As Australia enters the new century the National Library of Australia wishes to ensure that all sections of the Australian community are represented in the national collection. At present, material published by multicultural groups in Australia is under-represented in the collection.
The National Library, in association with each state library, recognises the importance of multicultural publications as part of Australia’s heritage and has launched an ongoing initiative called Collecting Multicultural Australia (CMA).
Aims of CMA
The aims of CMA are:
- To raise awareness about the National Library and state libraries within Australian multicultural communities.
- To promote the importance of contributing to the collection of Australia’s print heritage in these libraries.
- To encourage multicultural publishers, particularly small groups and individuals, to send one copy of any material published in Australia to the National Library and the relevant state library.
Types of publications
The Libraries collect all types of publications in all languages including books, newsletters, magazines, kits, flyers, newspapers, comics, posters, brochures, leaflets etc. Publications may be family histories, autobiographies, regional or community information, poetry, plays, fiction, sporting news, material from cultural events or festivals, conference or workshop proceedings, etc.
This material is then preserved for the use of future generations and becomes available for current research through the National Bibliographic Database. Members of the public will be able to search for items held in the National Library’s collection through the National Library’s catalogue.
How you can help
You can help by:
- Depositing your publications with the National Library at the address below, and at your state or territory library:
- Library and Information Service of Western Australia
- Northern Territory Library and Information Service
- State Library of New South Wales
- State Library of Queensland
- State Library of South Australia
- State Library of Tasmania
- State Library of Victoria
- Supporting and promoting CMA through your community organisations by encouraging others to deposit publications with the Libraries.
Additional Links
Further Information
For further information about Collecting Multicultural Australia
please contact:
Legal Deposit Unit
National Library of Australia
CANBERRA ACT 2600
Telephone: +61 (0) 2 6262 1312
Facsimile: +61 (0) 2 6273 4492
Email: legaldep@nla.gov.au