Since its foundation in 1850, the State Library of Tasmania has been creating a lasting record of Tasmania's history and culture by preserving significant items in the Library's Heritage Collections.
Over the years, the Heritage Collections have developed through generous donations of money, property and items of cultural interest.
The Tasmaniana Library holds thousands of items and forms the most outstanding collection of documents recording Tasmania's history and heritage in the world. It includes books, pamphlets, periodicals, newspapers, official publications, maps, postcards, sound and video recordings and printed ephemera.
We continue to seek additional materials to add even greater depth and variety to our existing information on Tasmania's social, economic, political, religious and literary history. This leaflet offers general guidelines on the categories of materials sought by the Library. We hope that it will encourage you to consider donating material, or to include a bequest of such material to the Library in your will.
Books and Pamphlets
Our collection of books and pamphlets covers every subject imaginable. All new publications which relate to Tasmania in any way, including items which are published in Tasmania or written by Tasmanians, are regularly collected. However there are still many items of this sort not in the collection that we would like to acquire. Of particular interest are locally-published pamphlets and items printed prior to 1960.
Family Histories
We are especially interested in gathering a comprehensive collection of Tasmanian family histories and genealogies, in any format (original or copied).
Political Memorabilia
Pamphlets, booklets, posters, handbills, how-to-vote cards, badges, car stickers and other material relating to both local, state and national political campaigns.
Religious Memorabilia
Any items relating to religious celebrations and events - posters, notices, letters, circulars and other printed material.
Cultural and Sports Events
Programs, catalogues, tickets, posters, handbills, advertisements and other printed items relating to concerts, plays, exhibitions and sporting events help to record the activities we attend or participate in.
Transport and Travel
Timetables, tickets, brochures, handbills, posters, maps and printed souvenirs are valuable sources of information and are often evocative reminders of the way we lived.
You, your family, or an organisation to which you belong may have just one item which will add usefully to our collections. If you have material which might be of interest to the State Library, we will be happy to advise you about the best and most appropriate home for it.
Please remember that donations to the Library must normally involve full transfer of ownership (including copyright, if appropriate). Material donated or deposited with us will normally be made available for public consultation as soon as it has been processed. In exceptional cases however, we would be willing to consider an arrangement under which material may not be made available for public access or research, without the consent of the donor, for an agreed number of years.
The State Library is eligible to receive donations under the Commonwealth Government's Cultural Gifts Program (formerly known as the Taxation Incentives for the Arts Program). Further information is available from the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts at www.dcita.gov.au.
If you are interested in donating materials to the Library, please contact our Major Gifts Coordinator on (03) 6233 7511.
More information about the Heritage Collections is available on the following pages of the State Library's website:
