessie Street, a lifelong campaigner for women’s rights, the peace movement and the elimination of discrimination against Aboriginal people.
The Library’s charter is to collect, preserve and promote knowledge and understanding of the cultural heritage of all women; social justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples; international friendship and peace. Patrons are The Hon Elizabeth Evatt AC, The Right Hon Clover Moore, Lord Mayor of Sydney, The Hon Quentin Bryce AD CVO and Professor Emerita Elizabeth Webby AM.
Our Mission
Our mission is to provide for the Australian community a specialist library which collects, preserves and promotes the awareness of the cultural heritage of Australian women, facilitating learning, research and communication.
Our Aims
- To collect the published and unpublished materials which document the lives and experience of women of all ethnic, racial and religious backgrounds and of all socio-economic classes.
- To ensure that documents relating to Australian women’s lives and activities are preserved and made accessible.
- To highlight the contribution of Australian women to this country’s development.
- To support the field of women’s history.
Library Summer Closure
The Library is now closed for our summer break. Due to the installation of a new air conditioning system, we are unlikely to resume our normal operations until the end of February 2023. The City did try to schedule the works to take place during our normal summer...
Lunch Hour Talk 24 November 2022
24 November Lunch Hour Talk Speakers: Dr Kerith Power & Dale Dengate Topic: The First Australian Women's Songbook A treat for the last Lunch Hour Talk of 2022. It was the brainwave of Dr Kerith Power and has become the work of half a lifetime. After the...