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 Quentin Bryce AD CVO; Elizabeth Evatt AC; Dr Beverley Kingston; The Hon Clover Moore Lord Mayor of Sydney; Nadia Wheatley.
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- To collect the published and unpublished materials which document the lives and experience of women of all ethnic, racial and religious backgrounds and of all socio-economic classes.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.
Lunch Hour Talk 22 June 2023
22 June Lunch Hour Talk Speaker: Penny Nelson Topic: Babette Smith OAM: Breakthrough historian - an amazing life Babette Smith (image left), 1942-2021, worked in television, theatre and film, but it was the discovery of a female convict among her ancestors that set...
Lunch Hour Talk 16 March 2023
16 March Lunch Hour Talk Speaker: Dr Isobell Barrett Meyering Topic: Feminists: anti-mother and anti-child? When Australian women’s liberationists challenged prevailing expectations of female domesticity, they were accused of being anti-mother and anti-child. Dr...