State Library of NSW

The State Library comprises several buildings, the oldest being the Mitchell Library which opened in 1910. In the imposing entrance hall there's a sculpture called "The Southern Cross", with bright stars on a sheet of cobalt blue glass. Down a little corridor, I found a garrulous library volunteer, Tomas, manning the Shakespeare Room, a little library full of books about Shakespeare ("but nothing valuable", Tomas said). In the basement, there was an exhibiton of "realia", a library classification term for objects that are not printed material but still speak of history: tin whistles for imitating birdsong, a World War I ID bracelet, a button from a convict's jacket.